Food

As someone that loves eating and quite enjoys cooking I am naturally drawn to programmes like Come Dine with Me. I think it's a mixture of looking in to other people's homes and lives, getting new recipe ideas and a realisation that I'm not as bad in the kitchen as I sometimes think I am.

I've never been one for fancy cooking, the aim of any meal in my opinion is to fill the people you're feeding, both to satisfy their hunger and their desires. I marvel at some of the dishes people on CDWM serve up to complete strangers and expect them to be in awe and grateful. What's with all these tartlets with goats cheese or miniscule dishes of soup? If you're going to feed someone at least ensure they know they have had it!

My cookery skills and recipes have been accumulated over a number of years and vary in where they were discovered or taught. The good old roast dinner with Yorkshire puds has to be a joint thank you to my mother and father but for true inspiration my paternal grandmother. Sunday dinner at my grandparents was truly a feast beyond words and one which rendered us all helpless for at least two hours after eating it.

My older sister in law taught me how to cook some of my favourite meals when the poor woman had me living with her and my brother when I was at the tender age of 16. Lasagne, chicken in a white sauce with peppercorns and Florida chicken to name but a few, all of which I still cook now. Talking of sisters in law, my younger one is also an amazing cook and her style reminds me of my grandmother, without the grey hair of course.... we never leave their house hungry, come to think of it, we rarely leave her house sober either. Mmmm, think that's a sister in law thing.

Some of my friends have cooked lovely meals for me and there are some, Mr K, that I am still waiting to cook for me... and it doesn't matter what it is they serve up as there's very little I won't eat, stop sniggering, but why is it that anything that someone else has cooked nearly always tastes twice as nice as if you'd cooked it yourself? Maybe it's all in the mind, maybe my cooking really isn't as good as anyone elses! 

So, at my tender age of 72 (see earlier blog) I am finally chuffed to have a man cooking for me, never happened before, sorry Mr Grumpy, frozen fish bake and a tin of beans does not count as cooking. Yes, Master Musical loves being in the kitchen and produces some lovely meals, including a proper Baxter Yorkshire pudding. Hopefully this is the start of things to come... maybe we could get on a special family edition of CDWM with my sisters in law? maybe we'll just have to do our own version of it, whatever happens, it'll be a week of no diets!