Honey, Honey, how you thrill me...

So say the words of the famous ABBA song. Now its your turn. Bees are declining and they are so important. the National Trust has started a campaign to save the honey bee - help them out. There are simple things to do. Buy local honey (when ever you see it), plant bee friendly plants, cut down on pesticides, don't kill them - say hello instead.

There are 45 sites on National Trust properties supporting bees with hives and local radio stations are giving away seeds. Local honey is always far superior and tastes different. At the moment we have Isle of Wight honey - but I have some in reserve - Samos (Greece) - fab with Greek yoghurt) and some Sussex gold - bought nearer to home. The subtlety in taste from region to region in the UK is amazing. go on - love a bee.

Some BEE facts:

• Honey bees have five eyes
• Honey bees can carry half their weight in pollen
• One honey bee would need to fly the equivalent of twice around the world to produce a jar of honey
• Bees live in colonies of up to 70,000, with just one queen (imagine if they were gay)
• Honey bees do a waggle dance to show the other bees where food is
• Bees have two pairs of wings, which can beat at over 180 times per second
• Forty per cent of the food we eat depends on plants being pollinated by insects, including bees
• One in three mouthfuls of food is produced with the help of bees

HUG A BEE TODAY - PLANT THESE!

• Bee-friendly flowers include foxgloves, lavender, forget-me-nots, heather and thyme
• Bee-friendly fruit and veg include apples, raspberries, pears, courgettes, runner beans and squash

The picture is of bees at the National Trust property - Standen in Surrey

you can't beat a barbeque shape

Arnott's Barbeque Shapes (and the rest of the range) have arrived in ASDA (or poo ASDA as  we call it). I squealed with excitement and clapped my hands - true! Then purchased a pile of them. I ate a whole box on the way home in the car. 1000 calories thanks for coming. I am still in heaven. I introduced them to Stef and she loves them too - especially Chicken Drumsticks. they don't really taste of chicken and look nothing like a drumstick - but they are very moorish. Prior to this development they cost over 3 quid in Harvey Nichols. £1.57 - get them while they last. Here's Stef with some Shapes from Oz. You love it.

Beijing Yoghurt

Been meaning to write about Beijing Yoghurt. Natural yoghurt flavoured with honey and sold in ceramic pots. Costs around 40p and was delicious and really refreshing. You find it in little shops, street markets and some cafes. It's sometimes chilled (though not always). Make sure you get ones that have been made that day (particularly if they are displayed outside). You pop a straw through the paper lid and sip away. It's unique to Beijing (so I'm told). Try it at home, Take a cup of natural (low fat) yogurt, thinned down with a table spoon of milk (add more if needed to reach drinking consisitency) and flavour with a mild tasting honey. About half to a whole teaspoon full. Perfect.

Cake Britain

Future Gallery, London is hosting a 4 day exhibition of projects and art exhibits made entirely from sugar and edible ingredients. It's designed in part to promote the Tate and Lyle brand. It looked great and was a really clever idea to get brand exposure. AND is was heaving. Everyone got a biscuit letter or gingerbread man to snack on whilst viewing the exhibits. This sunday everyone there gets to eat the art works. What a concept.

This little fella was made from icing and cake (I think) and was as tall as my arm. Check out Cake Britain this Bank holiday weekend.

For the love of Scorpion

Beijing offered lots of eating experiences and I knew scorpion was on the menu at the Night Food Market. A food tour of the said markets courtesy of Hias Gourmet allowed me to experience everything from Beijing yoghurt to candied crab apple and shrimp balls. The most interesting and icky was double fried scorpion. After being advised to remove the pincers you simple bite! It tasted of oil and then salt. After a few chews (it was a bit crunchy) it tasted of burned lamb, like the ends of a roast lamb. Nice. I had two - that was my fill as then it was time for sea snake.

