Thursday is a day like any other. Nothing too special – another day in the daily grind. Some love Thursday as they are only one more day away from the weekend. Many are indifferent to Thursday. It seems Thursday is the most underrated day of the week. Nothing out of the ordinary or special about it. And yet this Thursday is a rather special one as we celebrate International Picnic Day.

Cooking is something I more than enjoy. It's part of my self care, great way to relax and has played an immense part in healing from the narcissistic abuse I have experienced. It's something me and my two children enjoy.

My first attempt at baking without recipe an going just off of feeling went so-so, half winning. I consider it a win still, as we did eat both the brownie and banana bread and were quite happy, even if it was not the tastiest of the tasty or mushiest of the mushy. I would have loved to see some more movement in the brownie and less density in the banana bread, but live and learn. I had some sort of basic feeling for what needs to go in them, and especially considering I had some very specific requirements to make it work, all in all I was pretty pleased with myself. But, as they say in Sweden, skam den som ger sig! Roughly translated to; shame on the person who gives up.

A few weeks ago a meme or photo or whatever you want to call it started circulating around social media. This is nothing new, there is some new viral something that makes it way into our social media bubbles just about every day, but this one was different. This one involved food, was fairly simple and was something that I knew both myself and my other half would enjoy.

I lay out everything I got from the store: vegetables, nuts, grains, spices. Then I look for the stuff we've already got like oil. Which bowl do I want to make first?

Today, we are not going to beat around the bushes here. The Italian Tomato Sauce may sound to you just like a paste - but remember it holds an immense amount of flavor. Basically, the sauce is made with fresh or concentrated tomatoes. It’s actually like that they have been cooked down well, then had the skin and seeds stripped off. Along with this, it is cooked down until it becomes a super smooth paste.

While we couldn’t have foreseen the exact circumstances that led to the current breakdown of society as we know it, I guess we all have been warned that this type of disaster could happen at any time.

Kids and pregnant women come up with the weirdest food combination. However, when kids do it, its a joke to see who could come up with the weirdest combination. In the seats of the cafeteria, they find themselves daring each other to try each new strange concoction. Some of them are pretty good, others are really really gross.

Desserts are a great way to bring friends and family together for a sweet treat. They bring joy and comfort with their deliciousness. For bakers who feel they are getting a bit bored with doing the same old thing or for more bakers with adventurous palettes, there are fun takes that you can take on traditional desserts to spice them up and add some excitement to your typical routine. Consider swapping these ingredients for some additional zest to your baking routine.

As we continue to empty our shelves at the supermarkets, grabbing all the hand wash, pasta and toilet rolls, we don't really need to panic buy - we just need to know how to arrange our lives a bit more effectively whilst we await the news of a national lockdown.

Having the right tools and complete equipment is essential in the art of baking. I assure you, investing in these materials is not a waste. You will reach out for these materials than what you may think. Most of the bakers have their favorite brand and type of items. But what is important is that you start with the basic tools.

I talk about my homemade sourdough a lot on social media, so I’m so delighted to share the fantastic bread making class that I attended in early 2019.