A Recipe made with Love…

How often do you think to yourself, “what shall I cook tonight for dinner?” Does it present as a challenge more often than you’d’ like it to?

Perhaps a good way to do your meal planning is to ask yourself what the person or people you are cooking for want or need from this meal – not so much nutritionally but emotionally. Do you want to cook dinner for a friend who is feeling down? What type of food will offer them a hug from the inside? Often grounding foods, like root vegetables, perhaps mashed with lots of butter, offer comfort but still taste great and are good for us; or if someone’s feeling a little under the weather a good bone broth or a vegetable soup with home made bread will give them that nurtured feeling in their belly.

If you are entertaining during warmer weather then the food your offer your guests should be light and gently stimulating, because this is the atmosphere most likely to bring out the best in your social scene, and because you’ve considered the season too, your carefully cooked meal will not leave them feeling uncomfortable during the process of digestion. Heavy grounding food may make them sluggish or uncomfortable.  A fresh soup, followed by a fish and steamed vegetable course and finishing with a fruity meringue dessert would tantalize their palettes but keep the energy light.

A family lunch during the winter would warrant a cosy, heavier theme. A Sunday roast with warm peppery gravy poured over steaming vegetables and crispy roast potatoes will serve to strengthen the bond at any family table.

And how about when it is only for you? How are you feeling today? What do you need from your food? When you take just a few moments to discover what your body is asking for, you will quickly learn to see where you can find balance from the ingredients you put into your meals.

For example if you have been at work, and come home feeling tired and drained you may look for convenience such as a pizza because its too much effort to cook – but will this help to lift your energy or leave you feeling more tired? Although it may take a little effort, a few veggies sautéed and served on a bed of rice, will not only be better for us nutritionally, but it will also give us an energetic boost emotionally too.

It can seem like a chore as we search for ideas of what to cook every night, but thinking about what we are going to serve up to someone we love (including ourselves) could be much more of a pleasure, if we think about the people we are cooking for.

Did you ever visit your grannies house when she has baked your favourite cake? Nothing on earth tastes as good as that cake, or makes you love your granny more for making it.  But is it because she is an incredible cook – maybe she is but there is another reason that your grandma’s baking tastes like heaven. When she bakes it, she isn’t just making a cake. She’s making something just for you. She is pouring vast amounts of one simple ingredient into that cake, which makes it tastes like no other.  Love, is added as she heaps the flour into the bowl, then again as she blends the mixture together, and yet more as she pours it into the cake tin. As it bakes in the oven and the aroma permeates her house, you receive that ingredient as soon as you enter her home. It fills your nostrils as she envelopes you in her arms.

And when your grandma places a large slice on a fine china plate in front of you, with a steaming cup of tea, you know you are about to taste real love.

Love is the vital ingredient that can change the simplest of dishes into the most mouth-watering cuisine when you are cooking for people close to your heart. So next time you’re stuck for what to cook for dinner, try to think of what atmosphere you want to create through your cooking, add a generous serving of love, and you will have the makings of a delicious dinner that will stimulate the senses, tantalise the taste buds and make your friends and family feel loved and cherished.

Below is a recipe for delicious crumpets. Add as much extra love as you can ❤

English Crumpets

(Best served on a rainy Sunday afternoon, with English tea or rose petal tea)

450gms whole-wheat flour

600mls whole milk

10gms dried yeast

1 tsp salt

Butter or ghee to cook

Crumpet/egg rings see: https://www.amazon.com/crumpet-rings/s?k=crumpet+rings

1. Very gently warm milk until it is room temperature or tepid.
2. Mix dried ingredients, and then slowly pour the milk into the dried mixture, and fold. Whisk until batter is smooth and becomes a pouring consistency.
3. Leave to rise for 1-2-hrs depending on room temperature.
4. Once risen, heat a pan on the stove gently (on a scale of 1-9, we cook ours on 4), and place the rings inside the pan as it heats. Place a small knob of ghee inside each ring and allow it to coat the inside of the ring.
5. Pour one ladle of batter into each ring and allow to cook gently until you can see it forming and bubbles begin to show. When the mixture is firm, gently slide the rings off, and turn the crumpets in the pan to brown the tops.
6. Serve warm with lots of butter and local honey or homemade jam

If you don’t have rings you can make your own with tin foil.

Crumpets can be cooked in advance and popped in the toaster to warm before serving.

Wishing you good health, clarity and calm, and most of all love ❤