food food food.........

It's an acquired taste, I'll give you that. But yeah, beer is as good an ingredient as wine... when used correctly.

I had to Google what a tomatillo is.

I've been kinda binging MASTERCHEF USA recently (many of the seasons are available on Youtube). Yes, it has many irritating elements -- the rapid-fire editing, the constant "trailer music", the endless intros and outros for the myriad of commercials in US television, the overwrought sentimentalism (what is it about Americans and their family connections, anyway?) and so on, but somehow I'm transfixed by the character "narratives" and the dish challenges.

Once I finish the US version, I'm interested in the UK version (I've obviously already seen all seasons of the Norwegian version). I believe the 90s UK version is the original, but was then revamped in the mid 2000s by Franc Roddam, of all people (you know, the director of K2 - with the fabulous Zimmer score - among other things).

The UK version is still way less flashy than its US counterpart, though like most competition shows, it does get a little grating.

Great British Bake-Off is probably the only cooking show here that shuns spectacle.

I do like Great British Menu too. It’s quick paced and hugely competitive but it’s actually about the food.

Neither am I, to be honest. It's too precise. Baking is too much of a science.... regular cooking is more an art.

I like cooking by eye and taste. While I have loads of cookery books for inspiration, you'll never find me cooking to a recipe (unless it's something that I have written down myself... when something I've personally made turned out particularly good and I'm merely replicating it).

A milestone day in the calendar? How does the date compare with previous years? Is this year early, late?

(So many questions!)

Here's a breakfast pic: https://photos.app.goo.gl/gx55A2oGbhwnwjTA7

And we normally trim the morels, but these were a "grab and go" because we just stumbled across them when we weren't looking. They were too prime to pass up!

I've been making lots of South East Asian food lately since I moved back to Birmingham (and have a superb Asian food store nearby). Thai curries, Indonesian rendang, Malaysian laksa, etc. Stuff that is really difficult to get right as a novice... it's all about balance between all the different taste receptors but once you get the practice in, your palate learns quickly.

Didn't have many ingredients left in the house tonight but had enough to throw together a Vietnamese Banh Mi sandwich. And it was delicious.

Made a homemade pizza yesterday, which will last me untill tomorrow (the ingredients are expensive, so it needs to be spread out like that). I've never been a fan of the Italian, crispy thin bottom pizzas. I prefer the "pie" version which I guess is more popular in the US, simply because that's what I've grown up with (my mom used to make it). While it's not terribly complex or anything, I think I've become pretty good at it over the years (I make it maybe twice a month).

I bake the bread from the bottom -- flour, olive oil, salt, water, yeast. And let it rise for 20 minutes. I use the most expensive minced meat on the market - it's called 'karbonadedeig' in Norwegian, don't know the English word (chop dough?). It's the 5% fat minced meat kind that is often used for making hamburger-type things.

Additionally, I use chopped champignon (agaricus?) as topping. Tried the more expensive 'aromasopp' (aroma mushroom?), but didn't work quite as well. A basil-flavoured tomato sauce, and Jarlsberg cheese.

It's great. My next goal is also to create the tomato sauce from scratch.

Oh gosh, Amadeus.......my mouth drools at the mere mention.

But even better ribs.

More home-cooked Asian (admittedly westernised Chinese style) food cooked tonight. Had my dad round for dinner and beers and music. Made Pork Yuk Sung lettuce wraps, Kung Pao Chicken (spicy!!!!), Singapore Noodles with prawns, some vegetable spring rolls... all home made of course!

Delicious, and whilst not 'authentic Chinese', it was magnitudes better than my local takeaway, even if I say so myself.

Anyway... more beer and music!