ANYONE FOR A LIBERACE?

AS I have previously explained, I am not a believer in making New Year’s resolutions, but I have been considering a slight change of diet because of the indulgences of lockdowns.

I read that chilli peppers and coffee both help you live longer, so maybe I could make those the basis of a new regime. They will also keep me regular and wide awake. Which is a much more sensible combination than sleeping pills and a laxative, a combination a friend of mine tried, just the once.

I’ve also developed a passion for cappuccino coffees and confessed in an earlier column I had been contemplating buying a machine to make them. A proper one with milk frother is expensive and complicated so I opted for one of those neat Dolce Gusto machines that use capsules or pods.

You slip in a pod, turn it on and the frothy milk comes out. Switch to a second pod and the coffee comes out. Not quite the real deal but close enough. Except that it’s expensive at about 42p for a cup of Starbucks Cappuccino. That’s pricey for a home brew. A latte is half the price.

At least the cost has helped me curb my addiction and provided a new word game that started when I forgot what it’s called when Maria asked if I wanted a coffee.

“What sort?” she said.

“A Gambacini,” I said, the name having momentarily abandoned my memory bank. Since then I have asked for a Capaldi, Lamborghini, garibaldi and a Liberace.

To which Maria replied: “And where am I going to get a Liberace at this time of night?”