My 3 years old wants to be a chef. Since he was just 6 months old he likes to play with pans, pots and wooden spoons. Last Christmas he asked Father Christmas for a blender and a kneading machine. When he got his toys, he said “they are great, but next year I would ask for a real one!”. He has a great toy kitchen and can spend hours preparing the most amazing dishes ever and then offering them to us to try.

When we “eat” his creations exclaiming how delicious they are, he looks at you, earnestly, and says “mummy, is not real food, is just pretending”. Fair enough.

I can’t be around the kitchen without having him next to me, asking me what am I doing, following me everywhere willing to help.

Slow Cooked Pork Cheeks Casserole

You know when you need to go shopping but you really don’t fancy eating anything at all so you just rumble through the aisles putting random things in your trolley? Me neither.

It is usually all the way round, because even if I know I should not go shopping at lunch time or when I'm feeling hungry, I really can’t help myself. So every time I end up going to the supermarket and buying an awful lot more of what I have on my list. Shame on me.

One evening last week it was a bit late and we realized we were running out of milk, so with the excuse that everything else was closed or about to, I went to my favourite supermarket. I don’t normally go there because prices are quite high, but this time I only needed milk. What could happen? I told to myself: you just go in there, walk straight away to the fridge, pick the milk, pay, and leave. Do not look, do not stop, do not make a detour.

I could go to the reduced to clear fridge, couldn't I? Grabbing a bargain won’t hurt anyone… This is how good I am at lying to myself.

Mango, Coconut & Curry Tiffin

Dinner parties are one of life’s greatest pleasures and I absolutely love having friends at home. I always try to make them feel warm and welcomed, and although I generally feel quite nervous because I want everything to be perfect, I try to have everything ready before they come so I can enjoy a relaxed evening.

Something I've discovered recently is how different dinner parties are in Spain from the ones I've been invited in the UK.

In Spain, you would never know when people is going to arrive to your home. You may say "dinner starts at 9.00 pm", and people will start arriving around 10.30. If someone dares to arrive on time, they will probably find you in the shower, starting to prepare the dinner or watching TV in your pyjamas because you have completely forgotten about it.

Mini Apple Rose Tarts

Hi. I’m still here. Feeling a bit rubbish, to be perfectly honest. Last week I missed a recipe. Technically I really didn't. I cooked it, I took really nice pictures for you. It was indeed a very nice and easy one I specially baked for you all. But then, life happened, and I couldn’t publish it.

I was left without internet. 

I must admit it was quite tough at the beginning. I was not sure I could cope without internet. I spent the first day asking constantly: how has the human being survived so many years without internet? I went desperately from hotspot to hotspot, fighting with endless registration process in exchange for just a weak signal not even able to download a humble picture.

So I threw the towel. No mobile, no Facebook, no Twitter, no Pinterest… no blog. And only when I was starting to recover from the shock, I got six of one and half a dozen of the other.