If you are a working parent struggling to make it work then meet Helen O’Keefe, a blogger, successful career lady and mother who has made feeding her family one of the main focuses of her blog The Busy Mamas. From food that the whole family will eat, to how to entertain on a shoestring, Helen has an uncanny knack of making cooking seem simple and delicious; that’s why we love her.
My first food memory is choosing what was for dinner on my birthday. The feeling of immense power (I do like to exaggerate) really enhanced the deliciousness of my Mum’s lasagne, quiche or cottage pie.
I cook because I love food, eating and the ritual of cooking which I honestly find quite relaxing. That’s not to say that making a pasta dinner on a Tuesday after ballet lessons while doing Jolly Phonics and allowing a toddler to take all the plastic tubs out of the cupboard, is the perfect setup but at least when I’m cooking I kind of sort of feel in control.
The recipe I would teach the entire world would be how to make bread at home. Whether its scones, soda bread, basic yeast breads like Focaccia, pizza dough or Ciabatta, or fancy stuff like Sourdoughs or Brioche, breads are a great thing to be able to make at home, cheap as chips – and much easier than people think. I should also add that fresh homemade bread is possibly the most fabulous thing in the world.
You can always make a meal once you have eggs in the fridge. We’re mad about eggs round here. We buy them by the six dozen (!) and have four in a big frittata every morning! Eggs are the ultimate fast food – scrambled, fried, omelettes, quiche, souffle, custards….ooh. I love them!
I blog because I always loved sharing recipes, don’t get to finish a sentence anywhere else in the world and have a lot of opinions.
The most important piece of kitchen kit is my mixer. A total splurge for our wedding a gang of college friends bought us a beautiful red Kitchen Aid mixer. It is used most days and is simply fabulous. To be a little more modest, I’d also say good knives. They make life much easier.
If I were to share one of my recipes with the world it would be bread (again) – simple Focaccia because I honestly can’t think of an event or party that we’ve had in the last few years where a few loaves of it complete with dips, haven’t been devoured in minutes.
My secret food shame is I like crisp sandwiches. Tayto plus soft white bread. Yummmmmm…
If you looked in my store cupboard right now you would see that I hoard flour – about 10 types, nuts, pulses (because I keep forgetting that I don’t actually need another can of kidney beans) and chocolate.
I am happiest when eating a nice dinner, probably with a glass of wine in hand, in that blissful moment before I notice that the floor is covered in food, the kids have escaped from the table and the baby has filled his dungarees with his dinner.
My most popular recipes are:
The Chickpea rolls that are easy, cheap and literally gobbled by everyone .My easy Foccacia bread.
Amazing roast pork belly.
My all-time favourite summer dessert.
Easy peasy Danish Pastries.
