"Special Occasions" have been a regular feature of our Italian family and whenever we get together, for Christmas, Easter, birthdays, anniversaries and, these days, whenever we all just happen to actually get together, it is rare that we do not open a bottle of bubbly or two to go with our Antipasti Misti.  It's an easy appetiser to prepare with as many or as few different components as you like or, for that matter, have to hand.  Smoked salmon and crispy things will almost always be added to the medley as well as one or two other delectably nibbly finger foods ...

As a child I watched open-mouthed and fearful as daddy opened the center of the hottest cooking ring of mummy's Aga with a long hooked poker, revealing a glowing furnace into which he would pour the black egg-shaped balls of black fuel that kept the beast going night and day.  Long, slow, simmering is what is required to make good stock and the warming plate of mummy's coke fired Aga was often enough to keep the stock pot gently ticking over through the night ...

One of my earliest memories involving pasta is of sitting around a table under the pine trees of the Gargano, enjoying an alfresco meal.  The spaghetti were served, as of old, in the center of the table in a huge dish from which we all ate.  It took a long time for the penny to drop but I eventually realised why Italians eat so hastily - this way of serving food meant that the fastest ate the most, and old habits die hard ....

Ian and I have always loved fish but like many people we never really ate very much of it.  Until, that is, Ian, who apart from cooking the occasional Sunday lunch didn't spend much time in the kitchen, discovered a simple little recipe for halibut cooked in cider in a cookbook written by the Two Fat Ladies.  It was just about the time that Rick Stein became a famous TV chef and so, from then on, with the help of a few of Rick's wonderful cookbooks, there was no stopping him;  Ian became our "chef de poissons" ...

What can I say about this section - not the most inspiring dishes on the menu and I think, if you exclude the potato recipes, it shows in the sheer brevity of the list compared to, say the list of Sweet Things.  However, there are some lovely dishes to be made that are not only good accompaniments but also meals in themselves.  And the list is growing - as I discover more and more ways of serving these amazing ingredients that are perhaps considered second class citizens on most menus ...

Desserts, these days, are always a rare treat as, with the advancing of years and the slowing of the metabolism, large numbers of calories are no longer so easily shrugged off.  Steamed puddings are a special winter indulgence, served with lashings of custard or, my favourite, thick double cream, and bring back memories of younger days when we used to have them often.  As I said, nowadays, being more sensitive in the weight department, I serve these only on special occasions ...

Baros was a Maldivian island we visited 3 times in the 1990's - it was on Baros that I first discovered the delights of the Rusty Nail.  Perfectly heavenly in every way, we finished a hard day of sun, sea, sand and snorkelling with a few pre-prandial cocktails at the open air bar.   A post-prandial nightcap or two was then followed by a barefoot stroll through the gently lapping fluorescently phosphorescent surf back to our cottage ...

There are many ways of preserving olives and here I have given three simple methods - our favourites of course.  Passed on to me by three old ladies from Vico del Gargano, they are a little taste of the Gargano and of Puglia.  Extra special for us as we own a little piece of it and grow our own olives, some of which I preserve to be enjoyed by family and friends throughout the year and the rest, about 10,000 kilos, we turn into about 2,000 liters of first class Extra Virgin Olive Oil ...