The male Zimbabwean

I'm told that a true colonial doesn't know how to boil an egg, they are so used to others doing it them, everyone has at least one maid, normally 2, plus staff such as a gardener (we have two - we being the in-laws) and a nanny. Productivity and appeal of actually having staff will have to wait for another day.

If the colonial female doesn't do much around the house, the male is another story. Thank goodness afire has spent some time in the UK! I'm discovering that the male will is, and wait for everything to be done around him, for he does not cook unless driven to it.

This weekend, my father in law had to cook his dinner - a simple affair of baked potatoe and veg, all done in the microwave, 8 minutes I'm told, all done, what's the bother. During this 8 minutes, or whilst eating his microwave dinner, he must have thought, why is dinner not cooked like this every night. So I have received cooking advice from a man who specialises in the microwaved baked potatoe, and instruction not to use the oven much, for it's expensive and not needed given the technology.

Despite the (huge) temptation to get into a conversation about cooking for more than one, various different ways of cooking to achieve different effects, I held back, nodded and agreed that the microwave is indeed a wonder of the kitchen.