Judith Wills
The cleaning marathon continued early this week - this time, kitchen cupboards, of which we have plenty, larder - old-fashioned and large, and crockery. How does crockery get dirty when you don't use it?
Then another shop, then the cake marzipanning and icing session. Stupidly I decided to make royal icing, instead of resorting to ready-to-roll which I have used for a few years as no-one really likes icing in our house, anyway.
I didn't remember what hard work royal icing is - at least, following Delia's recipe and method, it is. She says it takes around ten minutes with an electric mixer for the icing to thicken up. I was still beating away after 20 minutes, at which point the hand mixer broke - one of the beaters shot off down the kitchen like a comet trailing white stardust, leaving me with only one to use. In the end I shoved another ton of icing sugar into the bowl - unorthodox royal icing method but it worked.
By the time I'd finished, iced the cake and cleared up the ton of icing sugar and icing paste coating the cupboard doors I'd only just cleaned, as well as the ceiling and the floor, I was exhausted and the morning gone with two chores not done! Panic. I wrote a to do list last weekend, for every single hour of every day until the end of Boxing Day and I don't have any time for unforeseen happenings.
The Christmas effort is much, much harder than daily exercise sessions, I tell you.
Talking of which, I've had no time to do ANYTHING in that direction for about two weeks.
Next week, once the Christmas housemates have disappeared, I've got two supper parties to do before I can even think about trying to get back in shape - one for New Year's Eve when we're having goose, and another I rashly decided to hold for a few neighbours I've hardly seen all year, two days earlier.
But, quite frankly, my shape and weight is the last thing on my mind right now. I just want to get through it all, alive.
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