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Every day is the first day of the rest of your life, just like it might be the last, and you should treat it with that respect. But today for me feels like the eye in a swirling storm of days, one of which very soon will be the BIG ONE, when things really will change, for the better, in a huge way. It might be tomorrow...
Tomorrow, you see, is my last day at work (as in the job I have had for the last 22 years, as in a proper job, the thing that pays the bills, HSBC IT Project Management). Tomorrow is also Christmas Eve, 2008. In 15 days time I start a six month cookery diploma in Edinburgh, and after that, who knows?
I'm not just changing my career, I'm determined to change many things about my life, for the better. Although I have ideas about the areas I'm not happy with, I want to give my mind time to reflect on things, settle down, then start to think about what those things are and how they need to change. Step 1 has to be to clear out the dross, focus, simplify.
What I want to do is to be true to myself (my perennial New Year's resolution), to be a person that I'm happy with, rather than always being what other people tell me or expect me to be. First I need to work out who I am, what is truly important to me, and then I can start to explore. And I want to do all this without hurting the people I love. That's hard.
For me it's all about passion and creativity. Corporate life gave me neither (with the exception of risk management and baselining project plans, those who know me will point out). The rest of life doesn't give me enough. I need feeding. I'm on a journey for life food! Wild in the Pantry is a name I came up with for the business I will start up once I'm qualified, even though I've not decided exactly what I'm going to do yet. But it sounds good, doesn't it? Doesn't it?! The hell it does. It's certainly passionate and creative, you've got to give me that. Its also a pun based on Bow Wow Wow's Go Wild in the Country (ahh - you must be too young). I like puns. There will be more. Sorry.
There are many people who have helped me get to this point. Thank you. I don't know where my journey is going but I'm glad you're with me.
The purpose of this blog is to tell you how I'm getting on, to inspire you, to make a record of what will be for me an exciting and adventurous time, and of course to make connections between life and food. So you get a free recipe with every post!
All recipes are my own variation on things, or handed down to me - I will never post an exact recipe I have found in a book. As it's Christmas, (and as there have been a number of mentions at work of of barbecued sprouts in the days leading up to me leaving) lets kick off with sprouts, and get them over with...
SPROUTS WITH LEMONTomorrow, you see, is my last day at work (as in the job I have had for the last 22 years, as in a proper job, the thing that pays the bills, HSBC IT Project Management). Tomorrow is also Christmas Eve, 2008. In 15 days time I start a six month cookery diploma in Edinburgh, and after that, who knows?
I'm not just changing my career, I'm determined to change many things about my life, for the better. Although I have ideas about the areas I'm not happy with, I want to give my mind time to reflect on things, settle down, then start to think about what those things are and how they need to change. Step 1 has to be to clear out the dross, focus, simplify.
What I want to do is to be true to myself (my perennial New Year's resolution), to be a person that I'm happy with, rather than always being what other people tell me or expect me to be. First I need to work out who I am, what is truly important to me, and then I can start to explore. And I want to do all this without hurting the people I love. That's hard.
For me it's all about passion and creativity. Corporate life gave me neither (with the exception of risk management and baselining project plans, those who know me will point out). The rest of life doesn't give me enough. I need feeding. I'm on a journey for life food! Wild in the Pantry is a name I came up with for the business I will start up once I'm qualified, even though I've not decided exactly what I'm going to do yet. But it sounds good, doesn't it? Doesn't it?! The hell it does. It's certainly passionate and creative, you've got to give me that. Its also a pun based on Bow Wow Wow's Go Wild in the Country (ahh - you must be too young). I like puns. There will be more. Sorry.
There are many people who have helped me get to this point. Thank you. I don't know where my journey is going but I'm glad you're with me.
The purpose of this blog is to tell you how I'm getting on, to inspire you, to make a record of what will be for me an exciting and adventurous time, and of course to make connections between life and food. So you get a free recipe with every post!
All recipes are my own variation on things, or handed down to me - I will never post an exact recipe I have found in a book. As it's Christmas, (and as there have been a number of mentions at work of of barbecued sprouts in the days leading up to me leaving) lets kick off with sprouts, and get them over with...
This recipe makes them more than slightly edible.
sprouts, outer leaves removed, and cut in half
1 garlic clove, crushed and chopped
1 rasher bacon, finely chopped
olive oil or butter
lemon juice
1. Steam the sprouts for 10 minutes until just starting to go tender.
2. Meanwhile fry the garlic and bacon in oil/butter (you can do this in advance to make life easier)
3. Turn up the heat and toss the sprouts in the garlic/bacon for 3-4 minutes.
4. Turn off the heat and mix in a generous sprinkling of lemon juice.
To peel garlic easily, cut off both ends of the clove, then crush it gently with the blade of your knife - the skin just falls away.
