Baking Made Easy

Happy New Year everyone! Hopefully you enjoyed fun & food filled festivities (but are not being too hard on yourself calorie counting now!).

Lorraine Pascale's new cookery show, 'Baking Made Easy' won't be any help to you if you are. The six part series kicked off tonight at 8.30pm on BBC2. It was fantastically filled with lots of deliciously tempting goodies including a savoury fig, mint and pistachio tart, soda bread, parmesan lollipops, blueberry mille feuille and an amazing 'I can't believe you made that cake'. Now, I can save you the calories if you like and tell you that having eaten everything, everything is definitely worth eating!!

I skipped off to London in early last summer for a few weeks to work on the show and ended up staying for five. And boy, was it a long hot summer. We had four ovens on the go with 30 degrees of heat blazing from the sun and of course couldn't open any doors or windows because of noise. Mega Melt. Mega melting chocolate. Mega melting pastry. Mega melting everyone and everything. Thankfully, that didn't show in Lorraine's cool performance!

Here are some behind the scenes snaps...

my very glamorous head quarters in the studio. I could come back from the kitchen to find my desk anywhere, including the garden at one point. on the only rainy day!

some continuity snaps of Lorraine's soda bread bites and the mille feuille pastries.

I can't believe you made that cake!

America on Ice

Well, I'm home! I had such a fantastic time away - lots of work but with as much play as possible squeezed into the gaps. More about that later though. Back home, shopping day hazards include traffic jams, not being able to track down stem ginger when you need it and supermarket car park door dents (don't get me started on that one!). Anyhow, not so in sleepy Easthampton. Just Snowmageddon to deal with...

Runner Jess is so desperate to get to work she abandons the car and heads on foot!

Production Manager, Katy, couldn't wait to get there either...come snow, hail or icicles

Assistant Producer, Xanna, on the hunt for sun as ever. The only thing coming is a snow plough!

Luckily for me work was a wellie walk next door to home

new work space

Well, one day of filming down so far (see previous post) so I thought I'd show you where I've been working....

Photos from House Beautiful

one more sleep...

One more sleep before I head off and fly into what is being dubbed 'Snowmageddon'! I'm heading to the states. East Hampton in The Hamptons to be precise. I'm hoping the weather there isn't that bad as I cant fit any more warm clothes in my 23kg baggage allowance!! (How is a girl to survive on rations like that?!).

Sorry, I digress....I'm very excitedly off to work for a few weeks on Barefoot Contessa. I worked on it a few years ago so I'm really looking forward to catching up with everyone on production. The show, presented by Ina Garten, has broadcast on the American Food Network for quite a few years now where it is hugely popular, and has more recently come to the UK Food Networktoo so you may be familiar with it.

Now, job aside for a second, you'll never guess where I'll be living? Only 'Gingerbread Lane'! *heart pounds, hand goes to brow and faints* I'll be back in touch once I get settled in there...

HOMECHEF

A quick turnaround from when we filmed Neven Maguire's new cookery programme HOMECHEF only a couple of months ago (as per this post and this post), but the 13 part series starts at 8.30pm tonight on RTE1. So get the fire toasty and snuggle in from the frost and snow. Here are some more snap shots from filming, this time of some of the food to expect. Enjoy!

hhmmm...Neven, what on earth have you been up to?!

Kirstie's Homemade Christmas series

Ok, ok, just one more post....Hope you liked the series and feel all christmassy now and fully inspired to get creative! Fear not, Kirstie will be back with a fab new 'homemade home' series next year where she will visit people's homes this time, as well as lots more craftiness. You can keep up to date, make suggestions of crafts you'd like to see and even apply to be on the programme on the show's facebook. Finally, here are a few final pics from behind the scenes of the christmas special...

Presenter Amy has her make-up retouched while being watched on by the biggest turkey in the world, lol!

You thought you only saw one turkey on the programme but that was actually three! it's a long story in the world of TV...this is where the story began...Amy & I glamourously shoving our arms under turkey skin (in our homemade home...'the van')!

Karen & I ditching the 'hero' turkey at the end of filming...unfortunately it couldn't have been eaten as it was sat around & in and out of ovens for hours on end!

Don't worry, not all the food went to waste....crew to the rescue!

kirstie's homemade christmas crafts

All set for tomorrow night? Here's some of what to expect on the creative front...

gold gilded pears & handcrafted place names

baked christmas decoration letters

beautiful garlands & twinkly fairy lights

handmade wreaths

homemade infused oils

frosted fruits

mosaic turkey

homemade crackers & hand embroidered napkins

TV Christmas Specials

I was just watching Gordon Ramsay's F-word when I spotted the trailer for 'Kirstie's Homemade Christmas' in the ad break. So book your seat on the sofa for three indulgent evenings in a row next week...tuesday 8th - thursday 10th on Channel 4 at 8pm. I'm guessing the food sections I worked on (as per this post) will be in the final episode (more about that later).

