Tuesday 31 August 2010

Too many cooks...?

My tomato plants have been extremely productive and no way was I going to manage to eat all those tomatoes at the rate of one or two a day, so, never having done it before, I decided to make chutney. I downloaded a recipe and set to work chopping a kilogram of tomatoes, three onions, garlic, grating fresh ginger, adding sultanas, brown sugar and a whole bottle of vinegar, but right in the middle of it one of my partner's friend's arrived and I got very hot and bothered and irritated.

I wanted to yell, "Out of my kitchen!" because I was getting distracted, and Mr Grumpy kept getting in my way making cups of tea. But it's not my kitchen, it's his, so I carried on and managed to get everything in the pan.

The trouble really began when the visitor had gone. Then, he stood over me with a pitying expression, making comments starting with, "If I were you..." and "It would make your life easier if..."

"Just leave me alone to get on with it, will you?" was what I wanted to say, but he would keep interfering. I got so flustered that I burnt my fingers twice, but in the end I managed to get it all in the jars. I had a little taste and it was yummy.

It's going to be very frustrating having to leave it for a month before I can sample any. I suppose everyone reading this has made chutney before, probably many times, but it gave me a thrill to be making it with my own home-grown tomatoes. Thank heavens I'd saved some jars.

2 comments:

Jackie Sayle said...

Good for you for carrying on! Mind you, this being a family house, I usually have people in and out all the time when I'm cooking, and, yes, it does make me feel like coming over all Gordon Ramsey when they get in my way.

I take it no one complained about the smell of boiling vinegar? They usually do in my house!

hydra said...

The visitor complained about it when she came back to collect the purse she'd left on the kitchen table! I'm not used to living in a 'family house'. Till three years ago, I had lived on my own since 1985!!! And loved it. Able to drift around composing poems and book ideas in my head, able to eat what I want when I wanted to, not having to speak to anyone while I was thinking/dreaming. It's such a luxury. Selfish? I don't know. I think it's a vocation!