My own Waterloo

Day 32 and 104 kilos
Day 33 and 104.5 kilos

I apologise for not blogging yesterday but I've been a bit caught up arranging job interviews and cooking for a last minute small dinner party last night. Chicken broth and roast lamb in mint sauce followed by cheese (ripe Brie, Cambazola and Beemster) and biscuits and ice cream, the careful preparation of which, required a visit to the supermarket and then a visit to one of the coolest kitchen supply shops in the world. Sia Huat in Chinatown - they've got everything. What a great place! A dangerous place for me to be with a credit card which, luckily, I was not carrying.

Unfortunately I had fortified myself with fresh pear juice (one glass only) before going and the now worryingly familiar stomach pains hit me just after I had purchased my oven thermometers and measuring spoons. I decided to rush for the comfort of my own home which on the motorcycle is a fifteen minute fast ride. Now I don't want to develop a reputation for being a one trick pony but another traffic light and I would have disgraced myself publicly which on a motorcycle at those speeds would have meant some unpleasantness for any car drivers following me closely. To mis-quote the Duke of Wellington "It was a damned near run thing". However it does mean that if I am going to be out of the house, I cannot be drinking fruit juice. I appreciate that my sister thinks that this is an hilarious subject but what if this had happened during a job interview? Seriously - what would you say? "Sorry, but could you excuse me for half an hour?" The long and the short of it was that I had to skip my breakfast before attending my interview this morning.

The dinner party for some old friends of Asya's went well although I would rate the chicken broth as merely being okay. The lamb and the mint sauce were good but the sauce took forever to make - basically it's minty gravy and it was delicious but what a palaver. If I hadn't bought pre made stock - it would have taken a whole day! These are the steps as it was:

1. Make a brown roux
2. Make an Espagnole sauce which is finished by adding the roux to it.
3. Make a demi glace by combining the Espagnole sauce and some veal stock.
4. Make the mint sauce by combining the demi glace with the mint and seasoning.

 The whole thing took 3 hours as it was and the chief was good enough to say it made the dish but basically - three hours to make gravy! I ate a little of the lamb and potatoes with absolutely no ill effect - I was in fact moderate! It would have been churlish to serve food to our guests but not eaten any myself - that's the excuse I'm sticking to anyway.

One thing that struck me was the terrifying amount it costs to eat well at home in Singapore. To prepare this meal and include the cost of a bottle of cava and two bottles of red was the same price as it would have been in a decent Singapore restaurant - scary!

You may remember that I have lamented, even recently, about the fact that I miss the camaraderie of sitting down to enjoy an evening with my wife and friends. This of course was my first occasion to do so since the fast started and I really enjoyed it. A very pleasant evening in excellent company - my thanks to Dylan and Diane for joining us. The chief also seemed much relieved that I have rejoined her in the land of the living.

Well I made it to 67 days without alcohol but that fast was also broken last night with a couple of glasses of red wine - just heavenly. Fear not! I'm not going to go mad and I am still in weight loss mode and will remain so - this was just a little gift to myself. Today I am back on fruit juice and consomme. The knee is repaired almost to the point of feeling confident enough to try cycling this weekend. I find that I am in excellent spirits and feeling good.