Speaking of Gordie, I have insider info from my friend Lisa that she is off to LA with him to film a Cook Along Live Christmas Special in a couple of weeks time. I'm guessing it will be aired on our screens at some point though. I wonder will his LA pal Vicky Beckham make an appearance?!

Kirstie's Homemade Christmas

If you watched the Channel 4 series, 'Kirstie's Homemade Home' earlier in the year you may be as excited as I was to hear that there is a three part Christmas special coming up soon (dates TBA soon). Although I am even more excited again as I actually got to work on it!! That was my secret trip....I have just spent the last week in Meadowgate, presenter Kirstie Allsopp's holiday let home which I watched unfold on the series, from a dilapidated house into the gorgeous home it now is...so you can excuse me for busting at the seams to be actually working there!! And my, it is just breath-takingly gorgeous...

Kirstie got some Christmas cooking tips from the lovely Amy Willcock

gorgeous stylist chehvani dresses the table

ok, so it wasn't all glitz & glam....My home for the week was really a mobile kitchen.....but in fareness this has to be the best view from one EVER!

camerman Cliff films some food porn!

food porn....but more about that in future posts

Thank you so much to Karen Convery for all her hard work, perfectionism, organisation and calmness in helping me (once again)! Thanks also to amazing director Amanda Fidler for getting me on board in the first place! It was lovely also to work with all the glasgow gang of IWC Media who produce the show. Group hug!

P.S. Click here to check out Kirstie's tweet pics during filming!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho..

...it's off to work I go....this time I'm off on a job I have been trying to contain my excitement over for the last couple of months....finally it is here and I'm all packed up with everything including the kitchen sink as usual. Now filled with nervous anticipation I'm on my way. I'll be back in a week or so to fill you in on what it's all about and whether or not I managed to not burst a blood vessel with excitement!!

Neven's Homechef filming - week 2

Well, I'm still alive against all the odds of filling up on way too much food, so I'm here to tell another tale. I can't say the same for the rest of the crew, but they're hanging on in there! Week 2 in Neven's kitchen & there has been lots of laughs (mostly at bad jokes like 'ceps on the beach' & 'time is of the vanilla essence'!), lots of cooking of course & lots & lots & lots more eating!

Micky the monkey, freaking us out during filming!

cameraman Billy chancing his arm at some spun sugar curls....darn, they're perfect!

Karen in the back kitchen isn't perfect after all then! Well, she is really!

oops...I'm spilling things too!

& the best bit.....everyone tucking into creme brulees, yum!

more home cooking with rachel allen

Thanks to series producer Emma Roberts Price from Cactus for sending on this official snap of Rachel for her new programme. Hope you're enjoying the series...

Neven's new TV series

Well, we've just finished filming our first week on Neven Maguire's new series...we've had a lot of giggles and eaten a LOT of food! Which reminds me, I did consider weighing myself before we started to see exactly how much I pile on...but to be honest the jeans will reveal all...and in fact, they already have! But I don't care..it's all totally worth it as you'll see when you watch the series in the new year. It's got a great catchy title to match Neven's new book (which is at the printers now, wooppee!)...HOMECHEF...which you may remember me testing here. Anyhow, here are some snaps from our first week...

Neven ready to get baking

The Irelands got talent panel of judges say yum!

the crew making their own samosas for lunch

Podge & Rodge overseeing some baking in the oven...don't ask!

Neven realises this camera operating lark could be for him!

Rachel Allen - Home Cooking

I was excited to hear that Rachel's new series is about to start - I can't believe it has come around so quickly, having filmed it only a few months ago with Cactus TV.

Don't miss the first of the 13 parts tonight on RTE1 at 8.30pm. It also transmits on UKTV Good Food daily from the 21st Sept.

Annabel Karmel on The Afternoon Show

The Afternoon Show presenter Blaithnaid, with Annabel

This week I worked with Annabel Karmel on RTE'S, The Afternoon Show. She is of course the fantastic children's cookery book writer from the UK - friends with children are always raving about how they couldn't have fed the kids properly without her! The show had lots of calls with questions since they announced Annabel's arrival last week so she is hugely populer here.

I set up the two cookery slots for Annabel and had the tough job of keeping the crew hands off her yummy food until we went off air (and of course there was a stampede of big kids ater that!). Annabel was over to promote her gorgeous new book, Top 100 Finger Foods. Check it out for the recipes for her delicious rice crispy coated chicken nuggets (good for grown ups parties too!) and her really quick and easy no-cook flapjacks.

Annabel & I