I am the Best Cook Ever.

No, really. Last night we had our first ever "proper" roast Sunday lunch. The butcher was selling two trays of joints for £10 so we got two little beef joints and two huge pork joints, and had one of the beef ones last night. It was a bit tough, but for £2.50 one can hardly complain...

We also had to cobble together a vegetarian dinner on Saturday night for herringprincess and wrysprygoat, as we discovered that pesto wasn't, in fact, vegetarian. Go figure. In the end Paul went out scavenging for Quorn sausages, which we minced and turned into a curry. It tasted all right, and the night was saved... We also watched Donnie Darko, which I'd forgotten was so brilliant... Still confusing.

We were also up ridiculously early on Saturday morning to see a man about a bank loan but at least we got all the shopping done by 12.00. We got 23 different incense sticks from the indoor market (mmm), plus some completely black tealights. We also got an African Violet from Sainsbury's (I am somewhat fascinated by naturally blue plants...) but it needs a bigger pot...

So, quiet a productive weekend.

Just because, have a couple of recipes:

( Red Pesto Almost-Mashed Potatoes )

'Almost-mashed' because the outsides tend to go very fluffy and the skins often fall off. It can alternatively be done by peeling first if you don't like skins.

This next one is just because I managed to make the perfect Sunday lunch yesterday and I want to share the joy... Maybe any potential students on my f-list might appreciate it...

( Beef Sunday Dinner )

It's all about the timing... Not so much a recipe as a method, but I hope it's useful, in any case...

Oh, yes, and on Friday we taxied to Star City to have a meal and ended up at That Mexican Place, which does really bloody nice food...

That's it, I think. Sorry it's a bit shambolic, but I've been typing this off and on all morning...