New Year’s Day

My New Year’s Day this year was notable for 3 things.

Firstly, I used up the last of the puff pastry and mincemeat from the festive supplies, baking the final batch of mince pies of the season (see my photo above). When this point in the season is reached, you really do know that Christmas is officially over.

Secondly, my wife and I joined a beautifully scenic group walk along our local section of the English Coastal Path. The walk leader explained that it has now been renamed the King Charles III Coastal Path, reflecting our new monarch’s aim of promoting access to the realm’s green and pleasant land. Well done, sir! I did wonder whether he and Camilla might surprise us somewhere along the route, popping up with some mince pies of their own, to wish us all a happy new year. It was not to be, however.

Thirdly, I fulfilled a New Year aim by launching a channel for A Different Kitchen on Instagram. Mission Control for the blog remains firmly here on WordPress, and there are no plans to change that. The tools on here for online writers are excellent, and I love the support, talent and inspiration within the WordPress community (yes, that’s you!).

However, people engage in different ways, and just as ADK also has an accessible Playlist on Spotify and a channel on X/Twitter, I thought it was time to open another on Instagram. I think of it like a restaurant chain, opening an outlet in a new town or community to meet another set of people. The concept remains the same – a personal view of the world through a lens of Good Food, Great Music. Whichever platform people choose to engage with, they will encounter the same style, attitude and values (oh yes, and the same jokes – thank you there at the back).

One week on, and so far it seems to have been well-received. I’ve had lots and lots of likes, comments and follows, and a few invitations to join groups and networks. It’s helped take my total follower count across all my platforms past 2,500.

If you are on Instagram, do please pop over to @differentkitch and say hello, so I can follow back.

All in all, a busy 24 hours to start 2024. Naturally, today’s musical choice is U2 with New Year’s Day. I saw them perform this live when it was still a relatively new track. I’d seen them in their even earlier days, and the main development of their sound by this point was the introduction of an electric piano. On stage, the Edge managed to play it with one hand, at the same time as playing the lead guitar slung around his neck. Oh, and he was also providing the backing vocals to Bono. What an all-round talented chap he is. I suppose these days you would call it multi-tasking.

Enjoy U2 with New Year’s Day.