I’d so like to write a book. I did write one a year or two back but that’s a cookbook (called, as it happens, The Passion for Real Food, essential for your bookshelf, a great present for anybody who likes cooking or, indeed, anybody who’d like to learn to cook, and available from the restaurant […]

Are we invisible here in the North East? Last weekend I eagerly opened the Sundays to read a feature about the “Lip-smacking foodie festivals in the UK and Ireland” that was boldly proclaimed on the front page. Food festivals! Now that’s something that gets me going. Not only do I get to smooch around getting […]

The girl who cuts my hair is called Trish Brown. When I say girl, she’s more of a woman these days as I’ve known her a long time; time she’s spent gaining experience with one of the best hairdressing chains in the land before, a couple of years ago, opening her own salon in Darlington […]

Have you ever met a homosexual pig? I was introduced to one recently and, I must admit, I had my doubts. It didn’t look any different from the other pigs. It wasn’t dressed in a flamboyant fashion, didn’t seem to demonstrate a greater sensitivity to what was going on around it and I’m sure, if […]

It got into the press some months agao that David Cameron’s in-laws were objecting to having a slaughterhouse built next to their home. Quite why I should be interested in the personal matters of the Prime Minister’s relations is beyond me as it’s doubtful they were a major influence in our decision at the last […]

“And pigs like melons” I was heard to say as my friend walked into the room. Normally it’s me that picks up on the tail of a conversation and gets the wrong end of the stick. His response: “Well maybe they were when you first got them but they’re a lot larger now” seemed hysterically […]

In our quieter moments, don’t we all hanker after being able to do something positive; something that we know will change things for the better; improve the world a little bit; even if it’s just our immediate environment? After all, we’re bombarded by all sorts telling us how we’re adversely affecting our world by unreasonably […]

Maybe we shouldn’t worry about how bad things are going to get. Never mind the Greeks and the Spanish, as the Italians and then the French are inevitably forced to seek a bailout and the financial world collapses all around us, we just have to get used to a lower standard of living. And we […]

There are rules when you run your own business but there are some rules that are more important than others. For instance, when you run a restaurant it’s pretty important that you’re nice to customers – because their return is rather important to your livelihood. Following strict health and hygiene rules is pretty fundamental because, […]

I was taught to knit as a child by my Grandmother. I must have been about five or six years old. It wasn’t terribly successful in that the result was just one grey scarf. I’m not clear if it started out being grey – five year old boys are not known for their cleanliness – […]