Fast but fabulous desserts for busy cooks

When time is short, most cooks scrap even the tiniest idea of making a dessert.

Nicki Richesin: Conversation With Sophie Dahl About Very Fond of Food

Sophie Dahl took a few minutes to chat about her latest book Very Fond of Food: A Year in Recipes. She discussed her love of home cooking, her famous grandparents, and recent BBC documentary The Marvelous Mrs. Beeton.

True Brit: The Independent's Mark Hix celebrates a decade creating classic recipes

String up the bunting, bake a cake and marinate the herrings in cider (in the fridge, for about five days); Mark Hix, the man from the Jurassic Coast with a highly evolved taste for the foraged, the cured, the well-hung and – above all – the British, is celebrating 10 years as The Independent's resident chef. Appearing every week in these pages, the Dorset foodie has devised as many as 2,000 ...

From the editor's kitchen: A fussy eater's a foodie parent's nightmare

When child No. 2 came along, I was faced with every foodie parent's nightmare: the Fussy Eater. So fussy that his repertoire was reduced to pasta with butter and Parmesan cheese, or burgers. Rather than have a fight, I gave in and cooked two meals — one for three of us and one for the Fussy Eater.

Pass the peas, please!

With the beginning of springtime, gardeners are already planting peas and some have vines ready and waiting for the pods to form. It can't be long now for you to have your first mess of peas for dinner.