Never put off for tomorrow . . .

“Never put off for tomorrow what you can do today.” ~Thomas Jefferson

I had always wondered who first penned that phrase and this morning I looked it up. Now I know, and . . . so do you!

I think a lot of us muddle through life believing that we have to wait for everything to calm down a bit before we get started on pulling things together and beginning to write that first novel, or reading that book we've been meaning to . . . but just haven't gotten around to reading.

The diet always starts tomorrow, or in my case on Monday, and then . . . when Monday comes along, something else gets in the way of it anyways, and so it gets put off again. It’s always tomorrow that we’ll begin enjoying authentic pleasures . . . but . . . the truth is, tomorrow never really does come. Life never really calms down long enough for us to start truly living the lives we deserve to live. Something will always get in the way, and there are always going to be unforeseen changes, movements, something to grab our attention . . . Be it an unexpected phone call, a child falling down, the car running out of petrol, cash that never arrives . . .



The reality is that, as far as life goes, we are never really very far away from dysfunction and if we wait for perfection to begin enjoying the things we have waiting for us to enjoy . . . well . . . it just ain’t gonna happen!

I think we should stop waiting for all the pieces to fall into place, and for life to become perfect. We need to begin to work with what we’ve got right now to make our lives as satisfying as we can. We need to take stock, every day, of our many blessings and give thanks for them, and squeeze all the joy out of the present that we can, for all too soon, it will be our past and we’ll be looking back on it with regret and “wishing we hada’s”.



Grab hold of today. Don’t let procrastination steal any more of your tomorrows and your precious moments! Call a friend today . . . just because . . . Start reading that book or writing that novel. Try something new for lunch . . . dinner . . .bake that cake. Tell someone special that you love them . . . dream that dream and move towards making it a reality. Today, experience joy and be grateful. Look for, find and experience all the little pleasures that today has to offer you. Make all your tomorrow’s today. Do something nice for someone else, and in doing so, enrich your own life.

I’ve always maintained that, it isn’t until you start to give your life away, that you really begin to live it. Live your life today. I promise you that, by the end of the day, when you go to lay your little head on your soft pillow, you’ll feel a lot better for it!!



Life truly is a magnificent ride . . . hang on and enjoy the experience for all it’s worth!!! Don't let tommorrow steal any more of your todays. Or . . . to quote my Todd . . . "It's no good saying it will be alright on the night . . . this is the night."

This is Todd’s very favourite cake. He loves fruit cakes of any kind and especially this one. If you’re looking for soft and squidgy, this isn’t it . . . if you’re looking for rich and satisfying, this hits the mark. (If you don't have a set of scales for baking you really need to get some. I use scales all the time now and their accuracy just can't be beaten when it comes to baking. I highly recommend them!) I have converted the measurements as closely as I can for North American measures. Hope this helps!



*Cherry and Almond Cake*
Serves 12
Printable Recipe

I love the flavour of cherry and almond together. They are the perfect foil for each other. This lovely cake brings together those two flavours in a most wonderful way.

8 ounces butter, softened (1 cup)
8 ounces caster sugar (1 generous cup)
4 large eggs, beaten
8 ounces self raising flour (a scant 2 cups)
8 ounces glace cherries, washed, dried and chopped (approximately 2 cups)
4 ounces ground almonds (1 scant cup)
3 drops almond essence
9 ounces golden marzipan (a generous 1/2 pound)
2 ounces blanched almonds, halved lengthwise for decoration (1/2 cup)
Icing sugar for dusting

Pre-heat the oven to 160*C/325*F. Grease a deep round 8 inch pan and line it with parchment paper. Grease again.

With a hand mixer cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, a little bit at a time, to help prevent curdling, mixing until they are all incorporated. Beat in the flour, in three additions, mixing well after each addition. Fold in the cherries, ground almonds and almond essence. Mix evenly.

Spoon half of the cake batter into the prepared pan. Roll out the marzipan into a 7 inch in diameter circle and place carefully on top of the cake batter. Cover with the remaining batter, smoothing the top.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 1 ½ hours until done. You may need to cover it after an hourif it seems to be browning too quickly. It may take a bit longer, mine often does. The cake is done when it begins to shrink away from the sides of the pan and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Let cool in the tin for 20 minutes before removing out to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Dust with icing sugar to serve.



And, in The English Kitchen today, Rarebit Jacket Potatoes. Delicious baked potatoes with a Welsh Rarebit filling!