Curfews, working from home, only going out when necessary… obviously different restrictions wherever you hail from…some more stringent than others…Not much has been relaxed here a few internal flights but I went out briefly today…shopping and nothing has been lifted in the shops…Everyone is wearing face masks and some full-face masks..screens are in place for cashiers…no buses just tuk-tuks with the hand cleanser bottles taped to either side…in fact, it seems more screens are in place even in the small coffee shops there are screens across the middle of the tables…

I would say take a breather and settle down to read my roundup but if you are like me we have been settled down for months now…Very surreal still…Enjoy the roundup of my weekly posts and check out my first ever attempt at making a vegan cake and chocolate to boot…

Monday: Recycling and Climate Change…11th May 2020…and Covid-19…

Yes unlike much of the western world we mask up and cover-up…Not always recommended by many but I think our social distancing coupled with temperature checks and the wearing of masks has contributed to our much lower deaths and pandemic infection figures…However, after a brief foray into Covid-19, I also featured some wonderful happenings from around the world of recycling and climate change…

https://carolcooks2.com/2020/05/11/recycling-and-climate-change11th-may-2020and-covid-19/

Tuesday: National Vinegar Month…

https://carolcooks2.com/2020/05/12/national-vinegar-month/

Wednesday: Whimsical Wednesdays…

Before I got into my Whimsy ways I was over @Sally’s with my trip through the Culinary Alphabet from A-Z…last week I was looking at the letter I….not an ice cream cone to be seen…

From Immortalittea to everyone’s favourite Irish Stew.

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2020/05/13/smorgasbord-blog-magazine-food-column-carol-taylor-a-z-of-food-i-is-for-icing-ink-fish-indian-black-salt-infusing-immortalittea-and-irish-stew/

Time for some whimsy…Musical bamboo forests, Ants, The hazards of rolling out the dough, some cute animals to crotchet and much more…Enjoy!

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

https://carolcooks2.com/2020/05/13/whimsical-wednesday-carolcooks2/

Thursday:

I couldn’t think of anything to write my creative thoughts wouldn’t thunk…I just watched Netflix and snacked…

Friday: Apricots and Morels…

Dear Sally came to the rescue with her post on the health benefits of Apricots and also shared one of my posts of some lovely recipes using Apricots which are one of my favourite fruits and a lifesaver…They have lots of iron…

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2020/05/14/smorgasbord-health-column-food-therapy-apricots-no-honeymoon-should-be-without-it-by-sally-cronin-them/

My befuddled brain then woke up and realised that the Morel mushroom festivals had been cancelled and as I have never tried them or didn’t know much about them it gave me something to think about…The exotic hard to find wild Morel mushroom …

Which I have now discovered I can get dried ones here and if I wait until next season I may be lucky to forage and find some…

Saturday: 

After so many disasters lately in the kitchen…I had a win and my chocolate cake turned out great…I was surprised as I always use eggs …but no sweat and less washing up…my go-to chocolate cake recipe now…

Vegan Chocolate Cake.

I am just waiting for my black vinegar to be delivered to try that out in a dish…I am enjoying National Vinegar Month…

https://carolcooks2.com/2020/05/16/carolcooks2-a-vegan-chocolate-cake-braised-pork-shoulder-in-black-vinegar-and-yanang-juice/

That’s all for this week …I hope you found something to enjoy…Please stay safe and social isolate it ain’t safe yet folks…xxx

About Carol Taylor: Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all have a fabulous weekend and stay safe these are troubling times xx