I was a-hunting today

[wiseheart]

Because it's Tuesday and Tuesday is shopping day; and besides, I needed some ingredients to try out some of Mary Berry's recipes. Namely her Chicken Malay Rice, her Chicken Pasta Bake and her Panang Stir Fry.

Now, these appear to be really easy recipes from the POV of someone who lives west from the rock under which I house. However, finding all the right ingredients isn't easy over here. For example, we never use curry or chilli sauce or the likes in the family, and we don't even like green peas. So I had to hunt through several grocery shops to a)find the things in the first place and b)to find the smallest possible package/bottle/tin/whatever, since even that will last for the rest of my life.

I was reasonably lucky, as I found everything with the exception of celery. Mind you, ALDI always has heaps of celery when I don't need it. This would have been the first time I actually wanted to buy it, so naturally, none of the grocery shops I went to had any. Ah, well, I'll start with the chicken pasta bake and make the other one as soon as celery makes an appearance anywhere. Of course, I'd certainly find some in the Asian food shop on the other side of the Danube, but these are not the times when one should go on longer expeditions just to make an easy meal.

And don't you all hate that fact?

I also went to school to put in my monthly order of eggsies and met a great deal of colleagues - from a distance, of course. Still, although I wasn't there any longer than half an hour (probably less) it was so good to see them. Monica, our choir conductor, even gave me a lift home.

Once here, I prepared all the foodstuffs for later use, ie. cut up the chicken breast filets, grated the zucchini and the ginger and the likes. I always mass-prepare whatever I can; it's such a nice feeling when all I have to do is to take them out of the freezer and kip them into the saucepan later on.

So, this was today's "exciting" program - not that I'm complaining. I even got to solve a few crossword puzzles, so my stagnating brain cells got a bit of action, too.

Comments

[meathiel]

I always look up recipes on Pinterest and then you need that sauce and another sauce and that spice ... and I give up because I'd never use them again.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's the usual problem with those recipes, isn't it?
Fortunately, Mary Berry seems to use the same spices and sauces for quite a few of her recipes, so perhaps I'll get the chance to use up my newly acquired curry powder and sweet chili sauce. *g*

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

Huh. So you can prepare stuff like that, and then put it in the freezer? Do you do individual little baggies, or just pry it apart?
And of course the food is there when you don't need it, but not there when you do. It's how it works. :/

[elwenlj.livejournal.com]

That sounds like a very productive day. I listened to The Untamed music soundtrack and did first draft on three tiny ficlets.