Progressing a few things . . . .

Wednesday November 21st 2007

Longworth, Oxfordshire

Now that the website is up and running, it is time to move on to other things. Generally we try to focus each week's work around a small number of ideas and by changing each week, things move forward in all areas. This last week's main ideas are food and travel.

Over the years we have, like many people, accumulated a vast number of recipes from all sorts of different sources, stored in all sorts of folders and files. We have recently collected these together and are trying to impose some sort of order on them. In part this is to arrive at a more focused idea of what we will be cooking on the breaks next year. We need to get a better idea of what menus might look like and we have developed a list of ten food principles which we are applying as we sort through the piles of stuff. For instance, would we want to eat it? Does it have any sort of consistency with the idea of well-being? How much would it cost to feed twelve people? Does it have any sort of "wow" factor. And some dishes might be far too complex to cook for a dozen people but might work in combination with a lot of simpler dishes.

When I was younger I worked for 18 months in a professional kitchen and the main thing I learnt there was the discipline and organisation needed to cook for larger numbers. Since then we have been "keen amateurs" but have built up a pretty good repertoire. So now we have some order to our cooking plans and for the next six months we will be practising a number of proposed meals each week. Last night it was marinated mushrooms, grilled asparagus wrapped in ham, monkfish with tomato and olive sauce, and peperonata with a salad. Little portions of each as a tester of each.

Our travel plans for next year are somewhat complex. We are planning to take the land rover with us round Europe and so the logistics of moving from one venue to the next are not straightforward. And Linda will need to return to the UK during some of the weeks for various reasons. We have also been sorting out the travel plans for Eve - our life coach. Her plans need to link closely with ours. But the low-cost airlines are now taking bookings well into next year and there are some bargains to be had. Flying to Rome next August costs just over £100 return. One of the Toulouse-Gatwick flights is only £30. And the ferry to France with the land rover is only £150. So we have started booking a few things.

On other matters, we have managed to sort out some dates when Camille Litalien, one of the teachers on my yoga teacher training course, will be able to come over and teach the daily classes for us. These will occur at two of the bigger break venues when Linda and myself will have to be concentrating on food and other admin, etc. Camille will be bringing her "little family" and it should be fun to have a baby in residence. The breaks in question are the Chateau in France in late June and the second Italian break in Barberino next August.

Other work this week is centred around this weekend's Yoga Show in London. Linda is now teaching with Stott Pilates for much of the day on Friday and Sunday. Elena rang me the other day and I will be meeting her early on the Friday to see when I might be available to answer questions from prospective students. In return, Elena has said we can have some Well Being leaflets on her stand so I am furiously printing them at the moment. In the room next door to the Yoga Show is apparently the "Eurotica 2007" show where the burlesque artist Dita von Teese will be performing. I wonder how many yoga fans will be distracted by this other show? And if Dita von Teese comes round the yoga show, I will be more than happy to give her a leaflet about our breaks.

And finally, Linda and I saw "Into the Wild" last week. This is based on the book by Jon Krakauer and is one of the few books that Linda and I have both read. This was a very long film at just under 3 hours but was a really great adaption. I was particularly struck by how it avoided over-romaticising Chris McCandless but including a lot about the hurt that his actions caused to his parents and sister. Recommended highly.