Your unapologetically light-hearted Heyday Friday newsletter
There's fabulous froth, hilarious commentary, an exercise-related mystery to uncover and a banged-up banger of a recipe in this week's newsletter. Enjoy!
Hello!
I bang on a lot about the importance of exercise - for which I make no apologies, it is really important - but something I’ve never mentioned before in relation to exercise is the subject of this week’s blog.
It’s something that becomes all the more necessary as we age. Something that enables us to exercise effectively. That keeps us injury-free. And that we can do easily and productively.
There’s a clue in this picture
Of course I’m not going to tell you what this magic, and vital, exercise ingredient is. To discover that you’ll have to CLICK HERE.
I spotted this recipe in a newspaper magazine and was even more tempted to try it when I read the story of the chef behind it. Jon Watts seemed destined for another sort of life altogether when he was sentenced to six and a half years in a young offender institute for GBH when he was 18. But working in the prison kitchens proved to be a turning point and by the time he was released he had his Duke of Edinburgh gold award and an NVQ in professional cookery. He described how getting a job at a Jame Oliver restaurant “lit a spark inside me that’s still blazing at the age of 35” and having worked in restaurants for several years he has set up his own food truck cooking on the high street and at events. His ethos is to create simple, tasty ways to use ingredients that are easy to buy and don’t cost too much and I can confirm that this
SALMON AND GREENS TRAYBAKE
is absolutely all of those things. I made it for my mum this week and both of us scraped our plates clean.
This amount serves two people, takes five mins to prepare and 20 mins to cook. You can use any combination of greens - mum’s not a fan of broccoli, so I used courgettes cut into batons instead.
Pr-heat the oven to 180C fan, gas 6
Put 100g tenderstem broccoli, 100g asparagus spears, 100g sugar snap peas and 100g frozen peas into a large roasting tray. Drizzle over 1tbsp toasted sesame oil, sprinkle with salt, and toss to coat.
Place two salmon fillets on top of the veg.
In a small bowl, mix together 1tbsp soy sauce and 1tbsp honey then spoon it over the salmon and put into the oven for 20 mins.
Meanwhile make a dressing by mixing together 8g root ginger, finely grated, 1 spring onion sliced, 1tsp toasted sesame oil, the finely grated zest and juice of half a lime and half a red chilli finely sliced (you can leave this out if you prefer)
When the salmon is coked, spoon over the dressing and eat straight away. I served mine with wholegrain rice.
I’m a big Oprah Winfrey fan and she had these
WORDS OF WISDOM
about the power we each have to turn our lives around when we need to
THIS WEEK I’VE BEEN…..WATCHING
Is In Vogue: The 90s an especially insightful, revealing documentary about either the world’s best known fashion magazine, or the 90s as an era? No. Is it a mesmerising montage of fabulous fashion moments and an seemingly endless roll-call of astonishingly famous faces? Absolutely. Which more than outweighs the fact that contributors including Gwyneth Paltrow, Victoria Beckham, Tom Ford, Naomi Campbell, Claire Danes, Sarah Jessica Parker, John Galliano, Kim Kardashian, Mary J Bligh, Baz Lurhman, Nicole Kidman and Hilary Clinton (and that’s not all by a long shot) rarely say anything of any consequence (although Kim does reveal that she used to walk Madonna’s dog when she was young. I’ll leave it to you to decide whether that’s information of any consequence) and never do anything other than heap praise on the head of the woman who has had her hand furiously firmly on the tiller of the great ship Vogue since 1998, the fashion industry titan, Anna Wintour.
Exacting, ruthless, determined and deeply passionate about the industry she bestrides, this is probably as close an insight into the seemingly imperious, but also unexpectedly compassionate and supportive (she has nurtured and developed many young designers who have gone on to global success) fashion queen as she’s ever going to allow. Which doesn’t extend to removing her infamous sunglasses, something she’s asked to do but crisply refuses.
In Vogue: The 90s is shiny and fabulous and about as intellectually satisfying as eating candy floss, but sometimes that’s exactly what you need from an evening in front of the TV. All six episodes are available to watch from Sept 20th (I’ve only seen the first three, which were made available first).
You can see In Vogue: The 90s on Disney+
And watch the trailer HERE
WHAT’S MADE ME HAPPY THIS WEEK
Getting older certainly isn’t something that’s exactly embraced in the world of fashion (to say the least), but it did provide American actress and comedienne Mary Maxwell with the material for this hilarious insight into what happens when old age comes calling
You can see the whole, equally funny speech, which was actually the invocation at a conference for a care home company HERE (spool through to 1 min 20 secs, that’s where it really gets going)
FRIDAY FUNNY
Whilst we’re on the subject of ageing and laughing about it, I found this quote from another American, this time an entertainment reporter and columnist called Hy Gardner, indecently funny too.
That’s it for this week. I’m so enjoying your comments, so please do keep on posting any thoughts or reactions to any of the stories in this week’s newsletter. Or to let me know what you’re up to, or recommend something you’ve seen or done. And if it wouldn’t hurt too much, a click on the like heart really helps to make Heydays more visible to other people who, hopefully, will be encouraged to join our gang as a result. Thank you.
Have a lovely week and see you next time
I’ve never really enjoyed exercise until I joined our U3A group, we all have a good laugh (and moan) each week followed by coffee. Our instructor adapts each exercise if necessary so everyone can join in. For me I needed a friendly group to encourage me!
We’ve had a fantastic weeks holiday in Somerset, revisiting Vicars Close in Wells, which I know you enjoyed Diane. Off to the Country Brocante in Gloucestershire tomorrow which should be good.
Happy weekend everyone!
I’ve never liked to exercise. I would on occasion for a while and then stop. I don’t like to sweat. In March I learned I am pre diabetic. That was out of the blue as I eat super healthy. But what was missing was the exercise. I did not want this on my health plate, as I’m already dealing with adrenal fatigue, hence eating super healthy. I started brisk walking with my friend, Jeanine, every morning for 40-50 mins. After lunch and supper I do a slower walk or just turn on music and dance around for at least 10 minutes. Three time a week I do weights and twice a week I do HIIT. When my dr tested my A1C again July, I had reversed to non prediabetic range. He told me not to change what I’m doing til he tests again next year. With all this exercising, I’ve come to learn the importance of warming up and stretching afterwards. We have a foam roller at home which my husband uses after his runs, so after reading your thoughts on it, I will give it a go. I’ve learned very quickly, since March, why exercise is important as we age. I only wish the penny had dropped years ago. I still don’t like to exercise and sweat, but I can’t stop now.
Thank you.