how many chocolates in your box

Life is like a box of chocolates

Its a gift filled with sweet moments that quickly disappear

Its fun to share with others who appreciate it

Some people pick the same chocolate every time

Be a daring adventurer and try something new

If your box of chocolates is almost empty

Go out and buy two more

Indulge yourself and make a surprise gift with the other

Its not over while there are still things to enjoy

Try to save your last chocolate for those who follow you

Nobody wants to leave an empty box legacy

Eggs and potatoes

Eggs are soft inside with a fragile shell

potatoes are firm with a thin skin

Something strange happens when you boil them

Eggs become hard inside

Potatoes go soft and mushy

Of course there is a scientific reason

The proteins in the egg bind together under heat

The starch in the potato absorbs water and breaks down

It still remains fascinating to me

How different they react

To the same exposure

People are just the same

When faced with adversity

If you get into hot water

Do you crumble and let your resistance dissolve

Or do you stand firm and rigid

Are you an egg or a potato

I think I am a mixture

Sometimes I can be stubborn and resist almost anything

Other times I prefer to give in to end the conflict

I suppose that makes me a potato and egg salad

Confectionary dreams

After dinner they put a movie on TV

Do we have any chocolate hidden he asked

No I stopped buying it because you eat it all she replied

I bet you have stashed a bar somewhere he said with a smile

She caved in and left the room for a moment

Returning with a full bar of chocolate and saying

Promise me you will only eat one piece this evening

And promise me you will not go hunting for the hidden stash

I promise he said as he ate his piece in one gulp

She took tiny bites from her piece

Making it last for the whole movie

He kept glancing at the chocolate bar in lust throughout the movie

She said she was proud of him for just eating one piece

I am putting this bar back now she said

They cleared up the kitchen and she got ready for bed

While she was busy he snuck into the office

He had discovered her hiding place just before dinner

In the middle of the bookshelf

Wedged between a guide to Italy and an Indian cook book

He reached up to grab another piece quickly

Horror of horrors it was not there any more

She had moved the chocolate to a different location

He cleaned his teeth and got into bed

She pretended to be asleep

He leaned over to kiss her goodnight

She whispered I knew you would go looking for it again

He said nothing and just sighed

You can have another piece tomorrow she said

She kissed him goodnight and said I love you

Love you too he replied somewhat reluctantly

That night he had a dream about eating loads of chocolate

being grilled while grilling

Outdoor grilling was a challenge for me at first

Having been to many grilling parties

Seeing all the guys hanging at the grill with a beer

I believed it must be in the male genetic code to grill perfectly

My first attempts did not go well

I had left the charcoal outside and it got damp

I burned paper and wood below it

But I only made flames for a short while

Before the flames subsided to white smoke

Then the charcoal refused to ignite

I got better with dry charcoal

Using firelighters to get things going

I put the food on the grill too soon

Everything tasted like firelighters

I learned to wait until the charcoal was searing hot

Then started cooking directly over it

But the food was instantly carbonized in the extreme heat

Waiting for the charcoal to cool off was my next idea

By this time the grill was too cold to cook the food

I ended up taking everything into the kitchen to finish cooking

Of course all these efforts were not flying solo

I had the usual beer swilling male posse surrounding my grill

They all gave me a good grilling about my techniques

It took many years of charred steaks and carbonized burgers to understand it all

Learning how to rake the coals to one side and then cook on indirect heat

Meat thermometers came in to play as science replaced guess work

Gradually I learned how to grill properly over a decade or so

But just as I mastered the mysteries of cooking over burning charcoal embers

I switched over to a gas grill and had to start learning again

This time it was so much easier control the heat

Turning the knobs up or down was all I had to do

And the bonus was no more clean up of dusty ashes the day after

I only cook on gas now and it always produces great food

I still get the posse surrounding my gas grill offering advice and grilling me

But I have learned to ignore them all and just smile

The truth is you can only learn how to cook food well

By experiencing how to cook it really badly many times

Happy grilling with or without the beer swilling posse

Are you nuts about nuts

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People are probably passionate about phenomenal pistachios

