Jo, every day is a new day. Life is made up of thousands of individual, brand new days. The past is irrelevant, life is right now.
Ate too much yesterday? Not important! It is what you do today that makes life a joy. Embrace the positive, look for little pleasures.
As Happy said some time ago….we are all yo-yo dieters…try to keep the swings within a tiny band, monitor what you do every day, enjoy all aspects of life, food is only a small part.
We southerners are celebrating spring flowers today, but you northerners can rejoice in the gorgeous autumn colours which will be developing soon. Life and the world is a joyous place. P 🙅🙅

Morning/evening all,

Blue sky and sunshine this morning but there was a distinct autumnal nip in the air before the sun came up, although the forecast seems to be declaring an Indian summer. I do hope it is correct!

I am feeling very hungry this morning but fortunately can’t eat as I’m having a blood test this morning and I need to be fasted for it. I’m looking forward to my coffee afterwards 🙂

Jo, I’m sorry to hear you are feeling down but you know that eating is only going to make you feel worse so you need to find another solution when you need a “lift” One thing you must not do is beat yourself up over it. As Purple says, every day is a new one, forget about yesterday you can’t change it, just concentrate on today. We are all here for you.

HCB Yotam Ottolenghi was born and raised in Jerusalem and he is now based in the UK. He has a restaurant in London, writes in numerous magazines and newspapers and is often on TV. He has also written several cookery books which are very popular. The one I have is all about Middle Eastern cookery and I believe that Plenty is vegetarian recipes.

Time to go,

Have a good one everybody 😜

Hi Fast Trackers and Hello World (You All know Who You ARE) 😉
Nama great news indeed to see the son the (groom) pains and discomfort etc is beginning to ease up. I did have a manly style smirk at the very thought of poodle doggy doodoo pick up duty 😆 and
Other son in constant anticipation of the imminent arrival of his first child, it seems they are the first young couple ever to conceive a baby!
Our eldest boys partner cannot possibly get by in a 3 bedroom house its just way too small for the 3 of them when I quipped we had 4 boys 2 to a bedroom in bunks and we seemed happy enough and that we did not lose or damage anyone well that won’t be happening for me !!
We did not seek the gender of our 5 children life changes and gets very complicated also with his first Father’s Day Sunday she has arranged major street parade fireworks and ticker tape town hall presentation no people just joking but it is a big deal for them. Yfee is very chuffed only 1 egg and lettuce roll around 3pm today and an early dinner at 5pm I can’t believe how light it is today HCB I am only doing this for the 1st couple of weeks just to give her the confidence and belief TDEE 5 days 2 days fasting 500cal add time and rate steady as she goes I think before your time she had a go at this wol but slipped off the wagon and did not bother to get on again so this is round 2.
In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can. Nikos Kazantzakis

“It’s is easier to avoid eating than to stop eating once started”
Peace RT

I’ve just received my book parcel, River Cottage preserves no 2 (I’m going to use Pam’s recipe for Piccalilli and try a couple of other recipes) and Hugh’s Three Good Things. Was it Purple who recommended it? Thank you for doing so, such a great book and so inspirational.
Reading it has made me very hungry, I think I’ve spent the past hour salivating and working out what to replace fennel (yuck) with 😉

Today’s dinner will be a warm and cold vegetable mezze. I’m making a warm bean and courgette salad, pea puree, more mushrooms with garlic and I have some cauliflower with tahini from Tuesday. There will be leftover bean salad and puree for the weekend. I like having small portions of lots of different things as it feels like a feast.

Really hungry now……….

Hi Ply,

Celery is devil’s food (spit, spit,spit) and I dislike it even more than I dislike fennel 😆

It’s the texture of celery more than the taste that I can’t bear and it makes me shudder to think about eating it.

I’m thinking finely sliced crisp lettuce hearts to replace raw fennel, but haven’t decided about what I would use if it is to be cooked.

Just couldn’t resist! It’s raining and I felt like eating some warm soup.
Amazon very helpful info. That Cheg isn’t known here in the US.
See you later

Amazon,

It was Pam’s recipe piccalilli that I made last weekend, although I must admit to adding a bird’s eye chilli…or two… Obviously it needs to mature for a few weeks, but first impressions are favourable. I’m not sure all jars will last til October 😀

