A tradition begins . . . .

I love it when the kids take it upon themselves to positively change aspects of our lives.

Sam has expressed a wish to learn how to cook curries.  He's already a dab hand at a spag bol, mainly under the tutorship of his dad, but with the special tweaks that I give the sauce that helped me win over his Dad's stomach, and therefore helped with winning his heart!

But Sam, at the grand old age of 8.5, is keen to learn how to cook a curry from scratch - a skill that will stand him in good stead later on in life.

We tried last Friday/Saturday.  His favourite recipe is Lamb Rogan Josh, and he wanted this to be the first recipe that he tried.  I duly gathered all the ingredients, with the intention to follow the recipe and marinade the lamb overnight, but we forgot.  Cue a far earlier Saturday morning than planned as I desperately grated ginger, mashed garlic and glooped yoghurt around, and shoved in the diced lamb in the hope that 8 hours would compensate for nearly 24.

It actually came together really well on Saturday night.  Apart from the face that Sam got bored, and as yoghurt is a texture he's avoided since he was a baby, he actively avoids having anything to do with it.  It was all smelling really tasty.  And continued to do so through the patch when I managed to rub chilli into my eye.  That bit was kind of distracting.

So distracting in fact, that I didn't turn the heat down enough on the pan, and burned the dish.  Cue an emergency takeaway, and grumpy family (the fact that I'd blinded myself was apparently besides the point!)

Anyway, this is a really long winded way to get to my point.  Whilst the girls went to gymnastics (Boo did the gymnastics, I drank coffee and gossiped) the boys went to the driving range, and then did the shopping for the weekend.  They came home with a boxed curry ready meal for tonight.  To be fair, it tasted reasonable, if not a bit too spicy for me.  I got through half a big pot of plain yoghurt!

Whilst sharing the dinner, Sam piped up and said he loved having curries on a Saturday night, so could we make it a family tradition?

With endorsement from everyone, including his little sister, a tradition has been born.  From now on it's curries on a Saturday, and proper roasts, with Yorkshire puddings no matter the meat, for Sundays.

It's a tradition I'm happy to embrace!