I am now going to report on last night’s culinary triumph from DM – a superb green Thai curry, liberally laced with garlic, a la Nigel Slater, a man whose books I found ‘late in life’. I know I’ve mentioned ‘Toast’ before, his autobiography, which is a truly marvellous book and well worth a read if you’re 40 something and were, like Nigel (and myself, which may be why I loved it so much) brought up on Angel Delight and Walnut Whips – when did they stop putting the one at the bottom inside? I KNOW they once did but they don’t now….

Anyway, I digress. Nigel Slater’s cookery books, which I started to buy having read Toast and found myself with a bucketful of empathy for this genial man who surely loves his food with a passion, are a delight to read as reading material, let alone as cookery books. From the first page, you drool with anticipation and pleasure at his descriptions of dishes – designed and cooked for those, like me, who love eating well.

DM found the Thai curry in 'Appetite', I believe, and, despite being a self-confessed novice in the kitchen, decided to cook it. You know what? It’s a complicated recipe – such is Nigel’s power to reel you in and get you cooking. DM thought it looked so good that he wasn’t put off by the long list of ingredients or the requirement to make your own curry paste from basic ingredients.

He did a wonderful job. The dish was delicious and perfectly done. The fragrance of the home-made curry paste was really something and the final dish looked very much like the shot in the book!

This morning he asked me if I minded if he had another go at something sometime soon……to which my response was (sorry Mum in advance of the next bit…..why not just skip down a line or two) ‘Is a shark’s arse watertight?’

So, today I found myself in a bid to prevent Tesco getting any more of my cash, appalled as I was at the stats revealed last week that they get £1 in every £3 spent in the UK retail market – I am just staggered if that’s true and as it was on the Beeb, I have no reason to doubt it, I went to a supermarket myself for a change and bought food supplies for the next few weeks. Basically Tesco are the only online supplier in this area so if you don’t want to spend your cash with them, you have to get on your bike and go out yourself.

This beautiful garlic plait was saying to me ‘photograph me’ and so who am I to fight the tide of fate – I bought it and have spent quite a lot of tonight photographing it. This shot was taken with my Lensbaby in case you couldn’t guess – I found it today after a couple of months of being ‘missing in action’ so at the end of my serious shooting session, I chucked it on the camera and did a few silly shots. I like this one, which is back lit with a flash gun through bubble wrap.

So, in my new capacity of ‘food fascist supreme’, I hereby declare that garlic is good for you – not because it’s good for your cardio-vascular system and its anti-oxidant properties, just because if you eat it, and you, and you and everyone, then we can all enjoy it without someone having the after-effects if you know what I mean.

Last year's shot was contained a locked door.....