On this cold, overcast Sunday afternoon, I watched the first two episodes of a new TV series - "Living with the Amish" - with my daughter. In it, 6 young people from England spend several weeks living with various American Amish families, getting a taste of the lifestyle. A very enjoyable program! But what is one to do in response to something like that?

When the credits rolled, I found myself slipping on an apron. After asking one of the guys to fill the woodbin and light the fire, and my daughter to bring the laundry in off the washing line, I headed into the garden and picked a bowl full of tomatoes, some celery, parsley and a marrow. After spending a few minutes checking on the progress of our monarch caterpillars and sampling some beans and strawberries, I headed inside to begin cooking dinner - making a tasty pasta sauce from the things from the garden, adding stored garlic and onions, home-canned tomato sauce, salt and molasses.

While that simmered on the stove, I pulled from the freezer some of the lemon peel I had put away for just such a reason, and began a batch of home-made lemon cordial. Going to the store cupboard I pulled out a catering-size can of pears, bought in bulk at a sale and put away. After mixing flour, baking powder, butter and sugar together, I spread it over the pears and slid the fruit crumble into the oven to cook for dessert.

Popping back out to the garden, I cut a watermelon from the vine, and brought it inside to be cut up later and enjoyed, the thought of all that sweet juice making my mouth water!

Feeling peckish, I took out a slice of homemade bread, spread it with home made grape jelly, and enjoyed nibbling on it while stirring things. That done, I mixed up a large batch of museli - wholegrain rolled oats, various nuts and seeds, with some oil, honey and brown sugar melted together and stirred through - in a baking dish, ready to slide in the oven when the crumble came out.

Supper almost ready, I hung the still-damp washing on the ceiling-mounted rack above the fire, where some sunflower heads also hang in paper bags to finish drying. Raising the rack back up on it's pulleys, I contemplated the simple pleasures of a warm house, the smell of good food cooking, and family gathered around reading and chatting. Feels good. Almost a little bit Amish.