I know everybody says this, but
it definitely feels like I should have things a bit more sorted than I do now.
I’m at least supposed to have taken the first tentative steps towards my career
or a goal of some kind, aren’t I? It’s not like I have done nothing over the
past 8 years (JEEEEZZZ! Has it been that long?), but life has definitely got in
the way. I was going to give you a quick run down, but it ended up not being so
quick so let’s see if I can really cut it down....
School (ill). Leave and get internship. Go travelling,
return unwell. First year of uni, ok. Summer travelling, end up in hospital
(also get wisdom teeth out), lots of antibiotics. Start second year, get very
ill and have to defer. Move home, try lots of remedies, get a little better.
Start second year again, get ill again and defer. Get job, goes ok until I get
ill. Have to quit. Get better, go travelling. Return (well!) and start second
year (again). Get ill within a month and defer year (again). Get job, goes ok
until...I get ill. And that pretty much brings us up to now, where I’ve been
significantly unwell since this time last year (I remember because it was the
week before my birthday in which I decided I had to quit my job again, what a
fun birthday present!).
Some other things have happened too, I’ve loved, been
heartbroken and then fallen in love again. I actually moved cities in between
the first second year and the second second year. I’ve travelled alone through
Vietnam and sat on the roof of one of the highest buildings in Hanoi eating
sushi. I’ve taken photographs at fetish parties and food festivals, and of
course I’ve set up Charley’s Little Kitchen (a children's cookery school in case you don't know). But as I sit here now, I don’t really
feel like I have gotten any further than I was a year ago, or even a few years
ago. I’ve learnt a lot, and yes that counts. But in all the ways that society
measures success I have achieved nothing. I’m less financially independent now
than I have ever before been in my life. I’m still ‘trying to get better’
when people ask what it is that I do. In
essence, I have nothing to show for myself since I left school. I haven’t even
got a degree.
I'm not sure where I was going with this post, it’s starting
to sound a bit doom and gloom. I guess it's that society seems to have these
ideas for how we are supposed to progress through life. You go to school and
get your qualifications. Go to uni and get a degree. Get a job and climb the
ladder. Save up and find a wife/husband/non gender defined life partner. Get a
house, get a mortgage, have babies... but what happens to those of us that
don’t fit in the mold? Who neither get a degree, a job or a husband? What are
we supposed to do? I certainly as fuck don’t know, but I made some mighty fine
ribs tonight and I think it is a high time for a recipe on the blog...
Barbecue Ribs (that never see a barbecue)
This recipe is more of an art than a science, my
measurements are sometimes approximations as I generally go a splodge of this, a splash of
that...Also I've recently started using cup measurements because they are just so handy to have, but I've included the ml measurements in case anybody doesn't have 'cups'.
Pork Ribs (as many as you want to eat, you can always scale
up/down the wet ingredients)
½ cup (120ml) soy sauce
¼ cup (60ml) tomato
ketchup
2 tablespoons Worcester sauce
¼ (60ml) cup honey
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 clove garlic (smashed to get rid of the skin, but left
whole)
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons (sweet) paprika
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
This is a really taxing dish...
Rub the spices onto the pork ribs. This can be done up to a
day ahead to really allow the flavours to permeate the meat.
Preheat the oven to 160 C (140 fan) Pour all the liquid
ingredients, the bay leaf and the garlic into an ovenproof dish. Ideally one that
has a lid (I use a cast iron le creuset style casserole) but this can be
improvised.
Place the ribs in the dish and add enough water so that the
liquid comes ¾ way up the ribs. Put the
lid on and put them in the oven for 3-4 hours, until the meat is falling away
from the bones. Check every hour to make sure they aren’t drying out and give
everything a mix around. After two hours, check the seasoning of the sauce. If
it is too sweet add more vinegar (for sourness) or soy sauce (for saltiness).
If it is too sour/salty, add tomato ketchup and/or honey.
For the last 20 minutes, take the lid off so that the sauce
can caramelise and coat the ribs in its sweet and yummy stickiness.
And now it is time for me to go to sleep, because it is
already my birthday! I'll also be updating this with pictures of the ribs, but I cannot for the life of me find my connecting cable at the moment...
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