Tori's Experimental Kitchen

In retrospect, perhaps it was imprudent to try two major cooking experiments on successive days. By Sunday night I felt like I'd hardly done anything all weekend except clean the kitchen and mess it up, over and over again. If my darling pet hadn't been by my side to help the whole way through, I don't know what I would have done.

Paella: Not bad. The flavors weren't very well blended; needs more salt and more saffron; perhaps less peppers and onions. I'll see how the leftovers are today at lunch now that they've sat together for a day and some. (I'd also like to find the correct rice if I try this again, just to see if it makes a big diff.)

Sunday dinner: Also not bad, considering this was my first foray into veal. It could use a little jazzing up, maybe (though dusting the pouch with ginger worked well). I was a bit disappointed with the amount of actual meat on a 4.5 lb. cut, but for 99 cents the pound I wasn't expecting miracles. It did feed four of us plus a bit of leftover. And, I made a pudding: a spotted dick or spotted dog, depending on your source material. Stephen likes it with sugar and evaporated milk, but Beth and I thought raspberry jam went really well. I'm not sure about this lead-brick-as-dessert concept, but am willing to experiment further.

I got two of the spirea moved (though one of them may not survive it), but didn't fix my bike. Hmph. Next weekend, maybe.