Thrown together

Sometimes we can surprise ourselves. We'll trundle along in our lives and do something that gives us a little pause for thought, makes us think, you know the kind of thing. It can be major or minor. It doesn't matter. A kind of 'thinking outside the box' experience.

So what am I referring to?

Chutney.

I made a kind of Indian style salsa for want of a better way of describing it. Chopped tomatoes and onions with chillies and lemon juice and, I think, coriander. There may have been other things such as cumin seeds but I cannot recall.

It was unused, uneaten, left to languish in the fridge without an objective as to its use.

Mrs AWB suggested a chutney. A chutney! Never made one of those before. She gave me a basic idea; seemed to revolve around sugar and vinegar. I looked up a couple of basic recipes and worked out a rough ratio of vinegar to sugar and then added cloves, cumin seeds, pepper corns and cardamom pods and cooked the whole thing off.

What a strong smell of warm vinegar, But it seemed quite nice, if a little vinegary..........................but the next day.............and beyond.

One of the nicest chutneys we have tasted......................and that is confirmed by Mrs AWB.