13 | Aug | 2019

When I do my own food / grocery shopping, I usually go to the local Sainsburys supermarket. For years I went to ASDA or Aldi, but there is no ASDA and no Aldi near here. Nor is there a Lidl, an Iceland, or a Farmfoods. When I first moved to London I lived a five minute walk from an enormous 24-hour Tesco Supermarket. But there is no Tesco near here. So instead I now shop for myself at Sainsburys.

The nearest supermarket to my little abode, at only two minutes walk away, is an organic supermarket named Bayley & Sage, but everything there costs a fortune…I went shopping there once, just after I moved here, and nearly started choking with the shock when the cashier told me the price of the small basket of items I had collected. So I don’t go there unless I want to buy a treat for Goldfinch or to buy sandfire (it’s the only shop near here where I can buy it).

When Goldfinch is coming I switch to shopping at Waitrose…because in my head, (if not reality) I think I will find better produce. But it also costs more. I just like to feel I am giving the best to Goldfinch. One of the things I love about shopping at Waitrose is the chance to collect a free Waitrose magazine (along with my free coffee).

The Waitrose magazine has some fantastic recipes. I have always been a big fan of supermarket magazine recipes. I like them because they normally don’t have a ridiculous amount of ingredients and you don’t have to have been a contestant on Masterchef to be able to follow their recipes.

I like to bake…and I especially like to bake for Goldfinch. This weekend I made a traditional favourite savoury dish which I have made many times before. But for pudding I thought I would turn my hand to trying a couple of recipes from last month’s Waitrose magazine.

ice cream.png First of all I made the toffee-apple ice-cream…which involved making caramel – a messy job but somebody has to do it! It has ripples of caramel soft golden apples, crumbly biscuit bites and creamy vanilla ice-cream…oooh la la!

upside down cake Then I made the upside down. maple, walnut and apple cake, which was warm and ooooozing with caramel.

It is a pleasure cooking and baking for my Goldfinch. But I spend twice as much money on my food shopping when I know he is coming to visit. I am spending a fortune on feeding my gorgeous Goldfinch. But I love it. I love him you see. I love any chance I have to give something to him that shows him how I feel and how happy he makes me.