Just as I go to bed the past few nights, after a fruitful day of thinking everything is going to be all right–because I have made dinner, I have a cleanish bathroom, Ferdinand stayed at school on his own, and my COOKBOOK IS ALMOST DONE–my brain starts to take over and within minutes I am convinced that I have no idea what I’m doing, and there is little possibility of me ever leaving my house again. This is when you have to remember that the difference between the person that is merely sleep deprived and the person that gives up for good is the ability to have a wait and see attitude. One of the things I always worry about is that I am going to forget how to cook. The thing about cooking is, if you know what you are doing, you can’t forget.

The first time I made a soffritto, I ate nearly all of the onions, carrots and celery before they made it to the soup, but the problem was, I had no idea what had made them so good. It wasn’t until about five years later, when my friend Jill gave me a cookbook called “Soffritto” that spelled out exactly what to do that I figured out, AHAA! It was three things. One: the oil Two: cook the vegetables until they have barely any resistance to a bite, and don’t ever leave them Three: season them before you put in the liquid

When you have a good soffritto you can do anything. Add white beans and broth, or lentils and olive oil, or a slow cooked roast. It can even give you the courage to get up and put your clothes on.