Nine

I love reading cookery books, and will happily curl up on the sofa and read one from cover to cover like a novel. Right now, I'm reading Nigel Slater's new book, 'Tender', all about his vegetable patch and the things he cooks from it. I have long been a fan of Nigel, as not only are his recipes brilliant but I also think he writes so beautifully. Right now I am dreaming of marigold soup (so called because the carrots and yellow tomatoes used to make it give it the most glorious colour) and creamy white cauliflower draped in thick, cheese-rich sauce; perfect food for an autumn day. Incidentally, last night M and I went over to Anna and her boyfriend's new house in New Cross where we ate the mushroom and pesto lasagne from Slater's 'The Kitchen Diaries' (another fantastic book!). It was absolutely delicious, eaten hot and bubbling from the oven with a crisp green salad, as the rain fell outside and in a garden a few doors down fireworks were released into the dark night sky.