It’s good to plan ahead, and it’s even better to have something substantial sitting in the fridge ready to go for those ‘look, it’s been a long day, can’t really be bothered cooking anything at all’ kind of nights, of which, in December there are oh-so-many.
It’s a busy time of year, and I feel as if I’m being wrenched all over the place, balancing this with that and sometimes failing at everything. I don’t suppose that sense of busy-ness is helped by being married to a vicar. They tend to be run off their feet in December, perhaps understandably, what with the whole upcoming virgin birth celebration thing.
There’s a tax return to do in the middle of all this, too.
I often find that the best way to cut through all of this mayhem is to take things ultra-slow.
Really slow.
As slow as possible.
I read a superb book this year, by Carl Honore, called In Praise of Slow: How a Worldwide Movement is Challenging the Cult of Speed. It describes the ‘slow’ movement, which aims to ratchet things down a notch and enjoy life a little more simply.
It’s an influential and important read, and I think of it often, mainly when my laptop collapses under the strain of trying to wrangle eight spreadsheets and a conference-load of Powerpoints all at the same time.
Stop.
Relax.
Do one thing at once.
Whoever made up that rubbish about people being able to multitask was completely wrong – people multitask even worse than Windows PCs.
Cooking is an obvious way of putting some of these slow principles into action. Here’s a recipe that will produce, when the time comes to put it together, when you’ve battled through the driving, freezing rain, stumbled in through the front door, trod on the cat, and shed your dripping coat, a delicious meal in a few minutes.
The key is preparation and planning. You need to think ahead, but a little planning will pay huge dividends.
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