My red ‘delicious’ from September, 2004

Is it just me or are there other people who love a particular magazine, maybe even subscribe to….but have one edition that’s their absolute favourite????

Maybe its just me and my red ‘delicious’ from September 2004! I have no human recollection of how I got it but it hasn’t left me since then.

I can speculate but I’m at a loss because I was in the UK in 2002 and 2005 but not in ’04. Perhaps it was a gift, maybe I bought it, I may never know, the Art of Memory too late! Suffice it to say that it has been with me through transatlantic moves, from Nigeria to the Netherlands, local home changes from The Hague to Wassenaar and different shelf units!

I first learnt how to make Flapjacks a la Jamie Oliver from this ‘book’!

Time gone by, the memory of the ‘no-fry zone’ Scotch eggs plagued me, night and day.

And when I couldn’t bear it anymore, I succumbed and made Oven-baked Scotch eggs….delicious, healthy and no longer the preserve of ‘highway service stations’ not to mention easy to assemble and super-tasty on the plate.

And then Beth got me started with oven-roasted tomatoes. This reminded me that there was a whole ‘seeing red’ section on Tomatoes in this edition!

Everything from Passata to aubergine and tomato stacks to soups and more. And though the recipes I made eventually were different at the start, I finished them off as adviced. I wouldn’t have thought of making an asian-flavoured tomato sauce with ginger, garlic and coriander were it not for my trusted friend!

But its not just the recipes in this edition that make me smile: the article on ‘bottled water’ made me smile, especially when I saw ‘my’ VOSS bottle there. The water described as crisp with a distinct mineral note, almostt pebbly!

Now here is a funny story. Last year in the summer (’08), my family and a friend’s family were in the UK on holiday. One evening, we had dinner at a lovely Thai resturant – delicious coconut rice, light, fragrant green curry, drinks and all. Because the kids enjoyed the rice so much, we kept ordering more and more and more.  We ordered water and  when the bottle came, it was the VOSS brand. Long and cylindrical with a nce silver-grey cover, I fell in love…with the beauty and clean lines of a bottle! In my mind, I hadn’t quite seen a bottle that I’d fallen for in a long time (I am a collector, so pardon me!) Anyhow, just before the bill came, my friend had to leave the resturant for a few minutes. Her parting words were in agreement with my thoughts – we had to split the bill. And so we did. Now when the bill came, I was somewhat shocked, it tallied about 100 pounds. But we had eaten a lot. Anyhow, the bill was split down the middle and shortly after, my friend came back in. When she saw her 50 pound bill she said, ‘I thought I said we should split the bill?’, to which I replied ‘we did….split it!’ And so….I figured that since we paid a lot and I love the water bottle so much….I was entitled to take it home (especially as it still had some water in it). My idea of a doggy bag, gone bottle!

I could go on and on about this edition, but I won’t. It has a fantastic home decorating section as well – there is a very nice article on making a flower bowl with ice!

It will stay in my vault….and continue with me on all my adventures…..even when I find another favourite, it will remain….my all-time favourite! Now all I have to do is keep it safe and then maybe I can bequeath it to my daughters…and son if I can keep it out of the son’s reach. He hasn’t quite learned that things are to be respected…..He scribbles on photo frames, over my face and his Papa’s, tears the edges of my magazines….but funny enough, nothing every happens to his favourite Arthur books…or Clifford! Hmmmm. 

Don’t worry, I will share the recipes with you….soon.

Do you have a favourite edition of a magazine? Why do you love it so? Share all please    [wpurp-searchable-recipe]My red ‘delicious’ from September, 2004 – – – [/wpurp-searchable-recipe]