Have you ever watched one of those extreme make-over shows or plastic surgery operations on TV? It is so stomach churning it's scary and yet our vanity runs so deep we are prepared to risk our lives for a bigger/smaller/smoother/sexier whatever. When I think about it, it seems too ridiculous to be true. Especially the wrinkle- and/expression-less 40 something celebrity crediting their new guru/diet/exercise regime but denying anything else. Are we so scared of dying that we no longer accept ageing as a natural process? What happened to the wisdom of age? I think that in our desperation to hang onto our youth we have altered a very important natural cycle and sadly lost the true meaning of 'elders'. We are meant to learn from them, from their life experience. We should respect them and what they can teach us. Instead we have become a race of self-absorbed, dismissive, 'young' freaks. My grandmother was one of the most beautiful people I know. I listened to her stories for hours. They contained so much wisdom and good advice. Of course the obviously taut 60 year old sitting next to you at a restaurant also has life experience, but in physically denying their age I believe they have put a mental block on it too. I'm sure it must play havoc looking in the mirror. I look forward to getting older as a time to be less concerned with the outer and more concerned with the inner.
Here is a quick-ish and easy topping for (chocolate) cupcakes, pancakes etc. Makes enough for about 12 cupcakes. 1 cup of water. 1/4 cup raw brown sugar. zest of 4-5 med oranges. 2 TBSPs van der hum/orange liqueur. Put water in a small saucepan over a med heat. Add sugar. Stir until dissolved. Add liqueur and increase heat to burn off alcohol. Lower heat and simmer for about 20 mins. Add zest and stir through. Keep simmering until liquid becomes syrupy (about 20 mins). Allow to cool slightly and spoon over cakes. I use about a tsp per cupcake making the amount of zest approximately the same for each cake. Enjoy.
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