And to be fair to the Daily Mail, I did notice this myself when watching a couple of weeks ago. It must be a production nightmare to make this programme anyway – let’s face it, even the rubbish food never looks that bad. I imagine there’s a home economist on hand to make the final tweaks so that the food looks Michelin star-ready.

But whether the souffle was fact or fiction, I do hope this doesn’t dash Tom’s chances in the competition.

I hope Masterchef is real...

Lovely pregnant friend quickly sent over a list of menu no-goes which didn’t bring with it too many surprises, except parma ham, who knew? And then of course the wine, but that’s another blog post in itself, the poor girl.

So, Lorraine’s lamb tagine it was. Easy enough to prepare in advance.

That was, until lovely ex-vegetarian friend came back with the vegetarian criteria. Nothing cute. She’s not a vegetarian any more, but she still doesn’t eat cute things. So ducks are out but chickens are in. Baby sheep are a no go but grown up cows? Apparently fine! She is so hilarious. And I am currently adapting Lorraine’s tagine recipe.

And that wasn’t the only shocking food news I received today. Call me naive but I did not know that Lochmuir was a brand name invented by Marks and Spencer, specifically designed to sound like a Scottish village that might farm salmon. The media went mad about it today, but I actually think it’s quite clever…

I'll keep you updated on Saturday's take on tagine.

The best biscuits in the world

Here it is. It’s the Belgian delicacy, the specaloo. Deliciously crunchy and flavoured with cinnamon and ginger, I stock up on these bad boys on my annual festive pilgrimage to Bruges with my parents and the boy. Traditionally a Belgian festive treat, I particularly like the Santa/Pope design on the biscuit, an image which is rife around Belgium in December.

So, I am very upset that I’ve just eaten my last one. Here’s me enjoying the last bite…

I recently learned that although only 3% of the UK population is vegetarian, another 5% regularly eat meat free meals out of choice. I may be (occasionally!) in that 5%.

I used: 1 x sweet potato, 1 x courgette, 1 x onion, 1 x pepper, 1 x carrot, 1 x butternut squash, a handful of mushrooms, fresh garlic, chillies and ginger, 1 x lemon, dried turmeric, cumin, cardamom pods fresh coriander and a tub of low-fat creme fraiche.

What I did: I made the curry paste in a pestle and mortar, chopping and mixing the herbs and spices, along with the lemon juice and rind (scraping the cardamom seeds out of their pods beforehand.) Then, chopped the vegetables, parboiled the sweet potato, carrot and butternut squash and then added to the wok, along with the remaining vegetables and the curry paste. Once the vegetables were cooked (don’t let them get too squishy!) I added the tomatoes and the whole tub of

low-fat creme fraiche. I finished off with extra fresh coriander and a spoonful of rice.

It was veggielicious!

My first all veggie curry

Despite Jasmine’s fabulousness and my newfound Dr Dolittle-like talents, I do agree with The Guardian’s comments about the inappropriateness of animals in restaurants. Country pubs, fair enough but restaurants, absolutely not. Granted it’s mainly a phenomenon encountered abroad but nonetheless, three’s a crowd when it comes to a long anticipated romantic meal out, especially when the third has four legs.

My fondness of Jasmine means I forgive her for squeaking up as us whilst we sit at our own dinner table, the cat expecting a feline-sized portion of whatever we may be enjoying. If her dog-like begging goes on for long enough, hell, she usually gets her own way, but if a stranger’s pet does this in a restaurant I am not quite so willing to share.

But, as I read further into the Guardian’s post, I was introduced to a phenomenon far more disturbing than a restaurant owner’s pesky pet…the cat cafes of Japan. Forgive my naivety, but I have never before heard of these freaky places where loners (this is my own opinion and may not be factually correct) go to cuddle a random cat whilst enjoying a cup of coffee. Have a read of this BBC article that makes the cats in these places sound like high-class call girls: “There were seven customers, mostly single men….” err…

This finding has however, put my crazy cat lady worries into perspective.

Jasmine has a bit of a problem with the flash on my phone.

There’s also some dishes on there that brought back some fab memories of faraway travels. Clam Chowder. Tick. Had the lucky experience of tasting this in San Francisco, a city famous for serving the soup inside a bowl made from sourdough bread. Delicious. Goat. Tick. Cooked for the boy and I by a delightful family in their very small and humble home in Mombasa, Kenya. The meat was so tough that the boy had to hide some chunks in his pocket, successfully avoiding offence. We’ve tried it nonetheless.

So, it seems strange that I didn’t score quite as highly as I’d imagined. But to be fair, I don’t think I’ll ever tick off durian or phall, I just don’t have the stomach.

San Francisco's famous dish

And today I decided that I should have asked for a waffle iron. These clever gadgets have featured during a number of festive TV shows I’ve watched whilst enjoying a cheeky tipple and have left my mouth-watering! Please remind me that this needs to be at the top of next year’s gift list.

Happy new year all!

My 2012 Christmas present!

Website studentsbeans.com has penned a “budget” Christmas dinner for those without the time or skill to prepare a full roast. As well as replacing the roasties with waffles, it also suggests wrapping budget mini sausages in wafer thin ham and topping with a bacon flavoured crisp for that extra crunch as a cost-effective alternative to pigs in blankets. Urgh.

I can’t get too cross with studentbeans for what I’m sure is no more than a cleverly crafted PR stunt to drive more traffic to its website over the festive period. I wonder if any studos have actually given it a go?

Personally, I'd rather have sprouts

I’ll be celebrating the occasion with a few days off work (and hopefully a few more portions of cake!) Happy birthday me!