Food & recipes
13 squash recipes everyone should have up their sleeve
I realise this post would have been more timely back in the autumn, when squash and pumpkin were everywhere in the shops. But if you grow your own squash, as we do, you’ll still have loads left from the autumn (cured properly in a sunny, warm spot squash will keep...
A lovely, sticky ginger cake for you (vegan, but you’d never know it)
As someone who’s constantly obsessed with my next meal, I’m still surprised how much I’ve focused in on food during this whole pandemic thing. Which is partly why I’m enjoying Instagram so much. (If you aren’t yet following me, I’m @auntie_bulgaria. I share lots of...
Homemade liqueurs. Birthday snow
The snow has finally returned to Bulgaria. Which is handy because I was getting really cheesed off with all that brownness. Brown trees. Brown muddy lanes. Brown garden. Brown paw prints all over the kitchen floor. Brown village river (it’s been raining a lot,...
How to make mekitsi
The first time we ate mekitsi, we were in the Rodopi mountains, staying in a small family hotel. Every morning the cook would bring out a plate piled with three or four large mekitsi at a time. There would be a brief but dignified scrum among the few guests...
The boomiest of booms (also, cake)
Stormy season has arrived in Bulgaria. Look at those clouds rolling in. Ah, June. A great month for those Brits in Bulgaria who love wanging on about the weather. (So that’s all Brits in Bulgaria, then.) It’s hot and sunny one minute, then you hear the...
In search of cheese – or, the Great Bulgarian (Vegan) Pizza Off
Firing up the pizza oven for the first time this year. Being the borderline millennial clichés that we are, it was only a matter of time before we started eating vegan-ish. We already ate vegetarian 95% of the time (the other 5% being a weakness for barbecue...
The ‘rona report, part 2: Freezer pleaser
This week we have mainly been drinking frozen margaritas. You? It all started with the frozen lemon slices. Before long, I was freezing pretty much anything that wasn’t nailed down... When you grow your own veg, you quickly learn to love the freezer. We make...
The ‘rona report, part 1: No scrap left behind
When life gives you lemons (and orange cordial), make (orangey) G&Ts. Then re-use the lemons. I’ve always been a bit competitive about food and drink. The number of times a waiter has looked at me in a restaurant and said, ‘Are you sure you want to order...
Scavengers
You know what’s the surest sign that winter is on the way? It’s not the arrival of this year’s wood order, which finally turned up about a week ago… The annual Rob-in-front-of-the-wood-delivery picture. Nor is it harvesting the tempting butternut squash,...
What to do with all those tomatoes? (Inspiration needed)
Just a small selection of this week's bounty. Following last year’s ‘What to do with all those courgettes’ post, I thought I’d do the same with tomatoes – except this time with more of a plea for ideas. Here’s what we normally do with all our toms: Eating...
Tart me up
Here’s a neat way with courgettes that I made up all by myself, like the clever sausage I am. Now that we’re ramping up to Peak Courgette, it’s useful to have yet another courgette recipe to put into rotation, alongside other favourites like cake, briam...
The increasing Westernisation of Bulgaria as demonstrated through avocado availability
Kaufland didn’t have any avocados the other day. Just typing that sentence makes me realise how much Bulgaria has changed since we first came here in 2011. I don’t think I saw an avocado in a local shop until … maybe 2014? 2015, even? I mean, you’d see them...