I have a day off work today to do some editing on the Columbo book.  As I’d heard Jane mention in her YouTube video about breakfasts that oats were good for the brain I decided to make myself some of her Apple-Raisin Oatmeal for breakfast.  

In fact, Jane’s headnote to this recipe reinforces her belief in the power of oats to aid concentration and thought…

“When I was about 10 years old, I had an exam at school that was important.  That morning I ate a big bowl of hot oatmeal, something I was not accustomed to doing.  I did great on the exam and began calling oatmeal “brain food”.  Now I know that my childhood instincts were absolutely accurate.  A hearty breakfast of complex carbohydrates like this, found in oatmeal increases your attention span and ability to concentrate.  I call on it whenever I have something important to do.”

Well, to me, getting the Columbo cookbook draft FINISHED is an important thing to do.  Fuelled by Jane’s oatmeal I am going to set about tweaking typos, removing and adding words and generally fiddling about with the episode guides all day long.  Heaven.

Here’s the pic of Jane’s Apple-Raisin Oatmeal in her cookbook (Cooking For Healthy Living):

and here’s how mine turned out:

It was GOOD.

The “living like Jane Fonda” is going fairly well.  I’m pleased to announce that when I went out to eat with two of my Shellac Sisters on Tuesday night, I made a healthy choice.  Faced with a menu and craving a BURGER I thought “what would Jane do?” and had courgette fritters, halloumi, quinoa, buckwheat and shredded kale salad with zoug instead.  I think Jane would be happy with me, even though I had no idea what zoug might be…

The Fonda-Power was not as strong last night though.  I went to my nephew’s pub – The House of Hammerton on the Holloway Road…

…with my darling Caroline Frick and her lovely new man Adam, Mr R, Heather & Nathan, Lawrence & Simon.  We consumed vast amounts of Hammerton beer and oodles of Lord of the Wings chicken wings.  The menu was kind of fitting in that Caroline is from Kansas but now lives in Texas, and Adam is from Memphis, also now based in Texas…

It must have been a bit like taking coals to Newcastle for two Americans, in London for just over 24 hours, to have chicken wings for their dinner…

There were also multiple baskets of chips smothered in blue cheese dip hanging around the table, mmmmmmmmmmm.  So you know what I am going to have do tonight don’t you?

Ha ha – I will report back…

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