Good morning, everyone. It was another chilly, wild and woolly day here in Mid Essex yesterday and I was quite busy.
I went for my appointment with my GP, then popped along to Aldi for bits and bobs and finally to B&Q for some light bulbs and some granular salt for the water softener. Once home, I pottered in the kitchen for a time and then used a Mamade can of strawberry conserve stuff to make - well, strawberry conserve. It ended up really quite nice and I will be giving the pots to my parents as they get through quite a lot of jam and marmalade, one way and another.
I concocted a chicken and veg soup (very nice) for lunch and then some bean burgers which were for dinner. Finally, I sat down with the telly on dividing my attention between one of those 'let's buy antiques cheap and sell them for more' type programmes and the new BBC Good Food magazine that I got in Aldi.
The Twelve Days thingy is nearly over now and there's been times when I wish I'd not started it, racking my brains for ideas and not always succeeding very well. The Grape jelly for yesterday was really nice, definitely a treat that I will repeat. I'm just thinking of infusing the grape juice with Christmas flavours - star anise, cinnamon, mixed spice, that sort of thing. Might be worth a go, don't you think?
Today is another H and I do wish I hadn't used both Happy and Healthy for the last one. I could mention the very cheap h'electric spiraliser I bought from Aldi yesterday but that's not at all festive. In the end I have decided to go for 'Home'. H is for Home.
I've loved the way my house has been a Christmas Home this year, thanks to the candles and the sparklies. I think there's nothing more festive than candles and if you can get the spicy fragranced ones, so much the better. They're looking a bit battered now but that's because they have been used. I lit them last night and enjoyed the h'atmosphere all evening (sorry). I know it is all window dressing really but it has been really lovely and I will miss it all.
T: Turkey - dealing with the Christmas bird
W: Winter Ware - using my Christmas plates
E: Exercise and Energy - start to get moving over the new year
L: Low-fat Living - the side effects of a very low fat diet
F: Festive Fish - kedgeree or the like
T: Thermal slipper-socks. Warm feet, happy me!
H: Have a Happy and Healthy New Year
N: No-waste Nuts - the joy of sharing
I: Iced Imbibations (is that actually a word?)
G: Grape juice jelly - how to use up the leftover Schloer; some of it anyway!
H: Home
I love Christmas, putting all the decorations up and being surprised every time I come across. A Christmas tree
ReplyDeletedownstairs.
However, by this point, (Twelfth Night), I'm ready to put them away and to look forward to the freshness of the new year.
I've had enough of festive fare and look forward to simple meals of fruit and vegetables.
I hope your year will be a happy and healthy one and that you will soon have your good health back. It sounds as though you've resisted temptation well throughout the Twelve Nights! Sue
I shall miss the colour and brightness bit, yes, it's nice to look ahead to a clean, fresh year with lots of blank pages just asking to be written on.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind wishes for 2018 and the same back to you.
I've done OK. A quick hop onto the scales yesterday showed that I'd lost the Christmas gain and a bit more besides so I'm happy with that - better than I expected. :-)
J x