It's spring! Season of optimism and wholesome resolutions. For example: wouldn't it be nice to take more joy from cooking? @nigella.bsky.social is here to help YOU learn how. Just submit a question via the link below, with answers coming 1pm on Tuesday.

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I’m glad April fools day was yesterday otherwise even I would not believe this happy combination of words.

How did I end up here? — Nigella Lawson’s first FT column A defence of food writing (and a recipe for rice pudding) as Nigella returns to her alma mater newspaper

Something good to start the month: writing that will make you want to abandon your plans for the day and spend it cooking. And as a special treat, @nigella.bsky.social’s first column is free to read www.ft.com/content/4819...

How did I end up here? — Nigella Lawson’s first FT column A defence of food writing (and a recipe for rice pudding) as Nigella returns to her alma mater newspaper

Good morning and Happy Nigella Day! Because all is briefly right with the world and as a special treat, it's free to read. www.ft.com/content/4819...

A close up photograph of rice, fried chicken, a chunk of lemon, and sriracha.

A version of Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s arroz con pollo. The shards of chicken skin were outrageous. Courtesy of @harrietfl.ft.com at the FT.

The FT is hiring a correspondent for our Investigations team. Contact me if you want to discuss the role. Deadline is April 12 job-boards.eu.greenhouse.io/financialtim...

‘It’s just a bomb’ The true story of two strangers and an extraordinary act of courage

As Nathan Newby receives the George medal today for extraordinary bravery, read the amazing story, published in the FT Magazine in December, of how he talked a would-be hospital bomber down. It’s an astonishing piece of writing from Ravi Somaiya and it’s Free to Read www.ft.com/content/cd59...

Great! Thank you. I’ll definitely be making it again

We should all be playing pothole politics [FREE TO READ] Living in the ‘Potswolds’ has made me one of the Angry Local People pointing at our damaged roads

In which I reveal myself to be an Angry Local Person who points at potholes

as.ft.com/r/860738a7-8...

I threw a Martha-Stewart-inspired Midnight Omelette Party, managed to get 30 people to come along, was allowed to write 2700 words about it by the brilliant @harrietfl.ft.com and it somehow ended up on the front cover of FT Weekend.

READ ALL ABOUT IT HERE as.ft.com/r/96e10343-7... (gift link 🍳)

Can Jemima Kelly recreate Martha Stewart’s mythic midnight dinner party? [FREE TO READ] Thirty guests. 111 eggs. A one-bed flat. A fearless host attempts the impossible omelette supper of her dreams

It’s a beautiful weekend — and for 300 lucky people who click the free link it can begin with reading this absoluyely mad yet undeniably insightful story from today’s egg-themed magazine. Jemima’s fever dream brought to life

as.ft.com/r/2472cb26-a...

I didn’t know @secondmentions.bsky.social was on Bluesky — but I hope they consider this a worthy contender

tldr if you feel a bit sad every time you order a single light bulb for next day delivery but also have no intention of changing your ways (I understand) — try cooking!

What do we really gain from no-cry onions? [FREE TO READ] Frankensteining low-pungency vegetables is popular, but with food the longer way round is often more enjoyable

I have been let loose on another issue of global import: the rise of onions that won’t make you cry… or feel anything at all really

as.ft.com/r/20f60742-4...

Did you miss Jamie’s Italian? Me neither [FREE TO READ] J​amie Oliver is re-inflicting the chain on a distinctly non-clamouring public

Here’s @marinaoloughlin.bsky.social on the restaurant reboot nobody asked for as.ft.com/r/67e55140-6...

What to do when you own more wine than you’ll ever drink [FREE TO READ] A generation of serious collectors are confronting an enviable problem: more bottles than time

Some great columns this weekend. Here we have Jancis Robinson on an unrelatable but intriguing dilemma: what to do when you have more wine than you have time left to drink it

as.ft.com/r/9412d53f-4...

Forgot my headphones for the train (sad) but turns out the people sat behind me are work colleagues on the brink of affair (or currently affairing - hard to say for sure but the energy is so potent I think not) Who needs podcasts! The world is full of wonders for those with ears to hear them!

Martha’s rule may have saved 400 lives so far in England, figures show Exclusive: System brought in after death of 13-year-old is helping ‘transform culture’ of NHS, says patient safety director

www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

Notebook, Abu Dhabi: the Keralan chain restaurant where the UAE’s working classes eat [FREE TO READ] Forget the flash options. This Malayalee mainstay in a mall is your key to the city

This week’s guest restaurant review is about a cheap chain restaurant in an Abu Dhabi mall. If you’re thinking “that won’t move me greatly” you’d be very wrong!!!

as.ft.com/r/37cca3fb-5...

The winter-defying joy of perfectly layered potatoes [FREE TO READ] A detailed guide to cooking Dauphinoise, Pommes Anna and other laminated delights

Do you really have something better to be soon with your Sunday than mastering the art of laminated potatoes?

as.ft.com/r/d49bca71-f...

Musafir, Kyiv: It takes guts and good generators to run a buzzy restaurant in wartime Ukraine — review [FREE TO READ] Against all odds, Kyiv’s restaurant scene is thriving

We have guest restaurant reviewers in for the next three weeks, all in places we might struggle to get @jayrayner1.bsky.social to without blowing the full weekend budget. First up, this brilliant piece on how to open a hit restaurant in Ukraine as.ft.com/r/62ed053a-0...

Chapter 1 of Moby Dick, page 1 The phrase ‘Call me Ishmael’, the first sentence of the book, is highlighted in blue, with careful highlighting on the very big C at the start. Above this, written in ballpoint pen ‘His name’

Love the glimpse into the beautiful mind that notated this used copy of Moby Dick I got

I had the pleasure (?) of accompanying Jay on this weekend’s review. While I am disappointed he didn’t include my incisive attempt at restaurant criticism (“the loos were really cold”) it’s nonetheless a very good piece

The man who saw too much [FREE TO READ] After decades chasing stars and scrambling for financing, Philippe Martinez became an unlikely crusader

“I dont see myself making a Christams in Paradise 2, OK?”
FT reporting 🤝 a real life Caribbean crime drama - the perfect match

as.ft.com/r/c83adbba-d...

I did suggest taking salt out of the stock… and the chef said no.

Recipe: The FT Weekend editor’s go-to crispy chicken and rice [FREE TO READ] abc kitchens’ arroz con pollo is a dish that many diners dream of recreating. Now you can

“Everything is copy” - which to a food editor means if you mention in passing that you really enjoyed your dinner, there’s a 50/50 chance it will end up on our recipe page. With thanks to @janinegibson.ft.com in this case
as.ft.com/r/b97949b2-6...

This is still less embarrassing than when I bought myself a nice ring I’d seen my friend wearing - only to discover it was her and her girlfriend’s (matching) engagement ring

It is a really good film!

Sometimes it’s better not to dream