I cut out some images of fish ages ago because I knew I would want to use them this month. Images of beautiful, lean, elegant fish. Fish I might like to eat in a perfect world, a world in which I am a wonderful cook. As I place the images on the collendar page they remind me that this is a month of cullinary compromise, and that is a good thing. It contributes to controlling my weight.
The reality is that this month we have commercially prepared frozen fish which look nothing like the images on the collendar pages. Sadly, they rarely even look like the images on the actual packaging they are bought in. We are told they are fish, with up to half the contents of the pack being not-fish, consisting of combinations of crumbs, oils, batters, and various etceteras. We trustingly place them in the oven on a tray with commercially prepared oven fries potatoes and half an hour later have them with steamed vegetables. This year we are favouring ones that are lemon and pepper flavoured.
Collendar pages do not need to reflect reality. Making them is an activity which gives time out for the consideration of what is being eaten and what it might be better to eat. Some mental rewards are acknowledged for eating more steamed vegetables than were on the plate a year ago, a few years ago, or even a lot of years ago. Congratulations are definitely in order for eating less oven fries potatoes, and above all for eating some, even if it is not a lot of, fish.