With the weather being quite enjoyable and dry for the moment, I have spent more time in my garden and up my allotment so I've not had much time to watch TV of late. I decided to catch up on what was happening on TV using BBC iPlayer, one of my favourite online resources. The Graham Norton Show generally has me in stitches. I think he is a fantastic host and the diverse mix of celebrities that he has on his sofa always seem to be having the time of their life. I was both shocked and pleased to see that one of these guests on his show recently was none other than the culinary queen herself, Delia Smith.

Delia was the mogul who first introduced us how to boil an egg, for which she was ridiculed, then she went on to tell us how to cheat with ingredients, again that didn't go down very well with members of the public. Now, with the good food channel showing reruns of her How To Cook series, her latest mission is to try and influence the nation to all learn how to cook and to actually prepare meals from scratch. Now, this is not a new notion at all from my behalf as I constantly cook things from scratch and often make meals out of whatever is left in my store cupboard or fridge towards the end of the week, but so many of us nowadays live with the notion that they don't have time to cook the basics and often live on ready meals.

With the constant news of horse meat being the new addition to our diets in the form of ready meals, courtesy of the highly reputable food companies and major supermarkets that we consumers have learnt to trust, isn't this evidence enough that we should all learn to cook so that at least we would know what actually went into the meals that we and our families consume?

Many people believe that it is actually more expensive to prepare meals from scratch than it is to buy them ready-made, but I whole heartedly have to disagree. If you plan and prepare your meals they can both be economically satisfying and very cost-effective, saving yourself not only money but time without having to sacrifice on taste.

Now I am not saying that I'm adverse to the odd ready meal or two when time is not on my side, but these ready meals are generally the ones that I have prepared well in advance for my families that have been stored in the deep freeze ready for such an occasion. At least I can rest easy knowing what ingredients have actually gone into these meals! So I applaud you Delia, and I truly hope that many get on board with your mission to teach each and every person how to provide a substantial meal for their family without it having to break the bank. This dying art needs to be addressed sooner rather than later, as the art of cooking seems to be taking a back burner in many households in favour of takeaway food or oven/microwave ready meals.

Let's make the effort to embrace the idea of a new home cooked meal (possibly even using home grown produce) before the manufacture of hobs and hot plates become a kitchen appliance of the past.

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