Hello!

So, here we are, the first step on my latest writing venture. I love writing, I just don't have the time to do it regularly enough to produce anything of great length. So here I am!  Many thanks to Stephanie Smith for coming up with the perfect name for this blog!!!

As well as writing, one of my great passions in life is cooking. Nothing poncey or pretentious, there's a lot of excellent chefs out there to cover that market!  No, what I love is feeding my friends and family with good, honest, wholesome home cooking. Whether it's beef stew and dumplings, veggie korma, the Blair Family lasagne or an apple pie and custard, sometimes a nice plate of food and a listening ear is as good as an hour with a psychologist! And let's face it, not many shrinks give you a plate of homemade ham soup when you walk through their door.

Another thing that makes me smile is involving my little person, Alister, in cooking. He's 8 years old and has recently discovered a real love of Nigel Slater's style of cooking: simple recipes made with excellent ingredients and a lot of passion. He's tried his hand at a pumpkin pie and sweetcorn fritters so far. Next on his list is Nigel's stewed apple ice cream, I can't wait!

So if I had to sum up what this blog is about? Cooking with love, for and with people I care about and hopefully making them smile a little. A slab of lasagne can be a comforting hug on a plate! Hopefully I can figure out how to post photos on here, you'll have to use your own imagination to conjur up the smells and tastes though.

I hope you enjoy my ramblings.  Feel free to leave comments, however, anything abusive will not be approved so you'd be as well not bothering! Have fun, Jill xxx