A huge surprise and 'merci beaucoup!' to Peter.

What a lovely surprise I had tonight when Peter, one of my blog readers, called me and called in to my home with a surprise gift which he had mentioned in a previous blog comment. And what a fantastic gift! It couldn't have been more fitting for myself as a huge Francophile and lover of French cookery skills (esp the rustic stuff from the South West France).

This book will be fantastic reference book for my current and future cooking. Peter my friend, you are star. The book (book? that's an understatement!) is the Larousse Gastronomique that Heston Blumental describes as 'The definitive culinary reference bible, it is a must for anyone remotely interested in food and cooking.'

Peter, I can't thank you enough. It's fantastic and so very generous.

Peter with my gift.

I know that my kitchen was baking hot when you arrived Pete. I was cooking a pork, chorizo, tomato, onion and parsely stew and tonight I added a new part of the dish for me inspired by Nigel Slater, a carrot and garden fresh mint mash with butter and pepper. I was also was roasting some slices of pepper and fennel in the oven (hence the heat in the kitchen!) to drain and add to the stew for extra depth. It was yummy.

 FIN.