So this is my last post of the year and it's all about my nuts shoot. Not Nuts as in "man paradise where girls, games, gadgets, laughs, footy and fun abound" (sorry guys!). But nuts as in those hard shelled kernels we associate with Christmas.   

The shoot has just been published in the Christmas edition of Caterer and Hotelkeeper and looks rather lovely. It was part of a tutored tasting hosted by New Covent Garden Market where three chefs discussed the properties of different varieities of nuts, shared ideas on how they're best used, and cooked a few dishes to sample.

The trio of knowledgeable chefs were Nicola Aylward of the Faucet Inn group, Duncan Cruickshanks of the Hospital Club and Nikki Low of the Warrington in Maida Vale.

Now the truth is that I intended to put together a post that would be full of interesting nut facts and delicious recipes. However, on googling the word "nuts" I discovered that this might take a long time and bring me into contact with websites I'd rather stay clear of. Still, Caterer and Hotelkeeper have published a fine article so I suggest you take a look there: Tutored tasting

Happy Christmas all!

Helene Dabrowki is a talented interior designer who established her own practice in 2001 after many years working with renouned interior designers in both London and her native Paris. Earlier this year I got to see some of her fabulous design work when I photographed one of her projects - a house in Chelsea.

Usually I'm not a fan of basements, often they feel cramped and gloomy, even when they get some natural light. However, this house shows how good design can turn basements into spaces that feel light and spacious. In the basement dining room Helene introduced a feature wall of beautiful silver leaf gilded wallpaper made of silk (from De Gournay). This wall, the sculptural nickel base of the dining table and gilded furniture from Julian Chichester all successfully added, and reflected, light - so clever.

Helene also maximised use of all space. The small room leading off the dining room could have ended up a wasted, unused area. But instead it was transformed into a fun chillout, media room which opens out onto a peaceful zen mini-garden. The amethyst and green colour scheme of the basement ties everything together and is picked out in accessories and in the dining room's feature wall which is beautifully hand painted with twisting wisteria.

Helene enjoys mixing patterns and colours and she tells me she had lots of fun using using the Missoni collection to create a colourful seating area on the terrace.

In the guest bedroom, Helene used a painting by her artist husband, Adam Dabrowski, to add some perspective to a small room furnished with greens, browns and a touch of vibrant orange. I loved the cushions in this room!

While in the master bedroom a mix of blues, brown and taupe creates a peaceful and relaxing feel. The client particularly liked the seagull fabric which reminded him of his house in Brighton. It's little touches like these that make it a really special, bespoke design.

I've had work published in the past so should probably be cool and matter-of-fact about the publication run that's happened over the last month or so. But I can't help it, I'm excited to see my work on the printed page and reaching new audiences so I won't pretend otherwise!

My first bit of publication news relates back to something I wrote about back in July. Ceri Olofson of Bake Until Scrumptious and myself collaborated on a fun, floral-inspired cake-photo project and were delighted when Flowerona and several other online magazines decided to feature our story and pictures.

Lucky for us, Wedding Flowers also picked up on the story and went on to publish the photographs in their November/December issue (see below). It's such a beautifully produced magazine both Ceri and myself were thrilled with the results.

This led to a commission from Wedding Magazine to shoot a series of wedding guestbook ideas. You can see the results in the current December/January issue. An outdoor shoot in the gardens of the Horniman Museum, it was great fun to do. The Wedding stylist team arrived on site with a van of beautiful props, Pollen Nation delivered a fabulous selection of flowers, and everyone set to work! 

Location shoots are a funny thing because there is usually an 'audience' of some sort who are drawn to the camera. This time the audience was largely made up of inquisitive children visiting the Horniman - 'what are you doing?' they chorused in unison as they tried to climb over the fence and join in. 

I've also had some corporate work published in the Tax Journal and that mushroom shoot I mentioned back in August was published in Caterer and Hotelkeeper.

So, I would call this publication spell eclectic! Of course, the bonus of building up a little stack of publications is that I can wave one of them in front of my mother next time she asks 'what is it you do?'. One day the message will get through... 

I wish I had more time to tell you about how wonderful the Aldeburgh Food Festival was this year but I'm on holiday, sort of, so hopefully some photos and a few observations are enough to paint a picture.

1.  Even when drawing record-breaking crowds Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival is a very relaxed, chilled-out affair. Friendly locals and the setting is beautiful!

