The cook

I'm a journalist, editor, author and blogger. And a very keen cook.

I've been a journalist and editor for more years than I care to remember, and have written for a huge range of papers and magazines. I've edited even more. 

I used to blog anonymously as Wordsmith for Hire, until I ran out of things to say as as a home-based freelance wordsmith. I occasionally blog on behalf of my cat. I contribute even less occasionally to Where's the Benefit, mainly due to lack of time, although I support it passionately. And my main blog, Here's the Kicker, has been sorely neglected over the past year or so, partly because I got bored with the sheer number of blogs and articles navel-gazing the media industry - there's only so much you can say about it.

One thing I've never got bored with is food. I love to eat and I love to cook. I was brought up to try most things at least once (although I draw the line at offal unless it's in a haggis) and have adventurous tastes. I can remember my parents giving me avocado when I was 8 (a rare sight in the 60s) and telling me it was an acquired taste - I acquired it immediately. I also recall my first Ski yoghurt, with apricots, at around the same time - again, new to Britain then.

From the earliest age I helped my mother in the kitchen, progressing from licking the bowl she'd just mixed a cake in to baking my first biscuits - my first cookbook was given to me when I was 7, its title is long forgotten, but it was a baking book for children and I first made gingerbread men. By 12, I was cooking Sunday roast for 6 people.

Decades later, I still love to cook, but it's more of a challenge in many ways when it's just you. This blog is about how I rise to that challenge - from easy cheats to the fancy stuff. In between I still write and edit for a living.