Lay the table .

A lot of stuff happened . Two deaths in the family and three  betrayals  plus the fallout which showed clear daylight on a lot of other people .

So we walked away . A lot of walking got done on solitary beaches . Sometimes together and sometimes alone .
Eventually, though you look up and realise you can now take your umberella down .

So it comes time to savour again the things that ,necessarily , got pushed to the margins .

So what of the kitchen ?  Well , gradually chutney bubbled again and marmalade perfumed the house but what else ?

I grew up on farm house and country house food . Then by observation , osmosis , and intuition cooked it . Not the painting by numbers that the sainted Delia prescribed (and thus knocked any confidence and creativity out of a potential cook ). No , this was more commonsense , resourcefulness ,a bit of skill and a lot of greed .

Now it's different .The postman's bored with hearing me belt down the back stairs to get the latest second hand cookery book . Mind you he often suppresses a grin as I emerge hair half up , half down looking like Bella from the bordello in the saxophonist's dressing gown .
The book's are various and so this week I'm making :

moussaka
a stir fry
dolmades
deep fried squid
and a pineapple crumble with clotted cream custard
and then having a sit down - obviously .

So what I want to know is what are  you cooking and if some of the inspiration comes from a couple of books , what are they ?
I'll show you mine if you show me yours .

Note to self : put less red meat in next week's menu .