Packing it in...

Personally, I blame the time of year. We're all getting a little battle weary and the holiday season is in sight. For some, the pressure of the last few weeks becomes too great. And there's an implosion.

The first sign of strife was a funny noise close to home. This was reported to me after the fact; I wasn't actually in the vehicle when it started to behave strangely. The noise was transitory however, and the short journey home was completed without incident.

Later that afternoon, and being a bit of a car buff, the senior recipe tester thought to investigate the problem further. He went back out to the car and opened the bonnet. On return his face was ashen. Vital organs in the car's engine were visibly flapping in the breeze.

A mobile mechanic was called and the senior recipe tester tried to distract himself from the horror he had just witnessed. Recently, the loo has had an irritating propensity to flush continuously. Armed with tools, he headed to the bathroom to remedy this problem.

"WOAH!!! I hope your weekend improves mate." is the first thing one never wishes to hear uttered by a mobile mechanic peering into the gizzards of your reliable mechanism of family transport. "Here's the towie's number" is the second.

By the time we had this news the toilet had stopped flushing continuously. This would have been a blessing however it now did not flush at all. For the rest of the afternoon we took turns shooing well-intentioned, well-trained, but highly forgetful, junior recipe testers away from the ineffective latrine.

Now teetering precariously between the sublime and ridiculous, a tow truck was arranged. While the others were able to seek relief in other places, I hung on at home for its arrival. All day.

The time was approaching when the junior recipe testers required collection from their institution of educational attainment. I needed to complete a mission in that great storage space close to the sky: I had to climb up into the roof. It took mere minutes to complete my search and rescue mission, but once done I had precious little time to spare before I had to get out the door.

As the car was still forlornly on the front lawn I started texting the senior recipe tester with a complicated set of instructions regarding where I would leave the car key. He would need to pass these on to the tow truck driver when he or she eventually arrived to an empty house.

I was mid-text when the phone rang in my hand. It was the senior recipe tester. "The tow truck driver is standing at the front door. Why can't you open it for him?" Oddly, the driver didn't understand, "I was in the roof" either.

There is little relief round here... and it is a very long walk to the nearest facilities.

If things are packing it in at your place, and you could use a bit of a hand may I suggest next week's menu?

As always, please contact me with queries, or for recipes.

Order by Friday night for dinners delivered next Tuesday.

At the end of every day we all need dinner on the table. And I look forward to cooking it for you.