Off to kitchens old…

…quite soon, and I’m not sure when I’ll be blogging before that, so I thought I’d queeze in one large post or a few smaller ones between now and then. We’ll see how it goes before Greenwich sees more of me.

At this time of year, my thoughts turn increasingly to the contrast between the cold, crisp dark outside and the warmth inside. Particularly since we’ve some very cold weather in the past few days, with snow here in Belfast on Thursday night.

When I think warmth, I think company, something to eat and drink — therefore food. And by food I think rib–sticking, rich stuff. So it’s nice to see a fittingly warm E–cookbook (by which I mean that the book is electronic, not the cooking): All About Apples (PDF download from the linked page).

Aside from weather and food, presents are increasingly in my mind, and I’ve already earmarked this book, all about lost things, for my dad. He never reads this, so I’m quite safe. Sticking with winter, The Polar Express (the book behind the film) is on sale for those of you who need to tell Santa. And as for Santa, J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Father Christmas Letters, first published in 1976, is a superb book. Try and get hold of the original imprint, rather than the revised edition. It’s made up of picture–letters full of elves and bears and snow, which Tolkien supposedly wrote to his children, and is as magical for grown–up children as it is for juvenile ones. ;o)

What better to go with your books and your winter than some wine? Some 2001 Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley for example? In a bottle which holds 1,200 glasses of the stuff? It’ll cost you — at this stage, $27,000 and upwards. The bottle is called ‘Maximus’, by the way. And you thought Nebuchadnezzars were big…