Paella Night

This year, we somehow managed to be a bit more organised!

We joined several friends, and actually arrived on time, being able to park easily! We actually felt quite guilty waiting to start, as many of the other competitors hadn't even arrived. We collected our firewood, and build our little mounds, ready to start.

When the time came, 3 of us joined the queue to get our goddies from the council! A bag full of; rice, oil, a red pepper, chicken, rabbit, paella spices, salt - only the water was missing. This is all provided free of charge. You simply go to the council and register your entry, then, with your entry ticket, collect the produce on the night.

We cooked 2 between us. Ed cooked a normal, traditional style paella, whereas Mark cooked a special hot, chilli paella. We all had great fun while this was going on, with Ed and Mark actually being on television later. I did wave at the cameras this time, but I don't think I made the cut!

When the paellas were ready, Tracey to their spicy one for judging. There were gasps of terror from the judges, as they all ran for glasses of water! Very funny. They were not amused. This was NOT a normal paella! We knew it wouldn't win anything, but it was worth entering it, just for the laugh!

In reality, it wasn't too hot, it was just that the judges didn't expect anything spicy. We all had a great evening. Once the pans had cooled a little, many people rubbed fingers underneath the smoke blackened pans, and marked their faces.

Sadly, we had to scurry away to see the next parade, anticipating seeing some other friends there.