I've been posting for a few weeks now, so thought I ought to introduce myself. The most important thing to know is that I'm obsessed by cooking. Yes I do mean obsessed. I don't count sheep to get to sleep, I run through menus and recipes in my head until I fall asleep. I read cookery books like novels. I watch TV cooking channels more than any other channels. I always go on holidays which are in self-catering apartments or cottages, so I can cook every day. I carry my chef's knife and recipe book with me when I visit friends. I could go on...
I live in Maidstone, Kent, UK with partner and grown-up kids so I'm cooking for 5 most days (or perhaps I should say 4) for here's the rub... I love to eat too, I also love to drink (wine and real ale), but I do like to stay slim (this is mostly for vanity rather than health!). So I'm on a semi-permanent diet most of the week, to allow indulgences on the other days. It doesn't really bother me as I love to cook so much that I just regard it as working in a restaurant where I get to taste everything, serve it up aesthetically and wait for compliments! Well, it works for me, and I'm now at target weight. Luckily I don't have a sweet tooth and don't really like chocolate (unless it very dark and bitter), so I'm not tempted by cakes etc. Mostly I cook English traditional food, Indian/Asian, Moroccan, Greek, French and Italian style dishes and sometimes Caribbean style dishes. I also make a lot of bread.
I'm surprised that there seemed to be so few active food forums out there. I joined the Delia forums, thinking that as she is so well known in the UK, it might be quite lively. But the traffic is very slow there. This forum seems great and much busier - so well done founders!