Recipes: Tea-Soaked Prunes

I made this a couple of times back when we lived in Spain*, but had forgotten about it til today. The previous tenant of the house we lived in in Pamplona had bequeathed us a cupboard full of exotic teas, and there's only so much roobios and lapsang souchong you can actually drink, and I found this recipe in some Spanish-language thing that I don't clearly remember. It may not even have been a recipe, now that I come to think of it.

Anyway, the point is that this combines delicious prunes (what? I like prunes) with delicious tea, and it is also very good for you as well.

All you do is brew some strong tea of your choice in a jar (teas with floral notes like earl grey work best) and add a few big strips of orange or lemon rind. Once it's cool, chuck in as many prunes as will fit into the jar and leave it to soak for at least two days. 

After that, they go in yoghurt, in cakes, in rice pudding, or whatever prune-friendly thing you happen to be eating. Prunes: not just for your granny.

*and, on an unrelated note, had a very cheese-heavy diet. I'm just saying.

Eat more veggies!

Undeniably, we are faced with the very challenging question: how can we eat really well every day without contributing to global warming, the suffering of animals or the pillaging of our precious marine resources? There is one, unequivocal answer: to eat more vegetables. Addressing this issue isn't about giving anything up, it's about filling your boots: embracing a world of fabulous, fresh ingredients and finding some new and irresistible ways to cook and serve them. The crucial thing is the mental shift: after that, I predict you will find it a breeze.

A great, positive and enthusiastic column on the joys of near-vegetarianism from one of my foodie heroes, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall - read it here.

It's hard to mope when you're choking on bubble tea

Dear me, but the last few days have been a bit grim, haven't they? I should just change the title of my blog to 'Tash Tells a Sad Story' and have done with it. So, just for a change, I'm going to tell you about some things that won't make me cry as I write about them.

Yesterday I had lunch with some people from my office, which was nice, except that someone decided we were going to go to the seventh level of food court hell and eat bain marie Chinese food. Jesus Mary and Joseph, but it was awful. For one, there was the whole bain marie aspect - call me crazy, but I have a tiny problem with eating food that has been stewing in a warm bath of salmonella and grease since the dawn of time. My philosophy of eating is that I should never have to pay money for a prepared meal that I would be embarrassed to serve to someone if they came round to my house for dinner. If I'm paying money for you to give me food, it should be because it's something I can't make myself - I'm not saying everything has to be Michelin standard. I'll happily eat a McDonald's apple pie, because, as much as it only barely classifiable as food, I couldn't make it myself because I lack a deep fryer and access to industrial chemicals. But this Chinese was just crappy. They had about 16 dishes, only one of which was vegetarian. How did I know it was vegetarian? Why, because it had a sign floating in it that said 'Vegetarian Food'. It was spectacularly awful. But while we were having lunch my friend told me some VERY BIG NEWS that I am not allowed to tell anyone, so I won't. Rest assured that it was VERY BIG indeed, and I am honoured that I am among the handful of people who are privy to it.

After lunch we went and got EasyWay drinks, which are billed as 'Australia's healthiest bubble tea'. I will take their word on that. Mine was a taro milk tea, which is a worryingly vivid purple colour, and in spite of the fact that it clearly says on the side of the cup 'beware of choking', I choked on my bubbles. I know what taro is, but I wasn't expecting the flavour, and I can't quite describe it. 'What is that taste?', I asked D. 'I don't know, but I like to think that it tastes like carebears', he replied. Which, somehow, is actually not far wrong.

Then we had a good long bitch session about people from our office, or the others did at any rate. I don't really know anyone else well enough to have anything in particular against any of them, though I did venture the opinion that the Talky Designer Man is a bit of a wanker, and this was solemnly agreed to by all parties, so I feel as if I held up my end of the social contract.

There, that's a much nicer post, now, isn't it? It's hard to be sad when you're badmouthing your colleagues and pretending to drink a carebear.

This is why they tell you not to go food shopping when you're hungry

Today's receipt from the supermarket;

• Gnocchi, potato, dry
• Kraft peanut butter, crunchy, 780g (in my head, this is to go on celery sticks as a snack - it will be eaten by the spoon, possibly with ice cream)
• Thick cream (no reason other than it was on sale)
• Unsalted butter (cupcakes, cupcakes, cupcakes)
• Block milk chocolate (also on sale)
• Toblerone qty 2 (also on sale)
• Smith's chips, crinkle cut (also on sale - curse you, Woolworths)
• Frozen peas (to prevent scurvy)

And what sort of dinner do we get from all that?

Gnocchi with cream and peas, and chocolate cupcakes. I am on a high of carbs and unrefined sugar, but when I come down I will be very, very disappointed with myself.

The other day my brother came home from work and pulled a Toblerone out of his backpack. 'This', he said, looking extremely pleased, 'is a present from past Jdack to future Jdack.' I love this idea. Right now I am quite upset with past Tash's lack of discipline. How could she cave like that after only three days of definitely-not-a-diet? How could she do that to me? But when I was eating that dinner, I was letting future Tash worry about the consequences, because back then I was present Tash, and I was enjoying my evening gorge. Right now I'm thinking that maybe future Tash will need to go for a long walk. But by then I will be present Tash, and she'll think that maybe yet another future Tash should go for that walk. Of course, when I go out on the weekend I will curse past Tash for being too lazy to get some exercise, because what will by then be present Tash won't fit into her dress. Am I making sense? Damn you, sugar rush. I'm going to go and lie down, and let a more rational future version of myself write the next entry.

EDIT: I am not alone! I just saw this, which explains this concept in a much clearer format. Hooray for comics!

We're in the right country II