eating in...my january challenge: mushroom ragout with soft polenta

so, my january challenge is continuing. the main challenge is being in to cook things from my three books as i've been out gallivanting a lot recently. anyway, here's something i made the other day...it's river cottage veg everyday's mushroom ragout with soft polenta. you'll find it in the comfort food and feasts section, and very accurately named that section is as it was very comforting and felt like a bit of a feast. the polenta was delicious and very easy, a surprise as i've been putting off using it for reasons that are now beyond me. i'll be making it - this recipe and polenta - again.

and yes i am back to photographing food again...a bit weird but is pretty helpful when blogging about cooking and eating. i need to do a bit more work on lighting. i've read that it's best to photograph food in natural light. it's a bit tricky to do this on a winter's evening but i'll try my hardest in future.

eating out...ssh! it's a secret

private pies, clandestine cakes? who knew there was such a furtive, secretive food making and eating going on in the coffee shops and spaces in newcastle?

clandestine cakes club was the movers and shakers on this trend. i'm clearly behind the times because there are clandestine cake clubs all over the country, taking great delight in baking and sharing cakes but strictly no muffins, pies (there's a separate club for that), tarts or cupcakes.

if you like pies and want to eat them in private then clearly private pie is for you - who doesn't like pie?

whatever next? covert curries? mysterious muffins? furtive flans?

eating in...my january challenge: an early report

my cooking challenge seems to be going fairly well, as well as it can be when i seem to be out most nights of the week. i have cooked three recipes from january's cookery books this week, however i have totally failed to take photos of what i've made. but who wants to spend time photographing food rather than eating it?!

* roasted squash and shallots with merguez chickpeas from river cottage veg everyday - me and C had it last monday for tea and i had leftovers for lunch in the week, that's my kind of cooking

* spicy moroccan carrot salad from plenty - it certainly was spicy as i mistakenly used all of the spices for only have the carrots in the recipe...you'd think i was some kind of amateur...it was still lovely

* caponata from river cottage - this was perfect to use up the two bags of frozen roast aubergine in the freezer...or so i thought until the roasted aubergine defrosted only to find the aubergine had turned into sweet potato and courgette. fancy that. my kitchen isn't usually so calamitous, really it isn't

i've next got my eye on savoy cabbage and parmesan soup from plenty.

out and about...up in the frozen north

it was a touch on the fresh side this morning...and it didn't change all day...brrrr

eating in...what i'll be cooking in january

i love cooking and i love recipe books. i have a lot of them but i'm not very good at actually using them... i've also had a bit of a quiet patch on the cooking front lately... so, i've decided to introduce some parameters for january's cooking to make me use them and to get back into cooking. this month, i will only cook things from my christmas gifts...

* river cottage veg everyday!
* jamie's great britain
* plenty by yotam ottolenghi

as you can see there is likely to be a greater focus on vegetables, which is no bad thing. 

actually jamie's great britain isn't really mine, it was a gift from me to P but i really bought it for us and unfortunately it was too heavy for him to take back to america with him. oh dear. 

i feel a touch anxious about the yotam ottolenghi book (thank you for the gift my lovely friend E) because i've always been slightly intimidated by the number of ingredients in his recipes in guardian weekend. however, i've looked through it and i think everything will be ok. i just need to remember to breath deeply and not panic. i'm especially looking forward to savoy cabbage and parmesan soup.

i must confess that i'm also adding in january's delicious magazine and waitrose kitchen because i've only just got them and it would be daft to waste them.

i'll keep you posted on what i get up to.

christmas...our lovely christmas at home

better late than never...our christmas...me and him...just the two of us...

mum made me and my brother listen to this album (on this same record player) every year as children so i don't see why p should escape this aural delight

the house around the corner...they REALLY like christmas

our tree...with our new great britain (i admit we did have to double check) rusty decoration from re

one of the gifts for my dad...

...with these homemade bird seed treats hidden inside

breakfast...smoked salmon and potato rosti...and yes, flat leaf parsley at breakfast...what's the world coming to?

starter...twice-baked stilton, walnut and watercress souffle

main...roast partridge, stuffing balls, potato and black pepper cakes, bread sauce and sprouts (it looked, and tasted, much better in real life)

pudding...chocolate and salted caramel 'brulee' (i burnt my finger making the salted caramel, ouch) but at least we managed to fit it in this year

all gone! but no room for cheese and biscuits (for cheese) for the second year running

i wonder when the expiry date is for posts about christmas...it's probably gone, out of date and all furry like the brie. i'd probably go far if i wasn't such a grand master at faffing and procrastination.

ps sorry about the terrible photos - the iphone camera used to be good before the ios5 update...

in america...where i wonder if americans are afraid of light...

...or where are all the big lights?

i've travelled to america quite a few times now over the past couple of years as my partner is working in cape cod, in the north east of america, south of boston.

i can only conclude from staying in hotels and inns (bed and breakfasts to you and me); visiting people's homes; and eating out that americans are frightened of well lit spaces. in hotels and homes there will often be a plethora of lamps dotted around the room but very rarely, especially in hotels, a big light. for all you non-northern types, this means a main, central light in the ceiling whose main purpose is to light up the whole room all at once, fancy that. in restaurants, the lighting is often incredibly low with tiny pools of light from tealights on the table.

i understand the importance of creating ambience and romance and i really don't want to be in rooms or eat out in places that has lighting more suited to a football pitch on a winter's evening but sometimes it can be helpful to actually see the food i'm eating, to read the menu without using a torch app, to get dressed without feeling like the electric is off or to put my make up on somewhere other than the bathroom.