My apologies to all. I have been busy and have fallen behind with my reading. I will therefore be launching a reading campaign tonight, but comments may be short and banal. This isn’t too far from my normal standard, but I thought I’d get my apologies in first.

Same for the brown potato soup. It is not my best, but it is acceptable for someone working in the cold and requiring warmth and nourishment at mid-day. It is healthy and free of additives. It was, I confess, meant to be celery soup but having over-softened (burnt) the onions and added what seems to have been too much potato, the result is a reminder to look at more recipes. If at first you don’t succeed, rename the recipe. The plan was to add Stilton cheese, but I may wait until I produce a soup where you can taste the celery. No point throwing good ingredients after bad.

Tonight’s cauliflower was huge. I couldn’t cut steaks as it would have needed a machete, and I’m not sure we could manage a whole one. Not sure what we will be eating for the next few days (I’m back to a no menu/no clue situation) but I’m fairly sure it’s going to feature cauliflower.

Anyway, it’s time for the cheese sauce now, and a nice healthy meal of oven-roasted parsnips, carrots and leeks with cauliflower and cheese sauce. I’m resigned to, rather than enthusiastic about our new vegetarian lifestyle, but sometimes you have to do these things. It cheap, it’s healthy, it’s better for the planet, and it’s possibly more moral (I really don’t have a problem with killing animals to eat them). Whether it’s more fun, I wouldn’t like to say.