H is for Hula Hoop!

I must go out to the shed in the morning and bring in my hoop. I've got a proper adult size and weight one (it makes a BIG difference).

Today I took delivery of two new fitness DVDs as I prepare my stomach for baring belly on the beach this summer. The terrible weather has lulled us into a false sense of security as we've hidden under layers of wool and puffa jackets. I was rather shocked to discover that it wasn't a rolled-up flesh-coloured t-shirt giving me extra warmth around my waist, but in fact a spare tyre complete with love handles. Time for some drastic action.

Although I have never been what you might call particularly athletic - always far too uncoordinated to get picked for any team sports and rubbish at catching a ball - I never had any trouble with a hula hoop and can keep the thing spinning around my waist for hours. OK, slight exaggeration. I would get really bored hooping for hours, but I can certainly manage 30 minutes without dropping it once.

Should be great for multi-tasking because I have some TV series I need to catch up on and I can stand and spin while watching - genius! Although my current addiction to watching Masterchef doesn't really help the waistline. Dieting does not get tougher than this... Yesterday I made a creamy chicken pie after watching John Torode. It required finishing off with sticky toffee pudding and clotted cream ice cream with honeycomb pieces... what can I say? I need

The pie comes in after 14 minutes. "It's a good looking pie John, a good looking pie." 

How to get dinner cooked for you

So, here is the promised attempt at food journalism, although the way I ramble sometimes who knows what you will end up with by the end of the post.

If you read my blog regularly, you'll be aware I have been known to wax lyrical about Masterchef and Heston's crazy feasts. Inspiration struck to recreate at home some of the flavour (pun intended!) of these cookery shows as part of an evening's entertainment for friends. I pondered boiling a pig in the bath, disguising potatoes as rocks and deep frying garden pests but rooted instead for the toughest cookery challenge of them all - the Masterchef invention test! Well, dear readers, what a cunning wheeze this was. Why go to all the trouble of cooking a meal for your friends when you can get them to do it for you in the comfort of your own home. Simply fill a basket with tasty ingredients at your local supermarket (or deli if you are posh and live in a town that actually has one), allow your friends open access to your store cupboards and kitchen utensils and let battle to commence. Ideally, with hindsight, I could have installed a few extra hob rings as there was a spot of wrestling stove-side but on the whole the evening was a great success. Top tip for the basket buyers out there - remember to buy things that actually might go well together (e.g. avoiding combinations like steak and custard); don't pick anything that takes too long to cook, make sure you actually have some useful content in your store cupboards (out of date packet soup and four grains of rice at the bottom of the packet is not going to be much use nor inspiration) and provide some suitable ambience. Alcohol naturally springs to mind here but you might also like to consider some musical accompaniment or other 'entertainment' depending on your tastes! When the fight for time at the cooker has been won, you can sit back and enjoy the fruits of your and, more importantly, your friends' labours. The evening was actually tremendous fun, rather tasty and, despite Rachel's protestations that she couldn't actually cook,* we enjoyed a feast fit for a Blumenthal and very sociable it was too.

If it wasn't so late at night (why do I always end up writing these so close to midnight?) I would add a menu of the evening's Tapas delights, but I need my beauty sleep. Watch this space for an update soon!

* Note to self: next time ask for Home Economics 'O' levels as prerequisite

Back on Masterchef again

It's the final this week and gripping stuff, I almost can't bear to watch. However, the material for this post comes not from the food and cooking, nor the presentation and anticipation. Instead, it is simply from something that one of the finalists said "If you have a dream then you owe it to yourself to go for it." A little reminder that this writing IS my dream. It is something I have always wanted and this is my big opportunity to give it my all. Next week I will be officially redundant from Carlsberg. I have no job to go to, so writing and working for myself will be my role and I must get on with it, allowing no distraction. How easy it would be to fall into a pit of self pity, or to ensconce myself on the sofa digesting a diet of moving house programmes (at least I know I would never stoop so low as Jeremy Kyle!). Thankfully Masterchef finishes tomorrow so I'll be regaining a chunk of my evening!

Off now to indulge in Molton Brown bath soak then slip between clean sheets. Ah bliss...

How do you become a food journalist?

I've been exploring what to write about, preparing both my big fantasy novel, my short story and children's book - these are definites, my real challenge and a promise I've made to myself. I've comtemplated corporate issues but suddenly I've been hit by a new inspiration. Food journalism. Me, writing and food - what a delightful menage a trois! Where has this 'flavour' derived from? Watching Masterchef naturally. "Cooking's never been tougher than this!"
I've always loved cooking and never been afraid to either experiment or to tackle technically complex dishes, but this TV series is really teaching me something about the secrets to flavour combining, seasoning, presentation and above all passion. The semi-finalists are bubbling over with the latter. For me, passion is tied into the desire to create - whisking up that memorable dish that lives on in the palate for hours afterwards, but it's also that satisfaction of giving the people you cook for a real treat, making a meal into an occasion, hearing my four year old son describe my kedgeree as "deee-lic-ious" and watch my boyfriend patting his tummy contentedly and begging for more! Funnily enough I watch very little television normally, but this week have overdosed slightly on cookery programmes and my next lesson was concerned with delivery of food. I'm not talking making it look pretty on the plate, but on making the atmosphere of eating the food as enjoyable as the delicacies served. Watching Christopher Biggins on Celebrity come dine with me on Sunday night was a real treat! Now here was a man who knew how to throw a dinner party, we were even given an acting demonstration when he passed off Tesco's trout pate as his own, but frankly it didn't matter. It was about his attention to detail in being the perfect host and making his guests feel, not at home, but out having the time of their lives.

Is this my first piece of food journalism? Is it any good?