1. I can meticulously plan out how we are going to use every single egg that’s in the egg rack… just so long as neither of us messes up and wastes an egg, everything (and everyone) will be just fine.

2. If you order “half a bag” of potatoes from the milkman, it is actually 12.5kg of spuds i.e. a f*cking lot of potatoes! Must be prepared to plan a very spud-heavy menu. And get ready to argue over who has to drag the bag up the front steps.

3. Frozen veg and tinned fish are more versatile and vital than I previously gave them credit for. Especially frozen chopped onions; OMG, what a bloomin’ time-saver! We will never go back to having an onion-less freezer.

4. Frozen peppers, however, are an abomination. Way too watery. Some veg is definitely worth the effort of fresh.

5. Amazon sells a surprisingly wide range of chocolate chips.

6. Having another adult in the house all day every day is great for companionship, sharing cooking duties and splitting the childcare load… but terrible for the extra number of times we have to run the dishwasher. We both LOVE to cook! Plus, the baby is now on three meals a day, so we are constantly playing catch-up with the dishes.

7. I can cut a 40g piece of cheese off of a bigger block just by sight, no weighing required. Is there some sort of award for that? 

8. We own a lot of quite niche bits of kit (hello, ravioli mould, silicone madeleines tray and camembert baker, among many others). And, yet, still I long for a cook’s blowtorch and a sous-vide thingy.

9. All of our non-stick pans are, in fact, very-much-stick pans that require much soaking and scrubbing after each use. Of which there are many (see point 6 above). Sidenote: anyone want to recommend some decent pans?

10. Cooking a roast chicken every Sunday is a lovely, comforting way to keep track of what day it is and to mark another week survived/enjoyed in lockdown. I have also had to abandon my excuse of “not having time” to make my own Yorkshire puds from scratch and can confirm they are very satisfying to do. Also, we really enjoy deciding what to create with the roast leftovers on Monday! (Faves so far: fried rice; chicken and sweetcorn noodle soup; another mini roast!)

 

What have you learned about cooking in lockdown? I’d love to hear any tips or tricks you want to share in the comments below!