Well, this time it IS just thrown together. I’m not a great fan of cut flowers, but this display on our kitchen table just happened. The other day I trimmed the hedge and brought a few bits indoors. I thought I might as well throw them in a vase and see what happened – and that very day at Sound Cafe I was given a bunch of daffs. ‘Let’s see what happens when I bung those in as well,’ I thought. And here is the result:
That’s not seen from the best angle but I didn’t want to send the Other Half into a flat spin by asking them to take another (the piece of paper with a herbs list on it could also have been removed, as could the washing-basket.) But they are beautiful, and to me much more satisfying than any shop-bought bunch of carefully-coordinated blooms.
That’s the kind of thing I like: something spontaneous that comes together on the spur of the moment. I’m the same with cooking: I don’t like following recipes but prefer to pile things in and see what happens. Of course this can lead to disaster but it’s remarkable how seldom it actually does. You develop an instinct for what works and what doesn’t. For example, I never follow a recipe when I make bread. I bung in the flour, sprinkle an estimation of yeast over the top, mix in some oil and then work in some tepid water. I’ve never had a problem with this method.
I think it must be something anti-authoritarian in my make-up which means I don’t like to follow a recipe. I will do, of course, if I have no idea how to make a dish; it would be foolish not to. Last week I made hummus which, whilst I know the ingredients I wasn’t sure of the proportions – so out once mroe came the well-thumbed and lightly-oiled vegan cookbook.
We’ve got a whole shelf-full of cookbooks but we only use one or two. I also do not ever, ever watch cookery programmes on the telly; especially stuff like The Great British Bake-off, which I find utterly preposterous.
What about you?
Kirk out
Sarada Gray 
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