butter

dish.

This is one of the first purely decorative things I ever bought for myself. I used to go regularly to an antique shop in between Kingston and Norbiton when I was at college. There was stuff that was completely unattainable, and there were things like this that were pence.

I have very little idea how old this is or where it was made but I still enjoy it. It has a letter A impressed in the base, and no other indication of manufacturer at all. It seems to be clear glaze over creamy clay with the gold red and blue decoration carefully but freely painted on by hand not any sort of transfer. I have always assumed it was early 19th century and probably from Staffordshire, but that's really only because I've never had the energy to research it.

We've been feeling we're in a bit of a rut with food just recently - rolling out the same things month after month. So for supper I made mushroom lasagne, I've made it before but it's definitely not a staple. It's a Nigel Slater recipe and like all his recipes that I've tried both tasty and straightforward to make

I think we may need to put together some menus that don't involve the old favourites for a while! Tricky for at least three reasons. Ant simply hates discussing food and menus. Secondly I actually rather like the old favourites and I'd be sorry iif they vanished from the menu altogether. Thirdly, I'll have to think much harder if I'm cooking unfamiliar recipes - not great if I've been busy all day