Not good enough

by

This is just not good enough. I am weeping all over the place. You can’t be saying all those things and expect me to keep a dry eye.

But the sun is on the river, the sky is blue and the geese are squawking and life goes on, all be it that I can’t imagine what it will be like without three hundred tastes a day and a diurnal slurp.

You may have noticed that I was a bit under par with the show today. I spent the weekend being one year older and then spending Sunday celebrating somebody else’s birthday. By the time I got to bed, and the clocks had sprung forward, I managed to grab three hours of sleep over the whole weekend. So, today is all a bit of a blur.

Having said that, Tim Hughes made a lovely trout with clams today. I schmoozed him as much as I could for a table in Scotts, his new restaurant in Mount Street. The only problem with places like that thought is the need to dress up. If Posh And Becks frequent the place, I’m not sure my painters overalls are appropriate. Mind you, I do buy new ones from Baldocks in Tunbridge Wells when my old ones fray just a little too much. I prefer the white ones to the blue, which make me look like a gas fitter. The white ones have a faintly Bohemian air about them. The boon of overalls, or dungarees as we ex-hippies like to call them, is that you don’t have to wear any undergarments, they are baggy enough to flop within their folds, not to mention a handy pocket in the front for the credit card and mobile as well as that all essential ruler pocket which is so convenient when I’m buying a new feather duster.

I’m really not very good with fashion and having to be all spruced up every day. Maybe when the show comes off I’ll wear me designer wardrobe to go to the farmers in. Maybe not. The wonderful Victor Lewis Smith is writing a final piece about the show in tomorrow’s London Evening Standard. There are a lot of people who are mourning the show already.

Alex Mackay cooked two dishes which completely escape me, at the moment. One of them was a Pavlova. Oh yes, the other had a buttery sauce and sweetbreads. Contrary to popular belief, sweetbreads are not testicles. They are pancreatic glands. For some strange reason I love things like sweetbread and offal.

I can’t believe we’re having this conversation although Jim has remarked that I have been talking bo*****s for 30 years.

Look, I’m tired. An early night is a must. I have to read my notes for tomorrow so that I am all fresh for Richard Phillips. There I go again talking about Dick. Okay, enough. Cu2morrer.

9 thoughts on “Not good enough”

  1. Hi Jenny – just wanted to tell you how much I and my fellah enjoy you every day on Great Food Live – we’ve been fans of yours since the TVAM days and will miss you terrible when the programme ends. UKFood executives must be raving mad – even the chefs you have on come to life in your presence yet look like zombies on other cokking programmes. We love you and look forward to your next project on TV – please God it isn’t too long until you’re back. Love to you and your family. Barrie and Chris xxx

  2. Dear Mr Victor Lewis Smith….Sir I hope and pray that you take up the cause and get the suits to see sense, if anyone can it is surely you.
    God Bless Sir

  3. Jeni Jeni,
    You are one of the few people off the tellybox to make me laugh. You’re a natural!
    Do you remember the show when you said one of Frank Bordoni’s dishes looked like cat sick? I do. And I was rolling around on the floor in hysterics. Your face (and the slight pause) was classic.
    D.

  4. I also thought the ‘cockroaches evolving into TV executives’ was funny 😉
    Dunno if I’ll be able to get hold of the article in the ES as I’m down in Cornwall, but let’s hope Victor can do something.

  5. Jenni- we love u!! There’s no uktv food without u!! You have made me and my family cry with laughter and its a shame the idoits at uktv food don’t realise how brilliant the show and u are! All the best with evrything u do!!! And thank you for all the joy!!!

  6. I love this site, it all seems so personal, as thought there were only a handfull of us all involved! You said today that there were only eight shows left. It’s a bit surreal, isn’t it? the last few weeks at a job. How can something so normal and so usual in your life suddenly not be there? When I left my last job I felt a sort of beligerent freedom envelope me! It was a bit of a manic feeling, but boy, my last few days went with a hell of a swing! As it was a mental health support unit I worked at I suppose I could have been more calming and graceful in my exit, but there you go. I hope you keep this site going.

  7. Heavens above – feel like a real sycophant, can’t beleive that I am actually posting a comment on a celebrity website to tell tham that I shall miss their program!
    ’tis true though. GFL is pretty much my telly highlight, despite a Tivo full of “stuff” which I may find interesting one day.
    There is no shortage of TV food progs and my waistline demonstrates that I am an enthusiastic cook, but GFL has an easy going, sort of ‘friends chatting’ way about it which makes it so much more endearing than the more glossy competition.
    Gonna stop attempting to be an inteligent critic – not sure it suits me – just like the show! Best of luck in the future Jeni, on an entirely selfish level I rather hope it involves another daily food show in a similar format to your existing one!

  8. Jenni
    GFL would have been nothing without you and I am going to miss my 6.30 date with the telly after I finish work. Whatever you do, you will be brilliant at it and I will definately watch. Thanks a million for 5 1/2 entertaining years. You’re a complete star.
    Jane Jackson.

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