Delicious

I find it interesting that whenever I am prompted to write about television programmes, they usually tend to be related to food. I've just watched the third installment from the delicious Miss Dahl as she treated us to her take on nostalgic food - rose-tinted memories of childhoods spent in the kitchen with Granny (presumably while Grandad was knocking up another literary classic in the study?). I think my TV developed smell-o-vision tonight for I'm sure the whiff of caramelised apples and pears tickled my nostrils around the same time that the bubbling sugars titilated my ears and eyes. I can't stop thinking of Victoria sponge with a cup of tea served in a bone china tea cup with a delicate floral pattern. I could also quite happily munch through those jacket potatoes oozing with cheese and fluffy with egg - all washed down with home made tomato soup...

This programme is so ... English! It's lovely, a real delight to the senses, a kind of summer fruit pudding with clotted cream of a show. Tonight as she sat on a steam train for no reason it seemed other than to have the excuse to recite one of my favourite poems, I lay back on the sofa and relaxed into the rolling English landscape and felt very much at home.

I have to confess though that I am ever so slightly envious of Miss Dahl. She is incredibly beautiful in a natural and wholesome way - proving that supermodels do not necessarily have to resemble broom handles. She cooks and manages to turn the most mundane meal into a sensual experience, helped by the softest of voices. When it came to childhood stories at bedtime, she had a Grandfather who was the King of Storytellers. If that wasn't enough, she is also a published author and has her own TV series on the BBC. You can't help liking her though. I could just see us sitting at her kitchen table munching on cake and having a good old girlie chat...

Have a watch. Perhaps we could all go round one afternoon. I'm sure she'd love it! Oh and for the record, my Mum is also a great storyteller - thanks for all those wonderful tales that sent me to the land of Nod with a sack of wonderful stories to turn into cosy dreams!