A Warm Welcome

Hi, I'm Anne, and I'm a foodaholic.

Well, not quite but nearly!

Welcome one and all, I'm glad you made it here. I hope you enjoy reading and responding to my posts as much as I enjoy writing them! Firstly, a wee introduction. My name is Anne and I originate from a farm in deepest Aberdeenshire, near the (not so small now) village of Insch. I moved out two and a half years ago to Inverurie, a mere 9 miles from my own doorstep but it is almost classed as civilisation, so it'll do for now. I still spend a lot of time on the farm, but enjoy sampling the produce more than anything. My dad is an expert grower-of-everything, but he hogged his growing genes so I am hopeless. I killed a cactus once. I'm not even joking!

This blog is (I hope) going to be my outlet for my love of food. Growing up amongst cattle, sheep and homegrown goodies, it's only natural that I enjoy good quality food. But, part of my love comes from my family's heritage in cooking. My mother was a chef, baker, and cook. She stayed at home most of my early life and kept the house, fed my father and me (we worked hard, you know!) and made sure we were always well provided for. I remember I was a very fussy eater, but not to be outdone, Mum would always make little adjustments to my meals so that I always got the goodness of her cooking, but not the bits I didn't like. Bless her, she did me proud!

After her death, I realised I'd spent far too much time chasing cattle and sheep around in fields and learning to drive tractors and too little time with my mum, which has left a gaping hole in my soul that only food - and good quality food, at that - can fill. My thirst for knowledge grows every day. I am almost addicted to cooking programmes (again), and I feel the need to experience food the way it should be, learn about classic combinations like lamb and mint, beef and horseradish, and develop my cooking skills to a level that she would be proud of.

My intention in my posts is to showcase the best of Aberdeenshire's produce - there's no shortage, is there? - and also provide basic, humble recipes that even the most inexperienced cook could read and think "Aye, even I could make that!". If you have any suggestions, comments (or complaints!), please leave them on the comments bit of any posts and I'll get to it as soon as I can. Also, any food samples are welcomed! As long as they don't contain garlic, marzipan or rhubarb, I'll be delighted to receive them and do a full article on it.

Thanks for reading,

Anne.