The Gift of Food and Family

It's Friday, the sun is shining and the sky is cloudless and blue. Perfect gift from mother nature, and a much needed lift for my spirits. I decided to cut myself some slack today and allowed myself the luxury of not working too hard and not worrying too much. Instead, I took an leisurely walk with my dog Pastis (he's finally recovering after being terribly ill), decided to make weekend plans and had a look through some old cookbooks.

I headed to the attic and picked up some of my favorites:

-Twelve (Tessa Kiros)

-Kitchen Diaries (Nigel Slater)

-Falling Cloudberries (Tessa Kiros)

-How to Be a Domestic Goddess (Nigella Lawson)

-Feast (Nigella Lawson)

I have so many fond memories with these books. Each of them holds treasured recipes that I've made for family and friends: Nigella's old-fashioned chocolate cake for every birthday, her ritzy chicken nuggets and slime soup for Halloween, the fabulous white chocolate and cranberry cookies at Christmas. Then there's Nigel Slater's sausage with salami and lentils when the real autumn chill sets in, and his awesome brownies when I really want to spoil us. Tessa's couscous salad is unbeatable for lunches, and her carrot cake means 'love, welcome home'.

I spent a few blissful hours looking through these books and remembering why food and family are such incredible gifts. How lucky we all are who can enjoy both of them!

And in case you're wondering, next week I'll be making Nigel Slater's chicken stew and mash, his dal and pumpkin soup (Yay! Pumpkin season is here!), Nigella's Guinness cake and Tessa's steak with mushrooms. 

Happy weekend and make next week delicious in every way!