My Kitchen Rules

My Kitchen Rules has started again.

It seems strange to get so sentimental over a lightweight reality cooking show, but here am I misting up.

And it's not just because Manu looks so gorgeous he can bring even this non-Francophile to tears.

It's not even because half the food makes this non-foodie feel a bit queasy in the belly.

It's because, for the past three years, I've associated MKR with pivotal moments in my life. While I've been watching, Big Things have been happening in my life.

I watched it for the first time two seasons ago. I watched it not because I was interested at all in the premise - like I said, I'm not a foodie. Cheese, tomato sauce and chip butties are my idea of gourmet heaven. I watched it because my elderly auntie loved it and encouraged me to give it a go. I watched it so we'd have something to discuss on our weekly coffee dates - something in common.

She loved dissecting the previous episode over coffee and cake. She had her favourites and revelled in dissing whoever had been the most "villainous" in the kitchen this week.

Not long after the season finished, my aunt suddenly passed away. 

A year later, remembering our weekly MKR debriefs with fondness, I tuned in again. This year, I was pregnant with Tiger. And, not far into the pregnancy, I became very sick and Tiger's journey into life became a hazardous, tenuous one.

I watched much of this season in hospital. It was a distraction from my anxiety and desperate pleading with whatever powers were out there that Tiger should make it into the world.

As the season drew to a close, she did.

And now she is here. I am watching the first episode as she sits near me on her Daddy Bear's knee, batting his chin with her tiny mittened paw as she does every night before drifting off to sleep.

Tonight, she ate a baby version of bangers and mash for the first time - a special treat to celebrate the first episode of this series.

I'm still not a foodie. But I am, now, looking forward to learning to be, with Tiger at my side. I want to bake cakes and make casseroles and be a "proper" mum. 

And, who knows, one day we might watch this show together, and debrief as my aunt and I did. 

Or, like me, she might prefer television talent shows like The X Factor. We might watch this together. Or we might watch Doctor Who or Friends reruns.

Whatever our traditions are, I know they will be lovely. But, in the meantime, I'm watching MKR and feeling sentimental. 

And wondering where I'll be when it starts again next year.

~ Love, Miss Cackle x