Lazy Sunday

I haven't had a Sunday off, it seems, since sometime last spring - before the 'writing up' madness began. So I have one today. I think I've forgotten how to really enjoy doing nothing. I'm sure it will come back quickly enough. The days are noticeably shorter now and that fall smell is everywhere - it rained yesterday so the leaves have made a slick carpet of rot on the pavement. I prefer them crunchy and dry, for kicking about when walking. It was Eid last night as well - the end of Ramadan - and in our neighbourhood, it's a big night and the whole area smells of the most delicious food and you can feel the holiday cheer.

Last night, while out with friends, I picked up some maple syrup - the first I have ever bought here in Leeds. I paid £2.99 for 330mL. And that was at Tesco's (yes, I feel a bit dirty) - so I won't be buying it again in a hurry! But on pancakes this morning with fruit compote and our own bacon, it was totally worth it.

Nasser is at the library now and I'm roasting tomatoes for sauce. No matter what I do, I cannot make my sauce taste like hers. And I swear I'm doing exactly as I was taught! I think it has much more to do with everything else that I associate with the tomato sauce in my mind. I suppose it has never been about the food - just like I can't seem to get the flavour or texture exactly right when I try to make my mum's or grandmother's recipes. What I'm really after is everything else. I know when I'm eating that pasta that makes my mouth water just remembering it, that I'm surrounded by my extended family; that it's a celebration - if not of the calendar kind, at least of our own devising. Nothing tastes quite the same away from mum's kitchen - barbeques simply cannot be the same way from the cottage I grew up in. I'm not saying that barbeques aren't delicious - they're just not the same. Then again, it's also nice to make something that is so very much Nasser and I.

Aside from that, I've written a letter to my brother, listened to some music, and had some tea. Oh I've also read about my friend's new baby in Canada. Nas and I have no thought for children of our own right now, but I'm glad of other people's (especially my friends') happiness.

So generally, a pretty okay Sunday.