Cheese & Walnuts Stuffed Chicken

My holidays have sadly come to an end. That's it. No more sangria, no more siesta, no more tapas... no more sun, even if the calendar still says it is August around here. It has been pouring non-stop since we came back. I have unpacked my 3 bikinis with tears in my eyes, with the uncertainty of when I will use them again.

So I've decided to write down a list of things you can do to come back from holidays without drowning in despair.

1. Never go on holidays in the first place. What the eye doesn't see, the heart doesn't grieve over

2. If you persist in going on holidays, stay on holidays. You can find jobs selling ice cream all over the world.

4. Renounce to your U.K. citizenship and move to Australia. If you work at McDonald's, you get 35 paid days off your first year. After six years, you'd get 49 paid days off. After ten years, they pay you for just walking by and waving occasionally.

5. Skip Mondays.

6. Skip Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays until 4.00pm.

7. Upload your holidays pictures onto your computer. Upload them to your work computer. Save them into a memory stick and upload them onto your co-workers’ computers. Upload them to your mobile. Upload them to Facebook. Upload them to Instagram. Upload them to Twitter. Make a slideshow. Invite people to look at the slideshow online. Invite people over to your home to look at the slideshow. Invite people out for drinks, but then force them to look at the photos on your phone while you describe every detail. Be sure to stop on each photo until an approving nod is registered from each and every one of them.

8. Try focusing only on the annoying aspects of your vacation.

9. Unpack immediately upon return. Delete all 237 perfectly-framed sunset photos—yes even the one where the red sun seemed to be coming down between two rock formations in the distance at that one beach where they served you margaritas in coconut shells. Burn your swimsuit and any remaining airline tags. Convince yourself you were never on holidays. It'll shock you how much it never happened.

10. Never unpack. Immediately begin planning your next holidays in 11 months.

11. Start dragging your suitcase with you everywhere you go. Every day is a vacation when you have your suitcase!

12. Go to pet shops and hold puppies. The power of animal therapy cannot be underestimated.

13. On second thought, definitely don't do #8, unless you want to plunge into a depression hole.

14. Annoy your co-workers and friends by constantly talking about how great your vacation was, and how fantastic those margaritas in coconut shells were, and how you're feeling so exhausted now that you're home. Don’t forget to mention that you may need another week to recover.

15. And definitely, don't bombard your co-workers and friends with questions about how to avoid post-vacation syndrome, because they don't want to hear it. Even if you are only asking in a jokey manner for jokey reasons, don't even start with that. They can be shockingly unsympathetic.

16. Remind yourself that one day you are going to die just like everybody else. At the end of the day, death is a permanent vacation where they serve you margaritas out of coconut shells for eternity.

This week’s recipe is a good one. No, honestly, it is a really good one. As good as a good holiday.

WHAT YOU NEED

3 Fresh Free Range Chicken Breasts

9 Bacon Rashers

150gr Wensleydale with Cranberries Cheese

100gr Walnuts

2 Fresh Rosemary Sprigs

2tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

WHAT YOU DO

Preheat the oven to 170C.

Put your chicken breast on a chopping board and, with your hand flat on top of it, use a sharp knife to slice into one side of the breast, starting at the thicker end and ending at the thin point. Be careful not to cut all the way through to the other side. Open out the breast so that it resembles a butterfly. Season with pepper and salt.

Put a piece of cheese and some walnuts and roll up the chicken breast. Then, wrap each roll with 3 slices of bacon. Secure with toothpicks, and arrange in a baking dish.

Season with the fresh Rosemary and bake uncovered for 40 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear. Then, increase the heat to 200C and bake for 10 additional minutes to brown the bacon. 

Remove the toothpics and serve hot. Garnish with pasta, broccoli or french fries.