Parties? What’s NOT to love?

Cooking and eating with your nearest and dearest ones is truly the best and most real way to connect socially.

It’s something that’s written into our human DNA. Eating has always historically been a communal activity in every society – when those grizzly hunters back in the dark ages had gathered all they could, they would of course all come back to the fire for a get together over a lump of (very) chargrilled meat!

Only in the last 15 years or so has eating become such a solitary activity and one completely divorced from the actual act of preparing food. Everyone is using Apps to dine to such an extent that the very thing that was meant to free us is now keeping us captive… and taking our kitchens hostage at the same time! I want us to all to say enough – and to claim back our ovens and go back the way we used to eat – at a dinner table with friends and family (and cutlery and plates…call me old fashioned!) with food, created with love in our own once abandoned kitchens.

Part of the beauty of cooking is that is forces us to slow down. You can’t rush roasting a chicken – unless you want to risk salmonella – it simply takes as long as it takes. Learning to accept and enjoy that natural, slower pace, so different from the instant gratification we expect in the iPhone age – its so healthy for our minds, as well as our bodies and our souls. There is a deep satisfaction that comes from the food we make ourselves and serve to others, and that feeling isn’t something you can order on any old app!

When you cook your own dinner you know exactly what is going into it – there is no secret pot of MSG hiding in your cupboard – you know how much salt and how much sugar you use. Cooking is all about taking control back over our diets and our lives in general and removes so much of the anxiety attached to our food choices. It is much easier to discover the foods that make us feel good – as well as the ones that don’t – when we are more connected to cooking them. I know it’s a cliché, but finding the correct diet for you is all about getting the right balance – and that starts with re-introducing yourself to your kitchen.

The answer to so many of modern life’s problems really comes from the inside out – and changing your what and how you eat can truly transform your life. Eating amazing food offers us the ultimate party to which we can invite all our friends and our family – and of course, the most important person, our self.