Cajun Chicken Traybake

This is another of Jamie’s "£1 Wonders" recipes, which we tried for the first time today. It was about to go in the oven to roast for for 40 minutes, before the rice (in the Herdy mug) was added, along with boiling water, and popped back in the oven for a further 20 minutes. Verdict – not bad at all!

A quiet day otherwise, with the exception of an interesting email which arrived at 3.38 am from some friends of ours in Japan. I was delighted when I opened it (a lot later than 3.38 am!) to discover that they had been to a ceremony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo last Wednesday, where the husband was given The Order of Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star by the Emperor. Of around 4,000 people who are given this award annually, to people who have rendered distinguished service to the state in various fields, just the top 50 are invited to the Imperial Palace to receive their medals from the Emperor. 

Our friends enclosed a photograph taken of them by their daughter before the ceremony. They both looked so smart and absolutely immaculate, and the wife was wearing an exquisite pink Kimono.

I was amazed when she told me earlier this year that she had spent two years learning how to wear traditional Kimono correctly, and after that she was awarded her certificate at a special ceremony. She had to learn a thousand years of history of the Kimono and Obi (belt), and all about the patterns, materials, and the how and when of wearing it. 

I’m sure that receiving an award at the Imperial Palace would certainly have met the "when" part of the criteria!