Simpler is better

The past week was not the greatest. I shall skip lightly over the not so mild meltdown and all the FEEEEEELINGS and get to the bit about having an almost entirely empty diary, the extreme satisfaction over this, the pleasure I’m taking in focusing on doing Nice Things for Me. We moved a couple of things around in the craft studio/guest room, to surprisingly dramatic effect; the room suddenly seems much bigger and brighter and more welcoming. I’m enjoying a range of new craft projects that aren’t just knitting – I realised that knitting doesn’t engage much of my brain, even when I have to pay attention so much of it is automatic, so I’m seeking out things that demand more of my attention for that therapeutic, “meditative” effect people go on about so much. And, again, yoga. Yay yoga.

#Not52recipes: Please take note of my two moments of original(ish) culinary genius this week: Ultimate Tomato Sauce and Best Cauliflower Soup. The first resulted from a combination of simple tricks: Marcella Hazan’s famous three-ingredient sauce, but with a lot less butter and with the onion left in, plus some parmesan and gruyére rinds (hence the lower butter quota), plus sun-dried tomatoes. After simmering you just remove the rinds, blend the rest and enjoy the most amazing meal. The second is similarly simple: roast cauli, plus a squeeze of crushed onions and garlic from the tubes, plus veggie stock. That’s it. I was expecting to add some cream and maybe wine to get it dinner-ready but it was perfect just like that, it tastes creamy even without any further additions. I feel clever.