The end of the world

I dreamt that we knew that the end of the world was coming. I was in a house with children that I loved; my own children, my parents, my sisters and brother and some others (perhaps ex pupils). They were all children. I was the only adult with them.

We were on the first floor and there were stairs leading down to the front door, though it couldn’t be seen from the room we were in. There was an explosion a long way away and out of the window we could see buildings collapsing and turning to dust radiating out from the blast. I called the children to me and most of them came, although some preferred to carry on playing. I didn’t insist, as long as they weren’t afraid and happy with what they were doing.

I was expecting an explosion as the crumbling buildings became closer and closer to where we were. Some dust was coming in through the front doorway which I realized was open. The dust was coming up the stairs. I decided there wasn’t much point in closing it. Through the windows we could see dust rising to the level of the room we were in. It was a greeny yellow dust. At this point I realized that we were going to suffocate and be buried in the dust. I started to pray; at first for help, when I realized there was no use in that. I asked for peace and calm so that the children wouldn’t be afraid. I woke up when my breathing started to become really difficult, but I was still calm

More cookery?

Incredibly I dreamt about cooking last night. I was in a long narrow kitchen, there were plenty of cupboards ovens and electric and gas burners but no work surfaces. It made life very difficult – nowhere to put down hot saucepans and dishes, let alone prepare the food. I’ve not long started reading 'Last Night in Twisted River' by John Irving – hence the busy kitchen. I already knew that the loggers ate well, but the descriptions of the huge quantities of food that they eat and the conditions of preparation obviously went to my head. It’s a great read, but not if you’re on a diet.

Moi, giving cookery advice?

I don’t think I’ve ever blogged about cooking before*. I came across a very interesting tip the other day which I thought I’d share: When you are cake making, substitute the butter with pureed avocado pear. Yes, you did read it right. Apparently cookies that were made with avocado were less crumbly and it doesn’t change the taste.

 At Christmas I made a mustard cake which was very dry, it sounds like the ideal way to solve the problem. (Mustard cake makes a nice nibble to go with drinks before a meal)

Don’t forget to let me know how you get on.

Check out the comments in my previous post. Keith has left a link which could be useful if you are aspiring to make the perfect omlette.

*I tell a lie, if you click on the cookery label below,  I posted something about 7 years ago.

About those New Year resolutions

I’ve actually written some down.

I wonder how many people like me have decided to lose some weight this year. Millions, judging by all of the advice that is cluttering up my email box. I’ve  read  a few (100 or so) ideas and surprise, surprise, I already carry out a lot of them. I drink water, don’t take sugar in tea or coffee, eat breakfast, eat plenty of fibre, don’t snack between meals, dessert at lunch time is always fruit and so on. I know what my problem is – portion size. That’s another resolution for the list, reduce portion size.

One useful tip I did pick up: Just aim for a 5% weight loss and then take it from there. A lot of health websites tell you to aim for 10 %.  5% seems more obtainable to me.

 I’ve also decided to exercise for at least 10 minutes 3 times a week (as well as the normal walking I do). I accidently discovered something to help. Just now, I thought I’d start off with 5 minutes to music. I put on Boz Scaggs; an old friend of mine for exercising to. 6 minutes passed without any effort at all! I hadn’t realized how important a good tune was to get me moving.

 I’m also aiming for more blogging. I’ve been rather slack over the past year. I’m also going to try to make my posts more interesting. While I’m at the keyboard I need to write more fiction and poetry. Hopefully I should have slimmer fingers at least from all of the typing.