Cooking, eating and feeding friends or family should always be a joy. Every time you open the fridge or step into the kitchen is the start of a new adventure. Each meal is an adventure that may end in the creation of a new family favourite, a genius new snack or just something to fill a hole. And yes, occasionally it may end in a dish never to be aired in public but even then it can be chalked up as a lesson learnt.

I find that the most creative kitchen adventures come from the goal of using up ingredients that may be near the end of their life, little half-empty packets of this or that or just left-overs that you don’t fancy eating for the third day running.

There’s nothing more satisfying than giving a new lease of life to the last of the dry bread and discovering a home for the last near-soft apple at the same time. At least, that’s what helps me sleep at night. I appreciate some may challenge my assertion that ‘there is nothing more satisfying’. I’ll see your challenge and raise you a carrot & swede savoury bread pudding.

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