Mmmm…. sniff….

There are wonderful aromas emanating from the kitchen. I must say that when I was assembling the lamb dish it brought back many memories of my Years Before the Aga. This kind of hearty slow British cooking was my stock in trade in those days. Now it feels like some kind of excess to make a midweek meal like this – though it comforts me to cook in this way and the eating of it will certainly be a comfort. I need comforting – my nerves are somewhat jangled at present.

I would miss the ability to do this – to spend whole mornings cooking our lunchtime main meal – should I be appointed after my interview next week. Most people would have no understanding of just how much I should miss this. I can’t explain it. I’m just a cook. That’s all. Whatever else I do in life, I am always a cook. First and foremost. It shows on the hips, it’s easy to tell. But cooking is like breathing, take it away from me and I do feel stifled. If you took my knitting away, I’d get out my spinning wheel. Take that away and I’ll pick up a book. Take my library away? well, I’ll just head off to the kitchen and chop an onion while I consider what I am going to use it for. Just don’t take my kitchen away from me, please.

I have decided: garlic and parsley mash, and cabbage – chopped fine and briefly cooked in a little butter with some mustard seeds.

The lamb is in the oven (oh, how I wish that we had an Aga!) and will slowly braise for two and a half hours – plenty of time to do some knitting in.