Why Don't You Turn off the TV and Do Something Less Boring Instead ?

This week Delia Smith announced her retirement from broadcasting after 40 years as one of the Uk's leading TV chefs. She has always been a bit of a hero of mine. Over the years I have purchased most of her cookery books (and made a lot of the recipes). I have also avidly watched all of her cookery TV series. I found her recipes not only delicious but straightforward and easy to follow. They don't have a long list of ingredients that you can't find in the supermarket and you don't have to be a chef to make them. It is good home cooking she delivers that we should all be able to achieve.

As a young child you would find me in the kitchen helping my Mum make fairy cakes and jam tarts. As I grew up this interest in cooking developed further. I loved baking. I also took an interest in helping my mum plan and cook our meals and by 13 I was cooking the Sunday roast while my mum went to church. Home Economics was my favourite subject at school and the one subject I achieved an A in at GCSE. When I left home and went to University I enjoyed having friends round at the weekend for meals. I loved spending time reading through cookery books planning the menus and I was always trying new recipes whenever I could. It wasn't just about the food though. It was also about the friendships formed and the conversations shared as we sat around the table. Sometimes that was over a bowl of tinned tomato soup. Now as a busy Wife and Mum I enjoy cooking easy, delicious and healthy meals for us as a family. I really want to inspire other people in that too. I was encouraged to read in the Telegraph this week that cookery lessons are to become a compulsory part of the school curriculum again. It was a shame they were ever dropped. They taught us not only how to cook but a little bit about nutrition as well. I enjoy cooking with our two year old son. I hope that he grows up with an ability to be able too cook for himself and enjoys it too. Delia Smith has recently launched an on-line cookery school. One of her reasons for this is 'that nobody teaches people how to cook anymore' She said that modern cookery shows presented TV as theatre rather than teaching the basics. I can see where she is coming from. There are so many cookery programmes on TV- Masterchef, The Great British Bake off, Ready Steady Cook, But how many of us actually cook any of the recipes we see them do? Do most people sit down after a hard days work with their microwave meal simply wanting to be entertained by these programmes? And do they build confidence in peoples ability to cook or simply teach them to be a food critic. Like Delia Smith I am keen to inspire people to cook and to build confidence to know that they can do it. That is one of the reasons I started writing this blog. I am not looking to be a chef or claim that all the recipes I post are my own, but I do hope that my posts encourage people to 'have a go' at the recipes and realise that cooking delicious food is not just for a talented few but something we can all achieve and enjoy. Along with this I want to show that cooking delicious food can be healthy too. We live in an age where we are faced with so many food choices. Many of then are not that healthy, hence the term 'junk food'.

You really can't beat the satisfaction of eating something you have made yourself from scratch and to know that you and your family are eating quality food that is doing you good as well. I would love to hear from you if you have tried any of the recipes I have posted and I also hope this post encourages you this week to have a go at one of them too if you haven't yet. Please comment on blog or email fivestarfuel.cm@gmail.com