I was invited to a rather fabulous lunch this week cooked by Stephanie Moon of Great British Menu fame. Stephanie had kindly agreed to spend a day with the catering students at Nelson and Colne College cooking up three courses of deliciousness.

According to Jason, who heads the kitchens, Stephanie was ‘really calm and just lovely with the students. Unlike some chefs’. I think I may have blushed at this comment as there was an incident a few years ago where I made a poor girl cry in those kitchens during a competition. Something to do with a cheesecake, as I remember.

Anyhow Stephanie was indeed lovely and happy to let me take pictures of her scarred arms. I have a bit of a fetish for chefs’ scars and Stephanie’s were some of the best/worst I have seen. She said her doctor had worried she was self harming when he saw them and of course she is but all in the name of haute cuisine, so that’s fine by me.

My table consisted of myself and Paul Kirkup (who is part of my masterplan as he can cook up a gourmet feast in a microwave) and Chrissy and Darren from the Chamber of Commerce. Darren said he’d loved my blog post from two years ago where I reviewed a local restaurant which led to the chef/owner Mauritzio ranting in the comments section and then phoning me in a rage.

At the time, supporters of Mauritzio left comments on my blog saying how marvellous everything was at his restaurant and how my review was at odds with those of famous people who had eaten there and loved it. All I can say to that is ‘inconsistency is not a good thing’. That’s Mauritzio’s inconsistency, not mine.

It turns out that since I wrote the review there have been so many Trip Advisor complaints and so many crazy rants from Mauritzio that the Daily Mail did a full page feature on him. I still think his reply to me where he asks if I regularly eat dogs’ bollocks is the best though.

And talking of strange and interesting meats, I gutted and skinned a badger this week so I could make a stew and then have a stole made from the head/pelt/paws by my friend Nicola Jane Hebson who was recently featured on Channel 4’s All Creatures Great and Stuffed. Presently, the meat remains in my freezer while the debate on Facebook as to the dangers of eating badger flesh continues. Check out my Facebook page to see the latest.

I shall leave you with a few pics of my lovely lunch. Yum yum.