If I have been waiting for an engraved invitation, it just arrived. I am catsitting in Newmarket, UK, for the next three weeks. The lovely and charming homeowners are vegans, and asked me to bring only vegan-friendly foodstuffs into the house. “Easy, peasy”, thought I, until the words “butter” and “honey” snuck up on me. Hmm.

So I studied the cookbook shelves, finding familiar names and titles, a few new to me, and several books I knew about but have never seen. Great! First up is a book I heard of but never seen wild garlic, gooseberries . . . and me by Denis Cotter. I can’t write a proper review until I’ve cooked from it, but first impressions are looking good. Stories, and plenty of them. Moody photographs that tell stories, as well, and make me hungry. What does a foggy landscape make me hungry for? Soup.

The recipes I have read so far are modern in their flavor combinations, some are challenging, and there are quite a few that involve vegetables I have never heard of. I hope I can find some of them!

First up will likely be Roast Sweet Dumpling Squash (which I have never heard of) with Lemon, Sage and Cannellini Beans. The first step is to fry everything but the squash in butter and olive oil. I’ll just lose the butter and replace it with olive oil. Butter is called for to finish the dish, and the vegan butter substitutes in the frig will do just fine. Beyond that very minor tweak, this is a straightforward dish.

I’ll post this now, and revise it when I’ve cooked the dish.