It's Friday and the sun's shining

Being a flat-wife has given me more time to cook from the many recipe books I have in our kitchen.  When I was working I would race home via the supermarket and cook dinner most nights.  Now the racing is off I've got time to think about what I'm going to cook.

I've never been one for throw in the oven dinners even when I lived on my own, it didn't make sense.  No matter how well packaged and enticing these meals were they never really tasted fresh and I love the fact that I'm putting in my own salt, sugar, pepper etc and I know exactly where my ingredients have come from.  Also we now have so many recipes geared around people cooking for one that it would be silly not to http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/.

But not everyone has a love of cooking like I do but it really does help if you have the most simplest of cooking books.  I remember a friend buying his wife who was a novice in the kitchen, Heston Blumenthal's cookbook, it's food physics (even writing the word physics makes me feel light-headed) and even the more experienced of cooks would be incredibly challenged with his books.

And so last night I was making my favourite thai curry recipe.  It doesn't involve three heads of lemon-grass, a piece of galangal (which is ginger to you and I) and a partridge in a pear-tree; it's an authentic thai recipe but without the fuss.  Prep and cooking time maximum 15 minutes and that includes pouring yourself a glass of something yummy whilst stirring the pot.

And this is definitely in my top books of the year.  As well as my easier than easy thai curry there are soups, stews, kids food, mezze, dips, smoothies, salads, puddings all written out in easy to follow recipes.

Also at the beginning of the book there are pictures telling you what equipment you may need and what it looks like, so very important.  It's also a very light-hearted take on cooking, which is the way I like it.  Life's too short to be taking on a veloute (light stock to you and I).

I find the devil is in the preparation.  Pans to the ready, kettle boiled, utensils to hand and ingredients chopped.  And once the hungry masses are gnawing at your elbow you're ready to go.  And if you're lucky to get a "is there anymore?", you know you're onto a winner.


Happy weekend everyone and see you on the other side.