Ah well, summer may return. You never know.
I will return too, after a bit of a blog bteak. Wishing you fine weather and nice cakes wherever you are.
..with cake. I am glad I took the photos of the meadow when I did because it has rained all night and all day today and much of the garden has been flattened! The flowers of a five foot tall campanula are almost touching the ground. Ah well, summer may return. You never know. I will return too, after a bit of a blog bteak. Wishing you fine weather and nice cakes wherever you are.
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We seem to be getting summer in fifteen minute intervals - one or two a day if we are lucky, thus my delght to get a couple of hours sunshine at our family lunch. But we are back to drizzle, mist, cloud and wind, and very low temperatures. I have lit the woodburner a couple of evenings. Summer herbs looking a bit bedraggled! Until recent visitors came I have been sugar free for quite a while now, and it has benn surprisingly easy. The best thing is I find everything else tastes much better, and when the home baking is finished I don't think it will be hard to go back to no sugar. How is it going with you Susan? Yay! Sunshine fot our family mid summer lunch yesterday, The forecast was poor so I set up a table inise, then I set up a tableoutside - jus in case. It wasn't raining and there was enough wind to dry my tee shirt. By the time everyone arrived it was getting warm so we set out the food buffet style inside and took our drinks and plates out intto the sunshine. It was absolutely delightful with laughter, good conversation and delicious food!
I have such a lovely family. I hope you had some sunsine. Coffee will make you jittery Alcohol will impair your judgement Drink water Lots of it X Setting a pretty table is a small creative act - it's about respect for and gratitude for the food, a little ritual . Perhaps it's a bit like saying grace.
..by the delicious food in Copenhagen, I made myself an open sandwich. Mackerel fillets, apple, parsley, lemon mayonnaise, lemon juice and some oil from the tinned fish. On buttered rye bread. Eating it outside added to the pleasure.
The chocolate eggs are still haning on their branches, silently. That is they are not calling out 'Eat me eat me' as chocolate annywhere in the house usually does! When I came back from the retreat having had three juices and one soup a day for almost a week, I found I could take it or leave it when it came to cakes and sweets - which is the way I have always wanted it to be. And I have finally lost those few pandemic pounds. SO pleased! ..blue skies, new lambs, Easter eggs, hot cross buns, blossom, bees and a birthday cake for my sister. I hope you have aslo had a lovely day. I know some people have a Dry January, avoiding alcohol for the month, but I am going to have a Wet February - not with alcohol but with water! I am lining up six glasses of water each morning and will drink them throughout the day. I know it benefits my health and I know I rarely feel thirsty and so forget to drink enough water, so....
There is some truth in the saying what you focus on is what you get. My decision to change my word, despite my reservatios, was a good one. See this post. February posts in 2023 were mostly about romance. This one lists romantic things and your suggestions were a wonderful addition. (To access the archive on your phone click on comments and scroll down,) When someone gives you a panettone on New Year's Day all your good intentions about returning to healthy eating get shunted back a few days.. I cannot resist buying fruit with the leaves still on. I was thrilled to have an orange tree in my garden once when I lived in Cyprus. I love the packaging too and try to use these containers as dividers in drawers and cupboards. The wooden cheese boxes are lovely too - has anyone come up with a use for these?
I got this recipe from my Mum, who got it I think from the BeRo cookbook, which is why the measurements are imperial. 3 oz marg or butter 1 oz lard 4 oz sugar 1 beaten egg (I add a few drops of almond or vanilla essence) pinch salt 6 oz self raising flour oats or coconut Cream the fats and sugar, then with damp hands roll into balls and dip in the oats or coconut. Bake at 180C for 10 - 15 minutes till golden brown. Makes about 24 They do look nicer with cherries on top but I didn't have any left.. ..in a lovely old building with thick walls, wooden floors, beautiful views excellent food and friendly staff. A birthday treat for my friend. If you are ever in the vicinity I can recommend Locj Fyne Oyster Bar and The Tree Shop plant nursery cafe and gift shop and a good local information centre. Great place to spend half a day and lots of money! ..and the seventh essential for this himan to thrve is non energy nutrients - important things from food lke fibre, vitamins and minerals. I hope to get all I need from a good mixed healthy diet but I do take a supplement called Macushield (made from marigolds) which contains lutein and zeaxanthin thought to slow the development of macular degeneration. My daily juices of mostly apples, carrots and spinach are also good for eye health I am told. Another day of glorious weather with meals outside, a little gentle gardening and a nap in the hammock. Bliss. ..can be a real pleasure, althugh the first time I sat down at my table for a proper meal after my husband died I all but choked on it and couldn't eat it for crying. (Barry loved to cook and I absolutely loved being cooked for!)
Eating alone during Covid lockdowns was an awful experience I hope mever to repeat. I sit down to my meals, and set an attractive table no matter how simple the food.. That's a big part of the pleasure for me. Napkins, flowers, candles - I really enjoy all that and it's only a minute of extra effort. I am perfectly comfortable eating in restaurants on my own. Again there is that pleasure of someone cooking for me and I like to discreetly people-watch. I had two favourite restaurants in Glasgow which have both closed sadly. Betty's in York treat the solo diner particularly well, offering a good table and a newspaper. So nice. But eating with family and friends is extra special now that it is not an everyday thing. Perhaps if your life is busier than mine you will enjoy eating alone and having time to think? And really taste the food! I am so grateful for the luxury of beautiful food. ..the machinations of the food industry gets easier and easier the more I learn. Ultra processed foods are cheap, tasty, fast, easy and addictive. Even the savoury ones have sugar added. I have heard them called dysfunctional foods and I just don't want to go there. If I am tempted a look at the list of ingredients saves me! I have some wonderful technology on my phome which will read a photograph of a page at a time of my cookbooks and am currently exploring A Table For Friends by Skye McAlpine (thank you Liz). I love her philosophy. Relaxed, generous and realistic. An inspiration for one of my favourite activities - eating with friends. I want the lifeforce of growing things in my food. As part of my studies as A Student Of Old Age I see that I get energy from clean air and deep breathing, from drinking lots of water and taking cold showers, and from getting enough quaity sleep (need to do some work on this). Next on the list (see here) is energy and we get most of it from food. A huge subject, isn't it. I eat a pretty healthy diet and a craving for sugar is the only thing that can be a problem for me I would say. However, I am focussing on filling up with the good stuff before even thinking of the not-so-good, which works quite well for me as I really do like good food! I am increasing my intake of fruits and vegetables, and buying the best quality I can afford. What works for you? Do you notice your energy levels vary when you eat a certain way? Look at the wonderful life force/energy in this beautiful flower!
A little omelette made with a splash of water for extra lightness, with sliced strawberries and a dusting of icing sugar eaten outside in the sunshine makes a lovely breakfast treat. ..of a cappuccino is the chocolate on the top. I am focussing for the rest of August on Simply Eat and Simply Fitter. You will have heard of rewilding the landscape, but have you heard of the idea of rewilding your body? A friend said it conjured up an image of us with matted hair, weilding clubs, but it is more about eating and moving the way nature intended and I am intruiged by that concept..
..a bowl of cherries. Abundant fruit and vegetables are making me think a lot about what I am eating and dtinkihg, and whether I am having enough of the good stuff.
If I can fill up on the good stuff, I will want less of the bad stuff....yes? |
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