I woke up today to the sad news that Dave Myers, one half of The Hairy Bikers, has passed away. I had to look twice to be sure I read the title of the piece correctly.

D@mn it!

I honestly have no idea how long I have followed Dave & Si King in their culinary adventures. You can find many of their food series simply by searching ‘The Hairy Bikers’. I have at least one of their cookery books.

The guys’ love of motorcycles and food might seem an odd combination…and to be fair, it is, but what is not odd is watching them dive into a topic and bring us along on their journey.

Dave seemed to bring a touch of whimsy to Si’s serious notes. Together they were the odd/silly uncles that you loved visiting with as they puttered around the kitchen.

Beyond the whimsy and silly, however, was a passion for food and they loved to share what they had learned with all of us.

Here is one of my favorite clips of Dave as he and Karen dance on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’:

My sincerest condolences to Dave’s family and friends. He will be missed.

My life changed the day I decided it was okay to have chocolate in the house.

Chocolate as in candy.

For years it was one thing that was never included on the weekly grocery shopping list or brought home from a movie or casually picked up just because. Why? Well, because it would be eaten! (Oh, the horrors!!!)

That isn’t to say that I didn’t occasionally have some – and enjoy it. But the idea of it having a place in my home just because…

Now I have always had cocoa and baking chocolate in my pantry because every once in a while I would actually bake a cake or a pan of brownies. The key word here is ‘occasionally’ and it would also require taking said item elsewhere to be enjoyed by other folks so I didn’t have it in the house just for me.

The first time I made a chocolate cake for my boss’ birthday, she was shocked to learn that I already had everything I needed in the house to make it – no special trip to the grocery store was necessary. The very idea was unbelievable to her because she didn’t. I repeated the gift for several years thereafter, too.

You see, the idea that having such things on hand meant that it would be indulged on all the time, and, in my house at least, that was not true.

Years later I worked in an office where one of the managers had been given one of the M&M dispensers and promptly brought it in to share the candies with the entire team. As luck would have it, it was placed near my desk, which was centrally located in the team. About once a month we would chip in to purchase a large refill bag of the goodies. Not bad when you consider those goodies were shared among 15 people.

When I thought about it, I realized that simply having the goodies available was not enticement to constantly consume them. There were quite a few months when I had only a few, or none.

That might have been when it occurred to me that just having the stuff around for occasional enjoyment prevented bingeing to the point of overdoing it and being miserable. More importantly, I learned that most of the time, I didn’t really desire eating any of that stash simply because it was there.

Light Bulb Moment!

Now I want to be sure you understand that I have no health issues that could be impacted if I had a candy bar or a bag of M&Ms. I realize that some folks do.

So, for the past couple of decades I have kept on hand some version of a favorite chocolate treat for those times when I really wanted to enjoy the experience. I’ve even indulged in some drug store boxes of candy, too.

What I learned is that, for me, to remove the stigma of something I simply needed to stop treating it as if it was an Enemy. Once it became nonthreatening it became something that wasn’t binged or overindulged.

Side note: I still have all the ingredients on hand to make a chocolate cake or a pan of brownies, but I couldn’t tell you the last time I did, it has been that long ago.

We tend to create (or other folks do it for us) hurdles to making our lives easier and comfortable ‘just because’ or ‘just in case’. Perhaps we need to take a step back and be sure that those hurdles are necessary.

What do you think?

February is almost over and I find myself sitting back and thinking. 

Winter seems to have held on longer than anyone really wanted it to. Maybe because it was so…determined to be excessive folks just wanted it to move on. Maybe because some areas had weather that couldn’t make up its mind.

I don’t know about you but I was thrilled when the New TV Season arrived and most of my shows returned. I have a couple of shows that will arrive in a few months, but the bulk are back and I won’t lie, it has been a pleasure to have appointment TV once again.

My craft room and I are spending more time together. I always find it odd that some things that are well suited to the colder months never inspire, let alone interest, me until it is hot outside.

Speaking of the craft room, I am exploring options and looking to broaden my knowledge base with supplies and techniques. It is time to stretch the envelope a bit.

My reading table has had some interesting titles cross it in the past few months. A couple of years ago I was in a Sherlock Holmes cycle. Now I find myself in Ancient Rome. I’ve been listening to both fiction and nonfiction works. 

Audible recently sent me my 2023 listening stats and it was eyeopening. Here are a few highlights: I spent a lot of time listening to Lindsey Davis: 119,486 minutes in fact. Favorite Genres: Mystery, Thriller, & Suspense: 119,451 minutes. Literature & Fiction: 57,667 minutes.

I found myself out of sync in the kitchen this Winter. I had thought I would have more baked potatoes or make that wonderful apple cake recipe I made last year, but somehow that didn’t happen. What has struck me is how much I enjoyed the tomato pie recipe from last Summer. (!!!!!) I can still taste that pie…

As we edge out of colder months into Spring I find myself looking for new options. I am still working to include more vegetables and I want to try my hand at a few different ideas. I’ll let you know how that turns out.

Last week I noticed my bulbs have put up shoots, so blooms aren’t that far off. I’m looking forward to Spring. I have no idea if I will be planting outside or not, but I won’t lie, the idea does have appeal.

Here’s to a new phase and hopefully one that isn’t too extreme in any one direction.