‘You must think I’m crazy,’ mum said. I was in the kitchen watching her prepare a roast chicken. ‘The fridge is full of food and we’re going out to eat tonight, but I am still cooking.’
‘That’s okay, mum. It’s your hobby,’ I reassured her. I love my mum’s cooking. Since coming back to Melbourne, I have had all my favourite meals.
My mum is famous for the ‘little’ meals she prepares for my friends.
‘Oh, no trouble!’ she would say when people unexpectedly dropped by. ‘I’ll just throw something together, nothing special,’ and out of the kitchen would come a banquet.
Here is the menu from my 21st birthday dinner a few years ago.
By the end of Set 1, my guests had already conceded defeat — the tastebuds were willing but the stomach was full.
Yesterday, mum and I were in a homewares shop. I couldn’t find the muffin trays I wanted so we headed to the exit.
‘Hello!’ called the shop attendant.
‘Good morning,’ mum said.
‘Have you seen this before?’ The shop person held up a bright blue rubber tube. It was about three inches long and an inch diameter. Politely, we shuffled back into the shop to look at the tube.
‘Watch this,’ the shop person said. She inserted a clove of garlic into the tube, rolled it back and forth on the counter top, then shook the clove out into her hand. The garlic peel had been loosened.
‘In-teres-ting,’ mum said noncommittally.
‘Only two dollars!’ The shop person offered the tube to mum but mum stepped back.
‘Sorry,’ mum said, shaking her head regretfully. ‘I don’t cook.’
I gaped after mum as she waved to the shop person and walked out of the store.
I cannot believe there’s a device for peeling garlic. Really.
I have a device for peeling AND mincing garlic all in one. *sigh* It worked so well in the demos!
Sigh. I know what you mean, ftalk. I wish the Ab King Pro would be as effective as it seems on TV but I know that I’d be disappointed.
Wow, that’s a menu! Incredible.
As for the garlic tools – I also have one that does both peeling and mincing, and it actually works. It’s a Wwiss model with 20 years guarantee or something like that.
Argh, I meant Swiss and not Wwiss…
Wow, that reminds me a bit of my 21st… I should try to find the menus for that, I helped write it after all.
Conceding defeat… ha! By the end of the 7th course… when the pavlova came out, I was the only person left with an appetite. I remember trying to slowly, single-handedly, consume that cake over the next week.
The ab king pro *is* as effective as it is on TV. It turns people who already have great abs into… people who already have great abs. (in 30 seconds or however long it is) So if I have a flabby belly, using the ab king pro, by the end of the time it takes for an ad break to run it’s course, I will still have… a flabby belly. Yay!