Imaginative 2009

 
End of the month salticracks

The first month of the New Year is almost over. All across the globe people are back into their busy schedules, striving for balance and more time, ticking off to do lists and setting goals. Not only are we all back into routine, but we are all more conscious about what we spend our hard-earned money on.

Not one of us is unaffected by the global economic crisis. We all have to take careful stock of our finances and make hard to swallow compromises, but there is a silver lining. Our financial challenges are a frustration we all share. Friends, family, colleagues and even the stranger you greet every morning, every one of us have the same common goals and we are all forced to live our lives more creatively.

Our goals now include getting together with loved ones more often. We value entertaining at home, enjoy sharing meals and dishes and food still takes centre stage in our lives.

Getting back to basics, being a conscious shopper, keeping abreast with supermarket specials and finding innovative approaches to budgeting is not only in vogue but also offer benefits outside of the financial realm. Our life-long love affair of overspending and over indulging might be over but it is amazing to see how quickly we can adjust to living with less.

I am delighted to see, cheaper cuts of meat, less expensive fruits and vegetables and ordinary ingredients being piled into grocery trolleys. The best of all is learning how people plan to transform these simple, less expensive ingredients into an elegant meal. And besides it is not always about using the most expensive and exotic ingredients, but more about using the right methods and flavour pairing to unlock the essence of great tasting food.

Mouth watering meals and foods are definitely among our lists of indulgences, we just go about it differently. We are more creative and imaginative, we plant and grow our own herbs, we make things from scratch, we share hints and tips. TV dinners have taken a back seat and setting our tables beautifully, inspires new innovative decorating ideas. The bottom line is that we are expressing ourselves more creatively, we include fun in our lives and we invest by taking better care of ourselves and making more time for the people and things that matter most.

I hope you all live your best, imaginative year ever!