Mum's birthday today, the first one since her death. It's a strange juxtaposition: a day where we'd normally celebrate her birth, when her death is still so fresh in our hearts. It's quite hard to get my head around it all. Remembering her dearly, with a bowl of homemade chicken soup & kneidlach. ❤️

Rainy day fish-finger bhorta, brightening up my evening. (love this recipe from @nigella.bsky.social's Cook Eat Repeat and online 👇) ☔ www.nigella.com/recipes/fish...

Sunday evening supper - baked bean shaak, with eggs broken on top. (recipe via @urvashiroe.bsky.social's wonderful, Biting Biting) 🍳

Hunkering down in a bowl of homemade apple crumble. (the only question is - cream, ice cream or custard?) 🥣

Homemade rice pud. I make various types, but in the mood this frosty weekend for a baked pudding with nutmeg. I love Felicity Cloake's recipe, which includes bay leaves, lemon rind, vanilla and a splash of Pedro Ximinez. (And yes, I'm all for the skin!) 🍷

I love how Anna Ansari evocatively weaves personal memoir and historical narrative into her cookbook, Silk Roads. I really enjoyed making her 'Risotto Alla Bukarese', Anna's homage to the Bukharan Jewish rice dish, bakhsh - a dish brought to Central Asia by Jews fleeing Persia in the 6th century. 🌿

It’s the custom: on January the 1st #RecipeOfTheDay just has to be Eggs in Purgatory. Just letting you know now in case I’m not up and running in the morning! Happy New Year, and may 2026 be kind to us all. www.nigella.com/recipes/eggs...

First sunrise of 2026. The days are getting lighter. Wishing you all good things for the year ahead. x

My year in books! As you can see, I've been devouring food memoir, especially with so many superb ones out this year. Each one I found inspiring, particularly as I get on with writing my own. So many other food-themed books I'm looking forward to reading too. If you have any recs, I'd love to know!

Homemade chocolate hazelnut cake for my wife's special birthday - recipe from @nigelslater.bsky.social's wonderful 'Real Fast Puddings' (my copy so well used, it's just about holding together with sellotape!) Perfect with vanilla ice cream and spoonfuls of amarena sour cherries in syrup. 🍒

www.ft.com/content/d2ff... I've nominated five absolute beauties for this unmissable list 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The perfect breakfast of elegant leftovers, Panettone French Toast is #RecipeOfTheDay! www.nigella.com/recipes/pane...

🚨Last-minute present ideas for the thinking cook or, indeed, eater. Just get yourself to the nearest bookshop before it closes!

Junior's recipe for baked cheesecake is a family tradition. We've been making it for twenty five years. My daughter's turn this year.

Grandpa's Christmas pièce de résistance - steamed sticky toffee apricot pudding! 🔥

It's the time of the year when I share recipes from Kavey Eats that I think work well for Christmas! First up, my mum's tandoori roast leg of lamb. We have it with the usual British Christmas dinner sides and trimmings! www.kaveyeats.com/christmas-da...

It's Christmas week in my NHS clinic, so brought in some homebaked gingerbread for my wonderful team. It's become a real ritual; the rich treacle and warm heady spices feel so festive. My go-to recipe is always @nigella.bsky.social's beautiful 'Luscious Vegan Gingerbread' - Christmas in cake form! ✨

Mixed faith family perks - loading up on all the Chanukah doughnuts AND Christmas mince pies! (these beauties from Cakehole and Sires Hill Bakery respectively, via my local London farmers market) 🍩🥧

After lighting our candles at home, more candle-lighting action at Honey & Co's Chanukah supperclub. (Well, you can't have too much light in this world..) I was kindly invited along as @akatzkennedy.bsky.social's guest, and so special to join this communal celebration. Food of course was delicious!🕯️

First night of Chanukah. Light over darkness. 🕯️

Celebrating one of my oldest friend's 50th birthday in Totnes. Really special to join him for this milestone, commemorated with klezmer music, dance, poetry, song & food - the latter via the brilliant The Hairy Barista, whose café and community hub I couldn't resist hanging out in into today. 🎂

Popped into the inspiring Home Community Café - community hub and not-for-profit café. It was the last place I wrote about on the blog before focusing on my book. What a gem this place is! Delicious mushroom shawarma with cabbage, pickles & chilli sauce. And a gorgeous sticky gingerbread for pud. 🎉

Sunday morning porridge. Inspired by @markdiacono.bsky.social's recipe, served with pears, nutmeg, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, maple syrup and tayberry jam. 🥣

Homemade apple crumble, laced with cinnamon and a few cloves. Only question is... ice cream or custard? 🥣

Popped in to the fabulous Ta'mini bakery for some delicious ma'amoul, knafeh and other Lebanese treats!

