Someone likes cooking

Not me, as many might assume - sadly what talents I have do not extend to the kitchen (but I can clean like a demon).

This is half of our collection - the rest are consigned to a cupboard - and reflects one of my other half's passions, and one at which he is extremely talented (as my former 7 stone weakling self can testify).

It's not just in cookery books that this passion emerges. For 9+ years this man has cooked the most delicious food I've ever eaten, and has turned me into someone with a real interest in food, where previously, I had been known on occasion to eat a bowl of frozen peas for dinner (not still frozen, I hasten to add). The interest has taken us to some of the best restaurants in the world and it's gratifying that at least two of the best were in the UK. We are lucky in Birmingham to have three Michelin starred restaurants, furthermore that are worth the stars, and a couple of others that are pretty good too. It's just as well we left London though, or we would be remortgaging just to keep up with all the great new places opening up there.

This enduring interest does have its downsides. For one thing, we have over 15 food related programmes to watch on our Sky recorded wotsit. Unfortunately it seems to mean we have to watch every food programme, which frequently has me shouting at the TV (take note Jamie).