Fresh Approach Cooking

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Look at that picture there. Go ahead. See what it is? That there is a photo of the contents of a young British bachelors cupboard, minus six cans of baked beans. What you see here is cereal, custard, instant rice, (note the brand name), ravioli in a can, ham and cheese flavored ramen noodles and some chocolate milk mix. Classic boy fare indeed.

That was all I found in the pantry when I arrived on the scene. Being the food obsessed girl I am, immediate upgrade was the order of the day, and for a few shining moments he was game for it all. The trouble was that with his curiously insatiable taste for sweets, getting him to eat much of anything that wasn't chocolate covered or deep fried was a bit of a challenge. Oh sure, I gave it the old college try, but in the end, (and upon my departure) the transformation was less than noticeable and I had to admit defeat. Could it be that is why we didn't work as a couple? Perhaps. Because lets face it, any man who would rather eat ham and cheese flavored instant noodles than a home cooked meal, may not be the man for me.

Happily, I have moved on...sadly, he is still living on milkshakes and Jaffa Cakes. I have to say he really is a sweet, smart and funny guy, but heavens, would eating a green salad every once in awhile really have killed him?

So now that I have had time to reflect, I have composed a few thoughts to help with dating a food-obsessed woman. My barometer for all things male, The Ombudsman, thinks I'm being picky. Then again, he always thinks that and is a vegan...

• You must be able to tolerate pictures being taken of the food before it is served/eaten
• You should strongly agree that napkins make sense and using them is a good thing.
• You must love or at least not be offended by cheese, offal, wine, pickles and all manner of condiments that come in jars.
• You should be totally ok with traipsing all over a city/state/country to try some culinary delight/disaster.
• You ought to love her cooking, but be honest and forthcoming about what you think could be better.
• You really shouldn't ever tell her she has enough cookbooks.
• You have to admit AC/DC are a kick ass band (Listening to them is not at all required. You must just agree they do, in fact, rock. Oh wait, that was a personal dig and has nothing to do with food. Sorry.)
• You need to have a true passion for brunch and brunch time cocktails.
• Please do not ever, ever mock the blog or suggest it is too time consuming.
• You should accept that she may never make "fill-in-the-blank" the way your mother did, but would be thrilled to learn it from her (circumstances allowing).
• You must not ever try to do the dishes unless she asks first.
• You cannot not fear (that's a good general one too) food, foodies, chefs, restaurants, cooks, waiters or food writers.
• You must know how to make a martini and be primed to make one at any time.
• You should agree that The Thin Man is an outstandingly fantastic film (again, more of a me thing than a foodie thing, but it still should be a requirement for men world wide.)
  

And last but not least

• You must love food.

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The Jaffa Cake was introduced more than 60 years ago. Over 750 million jaffa cakes are eaten every year.

McVities the makers of Jaffa Cakes, fought a tribunal case in 1991 against the classification of Jaffa Cakes as a VAT-able chocolate–covered biscuit. It asserted that they were instead a tax-free cake, and won its case by bringing a giant 12-inch Jaffa Cake to the hearing.

Bird's Custard was invented by Alfred Bird in 1837. Their famous 'three bird' logo, was introduced in 1929.

Batchelors brand Roast Chicken Super Noodles are "Suitable for vegetarians"