Eating Better

Just recently we have noticed the standard of our food improving, at first in small ways and then suddenly with the availability of our own crops with huge leaps and bounds.

Food that is grown in good soil, harvested and then cooked simply is well........gorgeous. I have even eaten green beans, and as my lovely Mum will tell you I HATED green beans with a vengeance!! So with this in mind I have been slowly adding to my basic stock cupboard, all the dried ingredients that go so well with our fresh crops. I buy the best, usually organic and always with an open mind to trying new items, especially grains and pulses that I have up until now avoided. I have suddenly become an avid reader of cook books and watcher of cooking programmes on the television. And maybe more importantly I try the things I read about and see on the TV instead of reading and watching about them and then sticking a ready meal in the microwave (as I did in a former life!). Little tips and hints seem to be sinking in because I find myself cooking in a more natural and spontaneous way, adding extra ingredients here and there that I seem to instinctively know will improve the taste of the finished dish. Last night we dined simply on a first course of home-made leek and potato soup, followed by salmon fishcakes (flaked salmon, mashed homegrown potatoes and a free-range egg all rolled in breadcrumbs) and home grown New Potatoes. Filling and satisfying in many ways. Then we settled down and watched our best TV friend, the lovely Hugh FW teach ready meal fanatics about the beauty of home grown, home cooked food. Seems we're on the right track!! Sue xx