Our Friday Food for Thought today - which is World Pasta Day - is from Federico Fellini (1920 -1993), Italian film director and screenwriter. Did you know? On April 1st, 1957, the BBC made people in Britain believe that spaghetti grows on trees; at that time it was regarded as an exotic delicacy. The spoof broadcast explained that…
Dear Sam, Happy October to you, too! We thoroughly enjoyed our holiday, thank you, and the train ride through the mountains from Paris to Milan was spectacular. Spending time in Italy we, of course, sampled the local wine, so how appropriate that it's now wine month! Since we came home, autumn has arrived with darker, wetter…
You don't know how strong they are until you put them in hot water." Today's Friday Food for Thought is by Eleanor Roosevelt, American writer and civil rights campaigner, who was born on this day in 1884. Did you know? The use of tea bags is said to date back to 1908 when Thomas Sullivan,…
Dear Claire, Happy October! How was your trip to Lake Como? You mentioned you were taking the train, and funnily enough, just as I was writing to you I came across an interesting fact. Did you know that today, the 4th October, is the anniversary of the very first journey of the Orient Express?…
Our book recommendation for October is The Real Jane Austen: A life in small things, by Paula Byrne. Divided into chapters dealing with different items such as 'The East Indian Shawl', 'The Topaz Crosses', and 'The Box of Letters', it is a fascinating, readable and original exploration of the life of Jane Austen and the…
