How to romanticise your life through food
Let them eat cake!
Hi lovely, I’m Aimée a soulful copywriter who helps lovely brands grow a joyful and thriving business. Here, on my Substack, I share seasonal tales from my little corner of the Cotswolds. Come on in, take off your boots, and cosy up by the fire. I’ll pop the kettle on.
I stayed at a friend’s house recently, and we began the day on a breakfast of smoked salmon, cream cheese and sourdough. To feast like a queen and ease into the weekend morning felt so…so… so romantic. Much more so than a rushed piece of toast or a cereal bar gobbled on the way to my studio.
It’s made me think about the relationship between food and romance. How can food make life that little bit more lovely? How can we use it elevate the often-times mundanity of our days.
I’ve made a little list of some thoughts on how we can use food to romanticise our livese - at home, with friends and out and about.
At home
Have a delicious, slow Sunday morning breakfast. In bed, preferably. With light streaming in (or soft lighting/candlelight if it’s raining). I bought a silver tray in the charity shop, and it’s exclusively reserved to carry my Sunday morning breakfast back up to bed. Eating my breakfast off that tray makes me feel like I’m a Duchess. The breakfast food itself is simple - crumpets, lemon yoghurt, black coffee - but it all feels quite romantic. As I savour my Sunday breakfast, I’ll listen to the Archer’s Omnibus episode, dive into another episode of Joanna and the Maestro or read The Simple Things.
Treat yourself to one special thing. It doesn’t have to be expensive. But I find choosing one beautiful ingredient can make such a difference. I bought a jar of Fortnum & Mason cranberry sauce for my Christmas table. It was only a couple of pounds more expensive than its supermarket equivalent, but it brought me so much joy.
Dine by candlelight for instant romance.
Drink from beautiful china mugs. No ugly jumble of mugs (God forbid the supersized Sports Direct mug all student houses used to have circa 2014). Charity shops are the best place to pick up tea sets. Drinking tea from a proper china mug will instantly make it sweeter. (Biscuit, anyone?)
Relish the midnight feast. All the experts tell you not to eat after 7pm… give your digestive system a break…blah blah. I love slipping out of bed in the wee hours when the rest of the house is asleep and scurrying down to the kitchen to pillage leftovers.
Eat with the seasons. Knowing that food is fresh and in season enhances the flavour. There’s nothing romantic about eating frozen spinach. But there is something lovely about frying fresh spinach in butter (with a sprinkle of cinnamon) to add some whimsy to your plate.
Cake is definitely a breakfast food. Is there anything more delightful than tucking into a slice of lemon drizzle on a drizzly February morning? I think not.
Have a date night. One year, I got dumped near Valentine's Day. Instead of weeping or doom-scrolling past happy couples on social media, I bought myself a box of champagne choccies and a pre-mixed can of Pimms and watched a period drama (one with Keira Knightly in, obviously). Trust me, self-love chocolates taste way better than boyfriend-bought ones.
Get a milkman or food delivery. Waking up to my Riverford order on my doorstep makes every Tuesday morning feel like a Christmas morning.
Read food writing. Basically, everything by Nigel Slater.
Entertaining friends
Change your vocabulary. ‘Elevensies’ is more romantic than ‘coffee break.’ ‘Supper’ is more romantic than ‘dinner.’
Make food look beautiful. Remember, you eat with your eyes first.
Start a supper club. Red wine, innovative menus and candlelight required.
Bake for your friends and present to them in a beautiful tin.
Create tablescapes. Think fresh flowers. A gorgeous table cloth. Glass candle holders at differing heights. Proper beeswax candles. I have a versatile collection of tableware (napkins, plates, glasses) that I use all year round. I dress the table up by adding little seasonal flourishes like quail’s eggs at Easter or Sugared Almonds at Christmas.
Buy cake forks! Because no one wants to eat their Victoria sponge from a teaspoon or a gigantic fork.
Cook different cuisines. One evening every month, my friend’s parents would pull down one of their recipe books and cook a dish from a different country. My parents never veered away from their meat-and-potato dishes so cooking up something from Jerusalem was the epitome of romance to seventeen year old me.
Out and about
Skip the supermarket and go to the farm shop. Locally produced and lovingly reared food always tastes better - not least because of the stories behind the produce. (Just take Cacklebean eggs, for instance.) My favourite farm food shops in the Cotswolds and South-West are Burford Garden Co, Daylesford Organic, Durslade Farm Shop and Allington Farm Shop.
Pack a picnic. You can’t go wrong with a lovely wicker basket, a punnet of strawberries, a dish of cream and a chilled bottle of elderflower. Tartan blanket and hillside view recommended.
Go anywhere and buy what you can afford. Don’t let finery put you off a place. If there’s somewhere you desperately want to go but are scared you’ll look out of place or not be able to afford anything; my advice is to look at the menu beforehand. Can you afford coffee and cake? Maybe one cocktail? Don’t miss out on a lovely experience just because you’re worried you don’t have enough dosh.
That’s everything on my list, but I’d love to hear how you use food to romanticise your life in the comments. xx
A wonderfully thought provoking article Aimée, what a delightful read. I was an early adopter of many of these ideas, since I share your passion for leaning on food as my love language. The aesthetics of a dish or ingredient have the ability to pull at my heartstrings…I’m charmed by toast from our Aga, the telltale hallmarks of the chequered griddle rack used for this imprinted on each slice. I keep a jar of Fortnum and Mason’s rose petal jelly for days of decadence, whilst water glasses and a large jug of water dressed with seasonal herbs - rosemary, mint or lemon verbena - are a staple across every meal sitting. A menagerie of candles crowd our oversized farmhouse table, tucked into storm lamps or poked into dulled silver holders, lit every evening as day slips into night and throwing shadow and golden light to soothe and soften the edges of a sometimes fractious day. It’s these rhythms in the kitchen, where attention to detail and a reliance on ingredients from the gifted hands artisans transform the ordinary to the extraordinary.
Absolutely glorious list. And one that should be a must to follow, rather than a dream.
Especially as we'd just eaten brekkie on our knees in our PJ's with the Terrier squeaking his toy round our feet!
But to give it a romantic slant - it was toasted sourdough with homemade jam and marmalade selections. I opted for water with it. Cup of tea in my favourite Coalport mug to follow. Perhaps it would have been more healthy and infinitley better to have heavenly creamy porridge with yoghurt, flaked almond and berries for me, and yoghurt, almonds and brown sugar for him...