ups and downs

'Lady's Choice bacon spread (with REAL bacon)' read the alluring foil sachet, gleaming in the tinned meat aisle of a Phillipine supermarket, like a diamond in a diamond mine full of diamonds.

I lay my culinary trust in a nation that has four aisles of tinned meat products. In a Manillan shop, the corned beef tins segued into corned tuna and corned chicken; and all this before we had even hit the Spam. Corned beef was a saving grace in my childhood. Summer meant occasional good weather, which meant rare salads. And as everyone knows, cucumber and lettuce do not a meal make. When my 8 year old self couldn't go near Pilchards or prawns, or the jelly around pork pie, corned beef came to the rescue. And as with all tinned goods, you are only a ring pull away from delicious: Pinoy cuisine makes ready for the apocalypse and is just waiting in your store cupboard.

So it was something of a personal tragedy to find Lady's Choice bacon spread is pretty grim! I am sure I'll have better luck with the corned beef I have lined up next.

That evening I had a hankering for cauliflower. 

My current challenge is cooking hob only, on 3 rings max., definitely no oven or grill. Or microwave or toaster. I have a kitchen handicap that only organising building works can cure...But cauli is easy.

I boiled sweet baby new potatoes, steamed florettes on top for the last 4 minutes, and made a hasty cheese sauce with stingy mature Cheddar and a dab of English mustard.  Why does it taste even better in my favourite dish?