Inspired by a Fridge magnet

My love for food and cooking go way back. My mother was always busy in the kitchen and we were encouraged at a young age to get our hands dirty. As I grew up I went through many fads and phases like becoming a vegetarian or following a low calorie diet but my interest for food never left, in fact it almost became my career.
Later, I was introduced to Dutch food with great interest, I was taught to cook authentic Indian food and I started to find my own style. I like to try new things, I tend not to stick to recipes but to cook with reckless abandon.
Today the food choice is much wider, there is so much on offer, and you don't just have to flick though cookery books or buy a food magazine for ideas. The amount of food related programmes on TV is overwhelming so many different approaches and concepts and Internet is amazing. It is certainly no longer regarded as stuffy and old fashioned to cook!
Today I get much inspiration from our holidays. A few years ago we had a holiday chalet in a quaint little place called Porlezza in Northern Italy on the lake of Lugano. The food was amazing. I learnt a lot from their approach to food; less is more. Where fresh, quality but few ingredients are beautifully combined and cooked with passion.
Further I have been inspired by other holidays, in Egypt I discovered desserts, in Greece, on the island of Crete to be precise, I tasted the best olive oil and olives in the world and in Thailand I became more open to Asian food.
In fact I get little inspiration from restaurants here, more than often I come away disappointed. Not that I am difficult to please but I do expect a certain quality and sadly this is not always the case.
Funny enough I got my inspiration for my blog title from a fridge magnet! Live, love, laugh only and eat was missing which I added with a bit of help from my friend Paint.
The purpose of my blogspot is to share ideas, tips and perhaps review new kitchen equipment or gadgets. I hope to share photographs of things that have worked for me and perhaps discuss new products, unlikely or unusual combinations. To write hopefully with enthusiasm and passion about my own creations or apdaptions or my tried, tested and all time favourite recipes and who knows maybe I will inspire someone to run into the kitchen!