Chinese Dreams

A whirlwind tour of china (Beijing and Tianjin) gave me the chance to eat some fabulous food. I toured the night markets with Hias Gourmet Tours (more later), ate Mongolian buffet lunch and lots of other treats along the way. I loved breakfast time. It usually involved sweet bread (chinese bread is very sweet) curried bamboo shoots, fried rice, eggs hard boiled in soy sauce, noodles, stir fried cabbage and congee - a light soup style liquid. Corn congee was like plain thin semolina. Weird but comforting. Such a different offering to our breakfasts of cereal, milk and toast. I like.

Purple Beans

 Everyone knows green beans are good for you - but at Standen in a pretty part of Sussex, I discovered purple beans growing in the kitchen garden. We chatted to the gardener - seen here about them them. Unusual looking but very similar in taste and composition to normal beans - when you cook them they go green. We bought some, cooked and ate them. Lovely - but take a bit longer than green ones to cook. The purple bean.

Australian Women's Weekly Cookbooks

It was a dull and downtrodden day in the office yesterday until amazon.co.uk delivered my newest edition: Australian Women's Weekly 100 Classic Cakes. It lifted my mood, a smile came over my face and all seemed much better. An institution in my life and indeed in Australia. The Australian Women's Weekly produces the very best cook books and I have grown up with them, cooked with them and will wax lyrical about their benefits and greatness to anyone who will listen. So out of the grey mood I thought, "I will cook!" Look out for the soon to be baked Banana Caramel Layer Cake and the Strawberry Jelly Cakes.

I do like to be beside the seaside

Brighton offers many things, clubs, bars, (often dodgy) fish and chips, a huge Primark and Bills! For the uninitiated, Bill's is a Sydney style cafe/restuarant. Big food, fabulously presented and tasting even better. A trip to the Sussex coast should not ignore this foodie heaven. They serve good coffee, bloody good Bloody Marys and there's a whole host of unique grocery lines for the budding home chef. We picked up sweet paprika (hard to get in the supermarket), Irish oatmeal and Chilli Jelly. Check it out at: www.billsproducestore.co.uk. I went with Karl, Miss Melody, Faymonde and Shawditch. This was of course followed by donuts on the pier and a ride on the merry go round. Here's the pics of a great day at Bill's. The only question - who the hell is Bill?

Chinese preparation

Getting ready for my china trip I headed out for Chilli Crab with friends to Fung Shing in Lisle Street, Chinatown. Great crab (worth the shell cracking) and finger licking good. Really fresh meat, but I could have done with a touch more spice - it took me back to Singapore last year - THE BEST Chilli Crab ever. Fung Shing also does great crispy duck pancakes and chicken done two ways. Lots of food and great tips on bartering in Beijing from Josephine. If they say 100 offer them 25, then walk away. They will call come back if they want a sale! Look out Beijing.

The Big Lunch - Norbury style

Yesterday was the Big Lunch, a national event to bring communities together over lunch. Think street parties and you are almost there. About a million people took part last year - everyone brings a plate of food to share. It was a modest gathering of about 40 odd people, but we had a good time. The Zucchini Slice was a winner as were the lamingtons and Feta, rosemary and potato bread - all courtesy of Smith's Kitchen. Karl's bunting was popular and our local councillors came too. Long live the big lunch.

Fabulous bakers in Wapping

A trip to see the Fashion Editor of The Times today took me past P J Bakers of 93 Wapping Lane. THE best hot cross buns I have tasted in many years, great freshly baked bread and lots of tasty treats including a bagel for me and Stef for lunch. It's out of the way, but if you're ever in Wapping, you won't be disappointed.

Just the beginning

Today's the first day of my blog. Last night I lovingly prepared a Chocolate cola cake for Jo's birthday today. It's one of the best chocolate cake recipes I've found and I return to it time and again. She will love it. It contains cola in the cake recipe melted with a block of butter as well as 3 tablespoons in the icing with butter and cocoa. Delicious. It's being transported on the back of my bike to be delivered for morning tea today.