Diving into a pot of homemade fasoulia (Iraqi white bean stew). Perfect on this grey drizzly day. (fab recipe via Meera Sodha) 🍲

Back at London's Katsuro for their incredible chicken katsu sando. 🥪 👇

This week’s kitchen diary… observer.co.uk/style/food/a...

Homemade cottage pie. (I do like pie season!) Fab recipe via @rachelaliceroddy.bsky.social. 🥧

Such a treasure trove of edible delights! Thanks for the fab recommendations @kavey.bsky.social! 👇

I feel happy just thinking of #RecipeOfTheDay. I feel even happier eating it: it’s Marmalade Pudding Cake! www.nigella.com/recipes/marm...

Homemade spiced lamb and lentil hotpot. A favourite dish round ours for those autumnal nights! (fab recipe via Sabrina Ghayour) 🍲

Took my 15 year old for a spot of half-term holiday katsu at Katsuro nr Clapham Junction. Incredibly crunchy crust, and meltingly tender meat inside, it was a double thumbs up from us both. The chicken katsu sando was particularly excellent. 🥪

Our lovely neighbours popped over with some delicious Diwali samosas and jalebis. So kind of them! 🙏

Burmese Fried Chicken - always a winner round ours! My boys love it dipped in sriracha mayo, with extra pickles on the side. Recipe via the fabulous @meemalee.bsky.social and her cookbook Mandalay. (also on @nigella.bsky.social's website - www.nigella.com/recipes/gues...

#RecipeOfTheDay is the delectable Om Ali, an Egyptian dessert introduced to me about 30 years ago by the great Claudia Roden, comprising crisp filo pastry layered with nuts and dried fruit and baked with cream-enriched sweetened milk. It’s simple but sensational! www.nigella.com/recipes/om-ali

Roasted carrots, chickpeas, garlic, walnuts & herbs. It's a recipe I return to again and again - from Ruby Tandoh's outstanding 'Cook As You Are'. Here served with feta, albeit separately so that our lactose-intolerant family members can also enjoy, and made for my sister-in-law's birthday lunch. 🥕

I love this book by @lickedspoon.bsky.social! Wonderful recipes and so brilliantly written.👇

As well as the brilliant writing and evocative stories in Anna Ansari's new book, Silk Roads, the recipes are fabulous too. Kicked things off by making a dish of Uyghur ziran doufu (cumin tofu), and loved its aromatic spices and kick of heat against the crispy tofu cubes. Can't wait to try again! 🔥

I do love a crumble. And at this time of year, there's nothing better than a homely apple crumble, laced with cinnamon or nutmeg or in this recipe, marsala wine. Can't wait to try this one from @nigella.bsky.social! 🍎👇

What an honor it was to interview @oliahercules.bsky.social and @felicityspector.bsky.social as part of the @burylitfest.bsky.social. They are magnificent, talented women and you should buy their books. #Strongroots #Breadandwar

When I first heard news of the Manchester synagogue attack, my immediate fear was for my dad, aunt and uncle. Once I heard they were safe, and my initial relief subsided, then the true shock and heartbreak set in. /1

Had my in-laws over and made a double header of wonderful Sami Tamimi dishes - braised eggs with lamb, tahini and sumac (recipe with Ottolenghi in their Jerusalem cookbook) and musaqa'a (with Tara Wigley in Falastin). Two of my favourite all-time recipes! 🍳

When my parents first moved into their home, they planted an apple tree in the back garden. Decades later, it's still bearing fruit. Perfect for Rosh Hashanah honey-dipping. And for homemade apple crumble too! 🍎

These sound pear-fect!..🍐👇

First Rosh Hashanah without mum was always going to be a tough one. There are echoes of her everywhere, as well as the spaces where I feel her loss so acutely. But also thankful we could be in Manchester with dad, my sister and family, bringing in new year together. And dad made his honey cake too.

With honey a traditional symbol of hope for a sweet new year, we're bringing in Rosh Hashanah with some homemade sticky honey chicken. Recipe via @lickedspoon.bsky.social and her fabulous Notes From A Small Kitchen Island. Wishing you a happy, healthy & sweet year ahead, full of love and kindness.🍯

My wonderful work friend Debs brought in several bags of damsons from her garden to the clinic. Well, it had to be done. Damson crumble is go! 👇

Roasted chicken, braised butter beans and confit garlic - lovely lunch at Vauxhall's Italo café with @kaypeddle.bsky.social the other day. (and when it started to rain, they moved us lock, stock, table and chairs into the little deli inside) ☔

Well that was a blast, Ludlow Food Festival! So excited to share a stage with Kathy Slack, as we talked food memoir, mental health and her wonderful book, Rough Patch. Really enjoyed catching so many other brilliant talks too (..and eat lots of cheese!) 🎉