The final countdown

Either I’m proving the adage that life begins at 40, or I’m heading for a mid-life crisis – because, at the age of 41, I have decided to make some scarily bonkers changes in my life.

Part One of these life-changing events takes place in less than a month, when I’ll be moving out of my lovely bijoux Borough flat, putting my stuff into storage, and then living out of a suitcase for a couple of months. The aim is to live as rent-free as possible until the end of July, at which point, Part Two kicks in, and I’ll be heading out to Istanbul to move in with my boyfriend Süleyman.

As excited as I am about finally living with Süleyman, I think I’m going to find it just a little heartbreaking to move out of the place I’ve called home for nearly ten years – not least because my second home, Borough Market, is five minutes down the road.

So, to try and distract myself, I’ve set myself a challenge… to literally empty my food cupboards by the time I move out in the middle of May.

Looking through my cupboards last night, I realised I didn’t have a vast quantity of stuff to get through (I’ve always been quite good at not buying useless ingredients that I use once and never again), but there are still one or two items I’m not sure what to do with.

How I’m going to use up a nearly full bottle of rose water and an unopened tin of black treacle in four weeks, I just don’t know! Any suggestions will be gratefully received.

I’m actually rather fond of my ramshackle collection of spice jars (pictured above), so I think I might try and take them with me to Turkey. What the customs officials at Istanbul airport will make of an odd collection of powders, seeds and pods is anyone’s guess. But I’ll just put Midnight Express out of my mind, and run the gauntlet!

So, it looks like I’ll be eating lots of lentils, rice, couscous and quinoa over the next four weeks – but I’m certainly going to try and come up with as many variations on those themes as possible. And, as I generally make lunch to take into work every day, that gives me five more opportunities every week to make a dent in my supplies.

I won’t be using much of anything tonight, though, as Little Sis and I are going out to eat with our grandmother at our favourite north London restaurant, the Singapore Garden. But I’ve got some friends coming over for dinner this weekend – so, Nick and Kerry, beware! You may be finding a rather odd concoction of dishes on your plates come Saturday night.

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