Day 157 - A MASTERCHEF DAY

Today we made Gary Mehigan's crepes for lunch, Matt Preston's Carbonara for dinner and Anna Gare's divine Hot Chocolate Sauce to go onto ice cream for dessert. Yum!

What did you cook today?

Day 156 - RECIPES

So I mentioned recently that I had gotten a bunch of cookbooks out of our local library to pour over. Well, I have a favourite already, and as you can see below, coincidentally it just so happens to be written by the first ever winner of MasterChef, Julie Goodwin.

I love it though not just because of the beautiful photos it contains and not just because it contains recipes of real, homemade cooking rather than those super fancy, super tricky restaurant type dishes with the obscure ingredients. What I absolutely love about this book is that all the recipes she has chosen to share come from family and friends, from those known and well loved......her mum, mother-in law, grandmas, friends.... In addition, the pages are filled with the wonderful memories she has of these same people and the food they made that was part of her childhood.

This is where despite loving the book (and it's a good thing that Christmas is coming soon!) I become a little jealous of Julie and people like her. Neither of my grandmothers were bakers or cooks that I know of so I have no memories of homemade spongecakes or scones filling the house with delicious smells when we visited. Nor do I have any of those precious, handwritten recipes written on yellowing index cards to treasure and hand down. However, new traditions can be started at any time and so I have begun pulling together my own recipes that I bake and cook often just in case one day my own children want to know how to cook a dish that they remember from their own childhood. 

Oh and speaking of this, Julie has actually included a blank chapter in this book so that you can write your own recipes and add your own photos and stories yourself! She read my mind! So if you have any recipes yourself that can be associated with you or someone you know, make sure you pass them onto others so that people like me can build up a tradition of well tested recipes......because the ones gathered from family and friends are always the best!

xxxx

PS I've included a quote from the book below. I just love the last sentence. Think I might practice some of her recipes and see if this is indeed true!!

Day 155 - JUNIOR MASTERCHEF

So after introducing myself to the MasterChef phenomenon on my computer by watching Season One, I have now moved onto the first season of Junior MasterChef.....

.....often watched with little faces peering over my shoulder as they are interested in watching too!! I hope they are being inspired because boy can these kids cook!!! They put me to shame. How have they learnt to cook this well?

Day 111 - MY LATEST OBSESSION

I never got to see any of the MasterChef shows when they were on but always thought that if I was going to watch any reality tv, at least that one would be educational. Well, I've gone right back and have been watching Season 1 on my laptop and I am hooked!! I just love it! So whenever I have a free moment and need to chill out I can be found with my laptop enjoying watching someone else cook :o) Judging by how many seasons and episodes there are I could be kept entertained for a very long time!!