2. I always thought judging a cake competition would be my dream job. But having watched the team of judges sample the 35+ entries into the Marriage's Baking Competition I've come to the conclusion it's probably a tough gig. I don't think I'm quite match-fit - more training needed. 

3. Pasta-making is a tricky, messy business and looks easier to do if you tackle the task in twos!

4. More than 85 local food and drink companies exhibited at the festival - food lovers heaven. 

5. To be a good demo chef you need to be adept at talking to yourself, unless someone like Matthew Fort is willing to help you out.

That is all for now. There are fringe events taking place across East Suffolk in to October - cooking demonstrations, walks and tours, film screenings, food safaris and more. So, still time to sample the best Suffolk has to offer.

Lots of the producers at the festival can be found on Twitter - hurrah! If you're interested in Suffolk food news and events I'd also recommend following Polly Robinson of Food Safari (@FoodSafariUK).

Last weekend I visited an open day at Withypitts Dahlias in West Sussex and discovered that I'm a bit of a dahlia fan. Who knew? Not me, at least not until Saturday.

I dare anyone to wander around grower Richard Ramsey's 1.5 acre field of flowering dahlias without uttering "wow" at least once. The range of colours is spectacular - deep burgundies, reds, pinks, oranges, yellows, purples... and white. When you see them together, lined up in neat rows, then "wow" is, I think, a very appropriate response!

Richard comes from a family that have been growing dahlias for generations but it's only relatively recently he's turned his attention to growing the flowers for cutting. Just this week he's started supplying Covent Garden Flower Market (through Alagar) and Zara Flora, in East Grinstead, is just one of Withypitts' florist fans.

Dahlias have had bad press over the years and, for a long time, have been viewed as old fashioned. However, people were declaring that a dahlia renaissance was taking place back in 2003 so if you're one of those who still think dahlias are dull you had best catch up! With such a range of colours and forms available surely there's something for everyone to like?  

Recently I was fortunate to photograph a tasting of mushrooms held at New Covent Garden Market. Three top chefs cooked and sampled a total of eleven mushroom varieties. Chanterelle, morel, field blewit, yellow oyster, chestnut, portobello, buna shimeji, enoki and more. Some, I was familiar with but others I'd never heard of or seen before!

Photographed in isolation, against a white background, the mushrooms seemed to take on a very surreal quality. Some of them are quite amazing to look at - strange shapes, colours and textures. But before I get carried away with the aesthetics, let's get back to eating!

The chefs cooked up each mushroom variety in the same way - fried in a very hot pan with some butter, oil and a little salt. There was lots of tasting, discussion and scribbling of notes - mushrooms are a very serious business as any mycologist will tell you!

The results of the chefs' deliberations and cogitations will be published, along with the photographs, in a forthcoming magazine - I'll post details when I know more.  

But, in the meantime, if this post has made you think "mushrooms for tea", then here are a couple of recipes from The Pure Package: mushrooms and poached eggs on toast and mushrooms stuffed with leek, courgette and goats cheese. Both sound perfect to me.

Also, if you're a mushroom fan, do read Nigel Slater's article Down to Earth - surely the finest description of the joys of mushrooms on toast in existence!    

I'm very happy to share some photographs with you of a recent flower-inspired collaboration between myself and Ceri Olofson, of Bake Until Scrumptious, a talented cake designer based in East Dulwich. 

Our idea was simple, to design and photograph a collection of miniature cakes that celebrates seasonal summer flowers. 

After an initial chat Ceri drafted some fabulous sketches and local florist, Fran Bailey, of the Fresh Flower Company, came on board to advise and source flowers for the project. The set of final images capture the natural vibrancy of summer flowers.  

Flowers used in the designs included sprays of 'White Majolica' rose, carnations, campanulas, jasmine, stocks and hydrangeas. The cake flavours were suitably summery - raspberry and fresh mint, earl grey with apricot and rose, almond and honey! 

We were lucky enough to have the project featured three online magazines. Ceri and I met through Twitter so to publish our work online seems very fitting!   

And they are three great magazines: Flowerona, a magazine dedicated to all things floral; the Foodie Bugle, a beautifully put together magazine for food and drink lovers; and Dulwich on View, a magazine celebrating people and culture in Dulwich. It's been great for Ceri and myself to get our work out to new audiences.

If all this talk of cake has made you hungry then why not have a go at making your own floral-inspired summery cake? Ceri has kindly posted her recipe for lavender sponge cake with lemon zest meringue buttercream here.   

