COOKING for Christmas. It is exciting really how those TV programmes have shown how simple and varied cooking can be.

And the fun of being traditional – using old cuts of meat – that used to be cheap - but with a modern twist.

No sign of quails eggs in aspic. In fact no sign of aspic at all.

Unless you look at the way in which the Cotswold District Council sets the recipe for our lives, of course.

Acting like Mrs Beeton – the worst cook ever – we seem to be set in aspic. If you ate her diet today, you would be set on a path to obesity.

Using old recipes– sorry, rules – the CDC seems not to see how much we value a little bit of spice and variety in our lives.

I cannot see why the little bit of colour – is that turquoise or aquamarine? – used by Slade or a fence put up by the Bull Hotel to baffle the sound and protect children from the ever-increasing traffic on our main road has been questioned.

I love our traditional foods and welcome their return to favour. Not sure I’d want to eat them every day, as my tastes have broadened.

The idea that the CDC is using an out-of-date cookery book goes through my head. Don’t fancy anything set in aspic – though you can get jellied e in Fairford Market on a Wednesday.

KEITH GALLON

Fairford