This has been a long time in the making and I hope it becomes everything I want it to be. What I would really love is for this site to be used as a companion to all cooks, whether you are looking for some inspirational recipes or want actual help with some skills and techniques – something which has got lost in the cookery market these days.

You see, I believe that while there are undoubtedly more celebrity chefs and cookery books on the market than ever before, it is also a fact that fewer and fewer people are actually cooking. When you ask them why this is, they always come up with the same answers. Some say they do not have enough time; others say they don’t understand why you would spend time cooking something when it only takes a few minutes to gobble it down, but most people say that they simply do not know how!

I don’t believe that people are born great cooks. Instead I think that everyone has it in them to be an amazing cook – it’s just a matter of a little fine tuning. This means that I have adopted a back-to-basics approach and you’ll see that my recipes have been reinvented to suit our modern lives, taking timings, gadgets and ingredients into consideration.

Each month I will post a cookery skill. This month it’s shortcrust pastry – my cookery nemesis! I’ll show you exactly how to make it, as well as pointing out that you can’t mess it up as there are ways to salvage it. You can treat this like a monthly cookery course and to inspire you to take the bull by the horns and really get to grips with the skill, I will demonstrate it with some of my magical recipes.

But that’s not it. Another thing that can put people off cooking is when an ingredient is used in a recipe but then you never need to use it again. So, I am going to show you how to get the best out of your ingredients by each month putting up a ‘3 ways with …’ post. This could be something like soy sauce, rice wine vinegar or even pomegranate molasses. By the end of it you’ll really be utilizing your store cupboard and won’t feel worried about buying a certain ingredient again.

I will also be blogging regularly, giving updates on what’s going on in Gizzi World, which will be everything from work news, to my social life, travels, and any other recipes or foody thoughts. Knowing me, I will probably be boring you with everything including what I’m having for dinner. I will also be giving you the lowdown on what restaurants, bands or products are currently rocking my world and there will be a forum where you guys can talk to each other, which I promise I’ll contribute to whenever I get the chance.

Finally, I’m personally really looking forward to this interactive journey and I would love it if you wanted to come along for the ride and hopefully learn a thing or two as well. And because of this I really want your feedback. What do you like? What don’t you like? What do you want to see? Give it to me – I can handle it! So enjoy and speak soon.