What an excellent and slightly expensive treat today. No more chips and curry sauce, no more toadstool gratin - today I was in the mood for something exotic and thought I'd splash out and do it in style. On a Tuesday too - and at the end of the month when my salary has been almost completely boozed away.

So what was this exquisite delight that cost me so dear? A tasty home made duck satay and some sweet and spicy mussels. Wonderful.

No moaning or complaining today - no lectures on shops, nutrition or Plato. No, today just a tasty dinner and a happy word or two to let you know that it was really easy to make and I enjoyed every bit of it.

One note: If you only shop in supermarkets like Sainsbury's or Tesco this would be a very hard dinner to pull off (and VERY expensive). I don't think you can get peking duck sauce or chilli & peanut oil without going to a Chinese supermarket. The one thing you definitely can't get, and which made this meal into something really fun, is the crispy noodle nest. You can get noodles, but the angel hair vermicelli, made from mung bean flour, I've only ever seen in Chinese shops. It's absolutely fantastic. Only 35p a packet, but really special. Heat a deep frying pan and throw it in. Within about 10 seconds it will have quadrupled in size and turned into a giant crispy birds nest. It's very similar to a prawn cracker but not flavoured. Crunch some into your sauce, roll the mussels in it, whatever you do it's just great. The kids really loved it too.