Hi Fast Trackers and Hello World (You All know Who You ARE) 😉
Purple I have no doubt Mr P will enjoy this one I know I did 😆
HOW TO SHOWER LIKE A WOMAN
• take off clothes and place them sectioned in a laundry basket according to colour.
• walk to bathroom wearing dressing gown
• if you see husband along the way cover up any exposed areas
• look at your physique in the mirror, make mental note to do more leg lifts in the morning
• get in the shower
• use face cloth, arm cloth, leg cloth, long loofah and pumice stone
• wash your hair once with sage and cucumber shampoo with 43 added vitamins
• condition your hair with grapefruit and mint-enhanced conditioner
• wash your face with crushed apricot facial scrub for ten minutes until red
• wash the rest of your body with gingernut and jaffa cake body wash
• shave armpits and legs
• turn off shower
• sponge off all wet surfaces in the shower
• spray mould spots with tile cleaner
• dry with towel the size of a small country
• wrap hair in super absorbent towel
• return to bedroom wearing long dressing gown and towel on head
• if you see husband along the way cover up any exposed areas
• spend 40 minutes drying hair with hand held jet engine
HOW TO SHOWER LIKE A MAN
• take clothes off while sitting on the edge of the bed and leave them in a pile
• walk naked to the bathroom
• if you see wife along the way, shake your manhood and make a “woo-hoo” sound
• admire your physique in the mirror and the size of your manhood. Scratch backside
• get in shower
• wash your face
• wash your armpits
• blow your nose in your hands and let the water rinse them off
• spend majority of time washing privates and surrounding area
• wash your hair with stuff from the bottle nearest to hand
• make a shampoo mohawk
• pee like a racehorse
• rinse and get out of the shower
• fail to notice water on the floor because the curtain was hanging out of the bath
• admire size of manhood in mirror again
• leave shower curtain open, wet mat on floor, light and fan on
• return to bedroom with towel around waist
• if you pass wife, pull off towel and make a “woo-hoo” sound
• throw wet towel on bed
• run fingers through hair twice to dry it
THE END

Have A Happy Weekend All You beautiful Losers 😆
Peace RT

Amazon,

Thank you! Your tale of forgetting ingredients has reminded me that I need some jam sugar for (funnily enough!) jam (and crystallised ginger for rhubarb and ginger jam). I need to get some fruit out of the freezer so I can get peas and beans in…

I agree re: not needing to pre-cook vegetables for piccalilli. They go into the hot sauce so get a little cooking, and I think the 24 hour salting softens them slightly, and we definitely want a bit of crunch.

RT,

Oh dear! I recognise myself more in ‘how to shower like a man’ 😊

Happy,

The worst thing about my sorry tale is that I had a shopping list in my bag with said ingredients writ large 😆

The mincemeat is now cooling and will then be put in jars ready to go. I have a cake recipe that uses a 1lb jar of it and I want to bake one for someone which is why I’m making it so soon. I won’t buy ready made as mine is far superior and I know what it contains.

The mini-market round the corner sells jam sugar all year round, unlike my local supermarket.

I’m going to the PYO farm on Monday and will be pickling, preserving and jamming to my heart’s content next week. I may have to buy some more Kilner jars………..

Mr P had a good giggle, RT 😀
In our house, I’m the expert on the 3 minute shower. He plans to empty Sydney’s water supply every shower.
I can’t even read the labels to identify the shampoo from the conditioner, so more than 2 bottles would be a nightmare.

Yes, Amazon. I’m the 3 Good Things fan. I had never eaten fennel, knowingly, before I bought it. I use it all the time and find, in good flavoursome recipes, even Mr Fussy will happily eat it.

I LOVE waking up on Friday and Tuesday mornings and realising it is NOT a fast day! Woohoo!

Gentle drizzle all night, so my garden will be delighted…spring has sprung. Have a good weekend everyone. P

Happy,

I’ve been making mincemeat for about 20 years and I use Delia’s recipe from her Christmas book but these days with half of the amount of sugar specified. It is traditional and doesn’t have what I think of as strange ingredients like apricots, cranberries etc. I leave that to Nigella 😉
I buy whole peel as IMO it tastes better and only takes a few minutes to cut it up.

Delia also has a recipe for a mincemeat and apple strudel which I’ve made a few times when entertaining during the festive season.She recommends serving it with cinnamon ice cream and helpfully provides a recipe 🙂

I’ve made chutney and pickled onions for years and chilli jam in recent times but never made jam or other pickles before so it is a new adventure to look forward to.

I need some rain for my garden and not gentle drizzle as it needs a good soaking.

I’m totally in your showerbox, P. 🙂 Can barely read the labels, and have recently stopped soaping in all but the necessary areas, to protect the bacteria. After all, I’m not out getting sweaty and filthy sitting at my desk all day. OH insists on his ten minutes!

And no breakfast today, too, left-over quiche for an early lunch before a five hour trip north-east to collect honey for the Lion’s Saturday market. Lots of lovely green-and-gold wattles out, and a completely different climate. We went from gale winds and rain on this side of the Rimutakas, and met sunshine all the way up the Wairarapa, watching the clouds trying to get over the ranges from the west. We ended up with bags of mushroom compost to spread on the vegie garden tomorrow, and an alstromeria, colour unknown. It was so good to get out of the city, and see the new lambs and calves in the paddocks.

So, no leftovers in the Barata household. Anything that has to be thrown out goes to the worm farm, or the compost heap 🙂

It’s hard to think about Christmas when spring has just sprung, but I have booked our lunch for the day with my elderly aunt- we have set a tradition, this must be the fourth year. Hope she’s up to it by then, 92 next week and visibly failing.

Hope it’s not a preshock for the big one Barata. 😐

Barata you are making me homesick for spring, but not for earthquakes. You paint a beautiful picture of rural New Zealand. Enjoy your spring weekend.
Here in rural France, summer is tired. In fact the Met office says it’s autumn here now.

