This wasn’t treats, this was an addiction

Healthy living was not a priority for my mother. Look inside her refrigerator, each shelf stuffed with chocolate. This wasn’t treats, this was an addiction.

Each time I visited mother in London we would go out for lunch. She really didn’t enjoy cooking. One of her favourite places to eat was Churchill’s, and a great teat for me. Mother always ordered the same lunch for both of us. A large plate of smoked salmon. Churchill’s do the best smoked salmon I’ve ever tasted. More often we went to her local crepery where mother ordered a lemon and sugar crepe for her lunch. I couldn’t survive on that and enjoyed a stuffed vegetable one. Luckily I prefer savoury foods. Next we’re off to mother’s favourite patisserie in Moscow Road. In the window on view was a gallery of the most fabulous cakes. Just looking I put on pounds. Mother indulged, I on the other hand let my eyes do the eating. Both my parents were sugar addicts.

Being dancers they burnt off the calories. Just as well that after retiring from dance mother evolved her unique exercise technique and kept her figure for ever.

As for me, after my second child I ended up three stone heavier, but that’s another story.