Little pleasures
We’ve not been the healthiest of people lately, resulting in more than a couple of visits to our local medical walk-in centre (or doc-in-the-box, as I like to call it). Today the centre was more crowded than usual, so when Mister went in, he was less than happy. But they got him in and out quickly, and just in time to see a beautiful, whopping great caterpillar trying to go in the door as Mister was coming out (maybe the poor caterpillar wasn’t feeling up to par?).
Apparently the little guy (the caterpillar, that is) caused a bit of a stir at the centre. Some kind soul rescued him from the automatic door and footfalls of the ill and injured and placed him on a small grassy area adjacent to the centre. Mister came home full of life, excited at having seen such a fantastic beast. He tried to identify the species online but couldn’t narrow the selection beyond three, so he bundled me into the car and we went to see if it was still hanging around.
To our surprise, the caterpillar was happily going in circles beneath one of the nurses’ cars in the parking lot! We waited patiently as he wound his way around and around, up and back, until he finally decided to try to climb one of her front tyres. Then Mister gently lifted him off the ground and let me snap a few photos before placing him on the trunk of a nearby ash tree, which as it turns out is the favourite food of this species. It seemed only fair to try to repay the chubby guy for giving us a little lift.
In the end we identified the little chap as a Sphinx Ligustri, which is commonly known as a Privet Hawk moth.
Cooking
I love cooking. I don’t necessarily enjoy eating, but I love cooking. Maybe it’s an art thing, taking a hodgepodge of ingredients and turning them into something tasty. Or maybe it’s a dessert thing, because I do love all things sweet. Or maybe it’s a shopping thing!
It is a shopaholic’s dream kitting out a well-equipped kitchen. My favourite purchases to date are my Le Creuset pans. Trust me when I say that as expensive as they may seem, they are worth every penny and will last a very long time. Foods cook evenly over moderately low temperatures and taste more vibrant. Ratatouille cooked in my shallow casserole tasted delicious as a whole, but I was amazed at how the individual flavour of each vegetable stood out without being overwhelming. Roasted chickens cook to perfection in my oval roaster, and various soup and gratin dishes have graced my French ovens.
Like toast? Well, don’t settle for a cheap toaster you’ll only end up replacing every few years. Go right for the professional choice and get a Dualit toaster. Made in Great Britain, these guys are built tough to handle all the bread you can throw at them. Get a Vario model with sandwich cages and lunch will become super-easy. A little butter, some sliced deli meat if you like, a bit of cheese, and in just a few minutes the Dualit will present you with a golden toasty sandwich.
You may think rice cookers are frivolous, but if you enjoy rice and eat it often you really should invest in one of these time-savers. At the moment I own a very inexpensive model which has just two settings–cook and warm. It’s ever so easy to use, and I haven’t suffered burned rice once since buying it. But I have my eye on the Zojirushi induction rice cooker, which is capable of handling any type of rice imagineable and has a special programme for GABA rice, which is germinated brown rice. Cooking with this programme activates various enzymes and gives the rice a more complete amino acid profile. It’s an easy way to make a dietary staple even healthier.
My next tool is going to have to be a cook’s blowtorch. I made creme brulees for the first time last night, and though they turned out better than I’d hoped, caramelising the demerara sugar under a hot grill wasn’t incredibly effective. Nothing a little practice and the right tool won’t cure, and if I have to eat a few trial brulees, I’ll cope!
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