Moving rather hastily along...

It's been a bleak, bleak day in Sydney. Wet and chilled and perfect for making chilli - so I did. This was Senator Barry Goldwater's Arizona Chilli from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook. A very simple recipe: pinto beans, mince, tomato puree, cumin, mexican chilli powder, garlic and onion. In many ways, the garnishes are the point; I went with avocado, tomato and cheese on top of the pot that I tended for nine or so hours in between writing reports. Actually, reports aside it was quite a cool day in some ways, seeing as it began with watching bro be interviewed on the ABC program Inside Business. As usual I had the disconcerting experience of understanding each individual word but fundamentally missing the point. Senator Goldwater by the way, was a Republican but he really hated the influence of the Christian Right on the republicans so I feel that it's kinda morally neutral for me to make his chilli. I used to love this dish but I wasn't quite feeling it tonight...the subtle, sophisticated Thai flavours may have ruined me for chilli. Or I was just a bit glum when eating it. Last night N. and D. came over for dinner and I made the prawn, black bean and bok choy stir-fry from the New York Times, chinese broccoli with oyster sauce and poached pears baked in pastry for dessert. These were all repeats but it must be said that Donna Hay's vanilla pie pastry works much better with the pears than commercial puff. That's the problem with cooking stuff yourself; after a while the shortcuts just aren't as appealing. Anyway, I was going to enter into a thoughtful, extended discussion on the topic of women and food but now I think I'm just going to go to bed instead.  Good-night all.