A realistic picture - Raspberry Sundae

Talking with other parents recently has given me some food for thought. The majority of them say that they don't necessarily think that trying to cook good food for your family each day is a 'challenge'. "Its what we do". Fair enough. However, is this a general portrait of family life in the UK or does it represent a minority of middle class stereotypes who have the social access to sources of good food? I'm going to stick my neck out and say that its the latter. My personal and professional experience combined with some statistics indicate that it is a struggle to feed your family well, particularly in tough economic times. Does anybody else think this is the case?

Leading food journalist Joanna Blythman noted that 2003 was the year that the UK ate more ready meals than the rest of Europe put together. A statistic, no doubt, attributed to a growing supermarket culture that actively promotes cheap alternatives to fresh food.

If people are happy doing this then I am not making any judgements and if you are in the kitchen cooking up a storm for your family then good for you. But I think there may be a few parents out there who are fed up with the monotony of what they cook or may not know how to cook. This blog is my personal thoughts on food issues and some recipes I feed my family and kids at school. They may be of use to other people.

On a lighter note, today is Father's Day and my wife is on her way home. I am making tomato and buffalo mozzarella bruschetta followed by Spaghetti Pangratatto and a Raspberry Knickerbockerglory for pud.

No recipes needed today, just a few guidelines. With the bruschetta, simply toast some ciabatta or white loaf, rub some garlic on add a drizzle of olive oil and spoon some tomatoes chopped with mozzarella and basil over. The recipe for Spaghetti Pangratatto I gave recently and for pudding a Knickerbockerglory. Now this needs no rules and can contain whatever you like. Mine is layers of vanilla ice cream, crushed meringue, fresh raspberries, kiwi fruit, whipped cream and raspberry sauce. The sauce is easily made by simmering a 500g bag of frozen raspberries, or mixed berries (much cheaper at 80p and is what i've used today) with 100g caster sugar and 100ml water. Push contents through a sieve and leave to cool

Happy Father's Day!