Kippers, bath bombs and mango chutney

Tuesday, 31st

Today was going to be a long day and quite a packed schedule. After days of laziness and excitement we needed to get our rucksacks in order. For like I mentioned earlier, today evening we were boarding our bus to London. The fair was now over and Ann was home. G had to do a batch of melt and pour soaps, also we had to prepare an Indian meal of  chicken curry and rice for David and Ann.

Sometime during our various conversations, I had mentioned about Kippers as breakfast (I had read somewhere). And Lo!! the magician David had the most delicious kippers (a pair of herrings split from tail to head, gutted, salted and smoked) simply sauteed in butter. My mouth waters even now when I think of that breakfast.

For the chicken curry I wanted turmeric, whole spices, coriander and G wanted some mangoes if available to make a ginger mango chutney.  Ann and David went shopping and came back with a particularly tangy mango which was so unlike that we have in India. It was raw, fleshy and a pale yellow red in color. We were told it was an African variety. In the meantime we packed most of our stuff and G picked up some fresh tomatoes and mint from the garden.

While the chicken was marinating in yogurt and spices, I started prepraring the curry sauce and G was making soaps. The melt and pour soaps are quite easy to make compared to what we did the other day. The soap mixture was measured and heated at the right temperature. And after that they were set in molds, in shape of stars and dolphins. That's it, in a few hours the soaps are ready to use.

We were to begin making bath bombs. But before that we broke for a light snack and put the rice on stove. Now coming back to bath bombs, these fizzy soaps seemed like a wonderful creation and it was really fun to make. We put together one part citric acid, two parts baking soda, fragrance oil and color, and really mixed well (that is the key) once done we added spritz with one hand and mixed the ingredients with the other. This has to be done timely, otherwise either it becomes to fizz or it starts setting in. Once done, we put the mixture in dome shaped molds and pressed the molds together like a ball.  After about three four minutes we tapped the molds outward and the bath bomb were ready. This was brilliant.

We cleaned up the kitchen, while Ann went to pick up David from work. We set out the tables in the conservatory. The chicken and rice was ready. G had made the yummy ginger mint mango chutney (reminded me of home). On the way back from, David and Ann had picked up some naan (bread) from Tesco. We sat down for a late lunch or an early dinner of rice, chicken curry, chutney, and Indian bread.

This place that was home for a week, we were very sad to leave. Suddenly it did not seem exciting to leave for London or any other place for that matter, I think we just wanted to curl up there and hold ground.

Some warm hugs followed and we posed for family pictures. Ann packed us few cakes of soaps we made and then David dropped us to the Bus Station. Our bus looked comfortable, and not very full. The journey was an overnight one, and we would reach London only around six in the morning. G took the window seat with the sickness bag in place. While I yawned and tried to fall asleep in those uncomfortable chairs.

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