2021 - 52 weeks of doing something different

Thanks all.

Playing catch up, so two new things last week. I smoked some pollock for the first time, although I should say over-smoked because the smoker is outside and I briefly forgot about it!! It will have to be used in very small portions to flavour other things And I made soda bread for the first time in nearly 30 years. I made it a lot when I was at cookery school in Ireland and hadn't since. I'd forgotton that lovely distinctive flavour.
This week I made jam drop cookies for the first time. The recipe was one of those irritating ones that tells you to preheat the oven first of all and then the method includes 30mins resting in the fridge before baking. Perehaps they're in league with the gas/electric companies? And yes I did read the recipe first  so didn't get caught out.
No news on my flu jab yet, it has been done at the pharmacie for the last few years which is so much more convenient, and hopefully this year I'll get an automatic invite again and not have to go and sit in the waiting room with a load of sick people to see the dr first

This weeks new thing is take away pizza! A mobile pizza place is coming to the village this evening. We’ll be going to collect our freshly made wood fired pizza at 8.30.

Oooh lovely SC! I love proper pizza like that

I have a little pizza oven that goes on the barbeque and that is fantastic, but I'm looking to get a big one!

This weeks not exactly new thing. I fell over   . Not done that for a good few years, thankfully. Nothing broken, just a Nice big purple bruise & bit of a lump on my thigh     .

Hope you're OK, SC. Take more water with it next time.

Hope you're OK, SC. Take more water with it next time.

   I wish that was the reason   . My waterproof trousers got caught on a nail as I was stepping out of the neighbours feed shed (horse & dog sitting duties) . So I fell out of the shed  . Luckily no one was driving past and saw me lying on the floor trying to work out how to untangle my legs & trying to get up again   . The getting up off the floor has not looked pretty for ages anyway   . Oddly enough it coincides with starting on the build. General takes a couple of minutes & about 3 attempts     And that’s with a much more controlled getting on to the floor   .

I need a BIG Catch up here so here are a few things I've done recently that I've never done before.

Cooked Carlin Peas - I expected them to be like mushy peas but they stayed firm, soft but firm. Not impressed by their flavour enough to want to eat a bowl of them, with or without vinegar so I added them to a tin of tomatoes and some onions and ate them with rice.

Made porridge with wholegrain oats.....chewy, like eating a soggy muesli bar. Added out of date sultanas and honey.

Tried Oat Milk. I don't drink normal milk, its too "thick" and brings back memories of sour milk in junior school. Oat milk was surprisingly nice on porridge but I'll still drink my coffee black! I have 8 cartons of Oat milk to use before 2022 so I'm pleased that its palatable.

Make a list of what you've tried to date each week - you may surprise yourself!!

1. Pickled Red Cabbage (tasted good)
2. Sprouted Broad/fava beans and peas (failed - went mouldy)
3. Followed a recipe (almost) - Dal Saag/ Split yellow pea and spinach daal (Nice - will do again)
4. Switched from using Kleenex to table napkins for hankies (Still doing - permanent habit now)
5. Went to Splott for a Covid Jab
6. Followed a recipe almost for split Fava bean hummus (Failed - need right ingredients).

 7. Stopped drinking wine (still stopped)
8.  Bought a 4 light grow-light thingy.
9. Had windscreen replaced at an industrial estate I've never been to before.
10.  Stopped using talcum powder (an unnecessary plastic container)
11. Diluted washing up liquid by 50% (still doing that)
12.  became a NOMAD and picked lunch every day from the garden - including wild plants (still picking but not 100%)
13.  Made a Mint omelette
14. Took down a fence that divides the garden (still reinstating! - done)
15. Went yellow sticker hunting in the evening, not Sunday afternoon. 
16. Turned a plastic dog bed into a pond.
17. Made Herb Salt

18. Boycotted Social media for the weekend and didn't miss it.
19.  Started using washable wipes in the toilet (still doing it).
20. Read an old book "Three men in a boat" by Jerome K Jerome.
21. Ate tinned pineapple and evaporated milk - like childhood Sunday afternoon tea.
22. Cooked Red Quinoa.
23. Started Standing on one leg with PP.
24. Timed my shower with a 4 minute timer.

25. Bought Soap Offcuts
26. Washed my hair with a Shampoo Soap bar. (After several washes I've gone back to liquid shampoo and am using the shampoo bars as body soap).
27. Made Onion chutney (Nice)
28. Made Apricot jam from cheap fruit (great taste but not set well).
29. Started a different sort of Diary - 12 books, one for each month, that will be reused for years (that's the theory!).
30. Gave my Grandmother's China to a charity.
31. Cleared the Welsh Dresser and shuffled furniture in the kitchen.
32. Decluttering on a grand scale.
33. Had a Chinese Takeaway.

34. Bought a box of Random Books
35. Played the Mad Old Aunt card and got out of going to a family wedding.
36. Had a Flu Jab in a Pharmacy
37. Acquired 60 Free 2021 Diaries and some Calendars.
38. Cooked and ate Carlin Peas
39. Made porridge with "Suffolk organic YG oats". Chewy.
40. Tried Oat milk.

Phew!!

41. builds on 19. - Started using washable wipes in the toilet (still doing it).
"If its yellow, let it mellow" can be a bit too much sometimes so I've found a way of diluting "it" without flushing the loo.
When washing my hands afterwards, I catch the water in a little bowl (actually a large yogurt tub). I also rinse out the "washable wipe" in the bowl - then I pour the slightly soapy water into the toilet.
No paper and no flushing!!