I have always loved food; eating it, cooking it and reading about it. One of my earliest memories is being ankle and wrist deep (literally) in cake batter whilst perched on the kitchen counter. I was no more than 3 years old and Mama had just poured batter into the tin and had then turned away for just enough time to allow me to seize my opportunity and dive right in! She looked back to find a gleeful, vanilla swamp creature slurping fistfuls of cake batter. Cooked or not, it tasted divine... partly because it had been made with so much love and care. And so my love affair with food began to flourish and many decades later I am still not sure what I like best… the cake or the raw batter.  

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The foundations of how I think about food were set at a very young age. I understood that when food is made with love, it is the tastiest food of all. This notion has stayed with me ever since and has followed me into the kitchen. When I cook, I literally chop, knead and stir in my love throughout the process.  For example, I fill myself with happy thoughts and wish all good things to whoever the food is for. If someone is sad, tired or unwell, I stir in wishes for their health, strength, vitality and happiness. These thoughts of love travel a route from my mind to heart, hand to spoon and pan to plate before being eaten and enjoyed.

 

Food also really seems to be the "hook" on which many of my memories are hung. Over the years, I have created a foodie memory map which lets me navigate through so many "who/what/when/where" moments of my life with family and friends who I will introduce you to in some of the posts here. This is a collection of short, happy, yummy memories (with my accompanying photos) about my loved ones and the food we have shared together, including some of the dishes I have cooked for them with all the good wishes mixed in.

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Welcome to Stir in the Love.