I am a complete devotee to cooking programmes. I watch them all, Sophie Dahl, Jamie, Nigella, Nigel et al. Masterchef, Love it! I buy all the books which go with the programmes, and spend two days looking at the beautiful pictures, taken in beautiful kitchens, with beautiful children all smiling at this lovely home cooked food. Then I go to M&S and buy Gorgonzola burgers, frites and salad and my cooking is done.
Recently I was very kindly sent the Little Dish Favourites Cookbook by Hillary Graves. The email from the PR came through, would you be interested in looking at it? Of course, I replied, I saw Hillary on that programme on BBC 1,High Street Dreams. Fabulous. Obviously after watching that, which was all about turning family recipes into huge success at Asda, Waitrose etc, I was wondering what signature dish I could create and make a million from. But quite frankly, pasta pesto and jacket potato with tuna and sweetcorn would not make me a bean.
So, the book arrived, I made a cuppa tea, grabbed a choccie digestive and read every single recipe. Yum, I thought, oooh yes, there are even simple recipes in here that say they take take just twenty minutes and look quite easy. Very healthy too.
I closed the book and sandwiched it in on the shelf between Tana Ramsey's Real Family Food and Rachel Allen's Food At Home. I'm afraid, all good intentions have gone to pot. I'm still on my four day meal rotation with the kids. Pizza (not homemade) with houmous (not home made) carrot sticks and cucumber, jacket potato, pasta pesto (not home made pesto) with added sweetcorn, chicken and rice.
One day I will try much harder. And with books like Hillary making it so easy, I really have no more excuses.
Please tell me that I am not the only failed Nigella?
click here to buy Little Dish
