Take one a day and live forever.

Take one what? Doesn’t really matter.

It could be one rasher of bacon, one square of tofu, one walk a day in the fresh air, one decent conversation that goes beyond the obvious.

It’s the small pleasures that make very sure that your life doesn’t suck. Turning them into big pleasures is also fun, but may not work as well – for your body, your family, your career – over the long run.

If you’re looking after your health, apply the one-a-day principle and see what happens. Allow yourself one whatever-it-is a day instead of cutting it out completely. This runs completely contrary to any fad diet you may have considered, which is probably a good thing. Because some recent research done by Alpro in the UK has confirmed what we all know – that most people start dieting at the beginning of the working week, only to give it up by Friday. The stats:

# Four out of 10 regular dieters start on a Monday

# Two out of five quit their new eating regime within 7 days

 # One in five dieters last a month

# Only one in 20 last the distance

It’s because of overwhelm. It all gets too hard. And too boring. We humans are very, very good at convincing ourselves we deserve a treat. And guess what? We do. But if you focus on the things that bring you pleasure, identify them, and include them in small, daily doses, then that’s a different story.

Your small pleasures will be different from mine. To prove it, here are five of mine, just from today.

1/ A random collection of tomatoes picked from the Bells of Kilcare garden yesterday, thickly sliced, and dressed with a sea-salty yoghurt dressing and some very quickly fried haloumi, then poorly photographed.

Tomatoes and haloumi, good match

2/ That last sip of my morning caffe latte, because the bits on the side of the glass or cup had time to drain down to join the foam at the bottom and I got a whole extra bonus sip I wasn’t expecting. Win!

3/  A boiled egg (with butter and chives) that was so fresh it was a pain in the bum to peel but I didn’t care. Note to self: the next time somebody gives you a just-laid egg, fry it.

4/ Smoked garlic! It’s my new addiction, and such a nice way to inject a bit of smokiness that is natural – and garlicky. I found mine, smoked over red gum and tea tree at Young Barons food store in Woy Woy, but you can smoke your own. I’ve used it raw, grated, sliced and pan-fried, and slow-cooked with roast chicken. Right now, cloves are scenting the inside of a rather large snapper from Woy Woy Fishermans Wharf fish shop.

Smoked garlic, another small pleasure

5/  Palm sugar syrup.  Another discovery. I love the rich, scented, almost toasty sweetness of palm sugar, but I’ve not had it in a small jar before (Ayam brand, the one with the rooster on it), ready to splash into dressings and vinaigrettes.

Add a splash to your next salad dressing

RECIPE ALERT. My simple, simple, go-to salad dressing: In a stainless steel bowl, add a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, a goodly splash of apple cider vinegar, sea salt, cracked black pepper and  a teaspoon of palm sugar syrup. If you’re doing this beforehand, consider adding a handful of finely sliced red onion to lightly pickle itself for an hour or two. Then add extra virgin olive oil and whisk it all together, stopping to taste and adjust. Sold.

As I said, your small pleasures will be different.

(It would be very weird, if they were the same). Write them down. Relate them over the dinner. Ask friends and family for theirs. Talking about good things while eating good food? That’s a simple pleasure in itself.

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Thanks for reading! Copyright © 2020 Jill Dupleix. All rights reserved. I live and work on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and pay my respect to elders past, present and emerging.

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