theparttimepig@gmail.com
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Hello! And welcome to part time pig. My name is Emma and I’m a cheese addict. I also harbour strong affections for truffle fries, gyoza and anything chocolatey; I love to cook and I love to eat!

Eating is always better when you do it with other people though, isn’t it? Well, I think so. Which is why I am also a very big fan of the dinner party. Restaurants are great (they really are) but, for me, there is nothing more fun than having a bunch of your pals round for a big meal. Throw in a bit of wine, (or a lot as is often the case at my dinner parties), music and even a game, and you have yourself the makings of an excellent evening.

I decided to start this site for a few reasons, but the main inspiration came recently when I decided to cook a full-on 3-course romantic meal for my husband for our second wedding anniversary. The UK COVID lockdown meant that we were not going to be able to celebrate in a fancy restaurant – so how to make sure we could both have a nice meal, without one of us spending most of the evening locked away in the kitchen? The answer, it turns out, was to dive deep into my embarrassingly large collection of cookbooks and put together the perfect hands-off menu – a simple no-fuss starter (just bung in oven), a make-ahead main course (word to the wise, coq au vin tastes better the day after its made), and a quick five ingredient dessert. We also added in a couple of very nice bottles of wine from the fancy wine merchants near where we live.

The evening and the meal was lovely (if I don’t say so myself) but the experience got me to thinking about the things I do and don’t like about cookbooks. Firstly, I find it really frustrating when I find a delicious looking dish that I really want to cook but with no advice about what to serve it with. It seems like such a simple touch – why leave this out? Conversely, I feel like I’ve hit the jackpot when I come across a book that includes suggestions for an entire menu from starter to pud (special shoutout here to my favourite food writer, Diana Henry, who created an entire book of them). Finally, I find that cookbooks are often missing some of the really practical advice required to inform the budding dinner party host decide what works together, not just in terms of flavour but in terms of timing – what can be made ahead, what can be prepped and then thrown together at the last minute and what will need your attention up until the very last second before you serve. Its this stuff that can leave you really unstuck if you don’t plan it properly, and generally something people only get good at through practice.

So I decided I wanted to write down my ideas for putting together menus when you want to feed your friends but don’t want to spend your whole evening in the kitchen. It’s also an opportunity for me to finally write down all those recipes that I’ve been tinkering with over the years. Think of it as a food blog with extras: not just a collection of recipes for individual dishes but menus and practical steps for putting together a whole meal. These menus are intended to include the ‘how’ as well as the ‘what’. What to cook for the starter, main, and dessert, and how to prepare it all in a way that doesn’t leave you stressed or hassled in the kitchen when your guests arrive. I’ve definitely done the latter on more than one occasion – still in my PJs preparing the main course, having not yet showered, changed or put any make-up on. Totally fine, if that’s your style, but I also quite like to dress up!  

There’s just one final thing to address – why ‘part time pig’? Well, what started out as a silly Instagram handle turned into a much more accurate description of how I spend my time. Yes, I like to eat a LOT, but try not to pig out all the time. But also, when I’m not focussing on my actual full-time job, I’m thinking about food, cooking, or planning what I’m going to eat next. Its probably the thing I do most often other than the job that actually puts my food on the table.

So, there you have it, I’m the part time pig, and I hope this site gives you some inspiration, ideas, and a bit of practical advice for your next dinner party with friends. Just don’t forget to let me know how it goes.

Emma x