Breast Cancer and Obesity
Two items on BBC Breakfast concern the increase in the incidence of breast cancer and also obesity. As the latter is known to be a factor in the first, isn’t it about time people got the message?
C had breast cancer, survived it and the squamous cell carcinoma of the heart that killed her was of a totally different type.
But she got her lump in exactly the same place, where a car airbag going off in an accident, caused quite a severe bruise. Her oncologist didn’t rule out the connection, especially as she was slim, fit, didn’t drink too much and ate healthily.
W H Smug
This was Private Eye’s name for W H Smith and I’m not sure if the magazine still uses it.
I find them an irritating store, as they do lots of things that annoy me.
Take yesterday, I paid for my copy of The Times by putting my subscriber’s voucher in the quick pay pot, as one assistant had told me to do a couple of weeks ago. Then I saw that the March edition of Modern Railways had arrived, picked it up and then went to pay for it. But I was then told, I’d have to pay for both items in the same place. So in the end, I left the magazine on the counter and walked to St. Pancras and bought it there. It wasn’t actually an extra trip, as I wanted to visit Boots to see if they had an Eat Nakd bar. They didn’t! Boots please note!
Paying for the magazine was then the usual No-No-No conversation, as I declined evething on offer and gave all the bits of paper back to the assistant.
Next time I travel, I’ll make sure I get my travel supplies before I leave home.
Cook Two, Eat One, Freeze One
They’ve just said that this is a way to save money on your food on BBC Breakfast. Perhaps because of my planning background, I often do this, as that way when I get in late after evening football or the cinema, there is always something there. That is if I remember to get it out before I go out. Which of course I don’t always do!
What Is It About Suffolk?
There is an item on BBC Breakfast this morning about GreenBottle, which is a new concept of milk bottle, that uses a papier mache outer container and a small amount of plastic to actually hold the milk. When you have finished the milk, you split the container, with the outer biodegradable shell going into the cardboard recycling and the inner container into the normsl household waste. Read the full story here.
If I look at what makes a good idea, it ticks a lot of boxes.
- It doesn’t expect the customer to make serious changes to their thinking.
- It would appear that it doesn’t mean there are large changes to manufacturing and distribution.
- Asda have not objected to stocking milk in these bottles. I’m always cynical about supermarkets. Their problem is they try to live up to a macho image.
- Customers like it.
- It is kind to landfill, even if the end user doesn’t recycle it.
But my initial question was, why has this been invented in Suffolk?
I do sometimes wonder, if it’s because Suffolk has always lived on the scraps government chooses to doll out to it and people in Suffolk get used to thinking about how to get round the problems that blight their lives.
As an example, railways in Suffolk have never received the investment they need. I was brought up partly in Felixstowe and it was a miserable place for a teenager, as to get to Ipswich was either a decrepit train, an occasional bus or a bike. In some ways, I wonder if that was all good training for my life now. You learned to plan journeys efficiently, until you could scrape enough together for a car.
Suffolk too is a very independent county and Suffolk people and businesses support each other. GreenBottle have partnered with the independent Marybelle Dairy to prove the concept of the bottle.
In other ways, it might not be what Suffolk has but what it doesn’t. Until the last couple of years, there was no university in Suffolk.
Does all of this push people to think for themselves? And dare I say it out of the bottle.
Ice Cold in Cornwall
I went to Cornwall for the weekend with friends.
Cold wasn’t the word for the weather.
Icicles at Boscastle
This was the walk by the river in Boscastle. In the end we retreated to the Wellington Hotel for some delicious hot chocolate. We also had an early dinner there before returning to London. The menu was very coeliac and vegetarian friendly.
I had some delicious liver and bacon. All that B12 seems to have freshened up my skin quite a bit.
Daura in the Angel, Islington Waitrose
The Estrella Damm Daura was there all the time, but rather hidden away at the bottom of the Free From section. The bottles and packaging are very red by the way.
I think shops need to think how they sell GF beer. Sainsbury’s put it with the special beers and Waitrose have done the opposite. Perhaps they need some clever stickers on the shelves to point people in the right direction.
The Angel Waitrose is very small, so they have a space problem. I’m sure there’s a labelling or web solution, which would help the stores and shoppers alike.
Carluccio’s Have Formalised the Gluten-Free Breakfast Menu
I was in the Upper Street branch today and the manager showed me a copy of their gluten-free breakfast menu. Effectively, they’ve had it for some time, but it’s now properly printed.
He also said that they are doing a lot of gluten-free meals.
Carluccio’s to Sell Gluten Free Pasta in Their Delis
I have just received this message from Carluccio’s.
I just wanted to drop you a line to say from this week we have added the Gluten Free pasta into our range across all the delis and so it is available to buy for £2.95 for 500gm packet.
It ceertainly is pretty good pasta. I’ve just got to learn how to cook it properly.
easy bean Spanish Puchero
I bought one of these in the Waitrose at Canary Wharf on Sunday.
easy bean Spanish Puchero
I microwaved it as easy bean said and it made a nice lunch today.
Boots Help Coeliacs to Keep Marching
I’ve complained in this blog about the lack of suitable gluten free snacks for coeliacs, when you’re on the move. That was until a couple of weeks ago, when I discovered EatNakd bars in Waitrose.
They aren’t stocked in too many obvious places, but I did find that Boots in Liverpool Street station had an extensive display in their takeaway food section.
In some ways this is bad news, as the bars are a bit addictive, despite being a delicious way to fill a hole.
I’ll be contacting Boots to find out their policy on this issue.
The Anonymous Widower 