you won't hear it officially, not on any meteorological briefing, the "official" end of summer has yet to arrive on the calendar day... but summer seized to be on this very day, in merry ol' england; and that's the thing about writing every single day like an elvis costello song: you see things more sharply, even the slightest changes. like today, the winds were blowing hard through the streets, there was a slight drizzle, but more importantly? the crackling of fallen first casualties of autumn, the first leaves being pushed like scuttling fast-forward caterpillars down the street; and so too, the first fallen acorns, and too: the first pine cones.

but that's beside the point, i admit,
i rarely take pictures of food,
esp. not the sort of pictures people take
at restaurants,
but if i make something **** tasty,
i'll take a picture...
and post it into the public sphere:
even i'm not immune to this practice...
so far? well, this will be the second picture
of food, but the joy comes from:
well, it's ****** well fun to cook.

what was it? ah... i'll expand beyond mere
name:
    the hardest ingredient on the list was
tamarind* - god it's disgusting raw -
it's like a rancid peanut butter -
  i hoped that it would change upon cooking,
luckily it did.
so two chicken ******* were marinated
in tamarind soy sauce, sesame oil,
rice vinegar & white wine vinegar
   overnight...
    later, drained, and coated in cornflour
and then deep-fried 3x 30 seconds -
god, every time i counted to 30 i lost
the count, so i counted 3x 10 seconds
extending thumb, index middle.
   rice, obviously.
    salad?
        beansprouts, chopped coriander,
mint, zest of a lemon...
    salad dressing?
        lime juice, sesame oil,
          a chilli + salt.
    the most fun though, came in the form
of chilly soy caramel...
mmm... you know, caramel can entirely
fill your typical english house...
just came out the bathroom up-stairs
after taking a dump and immediately
i got a whiff of the caramel...
  which was simply sugar melted in
a frying pan, infused with a little bit of water,
soya sauce, lime juice and a chilli.

as i once said:
   if i can't find work in a chemistry laboratory,
well, guess i have to make the kitchen
a laboratory...
    if i can't craft esters, i'll just conjure up
       triple fried chicken with chilli caramel;

and about posting the photograph into
the public sphere...
   well... i'll probably abide by the:
three-strikes & you're out motto -
                         to at least retain some cool:
then again - if i was a carpenter and made
a chair by myself, i'd also be proud,
so nininini... naggingnaggingnagging...
            seems it was a rather, special day.