There are daffodils in the garden and we even had a brief spell of sunshine for about three minutes a few weeks ago so, obviously, it’s time to talk rosé. Even if you do have to wear a poncho in the garden when you drink it. Now, Bandol is a sub-region in Provence and the …
If there’s one thing that’s got me through lockdown – apart from wine, obviously – it’s the idea of being able to see people again. But now that we’re actually allowed to see them – socially distanced, of course – I’m not sure I’m ready. I mean, proper conversations with completed sentences whilst wearing something …
I’ve been drinking quite a bit in the mornings lately. For work obviously, most recently with Holly & Phil on This Morning. And one of my favourite wines in the line up was an organic red blend from Puglia that comes in what looks like a giant paint tin. It’s basically bag-in-box reimagined, holding three …
It’s been a week of highs and lows. Highs include making cocktails on live radio and watching a football game at Anfield – the atmosphere! – whilst enjoying a glass of red, obviously. And I love that it’s now cold enough for proper jumpers. Preferably roll necks, not least because they hide a multitude of …
Apparently, there’s a new series on Netflix about tidying up with expert de-clutterer Marie Kondo. Now, I haven’t seen it (too busy watching the entire series of Fleabag back to back, way more fun than folding clothes). But I do know Marie’s mantra is ‘does this spark joy?’ In other words if you own something …
Yesterday I spent the day at the London Wine Fair and was, basically, like a kid in a sweet shop. And a really greedy (thirsty?) one at that. It was at Olympia and the room was packed with winemakers and their wines. For years I went to the fair as a supermarket wine buyer and …
So Camp Bestival at the weekend was wet but happily the wine was dry. And delicious. And plentiful. On Saturday night around 50 of us crammed into a tent for the annual Secret Mummies Wine Club and, as always, The Scummy Mummies made us laugh a lot. The wines went down well (and fast), especially a …
What a week it’s been: long, cold and the guy who was in Home Alone 2 briefly is to be President (I’m watching as I type). A highlight was Wednesday, when I went to sign books at a friend’s new wine shop in London, Wild & Lees. Not only did I get to see some of …
I’m a little delirious. I blame half term. Normally, when the kids are all at school, I get a clear day to do stuff. Until 3pm, that is, when all bets are off until at least 8pm. But at least there are a few hours in the day to work, write, taste wine (I know, ridiculous job) and …
A new range of French wines, including some from Bordeaux, are set to hit Lidl’s shelves on Thursday this week. Hardly headline news but in fact it’s done just that, kicking up a little wine storm. Because some of the wines come from lesser-known vineyards neighbouring top estates, the latter charging much higher prices even though …
As promised, a quick update on those booze-related beauty treatments I tested out last week. Washing my hair in beer made me smell like a brewery and washing my face in red wine, egg white and honey was as horrible as it sounds. However, making a home-made body scrub from tequila, salt, oil and lime juice …
You already know about my granola habit. Tonight – I blame Bake Off – I decided to move on to bread. Now, I love my carbs (how can you not love carbs?) and so when I saw the recipe for protein bread in Jamie Oliver’s new cookbook Super Food (a recent birthday present), I thought …
This has been a cracking week for your wine questions (one of the things I love about writing this blog is being able to help with them). Here are some of my favourites: 1. Which are the best wines to look for in a French supermarket? 2. Why is my glass of chablis so yellow? …
Every year, on or around the 25th January, we do Burns Night. I’m married to a sort-of-Scot (my father-in-law was born and brought up in Edinburgh; the Husband’s more of a Hampshire Highlander) so Burns is big in his family. One year, my sister-in-law and I took on the cooking with the help of Pippa …
Follow your dreams and never give up, goes the saying (and Cara D on Instagram). So I’m going to do exactly that and not give up wine in January. Obviously I will be drinking less owing to the mince pie & madeira madness of last month but otherwise I hope to be sipping something delicious …
Hooray for half term. Sort of. As we crawl towards it, I’m half-excited, half-panicking. Excited about not having to set the alarm quite so early. Panicking about fitting in some work. The children are most excited about Halloween, obviously. Which has turned into a monster (pun intended). They usually come back from Trick or Treating …
