Welcome to my new blog

I had a brainwave today whilst out for a walk. I have blogged in the past about various things, and I kinda miss it. I've been cooking a lot lately - why not start a blog about food?

Apart from encouraging me to cook, the blog will also incorporate two of my other passions - writing and photography. Today I dragged my SLR out of the cupboard where it has been sitting for far too long, desperately hoping to be noticed. 

I love to cook. I find it extremely therapeutic. There is something about picking up my Füri East-West knife and carving through a tomato that relaxes me. Ok, maybe that's a bit weird, but each to their own. I also love firing up my Mum's handheld mixer from the 1970s and creating an amazing cake batter. 

Fresh strawberries ready for a tart.

I'm not an expert at cooking. It's just something that I've recently grown to love and explore over the past few years. 

My first experience with food was when I was very young, baking cookies with my grandmother. We'd make dozens at a time, and each was christened with a glacé cherry or a chocolate freckle on top. I've always felt comfortable with baking and I think this has given me a solid base to draw on.

I didn't really cook much until recently, though I used to now and then on a whim. I remember making corn fritters when I was a kid, muffins as a teenager and pumpkin soup in winter when I moved out of home. 

Fresh sage from my garden.

When I turned 30, and found myself living alone, it was time to learn to cook properly. I had no idea what I was doing. Slowly but surely, over the last five years, I have built up my knowledge, and cooking has gone from being a necessity to a passion and a form of unexpected therapy.

I've always been surrounded by great cooks, cooking for me, so I have paid attention over the years. A lot of my friends have been foodies. My mum, sisters, grandmother and great-grandmother are (or were) all gifted in the kitchen so it must be in the genes as well.

I like to experiment with food. I'll learn how to make something from a recipe, get it right, then start to get creative. I don't think that quantities are important in recipes unless you've never made it before, or there is some sort of alchemy involved (ie: risotto, cakes). 

Vanilla cupcake.

I have some huge gaps in my knowledge so my creations are somewhat random. I'm a perfectionist so it's important to me that everything is exact. As a result, I can cook a perfect risotto, but I'm rubbish at cooking plain rice. (I'll keep working on the latter.)

At the moment, I like picking up new ingredients and seeing what I can do with them. Some of the new foods I've looked at lately have been fennel, Thai basil, pomegranate, white anchovies and real French crème pâtissière. 

I have about a million other things I want to learn; spatchcock, roast lamb and these amazing French custard chocolate pastry things I ate in Paris. I have a massive list of cupcake ideas as well; you'll see a lot of those on here.

So... bon appetit! x