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| Tomato tarte Tatin from The Modern Cook's Year by Anna Jones. Gorgeous, but not as good as the Ottolenghi one we had a couple of weeks ago. |
Did you miss me? I realise I've managed to completely miss two weeks of writing.
Why?
Because I've also missed two weeks of cooking.
What a Very Good Thing it was to foster a love of cooking in my daughters. Eldest comes home from uni and throws herself into cooking with great gusto. She loves the fact that our house is full of stuff to cook, she says, all the herbs and spices, four types of rice, jars of this and that. Plus she's got nothing much to do before her big holiday followed by Life after Uni, so she's up for a bit of experimenting with new recipes. And I think the fact that she's been cooking for herself for four years makes a difference. Come that time of day when I'm setting my work to one side and wandering into the kitchen, I find she's there before me, driven by the same habit.
I could get used to this!
Cooking everyday for a family is relentless. Everyone is expecting to be fed. Someone has to do it. Someone also has to make sure there is always food in the house to cook. Ideally someone has to plan ahead for most days so no spur of the moment creativity is needed unless that's the mood you're in. Of course, that someone could be anyone in the family, but it's easier if it's the same person and it's easier if it's the person who's around the house to get the supermarket delivery or who has time during the day so not all of the preparation has to be done when everyone's tired and hungry. And that means me. I'm not complaining, really I'm not. It is possible to share this more than I have and it is possible to cook in a simpler way than I do. I have made this my job. But the fact is that it is an enormous pleasure when I am not the one who has to plan and when I am not the one who assumes they are the one who is going to cook (and who is assumed to begoing to cook).
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| Veg shawarma also from The Modern Cook's Year by Anna Jones. Roasted veggies in home-made flatbreads with pistachio and herb yogurt. Mmm! |
I've managed to cut down on my responsibility for planning over the past few years by forcing everyone to sit down and work out what we're going to eat each week before I do the shopping. This usually elicits a chorus of groans and the odd person (you know who you are) who suddenly has to do something very important on their phone in another room. However, it gets done and I can be fairly sure that everyone has at least one thing they really like at least once a week. (It's probably a useful learning experience too, though the idea of doing something because it's a useful learning experience makes me cringe a little.)
Anyway, mustn't get to used to having domestic staff. Lovely daughter will be gone before we know it. Nice while it lasts though!
You can find the complete menus from week sixteen here and week seventeen here.
Claire Watts and her family are cooking vegetarian for a year. You can find out why - and why 'cooking vegetarian' doesn't always necessarily mean 'eating vegetarian' here.
Claire Watts writes and edits books for children.
She's currently working on making something beautiful with fairy tales.
Find out about her Snippets project and how you can help on her Patreon page.
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