Reset & Intention - April 24

Thoughts on Intention, setting the stall out for April and a few food thoughts.

It’s the 1st of April, Easter Monday and a holiday here in the UK. I've got up at the usual hour; partly I want to reset my body clock against the disruptive hour change yesterday, and partly I want to make the most of a free day... and start what feels like the perfect time to execute the next 12-week year, with a review and reset on those intentions.

Sitting down at the PC with a cup of peppermint tea, I search for that dial. You know the one, the one with the option to press reset, wait for 5 seconds, and then a new person will suddenly emerge! The items that need doing will all be laid out for me, and seamlessly all the thinking will have been done and come naturally!

With the hour change, it's still dark as I open the curtains. My aches and pains from being in the garden all day yesterday are ever present. Different muscles, in a state of shock, wondering what's hit them. I wasn't going to miss a blue sky day, moments of warmth and healing rays for the mind after what has felt like a hard dull period of winter darkness.

This morning though it feels like it's getting darker as the clouds roll in for a typical Edinburgh weather day. The plan is to get that early run in regardless of the weather. Today, I can take my time knowing there is no 9am scrum call. Warm up properly beforehand, at least get some movement into the hips, and more importantly, warm down afterwards.

The run kicks the brain into action, and I start to think about how I can use this day, make the most of it. I nearly go down a rabbit hole as Apple warns me a site I visited a good few years ago has had its security breached. I realise this isn't the plan and reach for the Bullet Journal video on intention from Ryder Carroll.

I make notes with the intention of fueling the next cycle of activities, a reset, a chance of hitting some resolutions from a different angle.

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In other news :-

Where do you stand on making notes in your cookbooks?

Which is the question Orlando Murrin posed in the Waitrose Weekend magazine back in February (issue 686). I know, I know, I only just got around to reading it! I've reached the point where I wish I had made more notes, tweaks, and acknowledged the errors of my ways. Keeping a better journal has prompted me to revisit one of my long-standing books, published in 2005: Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries. It has been a backbone to my aspirations of becoming a better cook, broken down into a month-by-month format that makes it easy to follow along by season. Similarly, it has been left by the wayside as the seasons moved on, and one forgets the commitment of dipping into each month. So, it's definitely time for a revisit, like an old friend who sits on your shoulder. I've made various attempts at sticking to a routine of living with Nigel. I thought I'd give it a try for April, making notes along the way, using him as my guide, and seeing how I've changed as a cook and in my eating habits. I'll give myself permission to pass if it doesn't align with my intention to stay healthy or if it's just not going to meet the household needs.

Aprils Recipe List from Nigel Slater’s Kitchen Diary:

• Chicken with mustard seed and coconut milk

• Thai fishcakes

• Green curry of prawns and Thai aubergines

• Mackerel with cumin and lemon

• Thyme and feta lamb

• Baked red mullet with saffron and mint

• Bramley apple shortcake

• Pork and lemon polpettine

• Mustard chops

• Orange and lemon cheesecake

• A curry of aubergines, tomatoes and lemon grass

• A stunning orange sorbet

• Toasted chocolate brioche

• Spaghetti with new season's garlic

• Roast chicken wings with lemon and cracked pepper

• Lemon trifle

• Chicken with vermouth, tarragon and cream

• Lemon-frosted pistachio cake and an impromptu sorbet

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Whats been on the menu this weekend?

Roast Leg of Lamb... My wife asked me where the recipe was from as I was rubbing olive oil over a huge chunk of meat. I played into the irony by announcing that this was from the Eat Less Meat Cookbook!! Joking aside, the ethos behind it is that from one cut of meat, you can make several meals from the leftovers. I also made a batch of broth that will see me through the week, and we've got shepherd's pie on the menu this evening.

Alongside that a crumble, which caused a fight over the leftovers.....and a little too much chocolate as the Easter passes through.

The health kick begins!

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Books this month

Along with this, well it's the start of a new month so my book list looks like this:

Learning Corner

• The Bullet Journal Method - Ryder Carrol - More a refresh, an approach to living intentionally

• InDistractable - Nir Eyal - Interesting take on avoiding whirlpools

• On Failure - School of Life - possible I'm heading into a bumpy month work wise

Bedtime Reading

• The Farmers Wife - Helen Rebanks - memoire esq, a few recipes....research and enjoyable

• Assasins Apprentice - Robin Hogg, an escape from the normal reading

In the kitchen

• Bold Beans - Ameila Christie-Miller, in an effort to do better and help the planet

• Kitchen Diaries - Nigel Slater, as per above

• The Secret of Cooking - Bee Wilson, it's a good amount of reading, I'm halted by the recipes.

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I’ll let you know how I get on and thanks for reading as I put my thoughts out into the world.