Portfolio

Huma is an accomplished writer, who has written for The Guardian for five years, and now also writes for a variety of publications including The Times, The Metro and City AM.

Huma was Highly Commended and named One to Watch in the Women of the Future Media Awards (2008) and was a finalist in the Prince of Wales Mosaic Talent awards in the Arts, Culture and Media category. In 2007, she was named Most Promising Newcomer at the BIBA press awards and was included in the High Commission of Pakistan's glittering line up of Britstars: The Very Best of British Pakistanis. Huma has also appeared on BBC Breakfast and on the BBC Asian Network.

Click here to view all of Huma's work for the Guardian (print and online), including life and style and consumer features. A selection of her freelance work appears below.



They say the perfect pair of shoes finishes an outfit, but as I rush out of the door, discarding summer wedges for black MBT trainers, I'm not sure this is what the fashionistas had in mind...


These shoes were made for walking
The Metro, 21 June, 2010




When my time comes, it will most definitely rain on my wedding day. I've been warned several times. Not by fortune-tellers, but by my mother, chiding when she's caught me scraping the bottom of a pan of kheer, a sweet Pakistani rici pudding and one of my all-time favourite desserts...


Pakistani food: cooking from the heart
The Times, 3 June, 2010




When I crave my mother's Pakistani cooking, I turn to Kamila Shamsie's Salt and Saffron. I linger over descriptions of syrupy jalebis and buttery naans and taste not just food, but faded memories of childhood summers...


Tales of Pakistan
The Times, 8 May, 2010




If you'd prefer to avoid artificial food colourings choked with e-numbers, then you have to be a little more imaginative when it comes to cake decorating the natural way...


It's the icing on the cake...naturally
The Metro, 4 May, 2010




Whether it's the Barefoot Contessa baking velvety chocolate cake and nutty brownies (did you see that one? God bless the Food Network) or Carrie Bradshaw and co biting into perfectly iced cupcakes, the Americans somehow have a way with cake that is so much more indulgent than our pristine British afternoon teas...


Cupcakes are dead, long live the whoopie!
The Times, 15 April, 2010





I eat like a low-fat queen, offered platters of California sushi rolls one night and grilled pineapple salad the next. Memories of the disastrous buffet pale into insignificance when the mains arrive, be it a lime and ginger-soaked sea bass parcel or tender scallops poised on seared spinach...


Stress-busting in a Cyprus spa
City Am, 12 April, 2010




Upon waking up jetlagged on the first day of a trip to the US, I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into a stack of American pancakes...


What makes the perfect pancake?
The Guardian, 16 February 2010





Small is beautiful. But as someone who lives in a flat that is referred to as the "doll's house", when it comes to living space, small has no choice but to be practical too


Make the most of small space living
The Guardian, 11 February 2010





Hands up, who doesn't like cake? Exactly...


If you only do one thing this week... take cake to work
The Guardian, 8 February 2010





Thinking of redecorating? Before you take the plunge, try the interior designer's' trick of making a moodboard


How to make a moodboard
The Guardian, 11 Jan 2010





Our noughties homes were characterised by comfort, colour, thrift and green living


Review of the decade: interior design
The Guardian, 4 January 2010





The perfect gifts for those that fancy themselves a Masterchef, Domestic Goddess, bachelor boys or family guys and ladies who like luxury


Christmas gifts for men
Christmas gifts for women
Christmas gifts for a Domestic Goddess
Contemporary Christmas cards
Christmas decorations for trees, walls and hallways
Fun and frugal crafty Christmas
Dressing your Christmas table: red
Dressing your Christmas table: white
Dressing your Christmas table: blue and gold
The Guardian, 27 November-December 2009





Like most pretty things, orchids are a little high maintenance and a bit picky...


Orchid care for beginners
How to make an orchid centrepiece
Ten of the best orchid buys
The Guardian, 3 November 2009





Surrounded by chintz and flowers, dainty china and silver, afternoon tea is a specific market. But it can also be quite kitsch and cool...


Doyley a la carte: the art of afternoon tea
Time for tea
The Guardian, 20 October 2009






A chair is not just a chair - it's a product of the age in which it was designed...


Classic furniture that transformed our homes
Top 10 iconic chairs
The Guardian, 16 October 2009





British ceramics and chinaware are well and truly thriving, with a crop of new young designers creating fabulous and fresh ranges for our tables...


British is still best for ceramics
The Guardian, 25 September 2009





With a little bit of imagination, you can make an identikit piece of plain Ikea furniture all your own...


Happy Birthday to Ikea's Billy bookcase
The Guardian, 22 September 2009














Posted on 1 January 2000


All content © Huma Qureshi. Site by What Katie Does