Xanthe Clay

1 week ago | telegraph.co.uk | Lia Leendertz |Victoria Maw |Xanthe Clay |Val Bourne

We have reached midsummer, the roses are blooming and borders are at their peak, fresh and floriferous. Days are light and warm and dusk is long and beautiful, crying out for us to be in the garden late into the evening. It is a time for pottering and for beginning to enjoy the fruits of our labours. The main sowing and planting season is behind us and the tasks of the moment are watering, tying in, nipping out, tasks that can mostly be done with a chilled glass of wine in one hand.

3 weeks ago | msn.com | Xanthe Clay

Microsoft Cares About Your PrivacyMicrosoft and our third-party vendors use cookies to store and access information such as unique IDs to deliver, maintain and improve our services and ads. If you agree, MSN and Microsoft Bing will personalise the content and ads that you see. You can select ‘I Accept’ to consent to these uses or click on ‘Manage preferences’ to review your options and exercise your right to object to Legitimate Interest where used.

3 weeks ago | telegraph.co.uk | Xanthe Clay

Apparently tartare sauce is ready for a rebrand. Heinz, which withdrew its tartare sauce in 2002, launched a Fish & Chips Sauce this year which the company is touting as "tartare 2... the new must-have for fish dinners."I'm not sure I need an upgrade on tartare 1.0, thank you. The chunky condiment, known as tartar sauce (no "e") on the other side of the Atlantic, is sauce qua non with fish, especially fried fish.

3 weeks ago | msn.com | Xanthe Clay

Microsoft Cares About Your PrivacyMicrosoft and our third-party vendors use cookies to store and access information such as unique IDs to deliver, maintain and improve our services and ads. If you agree, MSN and Microsoft Bing will personalise the content and ads that you see. You can select ‘I Accept’ to consent to these uses or click on ‘Manage preferences’ to review your options and exercise your right to object to Legitimate Interest where used.

3 weeks ago | telegraph.co.uk | Xanthe Clay

I did a double take when I looked at my tasting notes for this article. In front of me were 13 bowls of vanilla ice cream - no labels or brands visible, just a lineup of anonymous products (marked A to M) for me to taste and judge. Now, it was time for me to wipe my sticky face and fingers, open my laptop and reveal the labels on the tubs. One ice cream had stood out as too sweet and too strongly flavoured with an oddly woody vanilla taste that reminded me of an over-oaked chardonnay.