39 11 APRIL 2024 Weekending Tea or co ee? Co ee. I love a latte, but I don’t know how to make it at home, so I have a Nespresso with ordinary, full-fat milk from a cow. Breakfast or brunch? Oh, breakfast! Practically the first thing I want to do when I wake up is eat. I am such a creature of habit – I have porridge, berries and Greek yogurt every day. Productive or lazy? Often, I go for a walk by the sea, then potter around the house. The Irish Times’ cryptic crossword is far easier on a Saturday than the rest of the week, so I like to pretend I’m wonderful at cryptic crosswords, and that’s always uplifting. And Sunday? I see my family most Sundays at my mother’s. I have brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews, and they’re such good fun. Sometimes we’ll have cake, or we’ll order Asian fusion food from Mao At Home, which everybody loves. Who’s the house cook? At the moment it’s my husband. He started cooking during lockdown, and he’s got really good at it. I’m not a great fan of meat or fish, so he does curry with paneer, which is gorgeous, and mad things like roasted cabbage with nuts. In his more daring moments, he even tries doing Ottolenghi stu . Do you ever dabble? I do, but I’m happy to let Tony enjoy himself. A lot of creative energy goes into cooking, and I stopped while I was trying to finish My Favourite Mistake. I’ve written the book I wanted to read. I had plans for something darker, but the world is so dreadful at the moment that I wrote a love story instead. Any treats while you’re writing? I have a jug of apple and elderflower cordial to drink, but I try not to snack, because if I let myself do that, I would snack all the time and not actually write anything. Go-to comfort dish? Tony has this really fancy granola that’s about a thousand calories a bite. It’s full of fabulous nuts and berries and roasted in beautiful oil, so I love that with yogurt – heavy on the granola, not so much yogurt. I have it for my lunch, I have it late at night. I just love a carb in any form. Pub grub or restaurant? Well, because I don’t drink, I like the formality of fine dining. There’s an Indian restaurant near us called Rasam [in Glasthule] – the people there are gorgeous, the décor is beautiful, and the food is amazing. It’s our special-occasion place, but now and then we’ll look at each other and say: “Let’s go to Rasam!” Dinner party: host or attend? I find cooking for large numbers of people incredibly stressful, so when I do have people over, please forgive me, but I’ll order pizzas. I like a margarita – the simple stu . Evening snack? I have mint tea, and often I’ll crave some chocolate, so Tony has it hidden around the house. I’ll say: “Can I have four squares?” and he’ll fetch it from the secret location. If I knew where it was, there wouldn’t be any left. My Favourite Mistake by Marian Keyes (Michael Joseph) is out now. Marian is a guest on the Waitrose podcast Dish, available from 17 April. Interview: Emma Higginbotham KEYES TO HAPPINESS Marian’s favourite restaurant is Rasam in Dublin (below) and she loves a latte (bottom) MARIAN KEYES My weekend The Irish novelist, 60, lives in Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin, with her husband Tony Photographs: Dean Chalkley, Getty Images
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