It's rare that I cook for more than 2 or 3 people these days - the long boozy dinner parties that were a fun part of being single/child free/robust of liver/in charge of my own working hours have mostly gone along with my 20's. I would regret that more if I didn't have vivid memories of some horrible hangovers. Still it's a kind of cooking I enjoy for all sorts of reasons, not the least of which is the menu planing.
Those glorious few hours spent happily browsing make up for the more mundane chores which precede a visit from family who will quite happily point out deficiencies in my housekeeping (fortunately candlelight will hide a lot). My flat currently smells of a heady mix of bleach, furniture wax, and Diptyque's Epice candle (ridiculously expensive but it smells so good - and can fight of bleach for goodness sake) so an effort has been made. The most depressing thing about housework is how once you start you always find more to do, and there are almost always better things to do. My family (and this is probably fair) have such low expectations of my domestic abilities that when my mother saw some washing powder specifically for wool she asked (with genuine shock) if I had bought that myself? It took quite some time to convince her that I had, and what's more knew what to do with it.
Meanwhile the cookbooks... I've sifted through lots of them, devised plans and fantasy menus, finally settled on something that my increasingly decrepit oven can probably be coaxed into coping with, tagged plenty of things to go back to and generally been inspired. The Sarah Raven books (marmalade ice cream) have been something of a rediscovery. I've not had a proper look through for a while so had forgotten just how appealing they are. 'Persiana' is excellent for good tempered, low maintenance, dishes with robust winter beating flavours (pork with some sort of pomegranate sauce). I have lists, I have a plan, and have done enough cleaning; they are after all my family, they know what to expect!
(I don't live in filth, honestly I don't, but my attitude to housework veers towards that'll do or it'll wait rather than house proud.)
What a lovely stack of cookbooks! I have all of them apart from A Taste of Belgium, so of course I'm curious about that - what's it like? Menu planning is so much fun; I'm sure you'll have a fabulous dinner party! xxx
ReplyDeleteI love the planning - who will like what, what's in season, what wine to drink - even down to the logistics of dealing with my increasingly moody oven and coaxing it into compliance. Much more fun than the washing up. A Taste of Belgium was a late birthday present which I've not spent nearly enough time with yet. So far it looks promising but there's a lot of stews etc that demand proper stock, the addition of a pigs trotter, and a lot of ingredients. They found amazing but need plenty of time and planning on their own account. There will be a more considered opinion coming soon!
ReplyDeleteI too am curious about The Taste of Belgium, as I live there (in the country, not the book). Is that chicory/witloof on the spine? That would definitely be right... I am as always deeply impressed by your cooking skills and ambitions, and I hope you all have a lovely time.
ReplyDeleteIt is chicory. My experience of Belgium as a country is limited to a few visits with a friend who was a tour guide - so exclusively cities, but I loved what I saw of the place. As far as I can tell it's reasonably authentic with lots of slow cooking, beer, and chicory. As much as cooking it I love reading about food so I'm very happy with this one.
DeleteThis is inspiring - both words and image - and in a belated response, my heat and humidity affected Australian brain meant to congratulate you on the lovely knitting and link it somehow to your reading of A Tangled Web...it took a while to process!
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Oof, can't imagine even thinking about a wooly scarf in the middle of summer! And thank you for your kind words.
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