I'm still in heaven, although I'm not in Devon...

So it's been five days since I departed. Departed from that house, those people, that dog. Left Devon, left those luscious green fields, traded them for those grey high rise buildings of Liverpool...

I've been rained on, soaked through, worked my fingers to the bone, worn out and worn down, I've been through it all. But a glimmer of sunshine appears.

Like an enlightening experience that people only see once in a lifetime, my memories of Totleigh Barton are being kept alive.


Through baking, cooking, reading and writing, immersing myself in all that is food and through these mediums, I will keep my memories alive. These memories are motivation, stimulation, a way to escape the rut that was my life.

Now I write like I did when I first fell in love. I'm meeting my soul mate for the very first time, all over again.

Everything is fresh, vibrant and full of promise. But this isn't nostalgia, this is now. This is happening. I am awake, rediscovering a lost love and immersing myself in it's warm embrace.

My appetite for knowledge is growing...

As the new year kicked in, I was feeling slightly disheartened.

In the two years that have passed since I graduated from my MA, it seems I'm in pretty much the same position as I was then (minus the stress of a twenty thousand word dissertation looming over me!)

I kept waiting for opportunity to come knocking at my door, but I'm just getting to grips with realising, this isn't going to happen.

The reality is, I need to focus in on what I want to do with my career, and with my writing. My instincts are telling me to stick with what I'm doing, but to focus in my culinary skills to a certain area.

Monday sees the start of a new chapter for me, I've been enrolled on a Wine tasting course, which I'm very much looking forward to.

Perhaps this could open up yet another door into the world of food and drink for me? It'll certainly give me the authority to match food and wine for my future articles (rather than stick to wines from the Rioja region!)

That's by the by, I'm thinking of lots more tasty recipes and tantalising treats to impart, and I've also been promised a food related piece for next months issue of Liverpool Lifestyle Magazine- here's hoping!

Delia Through the Decades- BBC1

BBC iPlayer is a wonderful, wonderful thing! Especially when conventional television is a bit of a trek to the other room, and you've just made yourself comfortable with a cup of peppermint tea... Tonight, my bedroom was my living room, and as the wind howled outside, I nestled under the covers to catch up on some cooking!

Often regarded as THE voice of authority when it comes to boiling an egg, or indeed, how to cook, the hardened Norwich FC fan and queen of cuisine, Delia Smith has returned to our screens. This time, rather than telling us how to bake a potato, or how to cheat, it seems Delia's turned the clock back.

As a twenty-four year old aspiring food writer, this program has acted almost as a spring-board for my seemingly unreachable goals, making them seem more real. Like me, Delia was unsure of what she wanted to do for a long time, but there was always this resounding love of food which simply wouldn't leave...


Always in a kitchen, asking questions, whether serving food, prepping vegetables, or doing the washing-up afterwards, it seems we all have humble beginnings. Delia tried her hand at many career choices before falling in with the right crowd at The Singing Chef.

I thoroughly enjoyed the concept of this show, gone are the images of Delia as a prim 60-something housewife, I'm seeing a new side to Delia, young and vibrant, not afraid to make mother angry, and I like it! She was rebellious, inquisitive and confident, and this show certainly gains favour for me as Stephen Fry voices her story and recounts her ballsy attitude to life.

A prime example of this is reflected en route to an interview with the editor of The Daily Mirror. Reality, it seems kicked in, just for a moment, and it dawned on her that she had no O-Levels, couldn't spell and couldn't type...

This is where her true genius shines though... they saw the raw talent and went with it. The next thing she knew she was baking a cake for a Rolling Stones album cover!


I only wish I had her conviction, I do have a similar gusto for all things gourmet. And like Delia, I'm focusing in on the history of cuisine, reading books about royalty, pre-historic cooking techniques and articles about fig-related bicycle tours around America- it's a good job I find this stuff fascinating!

Next week we see the move from 1960's cuisine to the 1970's, so expect pineapple and cheese on sticks and tin foil hedgehogs aplenty!