A toddler, a kitchen, and a return to recipes
It’s been a while, reader. My last recipe, for sundried tomato pesto with red pepper and fusilli, was posted back in October 2024, and about two months later, my daughter arrived into this world. As I imagine all parents will attest to, nothing changes your life quite so much as having a child, and it’s only now eighteen months on, that I’m feeling ready to commit some of my time to getting back and sharing my thoughts and recipes with you.
Cooking has been one of the things that has remained a priority in my life even though it has changed so much. In the early days, it was a glimpse of normality, even if it was just putting a pizza in the oven or digging through the freezer to find a pre-prepared dinner (thank you organised past me!). As my daughter got older it became a chance for me to have a bit of time “off” of an evening (I appreciate that this isn’t the case for those who see cooking as a chore rather than a hobby), then to start sharing the delights of food and flavour with her. Weaning was not an easy journey for us, with many a dinner time spend fretting about her refusal to eat, whether we were giving her the right things, worrying about allergies (RIP my love for peanut butter), and many a lovingly prepared dinner was unceremoniously cast into the bin. Thankfully we’ve now turned the tide and have a toddler with a good appetite and a relatively adventurous palette (her current favourite is either the quinoa chilli from Ella Mills’ Quick Wins book (pictured above), or a tofu curry from an old Gousto box recipe), but it was a very trying time for what felt like an age.
Anyway, what’s to come for the blog? Well, since there hasn’t been a new recipe on here in a year and a half, I’ve got somewhat of a backlog to get through! Expect to see a few recipes popping up over the next couple of months - first up is a take on Turkish scrambled eggs that I found pretty much written up and ready to go in my draft posts to my suprise, which I’m planning to share at the end of the month. I may also scatter in a few more “chatty” posts, sharing my thoughts on how food and family interact with each other, and how I’m trying to keep everyone fed when life is busy! Anyway, thank you for continuing to visit my site and cook up the recipes; I see the stats so I know you’re out there and I’m very grateful. To the kitchen!
My tastiest creation yet