Nigel's kitchen diary

Sorry for being absent so long, but my hubby was abroad for a while, and I didn't spend much time in the kitchen and he also took our camera with him. I did make a few things for myself, like Bill's pasta with ricotta and tomatoes, which is THE pasta dish for me, I've made it a thousand times and it's always a hit, and I made an Irish sodabread, which turned out gorgeous, so quick and tasty, I used the recipe from the good food website.

Anyway, I'm digressing, back to Nigel :) His diary arrived yesterday afternoon, kind of a late birthday present to myself LOL I leafed through it quickly and I was a tad disappointed. Not the usual layout I'm so much in love with and which inspire me, like Bill's, Tessa's, etc. It's more like a novel with pictures. So, I didn't give up hope and treated it as such: a bedtime story. The trick worked.
I really enjoyed reading about his thoughts on eating the right food at the right time. It has been on my mind for a few days, after a trip to the supermarket. I was literally horrified by what I saw: melons, grapes, plums, unappetizing, semi-green strawberries, transported from the other side of the world. What for?? Who cares about eating melons on a cold, grey day? It's something for the piping hot days, sitting in the garden, and eating up a quarter of it for quenching your thirst. Grapes are eaten while you are enjoying the last stroking rays of sunshine, watching the leaves of thousand colours falling off the trees. Has this world gone completely mad, suggesting you can have anything you want anytime you want because you "deserve" it?? Like there was nothing else to compensate for our problems.

After reading through a few weeks in the diary, I can now say that I'm glad to have this book. I'm glad I can turn to it for real seasonal food and good, cosy food without much fuss. Or just a good read at night. Or just learning. To use up what's at your disposal in the best way you can. 'Cos that's what it's all about.