About

Whilst I am a relative newbie to blogging, I have been writing about food and cookery, and creating recipes, for many years; I feel very fortunate to have made a career out of my passion for food. I studied home economics at school and college, and for about 30 years  I have been a successful home economist covering food styling, food and cookery writing, product and recipe development, and cookery demonstrating. For more information about my work, please visit my website: www.kathrynhawkinsfood.co.uk .

I cook all sorts of food and recipes as part of my job, but when I’m at home, due to certain food intolerances, my cooking is based around a low gluten and low dairy diet. In this blog, you’ll find recipes which contain little or no gluten and a few specific dairy products. I try to use as much seasonal, local and home-grown produce as possible. Like everyone else, I have my own favourite ingredients, family recipes and cultural influences which are also reflected in my cooking.

Having escaped London over a decade ago, I moved to rural Perthshire, in central Scotland. A whole new world opened up to me, and I became a gardener for the first time. My garden has now become my second greatest passion after food. The climate is ideally suited to growing soft fruit, especially rhubarb, raspberries and gooseberries. I have planted several varieties of small fruit trees and they produce good crops. I have an unheated greenhouse as well. Although it’s a bit on the shabby side, it allows me to grow some of the more tender crops which might otherwise perish if exposed to the elements. My biggest gardening triumph to date has been to raise a few sweet potatoes, but for the life of me I can’t grow a decent carrot!

I post about the things I love to grow, as well as a few tips and tricks I have learnt along the way. All that remains for me to say for now, is: “I hope you enjoy my blog, happy cooking and good gardening!”

homegrown rhubarb
Home-grown rhubarb. Image copyright: Kathryn Hawkins

 

All recipes, words and images in this blog are my own unless otherwise stated.

16 thoughts on “About”

  5. Carrots being so readily available in supermarkets, one would never think they are hard to grow… And yet! We were never able to get any decent crop from our organic garden. You need to thin them out, but not too much, and learn how to fight the carrot fly! We gave up.
    On my way to discovering your blog !

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    1. I believe a sandy soil is the best for growing carrots. I have also tried growing them in containers but too much hassle for little reward. I am fortunate to be able to get fresh carrots from a local farm shop, so I don’t feel I am missing out on the “homegrown” experience.

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      1. I have learned to trust our local growers for fresh vegetables. We won’t be able to do any more gardening for a while at least, as we are moving to an apartment by the sea some time this year. It was a choice: we need to be free in order to travel more, with our children on both sides of the Atlantic.
        I am going to follow your blog so as not to miss your interesting posts on food and gardening 🙂

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  6. This description is so lovely. I’ve never been to central Scotland, or anywhere in Scotland for that matter, but reading this I found myself wanting to take a stroll through your garden and then join you in your kitchen. 🙂

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