ABSTRACT
No. 1 When I welcome people into my kitchen, I always offer them a hot drink straight away – ‘Coffee? Tea?’ I don’t like them to sit there with nothing. It makes me feel anxious. People often say – ‘Oh, I’ll have one, but only if you’re making one’ – or – ‘I’ll have whatever you’re having!’ How exasperating! Of course I’ll have a cup of tea with them and I only like tea. What if they’d really like coffee? I prefer a clear precise response, for example: – ‘Coffee – a touch of milk, one and a half sugars, please.’ Then I can try my hardest to get it right, adding intuition and flair to attempt perfection. I always do the milking and sugaring myself. With family or friends I try to remember what they have as it’s embarrassing to forget. I stir the sugar in very quickly so as not to waste time. It’s hard to get the drinks just so.
