Late night noshing

Slowly but surely, I am getting back into my cooking groove.

There's so many things I want to do! So many links I've bookmarked, so many lists I've made, so much to get done.

I haven't finished unpacking - we decided on our built-ins so late that now we have to wait until the Eid season is over for our carpenter to come and install our wardrobe and dry kitchen. So my clothes and part of my kitchen items lie in boxes still.

Also, work has been craaaazy. It's coming to the end of a 3-week slog-fest, and this is on top of the last of the reno craziness and unpacking and sorting. I've lost weight and the bags under my eyes will need some time to disappear. But we've moved in! And last week was my big workshop, and I think my efforts paid off.

Now I am in a sort of recovery mode. Taking things a little slower, a little easier.

Things I need to continue - unpacking, and putting stuff where they belong. Work, it has its highs and lows but it doesn't end.

Things I need to start doing again - exercise. It has taken a 2-month backseat and the momentum is too big. Sigh. I've been making a pathetic efforts - a bit of sun salutations but I really need to get my a** moving again.

Things I want to do: Cook! Garden! Lie in bed all day, take long morning walks. Plant herbs, make ice-cream, make my own cleaning solutions. Throw out all my unused junk. Try to live a little more simply.

Anyways, I had a good weekend for once. We stayed home mostly, and watched Zero Dark Thirty on Saturday night instead of traipsing down to some mall for dinner and a movie with friends. I made guacamole, which went down very well.

Here's my recipe, which was more than enough for two with a bag of corn chips:-

I don't use tomatoes for two reasons - I hate them, and Emily doesn't as well. Oh, and I used a bit of soy. I know it sounds weird, but I was tasting and tasting the mixture with salt and felt that it lacked something - a savoury roundness. So I tried mixing it a bit of soy sauce, and it worked a real treat. By all means omit it, but, if I may suggest, try it with a small batch and see what happens...........

Twisted Guacamole

2 ripe avocadoes (firm but slightly yielding to the touch)

1/2 cup cilantro (before chopping) stems and leaves

1/2 clove garlic

2 spring onions

1 bird's eye chilli (this is all I had), deseeded

Juice of 2 - 3 small limes, or to taste

Sea salt, and a little soy sauce (I swear this is not a typo nor hoax)

Finely chop up the cilantro stems and leaves. Scoop the avocado into a bowl large enough to mix everything in. Grate the garlic finely into the avocado mix, add chopped cilantro. Finely slice the chilli (and I mean finely, they should be threads of chilli)and spring onions into the mix. Using a fork, mash the avocado up, mixing in the other stuff as well. Squeeze in the lime juice and add the salt. Taste and adjust seasonings (add the soy last) as you see fit.