Foooood

Myself and my husband spent three months planning, sourcing and making the food for our wedding feast, versus a couple of days working out our vows (but our vows were in every bite). A date for us isn’t a date without dinner and I can still tell you what he cooked for me the first morning we woke up together (scrambled eggs with grated parmesan on Irish brown bread with homemade tapenade, grilled tomatoes, homemade hummus, fresh orange juice, coffee…).

Food for me is about ritual, comfort, health and healing. In our home it is a constant topic of conversation, interest and celebration. We eat most of our meals together as a family and our kids cook with us often. So far they have never had to take an antibiotic or medication and I feel sure a big part of the reason for this is that we feed their bodies each and every day with good food cooked with love. The seeds we grow in spring are mostly of the edible kind and I love to use food to heal minor ailments, be it a chesty cough or an earache.

As I’ve read and cooked my way along I’ve learnt an incredible amount about the healing power of food. Chinese Medicine calls food nutritive qi and teaches that it, along with the air that we breathe, is the only way that we can replenish and restore the qi or life force that we are born with. The Chinese also understood that certain times of the day are optimised for us to gain the maximum nutrients from the food we eat. So it is not just about what we eat, but also when we eat it. Working with these natural rhythms we can give our bodies the best chance of being balanced and healthy.

The food I cook is all about lip-smacking taste, bear-hug comfort and a healthy appreciation of the bounties that nature has to offer. Ours is a busy family home so the recipes here are all quick simple meals that freeze well. You can check out some of the dishes I’ve been cooking up here.