April 30th 2020
“Growing a beard is quite hard and whisky never starts to taste nice”
These are the words of the 21st Century’s greatest lyricist, Matty Healy, of the band ‘The 1975’. It comes from a single entitled ‘Give Yourself a Try’. The song lyrics are typically wordy and contain some ‘interesting’ themes, but the underlying message is clear and obvious. It is a retrospective look at Matty’s twenties and the various versions of himself he believed to be true at different points. After all, life is about learning, and the subject we undoubtedly discover most about is our self. However, we may not realise it as we go along, as we seldom have the time to ruminate upon such things. It is safe to say that I, like everybody else, have learnt a few bits and pieces about myself in this lockdown period.
I miss work. There we go. I said it. I hate the idea that being a teacher defines me. I like to say I got into teaching in order to allow me to indulge other hobbies in my time off. Teaching suited my desired lifestyle, if you like. Given only 43% of newly-qualified teachers remain in the profession after three years, according to recent data, my six years in teaching suggest there must be something more to it than simply having time to travel or going cycling in the holidays! Lockdown has helped me realise there are many things keeping me in teaching - the enjoyment of my subject material, the people I work with and, seemingly most importantly, the structure that school days give my life.
I portray myself as a relaxed chap, or at least I try to. The truth I have learnt during lockdown, however, is that I am capable of sitting and doing very little for a maximum of 30 minutes. No more. I complain after a busy day at work but I go out of my mind at home with nothing to do. A normal school holiday would involve social plans, travelling etc. but with that taken away it is just a vast expanse of time that I must fill.
I bake from time to time. Maybe three or four times a year. In lockdown I have baked twice a week every week. Today I went to the supermarket and couldn’t get flour. I’m ashamed to say I stopped my trolley, Googled recipes for ‘Flourless Cakes’ (please see below recipe - it turned out pretty well!) and adjusted my shopping list accordingly. The only limiting factor to my new baking hobby, prior to the lack of flour, has been having to eat the resulting food.
I am no handyman. My Dad is a DIY genius. I inherited his baldness but the skills with saw, drill and paintbrush passed me by. However there was so much time to fill this Easter holiday that I uttered the phrase “I wish we hadn’t already decorated the whole house”. This annoyed me - I’d spent late nights after school last year painting various rooms of the house and now I had all this time and no laborious painting to fill it with. Consequently I found myself in the second week of the holidays giving the airing cupboard a lick of paint. That filled a day.
The biggest time filler for me, though, has been exercise. Initially I planned to train for the Aquathlon (1km swim, 5km run) European Championships in June that I had qualified to represent Great Britain at, but had been cancelled shortly before lockdown. Most other races I had entered have been moved to what will be a very busy Autumn so I found myself training for the sake of training. I thought I would need an aim and this target-less training would be short lived. I have now cycled every day since school finished - either on the turbo trainer or outside and I am running four days a week. In total I have cycled 2,508.79km and run 284.79km. It would seem I do not particularly need an aim after all then...just a large amount of time to fill!
How exactly do I summarise this ramble? I guess I must return to my opening gambit from Matty Healy. I learnt that I dislike whisky several years ago and I have tried and failed several times to produce an impressive beard. Beyond that I have learnt many lessons about myself from various mistakes and misadventures during my ‘roaring’ twenties, having turned 29 on Sunday. My biggest lesson from lockdown so far? I crave structure and productivity. However, we are all different and will take on board different lessons at this time. Your children are currently, truly, being schooled by #VirtualMoulsford and the infamous ‘School of Life’. We are all different and will also embark upon a voyage of self-discovery at this time, let’s just try and enjoy the journey!
‘Flourless’ Chocolate and Pear Cake
85g butter, plus 1tbsp for greasing
85g caster sugar, plus 2tbsp for the tin
85g dark chocolate
3 eggs, separated
85g hazelnuts
3 ripe pears
- Heat the oven to 180o and toast the hazelnuts for 15 minutes - checking every 5 minutes. Once they are toasted stick them in a Nutribullet or food processor until they make a powder.
- Peel, core and halve the pears.
- Turn the oven down to 160o and cut a circle of baking parchment to fit the base of a 20-25cm loose-bottomed tin. Melt 1 tbsp butter and brush the inside of the tin, then line the base with the parchment and brush again with the butter. Spoon in the 2 tbsp caster sugar, swirl it around to coat the base and sides, then tip out any leftovers.
- Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of hot water, remove from the heat and leave to cool.
- Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a large bowl until pale and thick; fold into the chocolate with the ground hazelnuts.
- In a separate bowl, with a clean whisk, beat the whites until they reach a soft peak. Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mix gradually.
- Spoon into the prepared tin. Level off the mixture and arrange the pears over the mixture, cut-side down. Bake for 40 mins until the pears are soft and the cake is cooked all the way through.
- Leave to cool in the tin slightly before releasing it, then place on a rack to cool completely.
