Kerala

I've realised I have a tendency to start eating and drinking before I think of my responsibilities to this Board. But usually, the food I eat, presentation is not the priority!

We decided to nip out for a nightcap. Mrs K asked for her usual, a Bacardi and Coke. No Bacardi. No rum. To be honest, I couldn't see any spirits. We settled on this: Aperol spritz for the lady, Kolsch for me. In fact, everyone was drinking Kolsch: men and women, young and old. They did seem well stocked with red wine, but I didn't want to be weird.

Authentic German eating experience includes Doner kebab at a Turkish kebab place. The bread was something unusual, very crispy crust. Lovely.

A beautiful evening here in Koln. A very late lunch, Himmel und Aad. Black pudding, apple sauce, potato mash, fried onions. Bourdain's recommendation. They keep bringing the Kolsch beer in little 200ml glasses until you do this. Another of Tony's top tips. Thanks Tony! Fruh am Dom is an interesting place to eat and drink, for sure. Bourdain came here, but @mgaretztip was spot-on! Thanks to @IrishAdventurer too, who sadly doesn't hang around here anymore.

Bacon,white pudding, cheddar cheese in a buttery, flaky croissant. Coffee and fruit juice. Very happy.

This is from yesterday. The little discs are fried white pudding. I know it should have been a big mug of tea, but the coffee hit the spot!

Really interesting. As you know , @liuzhou they are a huge presence on British supermarket shelves. I wasn't aware of any controversy around them (other than the global problem of over-fishing.)

@weinoo The page you linked for John West states the sardines are caught in UK, Portuguese, Spanish and Moroccan coastal waters, and JW appears to be a UK based company now under Thai ownership. Anyway, the fish was fine, perfectly servicable but not memorable.

Well I did not know that!

P I searched for Anthony Bourdain. Its Parts Unknown, series 7, episode 6. It came up as available on FreeVee, viewable with ads, but when i clicked, it streamed without any adverts.

Linguine with prawns and smoked salmon. A generous pinch of red chilli flakes in the sauce gave a lovely warmth but went undetected by the family. Peroni 0.0 because I had a busy night of short drives ahead. It was quite nice, actually.

I just found this, Also available on Amazon Prime, where I'm watching it. For future reference if someone is searching...

Had a barbecue last night, had the partners over. I kept it simple, just chicken and lamb with a good load of veg. Unfortunately the coals didn't light and at the last minute I had to dash to the Spar to get an instant lighting bbq coals bag. The actual story is a lot longer and even more tedious. Here is some of the food And the lamb

Grilled then on toast. I should have taken pics of "after." Perfectly fine.

Ah, when the family is away, that's when I can play! Heart, liver, kidneys, octopus, haggis...

All good, no worries!

Air Fryer chicken, mixed leaf salad, toasted pine nuts. I drizzled some honey and olive oil, and sprinkled some sea salt as dressing. Tomato from the garden. The wine was a Muscadet. The weather was perfect.

Catching the last of the late summer sunshine.

Another successful start to the day. Take your wins where you get them.

Just put some chicken drumsticks in the Ninja Foodi with a thrown-together dressing including fish sauce. The kitchen is filling with the pungent savoury smell of chicken fat and fish sauce, and my mind with a nagging worry that this will be repeated every time I use the Ninja from here on... I'll keep you posted.

Never before 7:30, usually before 9.

I used the aluminium trays for the food. The bamboo trays were just weight for the inverted lid. For smaller amounts I do use the bamboo trays.

Soft, with seeds for interest. No crisp crust. From Asda.

Aldi Firkadel, coleslaw, gouda slice, hot chilli and garlic, seeded bun.

Just take the good stuff with gratitude!