Whenever I see Paris Brest on a menu I'm reminded of Tony, my very eccentric head waiter who I worked with for many happy years at The Chalice Restaurant in Bury. I cooked, he was front of house. His first job when he arrived at work (usually late as he stopped to buy things on the side of the road, arriving in with eggs, flowers, vegetables and often a piece of furniture) was to check what was on the menu and then to hand write the copies. His handwriting was awful and his speciality was the deliberate misspelling of menu items hoping that I wouldn't find out before the end of service and allowing him to regale the customers with a verbal description of the desserts of the day.  30 years on I will never forget his squiggle, the r and i in Paris becoming an m. So dear followers, in honour of Tony I give you my recipe for Pams Brest.

Yes, I know, I ate three courses at The Unruly Pig pre-launch brunch last week and my daughter did too. But where else can you order Oysters Rockefeller followed by an Omelette Arnold Bennett and then a finale plate of waffles with maple syrup and bacon. The new brunch menu is available from this Saturday 6th April. You must try it!

• great drinks menu with a huge choice of teas too
• cocktails for breakfast ... hic!
• what a fabulous menu with interesting choices
• a brilliant vegetarian menu
• passion fruit spritz
• blackberry, plum and yoghurt smoothie .. the fruity
• oysters rockefeller
• omelette arnold bennett
• wild mushroom rarebit
• desserts included the waffles with different toppings and a pain perdu with pump street chocolate, glazed banana and pecans
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Wild and Game's pheasant, pork and caramelised onion pie scooped a gold medal at the the 2019 British Pie Awards. They've sent me one to try for my lunch today and very delicious it was too. Available via mail order should you fancy one.

• just the right amount of caramelised onion when I cut the pie open
• and no your'e not having any
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Don't miss this wonderful menu of events, talks and tastings for Food Season with The British Library. Yum!

It's the perfect time of year to crystallise spring flowers. I love making these beautiful and natural decorations to add a splash of colour to a special Mother's Day cake. Primroses, wood violets and viola's are at their best right now but apple blossom, borage flowers, rose petals and nasturtiums all work well too. You'll see I've also crystallised a few sprigs of mint. Make sure the flowers haven't been sprayed with chemicals and pick leaving a long stem to hold on to. Don't wash them, they must be bone dry.

You will need. One egg white thinned and lightly fork whisked with a teaspoon of vodka. Caster sugar. A small paint brush.

• Take a clean, dry flower. Hold it by the stalk (use tweezers if there is no stalk) then carefully paint all surfaces of the petals with egg white.
• Now gently sprinkle the flower with caster sugar ensuring top and bottom surfaces of the petals all catch some sugar.
• Place on baking parchment and leave to air dry for 24/36hrs. Remove stalks once the flowers have dried.
• The flowers will dry in the shape and position that you place them on the baking parchment so consider this when you set them aside to dry.
  • whisk egg white with a teaspoon of vodka
  • paint petals carefully with the egg white, not too much!
  • and decorate ...
  • sprinkle with sugar making sure all areas are covered
  • lay on baking parchment to dry
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Entering into its 10th year, the Framlingham Country Show takes place on 13th and 14th April at Framlingham College. I'm told there will be an amazing drinks festival, rural crafts, a dog show, cars and a cookery theatre with demos from 2017 Great British Bake Off winner Sophie Faldo. Yes! Cakes.

Apparently there's a Golden Ticket hidden in one of the Mother's Day cards handed out to all Mums this Sunday at Giggling Squid branches across the country. (The Golden Ticket will be a £50 voucher to be used on a future visit). Tables still available for late lunch and supper in our Bury St Edmunds branch.

 Cheester Eggs from Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses. Cheddar or Blacksticks Blue, definitely an Easter Egg to nibble on.

• Blacksticks Blue Easter Egg
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Popped into Folk at Fornham Business Court for breakfast on Monday and ordered a coffee and bacon sarnie from the all day breakfast menu (no egg though as they can't cook these after 10.30 am). This new cafe seems to have taken off as it was heaving with customers, all tables fully occupied and only a bar stool left for me to sit on. It's great to see a new, upcoming and young business doing well and serving high quality food and drink. Their website sensibly says 'we're on our way' and so opening times are limited at the moment to Monday to Friday 8am to 4pm. Just need to sort out that extra pan to cook the all day brekkie egg!

• great coffee
• tasty bacon sarnie
• pretty vintage tractor for the children to play on
• good all day menu
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Fray Bentos the iconic pie brand and favourite pie maker to actor Sean Bean, are introducing the Vegetable Balti pie, filled with potato, onion, red pepper, tomato, carrot and peas in a spicy balti sauce. I can't wait.