Since a census is taking place, I too shower like a man, but I do have some apricot scrub. I don’t own a dressing gown.

I am doing a two day almost zero calorie fast and I don’t indulge in your foodie contributions, Amazon. Just too attractive. We are skipping all extras at present and trying to do a bit for Italy in the aftermath of last week’s earthquake. Italy is my all favourite European country and people are victims of greedy politicians and crooks. Anyway skipping the extras is good for the waistline.

I am in the same boat as you, Jojo. I got down to BMI 28, but yoyo rather than lose. My yoyo is a 2 kilo range. Hopefully this two day fast will move a bit. At the same time OH eats and loses weight. All a bit unfair. I bought a size 14 wetsuit to continue swimming in the local lakes well into autumn, I can get it on easily enough but a few kilos less inside would be better.
So you can think of me, Purple, as you are enjoying your lovely meals, your expat kiwi mate is only on Miso soup for another 24 hours.
” Always look on the bright side of life.”

Bonne Journée/nuit.
Wiwi

I love that song. One of my favourite songs, it’s going to get played at my wake. Always look on the bright side of life. 😄😄

I’m also a fast person through the shower, don’t soap anywhere except essentials, and don’t put conditioner in hair. I add a few drops of jojoba oil later, and don’t dry my hair with a jet engine. I’ve lived through too many droughts to waste water on a,long shower.

Thanks, RT, we both laughed out loud. 😂😂 Glad the NZ quake didn’t have any effect onshore.

Have lasted 22 hours without food, and just made my favourite vegetable soup. The one called, open the fridge and see what needs using up. 🍵🍵 Today’s soup has a leek, half an onion, carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes and a few herbs. I added some chilli and salt.

Cheers, Bay 🌺🌺🌺

Well it seems that all the ladies here shower like a man… So RT, how many products do you use in the shower?! 🙂

Great to hear you feel better Jojo, something obviously poisoned you!

RT you really started a ‘wet’ discussion this morning! Personally, I LOVE a long shower, must be the Pisces in me! So relaxing, its my luxury! Here in Melbourne I get into serious trouble if I am in there longer than 10 mins as our water costs a small fortune, but in Jamieson the water tank is always overflowing, so I really linger under the hot water when we are there! I don’t think I am high maintenance, but I also love using a lovely shampoo and conditioner (L’Occitane, from your part of the world Wiwi), surely a girl can have a bit of luxury in her old age? While the conditioner is on, I scrub all over with a lovely long handled brush…. if I haven’t got time for this luxury I postpone it, not worth getting undressed to go in and out in 5 mins! I don’t believe husband even gets wet, he is so quick!

Purple, the trick with the shampoo and conditioner is to put a big S on top of the shampoo and a big C on the conditioner (marking pen), so they can be seen without the specs on…..its just about being organised!

My anticipated fast went AWOL today when son insisted on sharing some hot chips at lunch time….so it will be a Saturday fast instead! Eggs Benedict for dinner with a tiny bit of bacon plus smoked salmon and Hollandaise sauce on top, yummo! Have a great weekend all!

End of second sugar-free September day. No problem, but I confess to having cleaned up the Brie-and-rice crackers. Cheese is not on tomorrow’s shopping list, though, so have moved on from there.

I’m glad you are feeling better, Jojo. The sound you hear is a world-wide sigh of relief 🙂 I hope your pigeon soars again.

You are so right about being organised, Nama! I like your suggestion. I write my name on my items in the work fridge, so no pilfering.

There will be a few insurance claims, Bay. A chimney down here, some cracks in structures there, some goods off supermarket shelves. But nothing major (touch that natural tree-like organism), no tsunami and no lives threatened.

Hair gets 30 seconds of the dryer on work days – weekends it can look after itself. 🙂

Hi Folks,
I am extremely careful how to use water! My hair is extremely long so wash twice a week also I don’t let the water run for nothing. Otherwise I shower very quick. I don’t have too many bottles as well. My husband I have no idea what he does in there. He is that male RT mentioned. I am neat, he is not.
Rarely use the dishwasher, laundry once a week 2 separate loads. We have well water here.
Barata just the word tsunami give me chills! They are predicting a big one someday coming from the Atlantic Ocean coming straight no NYC. We are to far. I am glad your earthquake was minor.
Beautiful day here! Having a couple later for fungi risotto.
No news to report from Princess Scale! I am a bit discouraged.
Enjoy the weekend Guys.
❤️

Love the term ‘Princess Scale’, HBC. 😊
I used to be able to shower (every day) with one bucketful of water, including washing waist length hair, when we lived in the bush and had very limited water (and I do mean VERY). It really does change your perspective! We didn’t have electrcity at all for over 6 months too.
And if you told the kids today, they wouldn’t believe you 😃😃

We’re on a private water supply and it does make you very aware of water wastage. Hoe much water runs down the drain before it runs hot enough for showering or washing up? In a drought I collect that wasted tap water for plants/toilet flushing, etc. And showering – wet yourself all over, water off, soap yourself, rinse! And every house should be plumbed to collect grey water for toilet flushing.