Looking back

Today being the first of the month, I received the email I wrote to myself a year ago. A couple of items showed how things changed — and how quickly I grow accustomed to change.

One was a comment on something I had just tried: fermenting grated carrots, grated apples, walnuts, and chopped dates, along with some cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon, to make a fermented version of carrot cake. That caught my eye because I had not realized how recently I had begun fermenting vegetables. I have been doing it routinely — with larger and larger batches — so that it now seems like a normal part of my routine. (I just ordered a couple more Weck 1.5-liter jars to make another batch along the lines of The Big Red One.)

I also mentioned that I was planning to make a recipe I had just made up: Pork à la Stroganoff. I never did make it, and as I read it now, I have zero inclination to make it. I find the longer I am on a whole-food plant-based diet, the more I like it and the less interested I am in beef, pork, eggs, or dairy. When I occasionally eat an animal-based food, it is almost always fish, and sometimes (rarely) chicken. But now when I look at the recipe, I find it unattractive, though certainly I can recall a time when I would have gone for it in a heartbeat.

Tastes change, so they might as well change for the more healthful.

Spice of the morning

I got a late start today, but not unpleasantly so, and the time of day affected the lighting, as you see. 

Barrister & Mann’s Reserve line of soaps and aftershaves is quite good. He recommends that the shaving brush used with this soap have a synthetic knot, so I picked my RazoRock Keyhole brush, which I like a lot — it’s an excellent brush despite its modest cost. I shook it well and needed no additional water to load the brush — this Reserve soap is eager to lather. The Spice fragrance is appealing.

My stainless RazoRock Mamba is exceptionally comfortable and just will not nick. Withal, it is highly efficient, and three passes left my face perfectly smooth.

A splash of Reserve Spice aftershave, augmented with a couple of squirts of Grooming Dept Hydrating Gel, finished the job and left a most pleasing fragrance around me.

The tea this morning is my own blend of three Murchie’s varietals: Ceylon Kenilworth, Assam Tippy Golden, and Keemun Extra Superior. It makes an extremely fine cuppa.