Hugs... and Baked Peppers

Boris was on TV yesterday, once again telling us what we'll be 'allowed' to do from next Monday when restrictions change. My anger level went up several notches. To be honest the level hasn't really abated for the last 15 months or so... I didn't know it was possible to feel this angry, for this long.

Apparently, we'll be legally 'allowed' to hug again, it'll be our own choice and we should use "personal judgement" BUT we must continue to be cautious. Always the caveat, just to keep the frightened, frightened. I can see straight through them and their lies - they're so transparent.

It's the authoritarian nature of being 'allowed' by the Govt to do something as innocuous as hugging your friends or having your family round for lunch that gets me. How on earth did we become a country where something like that has to be 'allowed'?

Restaurants, pubs and other indoor hospitality venues will open as of next Monday, but there's still an awful lot of "Oooh, it's still very dangerous" and "We must all still be vigilant" and "Meeting outdoors is safer, if you're indoors you must keep the windows open". Jesus wept...!!

Rules on masks stay the same, but they "haven't ruled out" abandoning the mask rule in June... which really means we'll be masked for the foreseeable and certainly past next winter when the next wave of the usual respiratory viruses occurs. They need the rule on masks to keep the populace living in fear (see above!). Mustn't risk people thinking for themselves.

All of this is just another chapter in his "We're in control and you will do as we say" book. He's loosening the reins so reluctantly - you can see how much he's enjoyed having the power to control everything we do, even in our own homes; never in his wildest dreams did he think he'd get people to kowtow to this level of micromanagement. He's been getting off on this for months; he was never going to give it up without a fight... and he isn't.

He now has a stick with which to beat us for years to come. The threat of restrictions.

I'll move onto something infinitely more appealing before I burst into flames of fury... food! I saw this Nigel Slater recipe for Baked Peppers - it looked easy and tasty so I gave it a go for lunch today; he did it with tofu, but also suggested using feta which is what I did. I also scaled it down so that it just served the two of us.

It comes highly recommended by Mr S-V who said "You can definitely do this again"! My version may have been a little more caramelised (charred?) than Nigel's, but I think I just about got away with it.

All you need is a chunk of decent bread for mopping up all the lovely juices.