April 2025

Hi guys, I wanted to share with you a great new food magazine I’ve discovered called Food To Love which is produced by the Australian Women’s Weekly. I first came across the Australian Women’s Weekly about 20 years ago when my sister-in-law gave me a copy of their Good Food for Babies and Toddlers. I was […]

This is a cake baked by our son. The photograph is old and he is considerably more grown up now, but he baked this cake of his own volition and completely unaided when he was fourteen. What I love about these pictures, apart from the fact that the cake looks delicious, is that they remind […]

I don’t know what you think, but I was tickled pink (excuse the pun!) when I was in a Lidl recently and saw these two children’s winter jackets on sale; one in fluorescent pink and one in red and navy blue.  There were only these two colour choices available in the shop and I know […]

Since I took this picture, I’ve moved things around and changed that corner kitchen area about three times. One of those three times was today. After more than three weeks of living most of the time in a cabin, I do believe I’m starting to get the swing of things! These pictures show some messy […]

There is so much that I would love to tell you about life in our cabin but sleep is calling me! I will come back to share some of what we’ve been doing to make our cabin more and more habitable and what we are learning along the way! 

View all posts by Alison Allmand-Smith

This was the kit I took to the Arctic Circle in March last year. I was so excited to get all this together and to learn about it along the way. Phew though, there was a lot to pack and try to fit into the stipulated size and number of back packs and I can […]

I have never eaten at Harvey Nichols Bar and Brasserie before, but last week I went for lunch there on both Thursday and Friday. If you read my previous blog post, you will already be aware that on the Thursday, I was treated to lunch there by a very special friend and had been really […]

This is a #1 fabulous recipe for ease of preparation combined with flavour, if you want to eat well but don’t have the time or inclination to fuss about in the kitchen. With only a handful of ingredients (I went and forgot the onions though didn’t I ?!) it takes minutes to chuck together and […]

This is a beautiful hymn about Christ’s sacrifice and Resurrection written by Keith & Kristyn Getty. In Christ alone my hope is found He is my light, my strength, my song This cornerstone, this solid ground Firm through the fiercest drought and storm What heights of love, what depths of peace When fears are stilled, […]

This is one of my favourite pictures ever. A view looking into the wonder that is Hong Kong. I took this leaning against our hotel window on my Nikon D700. I’m still amazed to this day how much of the colours and shapes that make up this complex and beautiful city scape have been captured […]

I’m feeling in the mood for Swedish cooking a lot at the moment, which has certainly been aided by the generous sprinkling of snow we’ve experienced over the last few days. I adore Rachel Khoo’s profoundly creative approach to cookery and food writing, not least her personally hand drawn illustrations and exquisite photography that eloquently […]

Scrumptious Nigella’s Chocolate Yule Log Christmas Day isn’t the easiest day to photograph your food stylishly while you cook and eat it, so please accept my apologies for some pictures that aren’t remotely worthy of the exceptionally beautiful bird we brined and roasted. Or the sausages and bacon we used to make our pigs in […]

I’ve uploaded some short videos of what we did as a team at X Platoon & Cold Skills at Camp Faravid in Arctic Sweden to my YouTube channel. Please find me at Alison Allmand-Smith and check them out! I’m enjoying these pictures I took too, because they remind me of the staggering quality of light […]