Going a bit retro and slow

When I first started writing the blog I seemed to have more time to chat about recipes Little B and I were making at the weekend. If you have tuned in for yarn related news or stories I apologise for the change in programming. Recently we have been baking less – perhaps what I have been trying to do is eat less cake! The busyness of life also has meant that I have de-skilled in the cooking department. Rushing home in the evening I can stare quite blankly at the fridge and I think that no Cordon Bleu training would enable me to rustle up something scrummy from what festers at the bottom of our salad drawers.

Supper in our house can be a bit instant – from the bad to the downright sinful. This lack of imagination or indeed nutrition has begun to gnaw away at me. Firstly I would quite like to live economically – the instant is obviously more costly than a planned menu. I would quite like to raise a healthy and unfussy son……Mmm we might succeed with the first, time will tell with the second. Finally I would quite like to regain my confidence in cooking. I used to be okay, a dinner party for eight was no sweat, now it makes me come out in a cold sweat. It has got ridiculous.

I know that for me, habit change requires some research, wide reading, a little bit of inspiration and a serious nudge. Well the change (fad?) had begun this weekend with the purchasing of a rather reasonably priced slow-cooker. It has taken me longer than it should have done to try this solution because I have had to swallow a very large piece of humble pie. A couple of years ago, my Granny, a successful career woman, quite generously suggested that I might like a slow cooker for a Christmas. ‘No Thanks’, I said ‘I would rather have this retro black phone instead!’. Of course with the increased use of mobile phones the slow cooker has already seen more action than my stylish phone.

I should have listened to Granny. A couple of months ago I heard a really interesting programme on slow cooking and retro gadgets on the Food Programme on Radio 4. It got me thinking. The explanation of the process really did make sense for our lifestyle. Then I met two friends at a ‘bring and share’ lunch who had quite effortlessly made some delicious curries while they were ‘out’. No desperate rushing around for them. They just popped the lid back on and drove their crock-pot round to the party. Cool!

So after a bit of research I am going to give this new way of cooking a try for our family meals. I don’t like adding more gadgets to the kitchen worktops – but really that is a vanity – no-one is photographing our kitchen for Homes and Gardens. So here is our first chicken casserole made in the slow cooker yesterday, which Little B really enjoyed. The filter on the photo gives the meal a brilliant tinge of ’70’s cookbook. I remember those Sainsbury’s hard backed books which so many people had. But hey, isn’t retro ‘in’ ?

It goes without saying if you have a great ‘slow’ recipe please do share – would love to get your inspiration!