Cooking

Ever since I got here, I've been reasonably dedicated to cooking rather than eating out. One peek at my pretty strict budget suggests that I don't leave a lot of leeway for expensive meals. Now, of course, that doesn't stop me from buying fun food while in London, mainly because the grocery stores have some amazing ready-to-eat food that is reasonably cheap, and the people who own Southfields Food & Wine down by the tube station make the most amazing samosas. Seriously. Go get one. Now.

However, only recently have I decided to try cooking new and exciting things. I had a pretty basic array of skills when it came to cooking - stirfrys, mashed potatoes and steak were among the things I ate most of the time. Recently, though, I've become awful bored with the food I can cook and bored with the instand things I can buy. My mother sent me a bunch of recipes just after I arrived here when I was feeling optimistic about cooking - and I never used them, until know. The past week and a half have been full of trying new and fun things, and I've had a lot of sucess! Things taste the way they are supposed too, which is always good.

I've even decided to tackle baking things, which I have never done before. One undercooked banana bread and a nauseous evening was my only downfall, the brownies and subsequent thumbprint jam cookies have been lovely. I'm looking forward to scouring the internet for some more amazing recipes to try! Once you get used to cooking, it's actually relaxing. It used to stress the crap out of me.

Tomorrow, I'm going to try and make a pork tortilerre (bad french for pie), and it's usually good. I'll post pictures if I have any success!