A baking Saturday in July

Shephards pie with chicken mince, mini pomfrets on a bed of buttered spinach, pasta with a medley of ''english'' vegetables in a tomato sauce. Green salad with a generous topping of feta. Of course, some very garlicky bread. For dessert a christmas plum cake with fresh cherries in a custard. Topped off with a bottle of red wine, one of my favorite labels - Crios.

Writing comes very easy and the words flow really well when one writes about a subject close to one's heart. The jury is out on whether I enjoy writing about food because I love to eat or whether I love to write? Or both perhaps?

My point being that nothing makes me happier than to head to the kitchen and experiment or rustle up something interesting. Similar to the above items that I put together (mostly baking) last Saturday for a group of four of us. Except for the bread and wine, everything was made at home and I had a wonderful time!

Time will continue to prove that the stomach needs to be fed. Needs to be nurtured and taken care of for nutrition and to keep this wonderful body that we have in motion, healthy and happy at all times. Of course, as I learned during my yoga education days, the tongue is the biggest driver of us wanting to try out a variety of food. Once the food moves part the salivary glands, its all just nutrition, isn't it?

There is something magical about creating something from scratch. Whether it is gardening, sewing, knitting, crocheting. Painting or handicrafts. Pottery! That's a big one.

All of these activities can be deeply fulfilling, the amazement of seeing something transform with a few interventions. This is indeed special. And it's why I love cooking!