Karen Wright: Remember, things always pass, better things are around the corner

I had been up to Flockton WI to deliver a talk and cook recipes from my book Meals on the Move: A Campsite Cooking Journey. It had been a great evening, and I returned home feeling wonderful.  

I went up to bed and fell to sleep quickly only to be woken at 2am by a call from the police.

This is always bad news we know this but fortunately, and you must find a positive, they were not calling about a human casualty, they were calling to say that our caravan had been stolen and was in a police chase up in North Yorkshire!

Of course, this is awful for us, and I still don't know if we will ever get it back or if it is a ‘write off’ due to damage caused.

It impacts on my upcoming trip to Germany, but we are hoping that a solution can be found in time.

We have had to empty the caravan and find space for all our things at home which was lots of hassle too. 

In addition to this I became severely unwell the same day and spent the following six days in bed unable to eat.

Eventually my malady lessened, and I was finally hungry again.

The very first thing that I cooked for myself was one of the simplest things in my book, Spaghetti Puttanesca. It is a sauce made with extra virgin olive oil, onion, tomatoes, oregano, olives, capers and a splash of Worcestershire Sauce.

While the sauce was simmering, I cooked some wholewheat spaghetti in salty water and when it was still on the firm side of al dente I added the spaghetti to the sauce and cooked for a few more minutes and hey presto, it was ready to serve!

 Pasta is great for helping the body feel more energetic and I really did need to get a boost from somewhere. Although it did the trick, I had to take it easy for a few more days before I felt up to my usual speed and able to get back into my stride. If you are in a bad patch remember, things always pass, better things are around the corner, you sometimes just need to keep your eyes open to spot them.