Excess

I could do with losing some weight. I dropped a couple of stones last year, possibly through eating all the veg and healthy produce from the plot, or (more likely) through the stress of being self employed in a recession.

Chrismas meant the usual excesses, mainly alcohol. Happily (boo hoo) the Christmas booze has been greedily depleted and I'm now forced to open one of the last two remaining bottles of homemade plonk from 2008 - a good vintage??!!

This one's made from the spare beetroot crop that year. The raised beds were full of 'em. Boltardy manily but also a fancy italian number that was pinkish red and had pretty rings running though it. Anyway it ended up in demijohns in the shed. Despite a couple of initial setbacks i.e. the bottles exploding and redecorating the inside of said shed, the thity odd bottles I managed to fill turned out to be rather quoffable. Elderberry, beetroot, victoria plum and elderberry and blackberry saw me through 2009 without me having to buy much booze from the dreaded supermarket.

I've blanked my 'family' label out here so nobody can sue when they go blind drinking the stuff...

A large proportion of these lovingly crafted fine wines ended up being swiftly emptied one night last year by my partners large family during a 'gathering'. Needless to say there were tears, arguments and the odd fight in the street that night, so it must have been good stuff. I must get a hydrometer this year to see how potent it is.

I had intentions to make some white wines last year but never got round to it. This year I'm determined to re-stock the racks.

Losing weight can also be a struggle when you love baking but everybody in the house is also trying to lose weight. So what do you do with all these...?

I hate to see food go to waste. I'll lose a few pounds next month.