For a long time I've been tweeting away at @helenjermyn about photography and the things I like to photograph and have made lots of friends, and generated a little work, along the way.  

One of the things I like to do is to do is share images on Twitter - sometimes ones taken on work assignments but often photos taken for fun. But, not so long ago Twitpic, my then platform of choice, changed its terms and conditions which led to me terminating my account and deleting everything I'd uploaded. No more Twitpic!

So this is a farewell Twitpic post. Below are some of the shots I've posted over the last year. Common themes? Well there's rather a lot of colour! Never mind that the sun's not shining, put on those shades.

I, like many, am a bit of a fan of Petersham Nurseries in Richmond. It's a lovely ramshackle kind of place with beautiful plants, a teahouse serving afternoon tea and cake, and a shop crammed with lots of ridiculously beautiful items. It's also home to a Michelin-starred cafe where head chef Skye Gyngell creates simple food using seasonal produce.

However, this weekend my main reason for visiting Petersham Nurseries was to take a look at the private garden of neighbouring Petersham House which opened to the public as part of the National Gardens Scheme (NGS).

At this time of year the double 150 foot long herbaceous borders were bursting with alliums, though the tulips had now faded - I imagine when they're flowering side by side it's quite a spectacle. 

Elsewhere there were lots of rambling roses climbing their way up red brick walls, yew hedges, a perfect weed-free lawn and a kitchen garden which supplies the cafe with salad leaves, edible flowers and herbs. 

There's a second open day on Sunday 5th June when I'm sure the kitchen garden will come into its own. On my visit many seedlings were just popping their heads above the soil and the twiggy supports sat there empty, waiting in anticipation. As for the border, its been described as a mad flowering hedgerow so if that sounds like your sort of thing you know where to head!

More information on that future opening date here.

I love London but.... sometimes it's nice to escape. And, if, like me, you're someone who yearns for big skies, sea and sandy beaches, and good food then you could do worse than head for The Gallivant Hotel at Camber Sands on the Sussex coast.

Bruce Wilson, Head Chef at The Gallivant's restaurant, is passionate about food and puts local produce firmly at the heart of the restaurant menu. He also shares his enthusiasm for local produce through the Gallivant's Cookery School. 

I visited The Gallivant to photograph their Shoot to Plate course. The day started with breakfast, after which participants, accompanied by Bruce, visited producer Todd Cameron-Clarke who runs a local game farm and showed everyone how to pluck and skin game. There were opportunities to participate for those who wanted to try!

Later, back at The Gallivant, participants learned from Bruce how to prepare and cook locally-reared meat for their own dinner and then tucked into a fabulous feast featuring dishes using ingredients that were sourced and discussed during the day. A very informative and delicious day! The Boat to Plate Cookery Class also looks a winner, more info on that here.

Postscript - when writing the last sentence of this post some seagulls flew by. Weird eh? Someone is trying to send me a message perhaps.

I thought I'd post some pics of one of this year's new ventures - marmalade making! This year everyone seemed to be talking about the joys of bittersweet Seville oranges and making marmalade. Enthusiasm is catching! I decided to have a go... and complicate the process by taking photos.

Armed with a recipe from Pam the Jam, two kilos of oranges, an awful lot of sugar and a ridiculous number of jars, we began. First, plain old Seville orange marmalade. After hours of juicing oranges, neatly slicing skins and watching everything bubble away dangerously on the stove, we ended up with several jars of rather lovely golden marmalade.

Next... orange and whisky, orange and ginger, and finally three fruits marmalade. Admittedly, we didn't soak the skins overnight which I think marmalade making purists would frown upon. But it all tastes delicious and I'm still rather chuffed with myself! 

Now all I need are ideas... how to get through 16 jars of marmalade.

I know many are sounding the death knell of print but at the risk of sounding old fashioned I still like it. Obviously, not all of it - flyers for Domino's pizza shoved through the letterbox spring to mind. But beautifully produced pieces of print? Yes please.

Over the last month or so the weather has thrown ice, sleet, snow, rain, fog and a never ending blanket of grey sky in the direction of photographers like myself. But do we give in? No, we do not. Or at least not immediately. We head out into the great outdoors, cameras in hand and thermos in rucksacks.

So here are a selection of bad weather photos - photos where the sun categorically did not have his hat on. While poor weather doesn't make for the most comfortable photo-taking experience it can be an opportunity to capture some out of the ordinary shots loaded with atmosphere. Now can someone direct me to the nearest cafe please?