Spontaneity is back

It’s not until you start going out again that you realise just what it is you’ve been missing. Spontaneity is back.

So much of my life these last twelve months has centred around food. First, there’s been the planning, trawling through cookbooks or magazines for inspiration, trying to find new ideas rather than always falling back on the tried and trusted. Then the cupboard checks to see which ingredients are to hand and which will require a shopping expedition. Pre pandemic this was often my favourite stage, but social distancing has put any thoughts of food browsing on hold. Then home to prepare, cook and serve, before finishing off with the inevitable mountain of washing up.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed how important food has been in my life, I’m not sure I’d have coped with the various lockdowns so well if I couldn’t have spent so much time in the kitchen. It’s been the routine I needed.

But routine is the word, no days have varied from others, even the ‘it’s the weekend’ thrill has faded. That’s where the return of spontaneity, heralded by the slow but steady removal of lockdown restrictions is so welcome.

Last weekend we ate out for the first time in many months. On the spur of the moment, we decided to go and find somewhere that had the outside space to be able to serve food, it was still a few days to go before indoor food service was allowed. We finished up in the garden of a local pub and the whole experience was wonderful. Tables around us, all be it distanced, of like-minded hungry people, desperate for something other than the norm. Something we’d always taken for granted now feeling like an adventure.

Being handed a menu, pointed to a specials board and having everything done for you felt strangely exotic. No one cared that it was ridiculously cold for a May evening or that the wooden bench seats were hardly the most comfortable things to be sitting on. We were out, we were being fed and it felt good. The plan had been for a drink, a main course and home. But a glimpse of desserts being delivered to another table changed our minds. We finished by sharing a fabulous white chocolate cheesecake. A soft delicate texture was matched with a deep almost caramelised flavour. Served with a scoop of raspberry sorbet, some mango puree and a scattering of toasted marshmallows. There was a skilled pastry chef at work and the world felt a much better place for it.

We went home with beaming smiles.

Spontaneity is back.