Last night we hosted a dinner party. I was intending on cooking for four people I knew however after some exchanges of text messages, it was more like 8, some of whom I didn't know. Then at the last moment it went down to 6 in total. Not only that but I would expect to welcome people from about 7 to eat at 7.30 however this is practically unheard of over here. The neighbours were coming and couldn't make it until 9. Even then they were late. One of the neighbours ate her dinner but kept leaving to speak on the phone then fell asleep afterwards. I was told not to take it personally.

One thing I wanted to cook, as Colin doesn't get it here, is smoked mackerel pâté. It's a very simple dish when all you have to do is go to Aldi and get smoked mackerel fillets. It's slightly more tenuous when you have to buy fresh mackerel, fillet it yourself then cure and smoke it. Very rewarding though, if only to tick another kick off the culinary list. Not to mention seeing Chief Scout Colin make a fire!

Mackerel is a very cheap fish and is underused here. It's €3 a kilo. When I asked if the Spanish ladies liked the pâté all I heard was 'fantastico' which is OK to me!

I also did roasted peppers in homemade pesto and chicken and chorizo stew. All washed down with Rioja and Albariño of course!

Finally: Michael Moore has suggested in the Guardian this week that Trump's campaign is an elaborate ploy to get a better deal on TV and has therefore started to derail his own campaign with further outlandish statements and beliefs. Yet there are still people who believe everything he says and have conviction in him as their future leader. No applause needed tonight.