Oh sunny day

Don't you just love Spring weather - one minute you're snuggling up under a blanket and the next it's flip flops on feet and flipping burgers on the barbie.

First BBQ of the season today, though when I went to Sainsbury's to stock up on juicy burgers it seemed that half the town had got there before me and unless you wanted a Bambi-burger, it was frozen or nuffink... Until.... I spotted the deli counter and there sat the four remaining plump Aberdeen Angus steak puffballs of succulence. I took my place in the queue and waited while cheese fiends filled their baskets and the pile of pork chops dwindled. Just one more in front... "Four burgers please" the bald man instructed the sales assistant. I growled at him and he backed away nervously clutching his prize while I marched off in disgust. Grrrr....

Of course, I could have made my own or marinated some chicken which in truth is what I would normally do. However, it has to be said. I'm rather tired dear readers and this way I could get away with very little effort. Particularly as BBQs are 'man territory' - even for men who don't as a rule cook anything that doesn't require 'piercing the film'. Man in question is also South African so outdoor cooking over a flame is in his genes... apparently! Us Poms need to learn a thing or two about the noble art. Pathetic frozen burgers less than 1cm thick are not what real men from his country eat. I have a vision instead of Springboks roasting over a spit while lions back away in fear... I have to say I probably agree with him. If a job's worth doing it's worth doing properly, so stay tuned for BBQ mark II on the next sunny weekend.

For inspiration I shall be watching the Hans Christian Andersen of cooking - Mr Heston Blumenthal. Now he has mastered Roman feasts, vibrating phallic jelly and Mad Hatter tea parties, he will be trying his hand at, quite literally, the stuff of fairy tales. Cue exploding pumpkins, gingerbread houses and Jack's beans made from 'bean-shaped parts of a cockerel' (believe me, you'd rather not know...)