I am no cook, but I am family-renowned for being quite good at making salad - known as the 'Aunty Vicky Salad'. The winning elements of my salads are (a) a very vinegary dressing, (b) more than 8 ingredients and (c) chopping all the ingredients up very small. No-one is able to complain that they do not like tomatoes or cucumber or beetroot, because it is all chopped into such tiny pieces that people are not entirely sure what they are eating and if they do spot a morsel of food which they suspect they do not like, they do not have a hope of picking it out because it is far too little! Thus, I have persuaded many a veg-averse child to eat their greens (and possibly remove the enamel from their teeth with the vinegar, but we will gloss, or perhaps veneer, over that).
The Aunty Vicky Salad is versatile and has travelled the world. It was initially designed in Singapore, then was brought back to the Netherlands, before being made all over Europe and the US for a variety of partakers. It can accompany a meal or, with the addition of protein (smoked tofu or smoked salmon, for example), be the main event. It can be made anywhere and with more or less anything in the vegetable or even fruit department, although I favour dark green components. The main feature always being that everything must be cut up very small. I believe the comedians, Mitchell & Webb, have a sketch on their BBC Radio 4 show on this very topic of cutting things up very small, so I am saying the words "very small" in David Mitchell's voice in my head, in case you are wondering why I keep repeating the phrase. You should check out their show.
Everyone in the family waxes lyrical about the Aunty Vicky Salad (even people for whom I am not an Aunty, but a niece, sister, daughter or in-law), except for my Dad. He claims that the very reason that everyone else likes my salads is the very reason he does not like them. It turns out that he likes his salad in clearly discernible, massive chunks. But during a recent family quiz, we discovered that his favourite supermarket is Tescos, despite none of us recalling ever having seen him in the store or ever having heard him talk about it. There is nothing wrong with Tescos, it is just that the nearest branch is half an hour's drive away with about 5 other supermarket chains on the wat (all of which I know he frequents). So, I am not sure I am willing to trust my Dad's views on his preferences....
Anyway, with all this chopping, I am always on the look out for a cheery, durable chopping surface to save my kitchen worktop. Now I have my own chopping and cutting boards made in glass or stoneware and sporting my distinctive patterns. They are beautiful and functional and entertaining. While I am chopping broccoli and trying not to inadvertently sever a digit, I can lose myself in the detail of my drawings and immerse myself in the colours.