April librarycook – The ones that got away

April’s Delicious magazine was, it turns out, full of hidden treasures.  On first perusal, the librarycook’s attention must have been focused elsewhere, or perhaps, unlikely though it seems, she wasn’t hungry.  The only recipe which appealed to her was a salad of beetroot, pomegranate and labneh, which graced the librarycook table over the Easter break.  And a fine salad it was too, with a great C:R (Cooking:Reading) ratio – plenty of time for the librarycook to bury herself in The Memory Chamber,  an excellent, thought provoking read set in the near future, when those who have the money can have a custom-made heaven designed for them to enjoy after their death.

But. The librarycook’s second journey through the magazine’s glossily tempting recipes revealed all sorts of treasures.  Some of which, admittedly, belong more to the well-that’s-an-interesting idea than to the actual reality of day-to-day cookery in the librarycook’s home.  Escargot pasta, for example, is never really going to feature on the librarycook’s almost antique IKEA table.  Nor is something called Death in the Afternoon, which, it turns out, is not that strange sense that Period 5 will never, ever end, but is instead a cocktail featuring absinthe AND champagne. A recipe for Slow-Cooked Chicken and Radicchio Salad with Sour Apple Dressing though? Yes please, thought the librarycook. The instruction to begin the recipe a day ahead spoke volumes to the librarycook, promising hours of  leisured reading. And the second day’s cooking offered even more time for literary pursuits – the librarycook counted four whole hours of virtually free time, while the chicken was first seared, then left to marinate, until finally arriving in the oven for another substantial amount of (reading) time.

But will this no doubt delicious dish ever grace the librarycook’s table?  Could she have found a recipe that has, whisper it, too much reading time? After all, even the librarycook has a life to live, with chores to complete, tv to watch, people to see and cats to serve. Could this be the recipe that just offers too much?  Readers will just have to stay tuned.