Happy New Year!

Firstly, I would like to wish all my readers a really great New Year for 2010! May your year be full of wonderful culinary treats.

Many people may well be thinking more about dieting and cutting back on the food at this time of the year, after the over indulgences of the Christmas season. Personally, I think there is always room for good food, but if you are dieting at the moment then I really do wish you the very best of luck!

I don't really go in for new year's resolutions much myself, but if I did one I would make would be to try even harder through 2010 to explore local and British produce. I'd like to think that some of my readers may have been inspired to do something similar. Ingredients, in particular vegetables, always taste better the fresher they are. This is one of the reasons why vegetables you've grown yourself always taste better – you can't get much fresher then something pulled or picked and used within minutes. It stands to reason that the further vegetables have to be transported, the less fresh they will be and the less fresh they are, the less tasty they will be. Put simply, locally produced food such as vegetables, will be tastier than those grown hundreds of miles away.Of course, the availability of local vegetables is subject to the seasons, so it might be hard for someone who is used to cooking the same recipes over and over throughout the year. There isn't necessarily anything wrong with this and it should be possible to use local ingredients for at least part of the year. But personally, through doing the EatingBritish thing a while back and by continuing with this blog now, I find that my shopping habits have changed significantly. I still do most of my shopping at the supermarket, simply for the convenience really. However, instead of going along with a fixed menu for the week ahead, I go with an open mind and choose the ingredients that are the most local and the most fresh. In this way, the diversity of my cooking has increased enormously! And, it really adds some excitement to a shopping trip because it becomes something of an adventure. The adventure doesn't stop in the supermarket though, it continues in the kitchen when you get back home as you explore a new ingredient. If you've never tried shopping this way before, perhaps I could suggest that you make a, slightly late I admit, new year's resolution to try at least once in a while!