Cats crave to calmly chew charming cashews

An armadillo always ate adequate almonds

Be brave before brazenly biting basic bold Brazil nuts

Hop into a hilarious haze with happy hazelnuts

Maybe munch on marvelous magical medicinal macadamias

Plan a party preferably with plenty of persuasive pecans

Peter pines for Penelope’s precocious pretty pine nuts

We would wait a while for wonderful wild wacky walnuts

Pop in a pile of pesky pivotal persistant peanuts

But peanuts are really lazy laidback lavish legumes

Not nutritious naughty native nut nibbles

You can have your cake and eat it

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What do you get by mixing flour, butter and sugar

They are the main ingredients of cake

Almost everybody loves cake

We roll them out at birthdays and anniversaries 

Cakes are essential at weddings

Afternoon tea must include cake

So where did the story of cakes start

Who invented the first cake

How did cake become so essential in our lives

Some say the word cake has Nordic origins

Derived from the word ‘kaka’

Which is very unfortunate

Because kaka is the ancient Greek word for poo

Nobody wants to celebrate their birthday by lighting candles in poo

Well nobody that I am aware of

Historians believe that cake can be traced back to the ancient Egyptians

They baked bread laced with honey

Ancient Greeks baked cakes for birthdays of their gods

Adding candles to depict moonlight

Modern cakes have have their roots in the 17th century

When the main ingredients became more accessible

Cake became more popular in the 19th century 

Its was still a luxury item back then

As sugar and chocolate were expensive items

Cake is now firmly established in our lives today

Almost every restaurant offers cake for dessert  

People earn a living making cakes for special occasions

So what is the future for cake

Will low carb and keto kill the cake

Will the war against sugar result in cake collateral damage

What place will cake have in the 22nd century

Life is all about choices

If you like cake then go buy one now

Or buy the ingredients and bake one

Better still buy or bake two or more cakes

Enjoy your cake today

Have it and eat it

When a fridge relationship cools

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I visit my fridge many times during the day

