Festive Season Flab

Well here we are pretty much back to normal, I now have an extra 20kgs that I would like to lose before our August trip to Portugal! I would like to go over there a lean, mean Portuguese food eating machine. The main problem as I see it is that Janet and I are by nature hedonistic, and this is going to take one huge habit and lifestyle shift, are we capable of it? I don't think so. Yesterday morning I was lying in bed and I said to Janet, "I think I'm going to buy a bicycle."
I waited for a response but for a while there was none, the bed was shaking a bit, I think because she was laughing, then she said "I'm going to smack you!" she turned to look at me "You had one and you never used it, eventually Simon took it to Stellenbosch and it got stolen!"

I pondered this for a while, maybe she's right, maybe I wouldn't ride it - I've got a bike and it does it's own work. So what are the alternatives? We have spent a lot of money on gym equipment over the years, most of which doesn't "fold easily to store under the bed or behind the door." Ours takes up all of the space in the laundry room where it is used as expensive clothes horses.

Walking? Janet walks 4,5km to work every day and often walks back in the evening and my intention is usually to leave home at the same time she leaves work and meet her halfway, but I find I am quite easily able to be just that bit busy so that "Oh damn!" it's too late to walk out to meet her.

Running? Yeah right!

Moving on; We had a good festive season, we were supposed to go down to Capetown to celebrate New Year with Joe and Annie but I had such a terrible day at work, hugely busy and I knew that I wasn't going to finish early or be in any mood to travel so I phoned Joe and begged off. I finished work very late and then we decided just to chill at home, it was a fantastic warm and calm evening so the three of us had a braai. (My sister Janet was with us.)

Check out these lamb ribs;

Nicely browned over hot coals to seal in the juices and the flavour, I then cut them up into individual ribs and put them back on the grid to crisp up slightly. I flavoured them with my favourite Aromat and a lamb mint sprinkle, a little salt to taste and they make a wonderful appetizer before the main meal.Rory and Penny came up for Saturday night and we decided to give them a spoil - Calamari in a creamy Pernod sauce on pasta rice; first gently fry some finely chopped onion in a little butter and olive oil until they are transparent, remove from the pan and set aside. Next quickly fry some Calamari in the pan until it just begins to whiten and is almost cooked, remove from the pan and add to the onions.

Now pour half a cup of Pernod into the pan and use a spatula to "de-glaze" the pan until all of the "bits" are loosened and the Pernod has reduced considerably, then add half a cup of wine and bring to the boil. Let that reduce a bit, about by half and then add up to 250ml fresh cream and bring to the boil. Stir in a teaspoon of mixed herbs and then add the calamari and onions and allow to heat through, remove from the heat and serve on pasta rice.

The same recipe works very well with peeled prawns and you can also add fresh crushed garlic at the onion frying stage if you wish, very easy really delicious and worth a try - our guests loved it.

We haven't ridden much except for the Christmas weekend down to Capetown but the traffic was mad especially the mini-bus taxis! (nuff said.)

We did drink a heck of a lot of beer though!

Cheers - all the best.