Hi! I'm Niki and I'm addicted to cooking.
There. I said it.
Actually, I'm not sorry or embarrassed. Cooking is therapy to me. When I'm stressed, irritable, angry, the kitchen is my haven of calm, my place to regroup, reassess and return in a more positive frame of mind. When I'm in a good mood, it's my playground. Somewhere to create, experiment and plan. Meals for the family, feasts for friends, treats for my loved ones, using up what's in the fridge, clearing a seasonal glut of a particular ingredient, reinventing left-overs, splurging on a special centrepiece ingredient, baking for the school bake sale, I don't care what it is as long as I have my hands on food.
Friends and family have told me I'm clever with food but I just love eating and, to me, cooking is just a natural extension of the desire to eat well. In addition, I think it's just common sense and good economics to cook. There have been so many food scares in recent years and increasingly they are involving ready-made foods and lengthy food-chains. The economic situation means that food prices are soaring whilst our incomes are not growing accordingly. We can't afford to waste the food we buy and we need to get maximum nutrition for minimum money.
Anyway, the purpose of this blog is to inspire those of you who don't cook regularly to get in that kitchen and start experimenting. I want to give you some ideas, hints and tips to make your kitchen a place you want to stop a while rather than trying to get out of.
So if you've ever said "I don't have time to cook", "Cooking from scratch is too expensive", "I'm not confident in the kitchen" or "Cooking is boring", keep checking in and see if I can change your mind.