In the morning she blinks a good morning to me as I open the door

She wakes up and offers me breakfast

Usually yogurt and fresh fruit

I thank her for breakfast and close her door

She naps when her door is closed

Come mid morning I am feeling peckish

I open her door and ask what she has to offer

She suggests I eat some raw vegetables

Come lunchtime I visit the fridge again

She tells me to watch my calorie intake

Suggests a salad for lunch

I am hungry again by mid afternoon and revisit my fridge

I tell her I want those leftovers from the restaurant meal

We have a long chat about my snacking habits

She tells me to drink two glasses of water and no more snacking

I follow her advice and reluctantly close the door

Half an hour later I open the door again

She tells me to stay busy instead of eating

Points out that she needs a good cleanup

I get busy and throw away stuff that is getting old plus the leftovers

She sighs with contentment as I wash down her shelves

Then she tells me to close her door and go for a walk

I wander around the town and bump into some friends

We go to a happy hour and have a few drinks

Then we get hungry and order food

The happy our ends but we stay until late

We order more food and drinks

I get back home and open the fridge door

She shakes her head when she sees yet another bag of leftovers

Tells me I should not eat out so often and instead eat her healthy food at home

I am tired of her lecturing and ignore her

I throw in the leftovers and slam the door shut

I tell her to shut and leave me alone

I put on the TV then promptly fall asleep

Its late when I wake up in front of the TV

I am hungry and go searching for leftovers

The fridge door will not open at all

She refuses to unlock it until I apologize for being rude

I am too hungry to stand there arguing and offer my apologies

She unlocks the door and we have a long chat

I get a stern lecture on healthy eating while holding the door open

I nod in fake agreement that I am finished eating for today

Then I make a grab for the leftovers before she closes the door

Eating cold pizza at 2am is my reward

It tastes so good

The next day I wake up late and wander into the kitchen

Half expecting the fridge door to be locked again

It opens easily but I can sense something is wrong with her

Everything is defrosted and warm and all the food inside is ruined

I demand an explanation from the fridge

She tells me to calm down and listen to her

Pointing out that she turned herself off to deliberately destroy the contents

As a last desperate measure to stop me from over eating junk food

She asks me to go shopping and just buy healthy food to restock

Promises to keep it fresh if I promise to stick to my diet

I calm down and agree with her completely

I shake her handle to seal the deal

Then I empty all the rotting food

She switches herself back on again

She sighs with relief when I wipe down her shelves

I go to Whole Foods and pick up a ton of healthy foods

They take my whole paycheck at the checkout

My fridge smiles when I restock her

We become best friends again 

My desire to snack gets stronger every day

But I do not want to let her down

I figure out a way to keep her happy

I buy a second fridge and put her in the garage

She looks so cute in there alongside my tools

Stocked with beer and unhealthy treats

My garage fridge loves to party with me

While my kitchen fridge thinks I am sticking to my diet

I visit the garage fridge often late at night

We drink beer together and chat endlessly about nothing

She watches TV with me and offers me snacks

She squeezes my hand when I touch her door handle

We become very close

Life is great again for me and for both my fridges

It all comes undone after a month or so

I open the kitchen fridge asking her for salad to make my lunch

She blinks her light slowly and then starts to cry

I ask her what is bothering her and she sobs

You are cheating on me with that floozy in the garage

Honey

When I eat honey

A tasty time capsule explodes

Bringing back childhood memories

Happy summers

Endless days of fun

Running through tall grasses

Collecting wild flowers

Smelling their sweet scent

Rushing home for a snack

Mother making toast

Hot buttered bread

Drizzled with honey

Sweet delicious honey

Lingering over every bite

Crunchy thick toast

Creamy butter

Sweet flavorful honey

Sticky fingers tasted good

Whenever we fell ill

We drank warm water with honey

Soothing sweet honey

Calming sore throats

Giving energy to tired limbs

At the first sign of any adult cold or flu

We drank hot toddies

Whisky, honey, lemon and hot water

A magical potion to ward off all sickness

Best taken at bedtime

Making your dreams sweeter

We also baked Flapjacks

Oats mixed with delicious honey

A healthy treat after dinner

Or sampled on a summer picnic

Sitting on a blanket

Watching the bees

Visiting wild flowers

To make us more honey

Liquid gold honey

Pure sweet honey

Treat your honey to some honey today

Every twenty years or so

Wondering where to eat last night

Somebody suggested a Japanese steak house

Something I had not done for twenty years

It was almost full on arrival

They squeezed us in at one corner

Nine hungry faces on three sides

A shiny hot plate in the middle

A waiter took our orders

I chose chicken and shrimp

We smiled and nodded at our neighbors

Sipping cold sake and waiting for the show

The chef wheeled in a cart piled high with food

He verified the order for each person

Before performing a juggling act

With a pair of very sharp knives

We were all waiting for a severed finger to drop onto the hot plate

Thankfully that never happened

Next he squirted a pool of oil and ignited it with a lighter

A huge fireball shot up into the vent hood over the table

Everybody checked their eyebrows

He brought out some raw eggs for more juggling

Smashing each one ceremoniously

They sizzled and hissed as he chopped and mixed

Beating a rhythm into the food

The eggs cooked fast

Boiled white rice was dumped over the eggs

More oil and butter was added

Finally a squirt of soy sauce

Moving every grain of rice in a beating blur

Piling each portion onto the side of a cleaver

Expertly launching fried rice onto each plate

We all smiled in appreciation

As the steak, chicken, prawns and scallops danced on the searing hot plate

The razor sharp knife reduced the slices of meat into bite size chunks

Added to our plates alongside the rice

A mountain of vegetable filled the hotplate

Slicing and dicing as they shrunk into an oily hot lake

An onion was expertly sliced into rings

Reassembled into a volcano

Filled with oil and lit for the finale

Flames erupted from the top

Applause erupted too

The show was over

It was time to eat

The food was delicious

Nobody seemed to mind being splashed with soy sauce and fried rice

When we got home our clothes reeked of fried oil

A pungent reminder of an unforgettable meal

I might go again, perhaps twenty years from now