A few weeks ago, in our old village church, my twin sister got married. It was wonderful, and I was floating atop a fluffy wedding cloud for days afterwards. Not just because it was such a gloriously happy day, but because it objectively was the best kind of wedding. You know, the sort that sees you chauffeured to the receptionContinue reading “Ravioli di Zucca e Amaretti”
Author Archives: Alice Mulhearn Williams
A charmed life
Hello there. Today I come to you from my bath, where I’ve been with Stacey Kent and a glass of wine for the past half hour. It’s all very relaxing. I just thought I’d check in – it’s been a while, after all. Everything’s going well in this little corner of the East Midlands – I’ve gotContinue reading “A charmed life”
Crêpes
We used to have pancakes once a year at home, on Shrove Tuesday, when the squeezy Jif would appear at the table and my mum would stand at the stove, grumbling about what a fuss they were to cook. English pancakes were never a breakfast thing. I only remember them with the backdrop of aContinue reading “Crêpes”
10 July
There was a night, a couple of months ago, when Dom and I were talking about the logistics of him taking a job in the East Midlands. We really didn’t know how it was going to work – commuting to my job in London would cost more than rent; and I doubted I’d ever find creative work in the wilds of Northamptonshire. ItContinue reading “10 July”
Stuffed Aubergine with Apricot
Last Saturday, we held a party. It was somewhere between a house party and a dinner party – a halfway house celebration between youth and adulthood, which seems pretty apt considering this Friday we get the keys to a three-bed cottage in the East Midlands. But back to last Saturday afternoon, and the slow cooker humming, chicken braising, radishes pickling andContinue reading “Stuffed Aubergine with Apricot”
Day Five: Crickets
It must be a funny thing, to live with the constant hum of crickets – like tinnitus, I suppose. A long time today I sat listening to those crickets, under the shade of the old olive trees in the garden. We’ve been slow and sluggish today – fragile from devilishly strong wine, bottled like vegetableContinue reading “Day Five: Crickets”
Day Four: Skala
Skala reminds me of holidays as a child, in Spain, where you pay €6 for a pair of sunbeds and stay there all day. We do just that. The sea is calm and flat, and the salt hums like crickets. Shoals of silver fish swim between my feet, so perfectly blended into the ripples of theContinue reading “Day Four: Skala”
Day Three: Fiscardo
We wind our way along Kefalonia’s western coast, toing and froing from the ocean to the rocky headland, and after two hours of hairpin bends, we arrive at Fiscardo – one of the few towns left unscathed by the 1953 earthquake. The houses, built during the 300-year Venetian rule, are all pink and pastel blue. IContinue reading “Day Three: Fiscardo”
Day Two: Sami and Melissani Cave
A morning swim in an empty cove, the fishes tickling our toes. We watch another snorkeler stride out of the water holding a spear and his catch – an octopus and six little fish, decanted from his Speedos into a carrier bag. I mean, how else are you going to carry half a dozen wriggling fish?Continue reading “Day Two: Sami and Melissani Cave”
Day One – Kefalonia
We go to sleep to the conspiring whispers of crickets and wake up to the rattling song of the Sardinian Warblers nested in the olive trees. Kefalonia. It’s greener than I imagined, and mottled with soft hills. We drive to the nearest cove and eat omelettes with a sea view. I try Greek coffee –Continue reading “Day One – Kefalonia”
To The Table 