I’m really excited about the next couple of months as I have a few different food ‘events’ coming up. Along with my friend and colleague Lisa, as passionate a foodie as me (moreso in fact), I’ve signed up for two of the cookery classes at James St South in August. One on sauces (chosen by Lisa) and the other’s a French Bistro class. I’ll report back on both in due course.

As well as that, I’m going along to the BBC Good Food Show in October at the Waterfront Hall. It’s the first time for the Show in NI and I’m looking forward to seeing James Martin show us his skills (strictly culinary of course!).

My birthday is in July and I’ve asked only for two food-related presents. Lunch at Ox, which I’ve heard is a must-have and a voucher for the Waitrose Cookery School so that I can incorporate a class on one of my next work-related trips to London. The range of classes they offer is really exciting and quite different from anything available here in Northern Ireland in terms of unusual and exotic cuisines.

The other thing I’m looking forward to is sharing my passion and an armory of what I consider to be the most valuable and versatile recipes with my 15 year old son during the summer holidays. I have persuaded him of the benefits of being able to cook a few basic dishes and to date he has been a willing participant, albeit one who finds it all ‘simple’ so far. Perhaps it’s time I upped the ante a little or let him get on with it unhindered by my advice and experience.

So, it will be a busy summer and I shall have plenty to blog about. I hope you’ll follow me on here or on my twitter account @cookachewni.