He taught me to make it very early in our time together, and I made it dozens of times over the years. In his last years he used to say, “you’re the second-best at making it!”, after him, of course. But none of that is why I made it: I was bored.
It was a Friday night, and I wasn’t sure what I wanted for dinner. I thought about ordering pizza, but the only one I like is a premium NZ chain, and kind of expensive, which wouldn’t be a problem if it wasn’t for the fact the quality varies a lot: Sometimes it’s great, other times, well, they were clearly having a bad night. I decided I wasn’t in the mood to throw the dice.
Instead, I thought I should make something I haven’t made in a long time, and CMC was the ideal choice. It wasn’t my best batch, but that was because the tinned mangoes were a bit sour, which happens sometimes. Even so, it was nice, and I was able to use up a bit of chicken I had in the freezer, and it ended up being a good meal for one.
When I was making it, I remembered some of the times I’d made it over the years, and how much Nigel loved it when I did. He also sometimes “complained” about how when he’d visit a sibling for dinner how he’d often “have it served up to me”. In reality, he was pleased that the family loved it, too. In fact, his mum still asks me to make it.
So, I got to have a meal I seldom make for myself—I think it may have been only the second time I’ve done that, though I’ve made it for family several times. I also used up some chicken in the freezer (I’ve been trying to use up stuff in the freezer because it was WAY overstuffed). Even the UHT cream I used was nearing its “best before” date, so that was a bonus (and the sort of thing that would entice me to say to Nigel that “‘best before’ and ‘use by’ are NOT the same thing,” because he thought—or maybe he just pretended he did—that they were the same thing.
And all of that was because I was dissatisfied with my dinner options last night. I ended up with a yummy win.
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