Of Marmalade, Chocolate and Cabbage

 Regarding Marmalade:  I go through a lot of marmalade! I like a fairly thick dose on my breakfast toast. The jar I am currently using was a Christmas gift from my daughter (her "Best in Show" from the food division of Markham Fair and it is yummy). But it is coming to an end so, today, I decided to make my own.

   I haven't seen the Seville oranges in the stores yet but I had a lemon and a tangelo orange which would do. I also didn't have any pectin but used the "setting point" method to determine when it was ready to jar. It came out beautifully! It was a doddle to make and although just two jars, will last me until my next grocery shop.

Regarding chocolate:  I have expunged (i.e.eaten) all chocolate from the house (that includes choc. chips from the baking cupboard) and won't buy any until after St. Valentine's Day when there will probably be some bargains. Then comes the long haul from Shrove Tuesday (Feb. 21st. I think) until Easter when I will abstain from chocolate and alcohol for Lent. At the moment I am down to just a couple of drinks a week which is a good start. Easter lunch will no doubt be celebratory!

Regarding cabbage: Feeling in the need for something green, and lettuce and broccolli being a ridiculous price, I bought a small cabbage almost two weeks ago. Despite having made two casseroles and eaten some at almost every meal, there is still a fair portion of it left! It's still quite fresh so I will munch away until it is gone and by then I will be well and truly sick of it. The casseroles were the best way to use it up and several portions of each are in the freezer.

    Since it was wet almost all day today (very unusual for February here) I got yogurt started in my Instapot. I haven't bought yogurt since January as I am using half a cup of each batch to start the next one. I don't think I am saving much money but I am cutting back on plastic by using the original container for each new batch. Yay to me for helping the environment!

   We had two new people at Knitters group this morning and some lovely treats. We have produced (not me personally, I am very slow) quite an accumulation of Twiddlemuffs but I managed to distribute some of our other creations (again, not me personally) to a Veteran's hospital. Now the job is to get into some Long Term Care homes with the Twiddlemuffs. 

    After the meeting 5 of us went for lunch. I had a Caesar salad which was very good and just the amount I wanted. Dinner tonight will be leftover chicken thighs and cabbage so not much preparation needed. Then I am off the Dance group where Nigel has promised us a very tricky dance, "The Glasgow Highlanders". Stay tuned to hear whether we mastered it or not!

The Bard

    We had a big dump of wet snow the other day and I am still trying to remove it all from the driveway. There was only one day when I was restricted to home so it wasn't too disruptive.

   Luckily this all happened after the Burns' Night supper at my Scottish country dance class. We had a great turnout and, after some dances, one of our class members performed the "Address to the Haggis". Then we consumed the beast along with lots of other goodies - a very successful evening!

Eating Out

    I have been very naughty this week, overindulging at the expense of my bank account. Normally I eat out, at the most, once a week and some weeks not at all, so this trend is rather troubling.

   Tuesday was the monthly retired teachers' lunch which I had already paid for by cheque. It was lasagna and salad with rhubarb pie and coffee for "afters". The speaker was "Officer Bob" (I think I have mentioned him before, his topic this time was Romance and other scams specifically aimed at seniors. He's quite funny while imparting an important message.

   Wednesday was my youngest grandson's 13th birthday (all three are now teenagers and quite a handful (glad I'm not either of their parents). I was invited to dinner to help him celebrate and it was steak, roast potatoes, salad and a green veg followed by yummy birthday cake. The conversation at the table was lively, to say the least, and ranged through a variety of topics which were all hotly contested. I barely got a word in edgewise! That meal just cost me his birthday present (money) and a card so I got off lightly.

     On Thursday I attended the Probus meeting and was persuaded to join some friends for lunch afterwards. Six of us went to a local all-day breakfast joint which I had been to before and knew to order lightly as the helpings are enormous! Even then I still had to bring some home for dinner - I had Spanakopita and it wasn't even that good, but I ate it all regardless so I didn't have to cook any dinner that night. It cost more than I thought it was worth but I gave the waitress a nice tip as she treated us well. I don't think I'll go back there again.

    So now my waistline and my wallet need a bit of a break so I will be eating and spending less next week.

   One bonus - I picked up a Tim Horton's coffee before the Probus meeting (our coffee break is still cancelled and I had gone there straight from my Yoga class) and had earned enough points to get my "small decaf double-double" free!