Wok cooking. Hmmm. Do have a wok. Tend to cook everything in wok – spaghetti Bolognese, fried eggs, curry… anything that’s too big for saucepans. Look through book. Lots of recipes. But lots of recipes that need lots of ingredients. There’s no spaghetti bolognese. Delay cooking from book. Looks complicated. Is most modern book in collection so far. Wonder if modern day cooks put too much pressure on themselves to make recipes with lots of ingredients.

Week has gone by. Need to re-focus. Am still determined to cook from one book a week. Pick easiest thing in book.

Book 19 / The Complete Book of Wok Cooking by Vicki Liley, 2005 / Chickpeas with spinach

Have already got HUGE bag of dried chickpeas. Husband bought them after I made gammon chowder. Was convinced they’d be good for casseroles. Or making hummus. Bucket loads of it by looks of size of bag. Just need to buy tomato paste, spinach and mint. Consider buying mint plant. Decide not to. Haven’t needed mint since summer when I made jugs of pimms. Think we have cat mint in garden. Wonder if I could use that in emergencies. Not sure. Buy packet of mint.

Soak chickpeas overnight. Feel v.worthy that have gone to lots of effort to soak veg. Drain chickpeas and cook for 1-1 and a half hours. WHAT? Oh dear. Didn’t read full recipe. Was just looking at easy ingredients. Is already getting late. Am not going to have chickpeas for dinner. Belly is rumbling. Cook 4 minute pasta instead. Chickpeas take ages. Am due to go to bed. Husband asks ‘why do you love cooking so much?’ don’t know how to answer this. Could say:

1. Love baking. Is therapeutic. Can be quick. Cake tastes good. Neighbours love me

This is not baking. Answer does not apply. Mumble something about letting myself (and the chickpeas) down if I don’t follow through and cook dish. Am resenting chick peas. Have tasted them. Taste boring. 10 hours worth of cooking for boring chickpeas. Continue anyway.

Here comes the wok. Finally. Cook onion in wok. In lots of oil. Add all the fun stuff. Add chickpeas. Hoping special ingredients do for chickpeas what a full face of make-up does for me at 5am. Meant to chop up spinach. Can’t be bothered. Weigh spinach. Didn’t buy enough. Have only got one third of spinach required. Recipe must be wrong. Can’t fit any more spinach in wok. Unless there’s section at start of book that says you need industrial sized wok. Like those ones that people cook record breaking paellas in. Husband comes in kitchen. Says something smells good. Looks in wok. Says chickpeas look good – like an Indian takeaway dish. Yay! Agree. Spinach has completely broken down. Maybe recipe was right. Try chickpea concoction. Is delish. Not spicy, but v.fulfilling, good texture, v.yummy. Is like those little salad side dishes I pay £2-£3 for in supermarket. But there’s lots and lots of this. Decanter into boxes and leave to cool. Chickpeas. You’ve done me proud*

*but next time I won’t cook so late, I’ll buy correct amount of spinach and I’ll be v.patient.

No more spinach is fitting in here

Have so far discovered the following about original owner of books:

* they liked cooking with vegetables / may be vegetarian

* their fave shop was Sainsbury’s

* they liked baking

* they were interested in cooking quick and easy meals

* they had connections with Hampshire and Somerset

* they cooked for two people (ingredients for recipes for 4 peeps halved in margins)

* they were particularly interested in cooking during 60s 70s and 80s.

Slightly concerned about next book.

Cooking for one by Molly Perham, 2001

Wondering why they needed to only cook for one person during noughties.

Discover in introduction that ‘eating alone should be much more fun than cooking a solitary pork chop or heating a packaged ready-made meal in the microwave’. This is true. Book could be useful. Sometimes meat-eating husband eats one dinner. Sometimes I eat something different. Would be awful to just eat separate ready meals. Book seems to make things v.easy. Says ‘recipes in this book are as quick and easy as grilling (broiling) a pork chop.’ Book is obsessed with pork chop. Hope book is not actually book about 100 ways to cook pork chops. It goes on ‘they (recipes) are all cooked on top of the stove, so you don’t even have to turn on oven’. This is v.g. Mum always used to say putting on cooker for one small thing was waste of time and used too much electricity.

Pick something nice. Winter warming. Veggie. For me. For one person. Just me. On my own. Not including husband. He can eat pork chop.

Courgette Soup – makes 2 servings

** confused **

Makes TWO servings. TWO. Not one. What happened to cooking for one?! Suspect naming book ‘cooking for one plus an additional serving to take to work for lunch the next day’ would not have been so catchy. Have got most of ingredients in house. Just need to buy courgettes. Feeling smug. Already have cumin in cupboard. And a parsley plant on windowsill (is looking slightly limp – is suffering in cold weather). Recipe is v.straightforward. Heat oil and butter and cook courgettes and onions for 5 mins. Add rest of ingredients apart from parsley and heat. Blend. Add parsley. Done. Looks good colour. Is delish. Tastes fresh. And filling. Take second serving for work lunch the next day. Colleague asks ‘what’s that smell?’ Tell her is courgette soup. Asks if it’s homemade. Take great delight in saying it is. V.cool.