The Challenge

Whilst googling a recipe from Nigella one day recently, I came across a brilliant blog called The Sacred Art of Eating http://helenhare.net/food/index.php/challenge/ where Helen undertakes to cook every recipe from Nigella Express during 2008. What a great idea, I thought.

I study with the Open University, and am part of their really active food forum. Several of us have decided that we are 'up' for this challenge in 2009. But which book would I choose? There were some rules!

• No massive cookery bibles, as it simply isn't practical to cook from the book every day! So something with about 200 recipes would be ideal



• No single cuisine - much as I love Italian or Japanese, I don't want to eat it three or four times every week



• No 'dinner party' cook books with nothing but rich food. I'm fat enough as it is!



• I love to cook with the seasons, so something that reflects this approach would be great



• Not all the food should be complicated - a good blend of simple everyday with more challenging stuff would do

The book? It had to be Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries, which is organised on a month-by-month basis. He aims to reduce his reliance on supermarkets, buy locally and in season, and the book contains around 200 recipes - perfect!

So, from the start of 2009, I shall attempt every recipe in his book, and will chart my progress on the blog, listing successes, failures, also-rans. Who knows? I might even learn how to upload photos to make it more interesting!

Maggie