Cooking

I absolutely love cooking. It is one of my passions. I am self-taught and enjoy developing my own recipes. I relish the opportunity to cook for family and friends and enjoy the demands of making a three-course meal for a gathering. I love the challenge of having everything cooked to perfection, served up beautifully and meeting the dietary needs of my guests. I take pleasure in seeing my guests enjoy the food I serve.

So here is my guide to creating the perfect meal for you and your friends and family to enjoy.

Firstly, know your guests. This may seem obvious, but you need to know if someone has any food allergies or doesn't eat specific foods. Likewise, at the most recent family gathering I had, I had to amend my menu upon discovering my cousin was pregnant - the homemade mousse with raw egg was a no go. You also need to ensure the food you serve is age appropriate. I have a wonderful recipe for chicken, but it is cooked in a beautiful white wine sauce and would therefore not be acceptable to the children in my family.

Once you know your guests' requirements, you should chose your menu and select the recipes in advance. When cooking for a large group of people, I prefer to serve food I have cooked before. when cooking for myself or when visiting my immediate family, I am more than willing to try out new recipes. However, when I have a houseful of guests, I prefer to serve something I have cooked before. Likewise, don't run your evening restaurant style - there is no need to offer your guests a choice of food. Cook one main dish and your choice of sides. Either chose to serve family style, by passing serving dishes around (this will increase the washing up though!) or serve and let your guests leave what they don't like. At the last family meal, I did offer a choice of spicy curly fries (out of the freezer, I admit), boiled potatoes or mash (whatever boiled potatoes weren't used were available for mashing with butter and milk).

Shop wisely. I like to have the freshest ingredients possible and shop as near to the day as I can. Unless cooking for an evening meal, I prefer to shop the day before as this doesn't leave my stressed and pressed for time.

I do as much preparation as I can the night before. Foods to be served cold can be prepared in advance. Cold puddings or starters are great to prepare the night before. Homemade bread can be started the night before, taking minimal time the following morning to be finished. Sauces which are served cold, such as cranberry or bread sauce, can be prepared in advance and stored in the fridge. I also lay the table in advance, and close off the room overnight - I don't want the dogs getting in there and getting dog hair everywhere or breaking the glasses! If using candles, light them early enough that they are ready for when your first guest arrives. But remember, tea lights only stay alight for about four hours. Don't have an over-powering fragrance. And remember to switch your music on - you will want something fairly quiet for a meal, to enable your guests to chat, too.

Know your recipes. Know how long everything will take to prepare and cook. Soups can often be allowed to simmer on a low heat, stirring occasionally, which means that these can be started earlier, if necessary. Foods which are cooked in the oven, such as tarts or lasagne, allow you to mingle with guests, and can often be kept warm without spoiling if guests are late arriving. Vegetables, such as peas, sweetcorn or spinach, are quick and easy to cook, making them great sides.

Enlist the help of guests if they offer. My kitchen is tiny and at the last family gathering we had twelve in total. There was not enough counter space, so my sister, my cousin and I had a system going whereby someone dished up the main, someone added the vegetables and potato type, and someone ran the plates to the dining room.

Ensure drinks are freely available to your guests. If you are hosting the event on your own, greeting your guests whilst cooking can be difficult enough. You don't want to have to be running back and to worrying that your guests have drinks. Place bottles and jugs either at the table or on a side table and invite your guests to help themselves. Or, allocate a volunteering guest to ensure everyone has drinks.

And if anyone offers to do the washing up - let them!

Getting Ready For Christmas

I'm off work next week. I can't wait. I've barely started my Christmas shopping - I have so much to do. I have a few presents for my immediate family and my best friend's son and I've made my Christmas cake. And that's it. Today, we went to the supermarket and bought a bunch of the dried ingredients for all my Christmas baking.

I made a start today. I have made some meringues (they're OK but I don't much like eggs, and I think they have absorbed the colour from the baking paper as they have a slight brown tinge), which, if I keep them in an airtight container, may keep until Christmas. I also made a batch of fudge. I have failed at this so many times before, and I just cannot do failure at cooking. And I actually think it is starting to set. I'm so proud of myself. This is only a practise batch, though.

So, for Christmas, for the children in the family and my friends' children, I have decided that I will, in addition to buying them a present, give them a bag full of home made sweets and treats. My best friend thinks it's a lovely idea. She even wants one. I have so many ideas of what to put in them. I have recipes for sugar mice and stripy biscuits and Turkish Delight and loads of other yummy sounding things. I just don't know if the bags I plan on getting will be big enough! I am excited that I'm going to be able to decorate the bags with pretty ribbons. I'm actually really excited about it!

I also need to crack on with my mince pies. I made lovely mince pies last year and I was going to make a start on them today. But I left my recipe book with the best ever mince pie recipe in at my
 house and I'm busy baking and cooking at my mums.