“That's how it is for us servants. No one pays you much heed; mostly you're invisible as furniture. Yet you overhear a… — Martine Bailey Baking Copy Share Image
“Every cook knows it's a rare day when you have all the parts of the perfect dish. But that day back at… — Martine Bailey Biddy-leigh Copy Share Image
“So on Christmas morning I was up at five o'clock, making the fire as bright as a furnace, baking minc'd pies and… — Martine Bailey Baking Copy Share Image
“There was a new smell in the air at Lyons, of sun-baked southern stuffs, of strong red vinegar, and spikes of rosemary.… — Martine Bailey Flowers Copy Share Image
“Only when he produced two glass bowls did I understand that the metal casket was a sorbetiere. Inside was a chocolate ice… — Martine Bailey Copy Share Image
“The Cocoa-Nut Tree at Covent Garden? Why it's the finest confectioner in the capital and sells bonbons, macaroons, candied fruits, and ices,'… — Martine Bailey Copy Share Image
“Outside, I shivered in a landscape of greys and silvers, the stone walls and cobbles looming pale in the wintry air. The… — Martine Bailey Cold night Copy Share Image
“I wanted to try dainty Italian fare, and bought spicy Bologna sausage, pink papery hams, hard white bread, and chalky cheeses. I… — Martine Bailey Biddy-leigh Copy Share Image
“I was thrown together with Florence, or 'Florawns' as she was called, a pert girl of nineteen who worked in our kitchen… — Martine Bailey Copy Share Image
“The whole roaring crowd was gathered in the long room to give my boar's head fulsome applause when it was carried aloft… — Martine Bailey Biddy-leigh Copy Share Image
“While Mr Loveday aired my lady's sheets, I set to scratching up a supper. With not even time to change from my… — Martine Bailey Biddy-leigh Copy Share Image
“So what are you after, eh? Side of beef? Some chops?' 'Aye, sir. Whatever you fancy.' He licked his lips and listed… — Martine Bailey Food Copy Share Image
“On December the twenty-third, the park was hazy from clammy mists that muted and softened all color and distance. Michael had not… — Martine Bailey December Copy Share Image
“In ten minutes Peg had returned with a bundle of stuff. She washed her mistress's rat-tails at the stand, and then tucked… — Martine Bailey Copy Share Image
“Mon frère, Claude,' urged Florence, leading me to a youth just like herself in broad shape and countenance. He talked rapidly with… — Martine Bailey Copy Share Image
“Look, I fetched some Fat Hen for you.' Jem offered me a bunch of wilting greens. I reached for the plants, rubbed… — Martine Bailey Copy Share Image
“That baking day was the third day Mrs G had shut herself away in the stillroom, dosing herself with medicinal waters. As… — Martine Bailey Baking Copy Share Image
“Then I pushed my way through and saw a young woman climb down, no more than my age, only she was as… — Martine Bailey Young woman Copy Share Image
“She went alone to the vast room where the second-hand clothes were kept. Later, she thought it the happiest hour of her… — Martine Bailey Costumes Copy Share Image
“Signor Renzo's lodge stood on a grassy knoll near the crest of the hill. It was a modest place, just a low… — Martine Bailey Copy Share Image
“Around me shone the kitchen I'd worked in each day: the copper pans hung neatly, the scratched wooden table and neat blue… — Martine Bailey Biddy-leigh Copy Share Image
“Sal and Henry return with a gust of warm garden air and I settle down to create miniature roses from sugarpaste using… — Martine Bailey Blossoming Copy Share Image
“Once inside the confectioners, she was spellbound by sugared fruits hung in garlands and glass bottles sparkling with morsels of sugar. While… — Martine Bailey Copy Share Image
“I'd give me two eyes for a slice of apple pie." She was brain-cracked, but spoke for them all. Then Tabby Jones… — Martine Bailey Apple pie Copy Share Image
“I continued my explorations in a cobbled yard overlooked by broken doors and cracked windows. Pushing open a swollen door into a… — Martine Bailey Copy Share Image
“It was almost Christmas, and Renzo was preparing all the delicacies Florentines must eat at the festival: roast eels, goose, fancy cakes… — Martine Bailey Copy Share Image
“Honeysuckle iced petals,' scoffed one John Bull, spying my menu. 'I should as soon eat a bouquet of flowers. You must serve… — Martine Bailey Copy Share Image
“Just outside Dover we stopped at an inn and I snatched a taste of dainty fried fish named smelts, and some herrings… — Martine Bailey Copy Share Image
