User:MaybeBoo

I like to cook and create dishes, unfortunately there is not much time anymore than to do more than the obligatory dinner for 4 growing souls who all have different tastes and eating habits, (My fault I know!) and so although I got out of the restaurant business some 15 years ago, it doesn't feel like it.

Fortunately I don't often follow recipes but ' make it up as I go along'. This has its advantages as one can make something from whatever is left in the larder, the disadvantage being that when I invent something that everyone likes I often cannot reproduce it to their exacting standards.

Presentation is half the battle as most people do eat first with their eyes and the simplest things can be made to look fantastic with a few nice fresh garnishes a good paring knife and a little imagination.

A gas hob and electric fan assisted oven are my favourite cooking mediums. I swapped all my non stick pans for stainless steel ones a few years ago when I discovered that the aluminium was beginning to addle my brain (it has been linked with Alzheimer's disease) and so at the same time as I gave up anti perspirant (which all seems to contain it except a few herbal brands, along with sunscreen ) I threw out my collection of aluminium cooking utensils. The next most important utensil in my kitchen is a decent knife and chopping board (or preferably lots of them).

I don't own a set of scales (except an ornamental set in the garden) as I find my trusty table spoon (which you can't seem to find any more) is sufficient for weighing out most things and as long as you have some vessel for measuring quantities against each other, all the other fancy kitchen paraphernalia is just for fun. Except of course a wooden spoon, sieve, colander, pestle and mortar and a decent frying pan. The one thing I would rescue from my kitchen in an emergency where I had to fee for good would be my potato peeler. The kind that you can peel a dozen potatoes in 3 minutes flat, with a U shaped handle holding a sharp and wide cutter.

I grow fresh lemons in the garden and am blessed with a tree that crops 3 times a year. I am also lucky enough to have a bay tree (or the Cypriot equivalent - Dyosmi) a pomegranate tree, a couple of figs and a sweet potato planter pot, grown from the ones which 'go over' in my vegetable rack. Fresh garlic also grows in the cracks in the yard.

I consider my staples to be rice, olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, tomato puree, mustard, sugar or honey, pasta, flour, eggs, cheese, milk and vegetables (onion, garlic, potatoes, red peppers, carrots, apples and tomatoes). The luxuries are cream, butter, bacon, pulses, meat, pineapple, green vegetables of any kind and my extensive collection of herbs and spices. That is not to say it is all I shop for. Great little wiki, thanks.