Beauty 365 … Stories of Love and Life for Everyday

Most people associate lunch with eating. Fair enough.

Most work places and educational institutions have a designated time-slot for people to rest and nourish their bodies, supposedly energising them for the rest of the afternoon. Makes sense.

My own children, on the other hand, associate lunch with feasting. Having spent a few years living in Rome when they were young, where we had a cook, lunch means three courses: pasta, followed by a meat and vegetable course, followed by fruit or some other sweet delicacy.

These days, freed from the constraints of school lunchboxes, the lunch break means, “Let’s cook up a storm!” How laborious!

When I was young (oh, the poor children have heard about “When I was young…” so many times!!), lunch meant a vegemite sandwich, and an exotic lunch meant vegemite and cheese!

Day 29, and I am threatening to pack school lunch boxes with vegemite sandwiches. Minimal work minimal mess, minimal fuss, and, I think, maximal flavour!

To me, lunch means one thing only… doing the ‘crossy’ (crossword)!

Since my husband began working from home a couple of years ago, it has become a lunch time institution, and one of the joys of our flexible work hours.

It requires precisely four ingredients: newspaper, pencil, sharpener and eraser. It’s a very serious affair, and from the reading out of the clues, to the way in which we resolve those seemingly unanswerable, we have strict protocols around its completion, preserved by yours truly.

Food simply fits around our regime; nothing messy that could mar the print, nor cumbersome that might restrict the space on the table needed by the open newspaper. Personally, I am good to go with some hommus and crackers, and a cup of green tea.

Some in our family are yet to discover the satisfaction and sheer joy of pulling words forward from the back of our minds to fill those blank boxes with letters.

Just another of my many lock-down projects!