January roundup

I fully intended to publish this post about 2 weeks ago - I had the photos lined up and prepped and everything, so I could have it on here before I left for my trip to England (more on that later). But, once again, I ran out of time.

I'm posting it now so we can get caught up to the present and then move on to current happenings. So - notable items from the rest of January:

I've been eating some variation of this a lot lately: heat some oil in a skillet, saute some chopped salami and pepper, throw in some greens to wilt, then clear a space and crack in an egg or two. Serve with a piece of toast and you've got a complete meal in a very short time. Works for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. (Miss B won't touch this with a bargepole, but DP has warmed to it after seeing me eat it several times.)

I didn't finish undecorating the Christmas tree until January 22. This is a new record in slackness. I blame going on a beach vacation in the second week of January, which never happens to me in the northern hemisphere.

Aforementioned beach vacation: sand castle construction underway. To say nothing of the stunning natural landscape that is Jervis Bay, just doing its thing in the background.

One of my goals this year is to develop my cake-decorating skills - and to allow sufficient time and opportunity to practice. Behold: my birthday gift to myself, on which I spent a happy and absorbed hour.

In the spirit of DIY January, I selected Dorie Greenspan's beurre and sel jammers when DP asked me to bake something as his contribution to his department's first morning tea gathering of the year. Mainly because they provided an unmissable opportunity to tackle some of the umpteen half-empty jars of homemade jam taking up space in the fridge; I emptied about four jars into the two dozen cookies this recipe makes. Favorable reports back from the crew at work.

And finally, a reminder to myself (and anyone else who might need it) about the greatness of simple but delicious things: a soft-boiled egg for breakfast, eaten with strips of buttered, toasted bread (known as "soldiers" in England). Almost as enjoyable as the eating part was using one of the beautiful egg cups I bought at a Christmas market in Birmingham years ago, and thinking of the friends who took us there and the lovely day we had. There is always so much more to food than just the ingestion, or even the preparation, of it.

That's all for January. Stay tuned for reports from the latest jaunt to England.