If ever there was a good way to start the week, it’s with a wine tasting. On Monday night, I was asked to do one for a lovely group of people at Soho House’s West London outpost, High Road House. I picked a line up of current favourite wines from local shops and supermarkets, all …
Last year’s hair. Next Tuesday I’m going to the Fortnum & Mason Food & Drink Awards, where the Knackered Mother’s Wine Club book is shortlisted in the Drinks Book category. Last year, this blog won the Online Drinks Writer award; I’m still getting over that one. I daren’t believe the book will do the double. …
I’ve had an idea. Each month, we’ll hold a wine surgery. More sit-down-and-grab-a-glass than walk-in, but it’s open to all wine questions. I’ve started it off with something someone asked me last week, about the difference between blends and single varietal wines. So if you have a question about wine, simply post it here in …
I like to think I keep up with the trends OH MY GOD I SOUND LIKE MY MOTHER. Anyway, as I was saying, I read the fashion pages in the paper, follow a few blogs, feel like I have a rough idea of what’s hot and what’s not (as they say). So when I decided …
Last week, a reader emailed to ask if I could help with some wine recommendations for her wedding in June this year. Something lovely but not too pricey. And in return, being the beauty editor of a really famous women’s magazine, she offered tailor-made beauty tips. Genius. Kate’s top three tips for Knackered Mothers everywhere: …
Bought from a junk shop in Cornwall years ago, this old dairy farm table has stayed with us through five house moves (I’m. Never. Moving. Again). And has seen countless children’s teas, dinners and Sunday lunches, not to mention the hours clocked up when covered with Airfix models on rainy Saturday afternoons. Then there’s the …
Pamela Vandyke Price Last week, a lady called Pamela Vandyke Price died, aged 90. The reason I know this is because she was a rather famous name in the wine world. In fact, she was one of our first female wine writers, with a column in The Times back in the 1970s and with a …
“You don’t always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go and see what happens.” So said a friend, or rather so said her shared photo on Facebook. My immediate response was lovely idea, but if I do that nowadays I slightly wee. Then I thought some more and given the …
No, not a reference to the catalogue that might give me house envy but whose clothes always make my arse look the size of a small country. (And yes, I am blaming the clothes. It’s easier that way). I’m talking about Toast, the foodie crew who organise events (I believe they are called happenings, nowadays) …
So, my comfortable sandals have drawn a mix of responses, not all of them entirely complimentary. And the more I look at them, the more they do look a bit, well, comfortable. So I am redressing the balance, with these. And as Marilyn Monroe once said: “Give a girl the right shoes and she can …
Hot weather = less clothes. I’m not great at less clothes, unless you count wearing my dressing gown, which I can do for hours, with ease, every Sunday morning. No, I’m happier when jean-clad and wrapped in jumpers. But this heatwave has seen me, for the first time in years, wearing shorts and genuinely not …
Apparently, it is still January. Remember that wonderful wedding I mentioned a few weeks ago? Feels like it was months ago. But, I have developed a coping strategy to get me through and it seems to be working. It goes like this: 1. Make risotto. Spend half an hour at the stove one evening, glass of …
Some of you might remember the last time we went to a ‘do’, with an auction, we returned home with a painting. Two years on and it is still sitting in our garage. And so it was that on Saturday night we headed off to our boys’ school bi-annual fundraising Ball, with no intention of …
Opening Ceremony? I cried. Lizzie Armitstead’s cycling Silver? Cried again. Rebecca Adlington’s 400m freestyle Bronze? More waterworks. Men’s team gymnastics? Equestrian team? FFS, that too. And then there’s the GB women’s football team…the whole thing is quite amazing. Best of all, it is happening here. Lordy, seems I have been possessed by the Olympic spirit. Just …
I love this time of year. Yes, of course I love the falling leaves, scrumping, resulting apple cakes and all that. But what I really love is the fact that the weather demands a fairly generous glass of red. A close second is the TV schedule and the fact that leaving the sofa on a Saturday night is …
