Experiment, week 4. This week’s five things which have made me happy or for which I’m grateful:

1. Frost & Sun. We had our first really frosty night of the winter this week. Lovely Alpine morning. So refreshing.
2. Good Sausages. Well what can one say. One of those real comfort foods whether with chips, mashed potato or in tomato sauce with pasta.
3. Friendly Checkout Ladies. There’s one particular lady who does the checkouts at our local Waitrose who is always happy and chatty, interested in what she’s doing and her customers, as well as very efficient. If she’s on duty we will almost always queue a bit extra to be served by her. Much nicer than the average run-of-the-mill checkout operative who basically could give a flying wombat.
4. Curry. Yet another comfort food. I’ll eat almost any curry, but for me lamb is best. And I’ll eat it as hot as you care to make it; Vindaloo is a regular round here.
5. Jerusalem Artichokes. They’re a slightly strange vegetable which almost no-one knows. We always grew them when I was a kid and I’ve loved them ever since. So now we buy them whenever we see them. Fortunately Waitrose usually stock them. They’re a root vegetable so in season really from late October to March, although like sprouts and parsnips better for a touch of frost. They look like small, knobbly potatoes which are very soft inside when cooked. Cook them like potatoes (don’t even consider peeling them): just scrub them and cut out any damage; leave them whole unless they are unusually large. Boiled or steamed is fine. I can’t think mashed or chipped would work. Roast is definitely best as they caramelise slightly. There are a number of varieties around: some redder, some browner; some more, some less knobbly. And they’re very easy things to grow; they’re tall (up to 6 feet or so) and with a sunflower-like flower.

Oh dear it’s been another foodie week. How am I supposed to lose weight with all this good food around?