Time to switch off the lights, lock the doors and head home.
Our 13 mile commute takes us through the Wyre Forest, an ever changing backdrop and a daily game of "dodge the Deer" as muntjac and fallow pay no heed to the Green Cross code. Darwin may well be Shropshire born, but he may have re-thought his theory of evolution if he'd met these Salopian residents.
Time to let go of work and slip back into domesticity.
So an idyllic countryside gives way to a home-scape of breakfast pots left on the worktop, a discarded pair of trainers in the middle of the floor and a washing machine in need of emptying.
Dinner is required to feed body and soothe the soul. It's midweek and a quick fridge forage is initially uninspiring, but a little imagination and inventiveness, fuelled by hunger, can generally result in something edible.
There is a number of staples that, as a rule, I can rely on finding - onions, garlic, pulses, sundried tomatoes, spices, a selection of carbs and, more often than not a lemon or two.
Do you have any ingredients that are always in the cupboard, from which you can make a meal, however basic?
Life before blog and social media was simpler, make food, serve food, eat food.
But now, I constantly ask myself whether or not the dinner is photogenic; worth recording for posterity, or at least the occasional repeat or refinement; can I/ should I recreate it; shall I jot down the "recipe" on the back of an envelope as I go along; was it well received; did it pass the second helping test?
In the past, something thrown together in a hurry has turned out to be delicious and two hours later I have forgotten what I did, so now I try and take a more methodical approach with pen and envelope always to hand.
The recipe that follows was definitely born of desperation, but turned out to be a keeper.
1 pack of good quality sausages, once again I turned to my stash of Finnebrogue sausages
2 red onions, sliced
The zest of 1 orange
8 sundried tomatoes, chopped
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 bottle red wine
Salt and pepper to taste
Heat a tablespoon of oil in a cast iron casserole, over a medium heat.
Add the sausages and brown all over. Add the onions and soften.
Add all the other the ingredients.
Put the lid on and simmer for 40 minutes.
Serve with creamy mashed potatoes and green beans.
What inspires and drives you in the kitchen? Do you prefer the luxury of perusing your book collection, making copious notes, carefully selecting a menu, shopping for the ingredients and then spending the afternoon carefully creating your chosen dishes?
Or do you work best under pressure - fridge forage, the baying of "hangry" kids and a deadline of getting dinner on the table in time for football practice or their favourite TV programme.
Whichever it is, I urge you to enjoy your kitchen time as much as I do.
© Netherton Foundry 2017
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