When I was first thinking about this blog, and what I would be writing, I knew it would talk about my family’s relationship with food to some extent. But it wasn’t until I read Sarah at The Vanilla Bean Blog quite movingly talk about how important she felt it was to create a food history for her family as she felt she had grown up without one, that I suddenly realised that what I was talking about was my family food history or culture. That we had, and still have, a strong family food culture, and that every time we cook food that my grandmother made, joke about my parents’ flirtations with the Pritikin Diet or macrobiotic food, talk nostalgically about potato soup for breakfast (yeah, I know!) – even the name of this blog – it’s all about the food culture of my family.

And what is it? That’s a bit harder. It’s a culture where food, and preparing it together is central to family gatherings and celebrations. It has influences of everything from my Jewish grandparents, to my parents’ love affair with Escoffier and classic French cuisine in their pre-children days, the self sufficiency that comes from living on a small farm and producing food, and the frugality required when feeding five children on a small income. As an adult and now mother, the food culture of my own family combines these influences with a strong interest in local and seasonal food sources, and cooking from scratch as much as possible.

So, what will I be posting? Quite a few recipes I imagine! Some will be family recipes I’ve been meaning to write down for a while, some my versions of more recent recipes from my (many) cookbooks, and some new inventions. Apart from recipes there will undoubtedly be various food related musings, probably including posts about the local farmers’ market, gardening, my latest cookbook purchases, and any other items of interest that pop up.

I’m going to hit publish now so welcome to the beginning, and do feel free to comment!