Oh how times have changed

He the mans walked over to the sofa the other night holding a rather full tumbler , suspectfully looking like his new drink of favour ; a vodka sour, (this time it was just still lemonade he says), stating " doesn't the drinking vessel you drink out of change your enjoyment of the drink". Despite agreeing with him, I couldn't help wondering were did this version of he the mans come from!! This from the guy who when walking into John Lewis many many years ago to discuss wedding lists , said, "cutlery is just cutlery" !!!! On our holiday recently ,( be aware there should be a ponceyometer inserted here at level 10), I'm sure the barman blanched at he the mans insistence many nights that his sour be served in a rocks glass and not a Martini one.

He's rather partial to vodka sours lately and numerous other soury lemon liquids and even has a worrying penchant for apple cocktails too, ( I just hope his pinky finger is down at the time the glass is in hand!). Hes bought ALL the ingredients for appletinis , banana daiquiris , Caipirinha and his fave vodka sour. In fact his whole eating and drinking habits have taken a 360degree turnaround over the last 10yrs. As have mine and I don't know who has been fuelling who or were it started. Thinking back though I remember many a day spent wrecking my mums kitchen in the preparation of some concoction or another and making sure I had the right bits and pieces to do it all . I also remember as a child in my late papas house , having to have a certain spoon for my cereal and soups and god help him if it wasn't found!! eeeeeeeek in fact a certain little cupcake is frighteningly similar in that respect! So my thing with all things culinary started as a teenager in my own mums kitchen , which seems to be the way it goes for most.

So progress to now and our foodie passions also seem to include making sure that , (ponceyometer level 10 warning) , things are, cooked , served and eaten with the right dish, bowl, pot , pan and cutlery! One friend who's mentioned often on my blogs was bombarded with my Tagine passion for a whole afternoon a couple of years ago!

My latest search is the perfect dessert and ice cream dishes, some of these were quite classic , but didnt quite hit the mark ! Then there's these retro beauties from Alessi , seen at Panik for £20 each! I'm drooling at the orange one!

Then these at £53 at MBS wholesale for 10 that look very restaurant styleee, which I quite like too!

Although again , like the lack of dessert restaurants , I struggled to find many retailers with any great offer for this product type. The old buyer instinct in me always has to come out at these shopping hunts and I'm almost ready there with a product line idea for some buying team somewhere! I always want to make every experience better!

Don't get me wrong I'll slum it with the best of them and in those moments when sometimes all you want is a food pill and be done I'll eat with my fingers , out of paper , polystyrene (god forbid) or anything coming my way . Just at home in our own space we like to have fun and strive to do it with style. The only thing is that no one wants us back to there's after a dinner party here , as we tend to go on mission like the next Masterchef!!!! and now Ive said that all our future meals will probably be dire and we'll be eating humble pie not Heston's!!! and yes may some of it is posturing , but also , we just enjoy the process of it all and the enjoyment others have in eating what we serve and how we serve it.

OK so there's a little about our changes in passions of kitchen product, (the non food variety) , here's a little on the food side. Take tonight's dinner , the ubiquitous cheese platter. There was a time when only commercial plastic packaged cheddar and Philadelphia would be had and a look at my parents after dinner cheeses had me sneering at the smell (as you do until your "our age")! Tomato's would make me squirm and mushrooms , the texture alone used to send shivers down me. Now I believe at this stage he the mans would have only drunk beer, probably for fear of not appearing manly and only had cheddar in a toasty! Now hes standing here picking at the cheese platter and asking me if I want a Banana Daiquiri and if we should buy some Gavi de Gavi wine for the weekend!

Now we can be scoffing the lot and and poncing it at Neals Yard Dairy like any foodie worth their salt . Tonight's platter had : Talegio , Pecorino Toscano, keen's cheddar & Pie dAnlgoys.

Just dont go asking there for a "cheddar like Cathedral City" , he the mans made that mistake in the early noughties in the once famed but now closed Bluebird Food hall in Kings Road. To the reply of " we dont do pasteurised cheese like that here sir" in a tone created to inflate you like a pin to a balloon! Bless him , all he wanted really was a strong but sweet flavour and that at the time this was his best way to describe it! Now to that shop person Id give them one of these for being insulting in the name of food . One has to laugh at these things, food should be a joy and a giggle. There is nothing worse than staff who are snootier than you are!!

What is it that makes that change : is it maturity , influence , taste buds , or just popular culture and life ? Can you remember not wanting to eat certain things years ago and now crave them? Are you fussy about utensils and will only have tea in bone china? Or do others mistakenly see it as pickyness rather than an educated enjoyment?

I say enjoy it all anyway and while your at it pass me that Chablis Cru in a Crystal glass please and that sea bass wild not farmed and that Gruyere reserve in paper not cellophane!!!

ponceyometer 20 I think and who cares !!!!!