I want to write a little bit about travelling long haul, jet-lag, and mystery.

Recently I travelled to Japan. My partner and I had planned it for many years. A myriad of delays, caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Japanese government’s very cautious tourism policy, pushed the trip back from Spring 2020, to March 2023. Needless to say, the extended wait time for this trip greatly increased the anticipation, and excitement for this trip!

Ingredients:

1. 500g flour
2. 1tsp quick yeast
3. 1tsp sugar
4. 1tsp salt
5. 1tbsp oil
6. 350 ml tepid water

Method: This method assumes a kitchenaid mixer is being used. As a rule of thumb 10 minutes of mixing in a kitchenaid is equivalent to 100 kneeds by hand.

1. Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl
2. Stir in the water
3. Stir in the oil
4. Mix for 10 minutes
5. Cover the bowl and leave to prove for 1 hour
6. Mix the dough for 10 minutes
7. Line a baking tin with greaseproof paper
8. Shape the dough and put it in the tin, leave to rise for 40 minutes
9. Pre heat the oven to 220C, Fan 200C, Gas 7
10. Bake for 40 mins

It’s not every day you get to meet your hero.

Last Sunday I went for my usual swim down at the Highgate Men’s Pond. The water temperature was 7C and due to my six week break from cold water swimming, I could only manage about 3 minutes in the water. It was a gloriously sunny day, and as I was changing, standing there in my towel, basking in the unusual February sun, I heard a familiar voice. It didn’t register at first, and so I let it pass by, I was enjoying the feeling of the sun drying my skin.