Domestic Goddess Re-imagined
Books are dreams of lives you may never have. I’m not referring to Harlequin romances, vampire-prince fantasy numbers or sci-fi tomes with large breasted women on their covers. I’m talking, specifically, about cookbooks. The Rose Bakery’s delightful ‘Breakfast Lunch Tea’ is tonight’s bedtime reading. It is a sweet, deep lime-coloured hardback with an earnest world of the simple (organic preferable) and delicious within. Carrots and apricots feature heavily and most of the dishes are what I call ’small food’ - soups, salads, tarts, biscuits etc. The perfect menu items for a teddy bear’s picnic, seriously. You can imagine Winnie and Piglet tucking into a bit of Fresh Ginger Cake whilst waiting for Christopher Robin to join them on a bit of grassy riverbank. Heaven.
And you see, this is the dilemma. I’d like a warm-but-not-hot afternoon to myself so I can hum merrily whilst making Cheddar Cornmeal Scones. But it’s not going to happen. I suffer from the adult working malady of Being Tired And Busy Most of The Time. The weekends, especially leading up to Christmas (I shall spare you Christmas Rant… for now) are hectic. November, especially, is a killer month. Last weekend alone there was a production of Into The Woods and Sexpo to attend, and the week before was… oh, I can’t remember. Bah.
So back to my point - cookbooks. With each cookbook there are different sets of aspirations/inspirations.
‘Breakfast Lunch Tea’ = Yes, I will bake using Danish unsalted butter in a sunny kitchen, sporting an apron the colour of daffodils.
Any of Jamie Oliver’s early books = Yes, I will have a dozen of my best mates over for home-made curry and a larger, even though I live in a teeny tiny apartment.
‘How To Eat’ by Nigella Lawson = Yes, I will throw a dinner party and the children can have the poussin. Small children, small chickens, brilliant.
‘Tetsuya’ by Tetsuya Wakada = Yes, I have the patience to slow-poach a scarily expensive piece of trout in my scarily expensive kitchen.
And so one. So, what will I actually cook from ‘Breakfast Lunch Tea’? The shortbread. Which I shall merrily pack into wee cellphone parcels and distribute to friends whilst humming Cole Porter numbers. Or not. Wish me luck.
And you see, this is the dilemma. I’d like a warm-but-not-hot afternoon to myself so I can hum merrily whilst making Cheddar Cornmeal Scones. But it’s not going to happen. I suffer from the adult working malady of Being Tired And Busy Most of The Time. The weekends, especially leading up to Christmas (I shall spare you Christmas Rant… for now) are hectic. November, especially, is a killer month. Last weekend alone there was a production of Into The Woods and Sexpo to attend, and the week before was… oh, I can’t remember. Bah.
So back to my point - cookbooks. With each cookbook there are different sets of aspirations/inspirations.
‘Breakfast Lunch Tea’ = Yes, I will bake using Danish unsalted butter in a sunny kitchen, sporting an apron the colour of daffodils.
Any of Jamie Oliver’s early books = Yes, I will have a dozen of my best mates over for home-made curry and a larger, even though I live in a teeny tiny apartment.
‘How To Eat’ by Nigella Lawson = Yes, I will throw a dinner party and the children can have the poussin. Small children, small chickens, brilliant.
‘Tetsuya’ by Tetsuya Wakada = Yes, I have the patience to slow-poach a scarily expensive piece of trout in my scarily expensive kitchen.
And so one. So, what will I actually cook from ‘Breakfast Lunch Tea’? The shortbread. Which I shall merrily pack into wee cellphone parcels and distribute to friends whilst humming Cole Porter numbers. Or not. Wish me luck.