Welcome to Vivi's World

Welcome fellow food lovers to my blog! I had to write this after discovering a new butcher's and farm shop on Saturday and hyperventilating over some marinaded ribs that I thought I would bite the bullet and begin the food blog I've been thinking about doing for a while.

Since being a little girl nothing made me happier than food (especially mashed potato) and nothing has changed since. However, I was always more interested in eating than cooking as I found the culinary world intimidating, scientific and complex.

I was forced to experiment with cooking after going to University and I was rubbish. Then along came Jamie Oliver with his first series on BBC2 and I was hooked. Here was someone who threw in ingredients with so much love and passion "whacking" things in pans, "bashing" garlic around (plus I really wanted him to be my boyfriend!) and it gave me the courage to try new recipes. Since then I've made some delicious meals that I'm really proud of and I now have the confidence to throw a few things in a pan and invent my own recipes. Thank God Jamie married Jools as he wouldn't have been any good for my waistline!

It opened up a new world for me as I learned how to cook on a budget while learning how to improve my health by making sure my dishes were nutritious as well as delicious. And this is something I still do to this day as ditching ready meals and cooking from scratch made a huge difference to my energy levels and overall health. Plus I'm a fan of vintage living so I believe in the ethos of home cooking and that it can be achieved without slaving at the oven for hours.

As much as I love locally sourced and seasonal produce, it can be a barrier for some people to cook more at home so I think if buying from a local farmer isn't possible then as long as you're cooking your own meals wherever you bought it from then hats off to you. At least you're not microwaving a soggy lasagne from a cardboard box which is a depressing way to feed yourself and not very cost effective in these times of austerity.

So I hope you enjoy my blog. I still have a lot to learn about food and cooking so any new ideas and ingredients or recipes you have - spread the joy and share the love with Vivi.