Food education

Prawn crackersWe went out for a Mother’s Day lunch yesterday and visited our local Thai restaurant.

One of our reasons for choosing Thai was our effort to expose A to different cuisines and make sure she doesn’t grow up as one of this nation’s Freaky Eaters.

Given that today the Government has announced plans to introduce a 10-week plan to encourage young children to eat more healthily, this was quite an apt adventure for A.

However, I’m not sure that her first experience of Thai food was particularly healthy. She took an instant liking to prawn crackers and proceeded to demolish an entire bowlful of them.

She followed this up with a chilli corn fritter and a pot pourri plate of thai fried rice with chicken, stir fried broad rice noodles and tamarind duck. Yum!

I guess, at least we know now she’ll eat pretty much anything you throw at her!

Sunday Song – Samuel Barber

This is one of those pieces of music that never fails to make me stop and just let it wash over me.

I first became properly aware of it, although I know I’d heard it before, when I was performing in a stage adaptation of Charles Dickens A Tale Of Two Cities (as against Joe Bloggs’ version, clearly).

Samuel Barber’s Adagio For Strings was used as a constant refrain throughout the performance and served to lend it a real gravitas and sorrow.

Turn up the volume and revel in this wonderful piece of music!

The fear factor

Diabetes UK logoThe lovely people from Diabetes UK came into our building the other day to raise awareness of the condition.

Their other aim was to promote the fact that you can go to any Lloyds Pharmacy and get a free diabetes test.

I stepped up to get my finger pricked and it was only once I’d sat down and was holding out my middle digit out that a sudden fear swept over me. What if the test showed my bloody sugar levels are sky high.

Fortunately, that wasn’t the case but this fear nagged away at me for the rest of the day. I’m not just talking about diabetes, rather the potential to fall prey to any illness, condition or disease.

Hypochondria this isn’t, more a realisation that I am getting older and have kids, which adds an extra responsibility to my health and wellbeing.

Ten years ago, I really didn’t worry about death. I’m not suggesting I was fearless. The reality is that I just had that 20-something malaise that it’s unlikely to happen to me.

Now, I’m edging closer to 40 and know that my peak years of health and fitness are long gone.

The descent into niggles, aches and pains has started and with it comes the knowledge that every time I take a test for anything I’m more likely to return a detrimental result.