Contentment

That is the feeling I had yesterday afternoon after inputting my salad chapter. Yes I have done another chapter, two down and 3 more to go (plus all the monologues). I had no intention to sit down and write the chapter, it just sort of happened. It was nice and calming just letting my fingers run over the keyboard and watching the pages evolve. I think I got my inspiration after talking to Ian's mum who was excited about my little adventure, she had been told all about it from Ian's sister.When I was inputting the recipes I could not believe how easy some of the salads were to prepare mainly because there is no real cooking involved, it is more about the layering and combinations of the ingredients that work so well. At the moment I am really into adding fruit to salads especially roasted figs and grilled peaches. That reminds me I have a box of fresh figs in the fridge waiting to be stuffed with blue cheese and wrapped in parma ham before being baked in the oven and drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

On Sunday I had purchased a new cast iron skillet and was excited to use it, however it needed to be seasoned to ensure that no food stuck to it. Well after following the instructions of rubbing vegetable shortening into the pan and baking it in a 300 degree oven for one hour I thought I would have to call the fire brigade. I was happy typing away when I looked up and saw that the whole house was was filled with smoke, the doors were flung open and the extractor fan in both the kitchen and bathroom were put on at full tilt alongside the oscillating  fan. I didn't dare open the oven door. Once all the smoke disappeared I took the skillet out of the oven and allowed it to cool before cooking my paella. I had a large amount of different fish that had been frozen as leftovers so it was time to use them up. In went the white fish, prawns, squid, onion, red pepper, rice and seasoning and out came an edible delectable delight. Our neighbors home grown parsley finished of the paella nicely. As for the pan, the seasoning did not work as effectively as I had liked but hey ho.