Chef Eleanor

   This past week has actually seen me do something I never usually do, and cook proper meals for myself and others. For the first time since being at university I've really been in the mood to cook, and so I decided to offer to do it for other people. Despite the fact none of the dishes were particularly difficult to make, they went down really well, and I felt much better myself for having eaten a proper meal!
   Originally on Thursday I was going to be cooking for myself, Amber and Ruth. However, Ruth caught the flu and has been really ill, so I ended up just cooking for myself and Amber. I was in quite a fishy mood, so I settled for salmon served with lemon butter, sweet potato fries and cauliflower cheese. I am aware that it looks completely unappealing, but it was soooo good! It was really filling and tasty and I'm just really proud of myself that it actually turned out okay and that we both enjoyed it and that neither of us have ended up ill because of it!
   On Friday I cooked for myself and Amber again. When my mum last came up to visit she brought two massive tubs of homemade chilli with her. I'm currently in the process of trying to get through all the food in my freezer, as I realised the other day that I have a fair bit, so I decided it was time to use up some of the chilli. Instead of being stereotypical and having it with rice, I decided to go for jacket potatoes instead. Amber and I were both incredibly hungry so we cheated and put them in the microwave for 10 minutes to cook them through before transferring them to the oven to allow the skins to crisp up. Then we served them with the chilli, soured cream and cheese. It's safe to say it was absolutely incredible, it was such a good combination! We were both ridiculously full afterwards but I'm definitely going to be having it again, it was so so lush!! I read online that sweet potatoes are a really good alternative for jacket potatoes, so I think I'm going to try it that way next time! It also used up a lot of chilli, so hopefully my freezer will be a bit emptier in the next few days!
   Finally, it was Abi's birthday yesterday, so Ruth and I decided to bake her a cake. I'm aware this makes me a baker and not a chef but that's besides the point. We decided to cheat and use Betty Crocker cake mix, but we still put a lot of effort into it! I didn't take a picture of it, which I should have done because it looked so so impressive! We went for a chocolate cake mix and when it had cooled down we completely covered it with chocolate butter cream icing and white chocolate buttons. Amazingly, it wasn't actually too sickly at all! It went down really well with everyone who tried it, so bring on the next birthday and the next cake!!
   I do feel a lot better for having had two proper meals this week, and both Amber and I and Ruth and I are debating cooking meals together once a week, to make sure we all have at least one proper meal. It's a lot nicer cooking with and for someone else rather than just yourself, plus it means I tend to be more experimental!