Things that we take for granted

Recently a friend lost her brother and today I shared a recipe that I had been given by my brother. It made me think about the things, the people we take for granted and how lucky I am to have such a fantastic family.

Seldom do we tell our loved ones how much they mean to us. It is sloppy, silly and we feel embarrassed to share the feelings that we have. We know that they are aware of our feelings, we know that they are secure in our love. Perhaps that is why we feel able to keep our feelings to ourselves.

So today I am sharing with anyone who stumbles over my blog that I love my brother. He is kind and sweet, he loves his family, he is lots of fun and is always ready to do something daft with me.

He was lucky enough to find a wonderful woman to be his wife who brought a fantastic wee boy into my brother’s life and into mine. The birth of their daughter, my niece, is the icing on the cake.

My brother is generous, always willing to help others and to share his knowledge and skills. He is a chef. A wonderful chef who always has time to give me a tip or to advise me how to make a good meal great.

He is funny, he makes me laugh out loud in a time where LOL has become inflationary.

When I called recently to ask his advice on apple crumble he told me to add brown sugar and butter to the apples so that they caramelise in the oven, and to make the crumble mixture in advance then pop in the freezer until needed. This makes it ultra crunchy. It works. My crumble was absolutely delicious and will now become a staple of my kitchen.

I have made it for guests and was proud to say, ‘It was my brother’s recipe.’