“I try to stave off winter depression with comfort foods.”

Now that the cold has officially set in and the days are cut in half in terms of light, I want to crawl into a hole filled with thousands of blankets along with an endless supply of chocolate bars. And then I will see everyone again around April 2024.

Since this is not possible in real life, I do what is possible: I light candles, take out a comfy tablecloth, put a bowl of chestnuts on the table and cover myself with cookbooks. Because there has to be comfort food. Lots of comfort food. Hoping to prevent the impending winter depression.

Carrot cake muffins with gingerbread spices, stew with juniper berries, mashed potatoes with fennel, minestrone soup, stew: I think we need it. Like every year, I also think we should try something weird. So I go to the library and get a book full of game recipes.

When I look through the book of at-home gaming recipes, I think it might be a bit condensed. So I put the book down and browsed my Instagram to see if I could save any interesting game recipes there, but I forgot that I mainly follow vegan chefs there. This does not work with the game.

There is no game book

Then stop by a bookstore to get inspired. I bought a new book by Jamie Oliver, Carso’s cookbook which has been on my wish list for a long time and is a cheap book about soup. Game book is not included. I’ve given up, maybe I should specialize in soup.

Every now and then, around six in the evening, I shout to the children: “Today we have a little experiment.” Experiments are always exciting, because you may or may not like them. I will get more books from the library to experiment with. Pumpkin puree with hazelnuts, this sounds delicious. Beef Wellington, also nice. The stack of cookbooks keeps getting higher and higher, filled with yellow.

He immediately forgot again

As soon as I put one of those experiences on the table, I immediately forget about it. very crazy. “When are we going to eat those goat cheese rolls again?” asks Puck (11 years old). “Or those meatballs you simmer in broth for hours?” Ollie (9) is eager to know. I think: Oh yes! But I can’t add even the most successful experiments to my usual culinary repertoire.

Plus the average (potatoes/meat/veggies) on Tuesday and Thursday, pasta on Monday, soup on Wednesday, and pizza or French fries on Friday, there’s no room for it in my head. By the time I order my weekly groceries, I forget about that pile of cookbooks and routinely check what I ordered before.

With a cookbook in bed

Judith Osborne once said on television that her biggest hobby was reading cookbooks in bed. I thought that was very strange at the time, because cookbooks were there for cooking, right? But now, twenty years later, I understand what you mean. I read cookbooks, I love it. But cooking from it is a completely different story. Even when it comes to the most delicious comfort foods.

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