The Wednesday Hodgepodge #40

I hope you are all having a good week? It's Wednesday which means it's time to join in with the Wednesday Hodgepodge with Joyce who blogs at From This Side of the Pond! Each week there are 6 questions, we answer and then link up. Simple!

1. I live in the south so we're pretty much only talking about the weather right now. Give us a weather report from where you live. Does the kind of weather you're having today affect your mood in some way?

Right now, here in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, the weather is doing that very British thing where it can’t quite decide what it wants to be. I’m writing this on Sunday afternoon and we’re looking at a couple of grey, gloomy, damp days. The temperature is hovering around 5C (42F) which is cold enough to make you sigh when you step outside. Wednesday is apparently going to be sunny, dry and bright with temperatures reaching a thrilling 8C (47F). I know that doesn’t sound impressive but at this time of year I will take what I can get. The rest of the week is wet and grey! Ugh!

When it’s wet and grey out, I just feel a bit flat from the moment I look outside. My motivation disappears. I don’t want to start anything, I don’t want to finish anything and I definitely don’t want to be enthusiastic about laundry or housework but then when there is a bright day, like midweek, I will get a boost of motivation and I feel like I can take on the world which will hopefully see me through to the weekend when I don't mind it being grey and wet because weekends are meant for Pjs and cosy days at home.

2. Avocados, kale, cauliflower and cottage cheese have all had their time to shine. 2026 brings us the year of the cabbage. Is this a vegetable you like? If so, what are some of your favorite dishes that call for cabbage?

If you’d asked me this a year ago, I would have said absolutely not. I hated cabbage unless it was shredded into coleslaw. Then last year we were out for Sunday lunch at a pub and cabbage came with my roast dinner. Normally, I’d push it to the side of the plate and pretend it wasn’t there but for some reason I tried it and I loved it. It was green cabbage with bits of bacon and full of flavour, nothing like the cabbage I remembered from my childhood. The following week it was red cabbage and again I loved it too. I’ve tried making it at home since and it’s just not the same. I don’t know what pubs do with cabbage but whatever it is, my version is never quite the same.

3. Was a Cabbage Patch Doll a part of your childhood? Or maybe your children's childhood? What's a toy trend from your childhood you remember wanting for your own?

I remember being at primary school and someone brought a doll in to play Jesus in the school nativity and it was a Cabbage Patch Doll! I fell in love with it instantly. They were the ugliest looking things but all my friends seemed to have one but I never got one. Hmmf.

The toy I asked for every single Christmas and never got was Mr Frosty. If you grew up in the UK, you know, that little fella promised endless slush puppy drinks and endless joy. Looking back, my mum was probably imagining the mess and she was right. In a moment of madness I bought Ellie one about 10 years ago, the Frozen Olaf slush maker which was basically Mr Frosty in a different outfit. It was useless. It didn’t crush the ice, it didn’t make proper slush and it just made a mess! My mum was right!

4. Something you've spent a lot of time doing lately?

I’ve spent a lot of time decluttering lately and it’s one of those things that starts off small and suddenly takes over your life. I’ll go in to sort one cupboard and come out with three bags and a pile of "why do we even own this" items. I’m trying to take it slowly this time. I’ve learned that if I go too hard too fast I get fed up with it and want to avoid it altogether. So I’m doing bits here and there, stopping before I hit that wall and reminding myself that it doesn’t all need doing at once.

5. Somehow it's the last week of January...sum up your month in just three sentences.

January flew by instead of dragging, which feels like a small miracle. I started the month full of cold but now I feel better than I have in ages. It actually feels like I’ve got loads done, which is not the usual January I am used to.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Question number 2 has really got me thinking, mainly about how pubs and restaurants have some sort of secret power when it comes to food, especially vegetables. Things I would normally not eat at home taste amazing when I am out. Cabbage is a prime example. I am thinking when someone else has cooked it, served it to you and will handle all the washing up afterwards, it just tastes better. I feel the exact same way at home when Stu cooks. Even if he follows the exact same recipe I would, it somehow ends up tasting nicer and I find myself appreciating every bite. When I cook, I’m thinking about the mess, the timing, what still needs doing afterwards and whether I can be bothered to wash that pan straight away or leave it to soak. When he cooks, I just turn up and eat and there's no thinking involved. I think pubs do have a magic touch but I’m fairly sure the real ingredient to enjoying a meal fully is not having to be involved.