The arrival of delicious

A couple of years ago our fabulous friends Juanita and Tim bought us a subscription to delicious magazine, which they have since renewed.

Ian isn’t remotely interested in the magazine itself but he definitely likes it when the ingredients have been bought, the recipes have been followed and the food is served to him.

I, on the other hand, wait with enormous anticipation for the arrival of each month’s magazine.  Sometimes my fellow foodie Sheela, who is also a subscriber, will tip me off if she gets to her mail box before I get to mine. On those occasions I almost break into a run when I get off the train so that I can get to the mail box as fast as possible.

I have an entire process in place that allows me to savour the first night I have delicious with me each month.

First, possible interruptions must be eliminated. The phone is taken off the hook. The husband is safely tucked away in front of his computer.

Then the spine gets folded back and the first look through begins. The first look through must always be done page by page from start to finish. There can be no flicking forward or looking at the last page first. No.

The second look through is done with a note pad in my lap. I make a list of all the recipes that MUST BE MADE and then a list of all the maybes.

Once, in the early days of my relationship with delicious, I would post it note all the recipes I liked on the second look through. However, by the time I’d stickerised everything I wanted to make, the entire magazine looked highly bastardised.

So now I just make a list of things I want to cook and then I message Sheela with a summary of my MUST MAKES. She usually messages back her MUST MAKES and I like comparing our lists.

Of course we never get through the lists before the arrival of the next edition.

So little time, so much to cook.