When I was six I stepped on Mickey Mouse’s tail accidentally (on purpose) to increase my fancy dress chances at the local village fete, only to come second. From that day, I resigned myself to the fact that I am just not one of those competition-winning type people. Until now, that is. Since I started …
I am 39 years old on Sunday. Totally fine with that. What I am not fine with is my birthday wish list. I wrote it down earlier this week. It looked like this: 1. A wheelbarrow 2. A new roasting dish That was it. Pathetic. I am sharing it with you now in the hope …
Actually, gone fishing, crabbing, shell-seeking, rock-pooling, sand-in-sandwiches picnicking and all that. We’ll send you a virtual postcard, but can’t promise to post it before we get home. In the meantime, here’s what I’ve just packed in the food box: Current white in the fridge: Maurel Vedeau Sauvignon Blanc/Grenache, £4.74, Tesco.com Uncomplicated Southern French blend of …
Watching the news this week has been shocking, depressing, awful. People’s lives and livelihoods have been wrecked. It felt just a little bit wrong but I was glued to the TV, distracted only by twitter. Last night found me bingeing on opinion pieces, with a Newsnight chaser. Tonight there is a Question Time Special. Cue …
So there I was, standing in the middle of an H&M clothes shop and all I could think was I’VE LOST IT. I just didn’t ‘get’ the clothes. Everything looked too small, too trendy, too….too…teenager-y. Still, I refused to give in graciously and picked up something to try on. Then I saw the escalator and …
I’m a born worrier. I’m the eldest sibling, a Virgo and a mother. Triple whammy. But there is a huge difference in my BC (before childbirth) and AD (after delivery) worries. BC was mostly me: namely money, weight, clothes, job, social & love life. There was a dalliance with existentialism vs. rationalism during the university …
According to Lorraine Candy, editor of Elle magazine, it’s easier to run an office of 40 than build a Lego fort. You don’t say. When I was on maternity leave after Eldest Boy was born it was obviously joyous, but it was also mind-numbingly monotonous at times. Engaging with little people against a backdrop of dirty washing and a toy-covered …
I’m friends with VB. Not that VB (seriously though, have you read Mrs Beckham’s interview in this month’s Vogue? She’s fab). This is Very Bored, or Very Bored in Catalunya to give her blog its full title. Luckily, boredom drives her to write very funny stuff. It also drives her to drink (in moderation, obviously) and she knows lots about good Spanish …
I’ve always dismissed the Christmas round robin letter idea. Even worse, an e-Christmas card. But this evening I found myself replying via email to a group of old friends who are now placed all over the world and realised that summing up all the important news in one’s life is actually a very good exercise. Here’s mine: Eldest …
There has been a lot of talk about wine talk recently. Among wine writers, that is. From what I can gather, they are arguing that one wine drinker’s blackberries are another wine drinker’s raspberries. Should we really be so aroma and flavour-descriptive when tasting wine is so subjective? Well, when I’m buying something that I haven’t tried before …
Or so my mother used to say to me when hurrying me out of the door to get to school on time. But that is exactly what it was. The length of our skirts, the carefully picked holes in our jumpers…we might have all been in school uniform but there were ways to mark ourselves out, or rather blend in. Now I’m doing …
For a while my habit was out of control. Not that I knew it at the time, of course. I thought I could control it: one week Hello!, the next Grazia, the following week, OK! My knowledge on high street fashion, royals and Cheryl Cole was impressive. But before I knew it, I was doing all three in …
One of the tips for new year, new you is to clear out your wardrobe, throwing away anything unworn over the past year. Whoever wrote that clearly doesn’t realise that there are clothes that I haven’t worn for five years BUT I AM DEFINITELY GOING TO WEAR THEM AGAIN. I just need to lose a couple of, er, pounds. …
So, we went to a gig the other night to see the very excellent Editors. Loved the music but the dancing and whooping felt ever-so-slightly self-conscious. Is it me? Anyway, my music-native friend who organised the tickets explained that the term gig is out. It is now called a ‘show’ apparently. Fine if you haven’t had children, but for anyone …
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