Kitchen Essential

It is important to start by choosing a colour scheme for the table setting and then to choose flowers that suit the style of the meal, the colour of the table linens, the china to be used and any candles to be placed on the table. The appearance of the room and the dinner table can be effectively varied by using flowers of different colours arranged in different ways. Several large arrangements of flowers can be placed around the room to echo the theme chosen for the table, and a much smaller arrangement should be used on the table itself. Tall vases and large spreading arrangements placed on the table are too intrusive and may mean that people cannot easily talk to each other across the table.

The table flower arrangement should be kept low and central, spreading gently outwards rather than upwards. The shape of the vase used is all important as it will affect the height of the flowers and the way they spread. Choose a low shallow vase and place inside a piece of crumpled chicken wire or oasis; this will hold the stems in place. Continue Reading »

The traditional Scottish recipe for this, the largest of the British and Scandinavian game birds, states that as soon as possible after the bird has been killed, the crop should be removed, the feet cut off and the bird then buried for a fortnight, by which time one should have forgotten where the bird has been buried. This implies that the caper is pretty ghastly fare, but this is an exaggeration, and similar defamatory statements are often made about the black grouse and its female counterpart, the grey hen, which I and many others consider excellent eating. Continue Reading »