Our Christmas here was very cheerful, particularly after the introduction of the "onezee". If you don't know what it is, think of an item of clothing like an all in one for babies but in an adult size and you'll get the picture. According to our niece, these garments are all the rage within the student community where apparently the idea of a good night is to put those on and watch the X Factor. Dancing all night with little more than flowers in our hair is what we used to do, but clearly times have changed. Anyway, we (almost) collectively thought these onezees were a great idea, given the arctic conditions and rushed to Penneys to get one for each member of the family. You might not be surprised to hear that the boys were a little recalcitrant at first, but after some gentle persuasion -just short of using the rolling pin-we manage to take this cosy family portrait.  So, the novelty Christmas jumper is out and the onezee is in, you have heard it here first.

The only good thing about the after Xmas house clear up is the visit to the bottle bank; it is the only time of the year when I go there carrying my head high, let me explain. On my regular monthly visit with bags upon bags of clunky bottles I usually meet a lovely old lady with just three bottles in a bag to recycle and feel the glaze of disapproval even if it is not there at all. Not so on my last visit, when I exchanged knowing smiles with my fellow recyclers who like me had a lot of relatives and friends to entertain over the festive period... 

Naturally, with the New Year come the resolutions. Being weak willed I don't go anywhere near them myself, but for the more motivated amongst you, dear readers, can I make a suggestion? Nothing too hard I promise. I am talking seasoning, food seasoning to be more precise.  Although simple and obvious, it is probably one of the most  overlooked, but crucial aspect of cooking . Seasoning with salt not only brings out the flavour of food but also awakens the taste buds. Seasoning and particularly tasting should happen throughout the cooking process. By doing this, you will built up your instinct on how to use the correct amount of salt to enhance the food. If you add salt and taste at every stage of the dish or addition of ingredient (taking into consideration their saltiness) you are cooking, using the correct amount of salt will become second nature to you . It really is just down to experience and this is how you get it. A common mistake is to think that the seasoning can be added at the end of cooking. In fact, you will be more likely to over season as your taste buds will be more focussed on the salt flavour rather than the flavour of the food.  We like to use the more delicate Maldon sea salt, it is readily available and a natural product which has not been stripped of its minerals and nutrient. It is best to keep the highly processed generic table salt for cooking water for example.

A bientôt!