Back to work.

In the words of Bob Geldof, "I wonder why I don't like Monday's?" No particular reason and I can see a queue forming to remind me that as I don't actually go to my place of work on a Monday then perhaps I ought to keep schtum. I am perversely looking forward to tomorrow. I've got the house back to myself after two weeks of school holidays. I will hoover without fear of waking a teenager. Whatever J.K. Rowling said about never waking sleeping dragons can be multiplied ten fold when applied to teenagers. I can eat what I want and more importantly cook what I want.

As I'm in the process of writing a new book we have to eat what I'm testing. This can lead to a little discord in our house. When writing School Dinners I was cooking steamed sponges and custard in the height of summer and then went into melt down when the family refused to eat them. What is the matter I would berate, too jammy, too light, too dense, too much custard? No just too bloody hot in August to eat steamed Jam roly poly! I've learned my lesson. Cook the bits they will eat for them and share the bits they won't with friends who will appreciate the food. Given the economic climate I haven't got the cash to cook extra dishes so I'll have to sneek in the scarier meals at dinner parties. If you get an invitation to mine the menu may be a little eclectic for a reason. In fact I love mondays. I get to do the other job I love, to write and to cook. Fantastic. Long may this life continue. If anyone wants me to write on all five days of the working week that can be arranged too.

They surprised me today by wolfing down the steamed crab dumplings, and I'd been saving those for myself too!

There's snow business like show business!

What a change from my normal day that was! Last Wednesday I spent the afternoon filming a piece for Market Kitchen at their studios in Camden. After the snow fall on the previous Monday I was worried that perhaps it would be re scheduled and as I had swapped my teaching days to do the filming, I'd be seriously up a creek without a paddle. I need not have worried, despite appearing to live just south of the Arctic Circle, the combination of a train and a Prius got me there easily and quickly. Instead of the usual routine of signing in, checking to see if the day's teaching had changed and then getting on with it, I had people genuinely concerned for my welfare, offering me alcohol and not expecting me to do the marking in the evening either!
Filming with the Market Kitchen team was good fun, I was put at ease by Tom Parker Bowles and Matt Tebbutt and we had a laugh discussing school dinners. I even enjoyed hair and make up. I hope one day they see fit to ask me back.