Cook

This is what I'm doing lots of and essentially what I am these days. And it's great.

I love living in this country, and more so in this area, for the fine quality of food available in bars and restaurants. I can happily spend a Thursday night in the bars of Laurel with muy buena gente (as indeed I did so last Thursday for my bye-bye-but-not-really-because-I'm-sure-to-see-you-all-again party with my wonderful students from the L.R.-TVR-empire) eating fine pinchos and consuming wine which isn't that bad (remind me not to drink Murmuron after Crianza again, no matter how pleased I am with myself for being able to pronounce it), and feeling no guilt whatsoever about eating the finest prepared foie I've ever tasted.

But sometimes I simply have to cook at home. I've developed good culinary skills over the years and I need to utilise them. It's my means of creation (often of havoc as well as good meals), a way of relaxing and it's just fun.

Today I'm making Chilli Con Carne. Well, have made. It's bubbling away on the hob waiting to be consumed. It may well be suitable for use in biological warfare it's got so much chilli powder it, and will certainly send any summer colds that feel like attacking me on their merry way, but that's part of it's charm. I don't believe I've ever made two chillis the same. I don't measure ingredients, I have certainly never used a recipe as such and it follows my usual method of cookery i.e. zen and whatever I feel like throwing in on the day of its fabrication. It's like witchcraft combined with mad-science. I occasionally feel like I should be cackling and shouting "it lives!" whilst lighting bolts shatter the earth around me.

See: Fun.

On Saturday I produced a trifle made with port (2003 LBV!) as I didn't have any sherry... homemade custard.. the best cream I could find. Yum. I also produced a lemon tart which was fine except for the pastry - alas I didn't have enough time to make my own and ended up using supermarket-bought stuff (boo!) which turned out to be cut for empanadas, not exactly what I'd had in mind, but the filling was fine and made up for that mini-disaster.

And I'm currently concocting plans to make a cake, some bread, and spicy hamburgers this week. I love having my afternoons free...

Happy dinner.