At the very start of this project to edit Stylist, I warned the team that I was intending to be a very hands-on editor.

Even so, I feared they would be taken aback by my control-freakery. But actually, I found myself entirely at home, as I have never met a team so dedicated to getting everything right – and to enjoying themselves in the process.

What I wanted from this edition was to address food in the round: not everyone is a cook, but we are all eaters. For me, this is to be celebrated, and here I do – with a declaration of my love for salted caramel, plus 10 new recipes showcasing the sort of quick cooking we need day in day out, as well as some party pieces and gastronomic splurges.

Scroll down to see Nigella's cover in full.

I’ve also commissioned a piece on an amazing book I discovered recently by 19th century writer Elizabeth Robins Pennell (thanks to writer Adam Gopnik). I had to find out what my friend, author Jeanette Winterson, felt about her in particular and about women and food in general. Read her essay (alongside Tracey Emin’s original art) here.

When it comes to food, I feel (in Mae West’s words) that too much of a good thing can be wonderful. So, welcome to my table: read and eat, and feed both body and soul.

Let me know what you think of the issue at editor@stylist.co.uk or via Twitter at @Nigella_Lawson and @Stylistmagazine.