I love everything about food, eating it, cooking it, talking about it, reading about it, writing about it, the list goes on.
Food has always played a big role in my life growing up. My father worked in hospitality and as kids my sister and I always got to go the fancy hotel buffet on a weekend. Which is where my subsequent disdain for curly parsley and unabated love of croquembouche was born (it was the late eighties/early nineties after all). Croquembouche is something I haven’t tackled in the kitchen yet, for the plain and simple reason being, unadulterated fear.
The fondest memories on family holidays were (and still are) centered around food, from Dad making us shuck oysters in rock pools, giving them a quick wash in the sea and gulping them down right there as we stood knee deep in the water, to world-class restaurants, from hot chocolate and spag bol hotel room service (nirvana for a kid like me), to greasy breakfasts at gas stations on many epic family road trips.
On our farm, growing up, mum served us ‘emerald soup’– a creative moniker given in an attempt to make spinach and broccoli soup seem more appealing to a stubborn 7-year-old, and get our veggies in. Astonishingly, giving it a fancy name did not work. However, her fantastically creative crudité faces always did…
My Dad and mentor, took me for waffles every single Thursday night in my late teens, giving me sage advice as we discussed my daunting next steps in life and what career to pursue as I finished high school and went off to university. Crispy, warm waffle with a single scoop of chocolate ice cream every time.
I love to cook. I am not a recipe developer. I buy an unhealthy amount off cookbooks and food magazines and I’m always trolling Instagram for recipes. I have a stash of memorable ones, some that have become weekly dinner staples in my household, and some that hold cherished memories, that I intend on passing down to my own family. Respect must be paid to my very patient husband, who is always my chief taster and gastronomic guinea pig. When I’m in the kitchen cooking, I tend to go off-piste from the recipes a lot of the time and always must use every pot and pan in the kitchen in doing so. Hubby – thank you letting me always choose all our holidays and trips based solely on where we were going to eat. Often going off the beaten track, in search of epicurean adventure and experiencing innumerable restaurants and dishes that have many times rendered us utterly speechless in their perfection.
It is always family, and always, at the table.
So, pull up a seat if you love to savour a good meal, foodie-focused stories, memorable recipes, glorious books, kitchen gadgets, and more!