Reasons to be cheerful

[desperance]

Because I have an ache, an urge to cook, more than a single man can conceivably need to eat;

And because my house is in such chaos that I cannot bear to invite even old friends round, to eat dinners and such;

And because I have sworn to bring the house to order, little by little;

And because I have been saying jokingly for years that I need to organise my spices into alphabetical order;

And because if I repackage the spices into stackable containers it will make far better use of my so-limited storage space;

And because this would leave me with Even More empty jam jars of various sizes and descriptions (these being the current storage-units for said spices);

And because such a repackaging process would inevitably lead to a lot of "Oh, I didn't even know I had that! What can I do with...?";

Therefore it seems good to me to declare - in public, yet - that I have made a decision; and that decision is, that I need to make a lot more pickles and chutneys and jams and such. Which will involve all the pleasures of cooking, and the use of spices known and unknown, and the use of jam jars too. And will leave me with a constant succession of Gifts, which I can give to my friends in lieu of inviting them to dinner.

Yes, indeed. This works, on just so many levels...

Comments

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I am boggled by the efficiency of this plan.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Is good, isn't it? I am an incomparable strategist. It's in execution, alas, that so many of my plans fail. Famously, no plan survives first encounter with the enemy; and the enemy, in this instance, is myself. "We have met the enemy, and he is us." Yes, indeed...

[julesjones]

Well, I shall know who to visit the next time I pass through Newcastle...

Oh yes. Had fois gras de canard last night, for the first and possibly last time in my life. (French friend's thirtieth birthday party, and he'd imported some fois gras especially.) My reaction was failure to understand why this is considered food of the gods. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't something that made me desire to rush out and get more. I'm wondering if this is merely lack of familiarity, or yet another supertaster weirdness.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

I lurve foie gras, with a guilty passionette. Is it flavour, is it texture? Is it price? I don't know, but certainly I do have a very expensive palate. I should've been French, probably: give me caviar and truffles and foie gras and I'm a very happy man.

[samarcand.livejournal.com]

And lo! 'Tis my birthday in a month and a half...

Birthday party on the fourth of August, I think. Consider yourself warned. And invited.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

I have writ it on my board. Can you eat a lot of chutneys?

[esmeraldus-neo.livejournal.com]

Well, writer-man, let me give you a deadline. You have almost exactly one year before I show up to whip you and your house into shape.

Don't think I won't alphebetize the spices, because I *will*. Except I will hide the tarragon because that's what sadists *do* in their off hours.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Bizarrely, I do actually have that in mind as a deadline. Not for the little stuff, but Do Something About the Bathroom is there. Also, possibly, Do Something About the Kitchen...

(I may of course fail in both these ambitions, for I am made of fail. At the moment, though, I cling to them.)

And you can't hide the tarragon, because that's growing in the back yard. Besides, you're not a sadist. You i>told me that...

[esmeraldus-neo.livejournal.com]

you're not a sadist. You told me that...

I am looking incredibly shifty at the moment because I can't remember whether I said that or not.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

I can has evidence? (http://desperance.livejournal.com/94926.html)

[durham-rambler.livejournal.com]

You know I once made shewhomust tell me what all the spices were in the anonymous little jars, so that I could fix labels to them and arrange in alphabetical order ignoring, in our case, the word "probably"?

[desperance.livejournal.com]

I did not know; I applaud! Um, are they still in alphabetical order...?

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

Um, are they still in alphabetical order...?

Ish. He didn't think I could do it, you know, he can't tell carraway seed from cumin.

I was going to say, bring us chutney and I will find the bread and cheese. Maybe even some wine.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Sounds a deal to me. We could compare peach chutney & nectarine relish, see if it's a distinction without a difference... (You are welcome also to a jar of the melon & star anise jam, but I'm suspicious of it: not sure it's going to set. There may be more to this jamming than meets the eye...)