And so it begins...

I've been thinking of something appropriate to write about, something inspiring for the new year, but I seem to be at a loss for words. This festive season, as all festive seasons, was really busy and Stefan and I have neglected our fat Saturday duties. Partially because of the lack of time, but mostly as it was a rather Fat Month. I mean do you really ever stop eating over December? At work people start bringing in cakes the day December dawns, all in anticipation of the celebrations to come. Then, in January, they bring all the left over cookies and chocolates and Christmas cake to tempt their office mates who haven't started their detox diets yet. So actually it is 2 months of eating. Well, I have decided it is time to slam on the brakes. I've downloaded this wonderful app on my iPhone that allows me to count calories during the day, so it is all systems go from here and the big battle against the bulge begins.

It has been a bit of an emotional few weeks. You always miss your family over Christmas. It makes me sad that my kids cannot spend it with their grandparents. Life is strange. You plan things when you are young, you imagine your life running a certain course, and then it ends up being completely different. Was it John Lennon that said: "life is what happens when you are making other plans"? I think it was him, not that I am a fan, but boy, did life hit him in the chest when I am sure he was planning to go and have a hot bath and a lie down. 

Back at work did not prove any less emotional.One of  my students was diagnosed with cancer over the festive season. I guess for him it was just a season, nothing festive about it. He is one of my favourite students and my heart is broken for him. He is my age. I am betting he did not plan for this to happen either. I guess he will now become one of us; The Slow Cooked Gang. It's a group of people I belong to (only figuratively speaking of course.) We have been made tender by exposing us to low heat over a very long period of time. At the start of the process ( although initially we would not have agreed with this statement at all) we were tough and hard to swallow, but as time progressed, we've become tender, easier to digest and if we are lucky, picked up a few good flavours along the way. See, this process cannot be rushed. It takes time, sometimes years to get rid of hard exteriors, bad habits and personality flaws. Slow, constant heat is all that does this. The only thing is that after you've been tenderised, there is no going back. Your view of life has become permanently altered and when you watch people throwing fits over trivia like the rise of student tuition fees, you can recognise that their time in the Slow Cooker has not yet begun.

The bad thing about this Slow Cooker thing is that you usually get shoved into it, rather unexpectedly. It is never a choice to go into one. I mean who is willingly going to go through such an unpleasant experience. Nope, you get shoved in, usually head first. Your initial reaction is always to try and climb out of the thing, cause lets face it, even low heat at a constant rate can eventually cook you all the way through. It's not a pleasant place to be and can be very lonely, but if the Cook knows what He is doing (and He always does) the end result is a tenderised soul.

When I look back, I definitely needed some time in the Slow Cooker of life. In fact, I think I am still in it, I have just got used to the heat.

So to all those who have spent time in life's little Dutch Oven, I propose you try out the recipe link for Ragu. It's amazing. If you rush this dish it is awful, but the longer it spends time in our Slow Cooking friend, the more delicious it becomes. Maybe, when you sit down to have a mouthful of this, it will give you hope that there is a reason for all of this happening to you and at the end, you will turn out one of the best dishes the Great Cook has ever created.

Until next week...