My friend Charlene came over for laksa dinner a few weeks ago. Jac made curry laksa with chicken, prawns, fish cake, tofu, bean sprouts, rice noodles and egg noodles. She used Chilliz brand curry laksa paste. When Charlene and I walked in (she picked me up from work that day and drove us home), Jac was stirring the big pot of curry soup as it bubbled on the stove – the whole kitchen smelled magnificently of curry. It’s such a warm, delicious smell to come home to. Curry and roast dinners are my favourite “welcome home” smells. :)

Jac arranged chopsticks, spoons, chilli (freshly chopped and sambal) and soy sauce on a tray, all ready to go.

The chilli was mostly for Charlene (Jac had a little, I didn’t have any). I’ve mentioned before Charlene is a chilli hero – Jac and I are chilli wusses. We both like the flavour and bite that chilli adds to dishes, but neither of us can tolerate much heat. The chopped fresh chilli came from our garden – I don’t know what exact varieties they are, but one’s a big chilli and the other is very small (like cili padi).

First, Charlene added a good spoonful of chilli sambal to her soup and stirred it through.

After a few mouthfuls, she decided she needed more chilli. She added most of the chopped big chilli. “Mmm, good,” she said.

After a few more mouthfuls she added the chopped small chilli. After tasting again, she looked at us sheepishly and asked shyly, “Do you mind if I use up most of the chilli?” “No problem!” we beamed, “Use it all if you like!” As far as chilli eating goes, I shall live vicariously through Charlene! She stirred the rest of the fresh chopped chilli into her laksa. I must admit I rather enjoyed watching Charlene’s soup level get lower while its colour got more intensely red. I’d love to see her do one of the Man V Food chilli eating challenges. I reckon she’d do very well.

As we ate our dinner, the cats watched from the one of their favourite spots, the ottoman. Well – Billy Lee had set up camp on the ottoman and was most comfortable. Along came Pixel, eager to snuggle up for the warmth. She jumped onto the ottoman and practically sat on top of Billy Lee so she could fit on. Billy Lee wasn’t so keen to share and was not at all impressed by this turn of events. Immediately after I took this photo, Billy Lee decided she’d had enough, slapped Pixel with her paw and pushed her off the ottoman. Poor Pixel. Because she’s much smaller than Billy Lee, Billy Lee’s the boss.