Hello Readers,

I hope you’re doing well. I’ve had a good week punctuated by a public holiday on Thursday. With the recent (2022-09-08) death of Elizabeth II (former Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms), Australia’s prime minister declared a public holiday which state and territory leaders had to gazette. Thursday was declared a National Day of Mourning.

I spent the morning reading review articles from Clinical Microbiology Reviews, which is a favourite journal.[1-5] In the afternoon, I worked while a movie and documentaries on World War Two played in the background.

The public holiday reinforced my opinion that rather than named public holidays, I’d prefer we had a long weekend each month apart from April. I’d suggest rather than a public holiday on the 26^th day of January; we have a public holiday on the third Friday of February for everyone to consider our need to reconcile ourselves with all people living in Australia and to celebrate the rich history of all the peoples who have lived on our island continent. I’d like this day in February to be like the USA’s Thanksgiving holiday. A day for family and friends to gather, for cultural and ethnic groups to enjoy, for all of us to recognise Australia’s first nations people, and perhaps to indulge in celebratory food.

If people wish to celebrate or honour days, they should do it as recreation leave. I’d take 25th December and Good Friday. As a nation, I’d always want to take the 25th of April for a day to remember those who served our nation defending our national interests and deliberately reflect on our positions about armed conflict and warfighting.

For balance, I would also give everyone an extra five days of recreation leave for 25 days annually.

I recognise many people would object to my approach, and that’s fine. Everyone is welcome to have an opinion. My opinions are mine, and sharing them here is what I do. Feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comments box at the end of this post.

This week’s meals

I’m not sharing a recipe tonight. I’m cooking a steak and having it with some leftover pea soup. There’s nothing that interesting in that.

Instead, I’m sharing the meals I ate during the week. The reason for this blog is to help readers who don’t think they can cook a meal for themselves or themselves and their partner. Last week I was chatting with a friend who had just returned to work after her first maternity leave. Her partner is also a busy health professional, and my friend was struggling with ideas for quick meals. Her family are meat eaters, so I suggested cooking a joint of beef or lamb or perhaps some chicken portions on the weekend. With this, a plan can be developed for the relatively quick and simple end-of-workday dinners.

Monday night

Leftover porterhouse steak with wombok and stock.

This bowl of soup is simply made by boiling some stock and pouring it over wombok, spring onions, chilli, and steak.

Tuesday night

A plainer version of Monday’s dinner.

This bowl of soup is simply made by boiling some stock and pouring it over wombok and steak.

Wednesday night

Leftover porterhouse steak sandwich

I applied mayonnaise to the inside of the Turkish bread and then added cream cheese. I tossed some lettuce leaves with the mayonnaise too. I toasted the sandwich in a frying pan with the lid on to get it crunchy.

I made instant gravy for dipping the sandwich in and the extra steak.

Thursday breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Steamed egg, wilted spinach, and cheese

Cream cheese on pieces of porterhouse steak

Speck and pea soup

I cooked the speck and split peas in a pressure cooker and then made the soup with some extra green peas.

Friday night

Speck and steamed eggs

References

1. Chowdhury, F., et al., Diagnosis, Management, and Future Control of Cholera. Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 2022. 35(3): p. e00211-21.
2. Philippon, A., et al., Class C β-Lactamases: Molecular Characteristics. Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 2022. 35(3): p. e00150-21.
3. Naud, S., et al., Candidate Phyla Radiation, an Underappreciated Division of the Human Microbiome, and Its Impact on Health and Disease. Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 2022. 35(3): p. e00140-21.
4. Ansari, S. and Y. Yamaoka, Helicobacter pylori Infection, Its Laboratory Diagnosis, and Antimicrobial Resistance: a Perspective of Clinical Relevance. Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 2022. 35(3): p. e00258-21.
5. Heyckendorf, J., et al., Tuberculosis Treatment Monitoring and Outcome Measures: New Interest and New Strategies. Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 2022. 35(3): p. e00227-21.