1: Cooking and finding new recipes and techniques. I’ve found a new cookbook I recommend, The Doctor’s Kitchen 3-2-1 by Dr Rupa Aujla – a whole new, delicious way of cooking and eating.
- ‘As a busy doctor, I know that one of the main reasons people choose not to cook at home is lack of time as well as the effort to cook it. In my new book – I promise you flavourful dishes that consistently look after our bodies, helping to beat illness by optimising our food choices. This is a prescription to fill yourself, one plate at a time.’ Dr Rupa Aujla.
2: Sour dough splatter. Those hours of abandon, flour and dough-splattered clothing and the kitchen, the mind-cleansing processes of stretching, kneading, shaping and baking, and the delicious, unique taste of the finished loaf.
3: Lye ins and not feeling guilty. There’s nothing to do, nowhere to go, anything that needs urgent attention, so why rush and stay an extra hour in bed.
4: An extra chunk of chocolate or two and a smallish (or not so small) glass of wine to uplift the spirit. It works.
5: Binge watching of Netflix and finding shows I didn’t think I’d like, although the cupboard is nearly empty!
6: Reading. There are a whole host of good books out there, and most I haven’t read!
7: Wearing pyjamas well into the morning and I confess, sometimes all day!
8: Lighting an extra fire.
9: The availability of many more online talks and live performances, and at a minimal cost. These started off quite clunky, now the producers have discovered the right formula and the shows are much smarter.
10: Zoom chats with friends and family. For me, with my family spread all round the world, Zoom’s been a tremendous benefit. Of course I’d prefer the real thing, in the flesh, but that’ll come. In the meantime, it’s wonderful to be able to link-up live with loved ones.
Lockdown has been no picnic, we all agree on that, and for some it’s been life-changing and a huge challenge. I’m thankful and grateful to have a home, a roof over my head, and food to eat.
Stay well and safe.
~
My recent publications
Life in four stories
All proceeds go to the INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS (ICRC) to help the most vulnerable communities fight COVID – 19.
Four shorts: two about life, love, and death; one a poignant and disturbing memory that dangles a question unanswered; and one a wild fantasy – plus the first chapter of my latest book, Otto and Frankie.
By buying this book you are helping fund ICRC in its valuable work.
Thank you.
My latest novel, Otto and Frankie, is about a dying man’s fight against injustice, his wife’s unusual affair, and the love from his long-lost daughter.
Otto and his daughter Frankie could not be more different. He’s rich, an acclaimed author, human rights activist, and lives in England. She lives in New York, just about survives from one pay cheque to the next and hasn’t seen or spoken to her father for twenty years. Dutifully reunited by his impending death, she’s amazed to find him a kind and noble man who, while grappling with his wife’s bizarre affair, champions for the world’s forgotten and dispossessed to his last. After Otto’s death, Frankie’s admiration for her father leads her into a dangerous and life changing pursuit.
Nick Wastnage 