Panettone All Year, and Seasonal cakes and desserts

Last Christmas in UK supermarkets we could buy Christmas pudding and Christmas cake, French yule logs, the seasonal favourites, plus year round scones and crumpets. From Europe, German stollen and Italian Panettone. The UK now has an outlet devoted to Panettone. Supermarkets, from upmarket department stores to Waitrose, middle market Tesco and Morrisons, and budget friendly German Lidl and Aldi, stock a variety of European and worldwide specialities. Amazon and ebay also have links to lovely food specialities. These include

Italian Panettone

Panettone - Italian, popular in the run up to Christmas, but also increasingly Easter. The spelling is only one double letter, double t, I remember tut tut.

Panettone. Picture from Wikipedia.

Wiki explains

In Italy, historical accounts of panettone invariably state that it originated in Milan. The word panettone derives from panetto, a small loaf of bread. The augmentative suffix -one changes the meaning to 'large bread'

A one word oxymoron, small large bread. The popular size is the large one which can last in its tin all year, going gradually drier and losing flavour and aroma. It can be used up as bread pudding, bread and butter pudding.

We used to be given Panettone when we visited an Italian restaurant in Hatch End. The tinned panettone came packed inside a circular zip up bag.

Now many Italian cafe outlets before Christmas sell a few choices of Panettone on the counter beside the cashier to tempt you to make a last minute purchase of a gift for others or yourself.

The Panettone Store sells panettone from small stocking fillers to extra large. Also preserved fruit, and Italian soft nougat.

What about the rest of the world. Wiki helpfully says

Turron

Soft nougat. 

Torrone

Italian soft nougat

Nougat

Usually white chewy bars which might contain nuts, and sometimes fruit. Could be wrapped in foil for freshness and then a soft card cover.

Useful Websites On Panettone And Seasonal Food

https://thepanettonestore.co.uk/

https://thepanettonestore.co.uk/stocking-fillers/

https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/spaniards-fear-italian-invasion-of-panettone-replace-roscon-bread-6mcwbv5f9

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Checks on restaurants, bars and hotels

 

I go into fast food places and the wall displays a chart showing the toilets have been checked every hour. 

 UK restaurants display their one to five rating for cleanliness and health.

 It's time for venues worldwide to have to display a chart showing fire safety checks. 

Being A Tenant worldwide

30 YEARS OF TENANT EXPERIENCE

I see things from both sides. Although I am both a home owner and landlord, in Singapore I was a tenant in 5 properties over a 30 year period. Our first flat was centrally located. It was brand new.

TENANTS' CHALLENGES - WILDLIFE

However,  it had cockroaches. In the kitchen. 

Which is worse, creatures you can see, chase, spray? Or creatures which come out at night and leave behind droppings, trails, holes, smells, or make noises behind the walls.

In England we hear the saying, you are never far from a rat. What about snakes in Singapore? In the USA we were told on a tourist trail though a national park that snakes are scared of noise. You can march heavily, sing, and throw stones ahead to frighten them off the path.

Snakes - invisible

A girl downstairs in our newly built block of lats near central Orchard Road discovered in her school bag a snake skin, which local snakes discard annually. Singapore has 70 species of snake.

 In 30 years I never saw one in the city, except a large one on the fence at a noisy party. It obviously hadn't read that small snakes are scared by noise.

Neither had the London snakes learned to beware of humans, noisy nor silent. My parents in London, England, had had a breeding pair of adders in their garden backing onto woodland in Stanmore in 1978. The snake basked in the sun happily beside our neighbour who had been snoozing in a deck chair. Maybe she should have played the radio, quietly.

Apart from wildlife, in Singapore, I had three main problems. 

TENANTS' Problems

1 Mould PROBLEMS

As  tenants in Singapore, we had mould, from tropical rain running from the flat roof down the outside walls of the skyscraper. 

Mould Solutions

Painting over was a temporary solution. The problem returned the following year. Another company had a more expensive but effective solution of removing plaster and adding a waterproof lining.

In the UK the maintenance company rep showed that a device for detecting damp could show the damp from the top corner, being a ceiling leak from pipes or broken guttering. A mould patch half way could be foliage or an overflow pipe from a kitchen boiler. 

Mould alongside a bed meant that the one pint of water which every adult, two children or two pets breathe out, was going onto an adjoining wall. 

Walls should be free of leaning furniture and furnishing to allow airflow. 

So curtains should not rest against windows and walls.

 Bedding such as headboards and duvets should be a gap away. 

Cupboard contents should be inside racks away from the back wall. Fifties style furniture on feet is best to allow air flow. 

CHAIRS

The oriental and Middle eastern style of living, with cushions around the walls and on the floor is fine for hot, dry climates, But the lack of air flow produces moisture turning into mould.

Also windows should be opened.

TENANTS PROBLEMS

2 Missing Furniture or furnishing

We went into the new property and a shelf was missing in a kitchen cupboard. 

My family said, don't complain, we don't need it.

When we moved out two years later, our leaving inventory showed a missing shelf, so the letting agent charged us for the replacement. Tenant's loss.

The new curtains didn't quite meet. My family said, don't complain. 

3 Street Noise - Tenant's Problem

DAYTIME NOISE

In little India we backed onto a busy street with an Indian temple. We could drown out continuous noise from traffic by playing music. 

However, we had loud intermittent noise from processions. Indian processions for example, Thaipusan. And noise from lion dances at Chinese New Year.

Night NOISE

In Singapore you can report noise at night. 

A friend of ours with a pilot in the family told us they had been disturbed by builders digging by the road nearby late at night. 

The family went out to remonstrate. 

The foreman shrugged, and lied. 'We have to dig now. It's a gas leak.'

The family retorted. 'We have already reported you to police who are on their way. It's not a gas leak. This street is on bottled gas.'

The workmen quickly threw their gear into the truck and drove off.

To conclude on Good Tenants' BEST PRACTICE  

For tenants

1 Pay on time and send a whatsapp saying you have done so.

2 Report leaks and other problems promptly. 

3 Preserve all guarantees, and fire safety stickers on furniture.

4 If you go abroad tell the landlord you are away and who nearby has the key if there is a leak, fire or other problem. 

5 Inform the landlord if you have anybody to stay longer than a fortnight. The landlord is legally obliged to check that he is not renting out to illegals. He or she needs to know that relatives staying in your flat are not squatters.

4 If given notice, leave. You might want a good reference. The landlord who wants to get rid of you might be tempted to give you a good reference but is legally obliged to tell the truth and risks a large fine by not doing so.

3 If you can, clean the oven or have it professionally cleaned. Hire a cleaning company to leave the whole flat as it was when you found it, including carpet cleaning.

-ENDS-

Organizing Events And Safety For Landlords

 When you get on a plane, you will hear a safety announcement before take off. Importantly, where to find the exits. Hotel bedroom doors show you the route to exits.

At most Toastmasters International speakers' club meetings I have attended in England, whoever opens the meeting, the Toastmasters of the Day (or the Sergeant at Arms or President) gives directions to the fire exit.

At a large meeting, such as a speech contest or conference, such as one I attended at London Business School, an usher or person in charge of seating will prevent latecomers or those without ticketed seats from sitting on the stairs because that blocks the aisles and is forbidden by safety regulations.

If you are organizing the meeting, you might get to know the layout of the building, the toilet location, kitchen or cafeteria or coffee machine area, the time the meeting ends. Also the entrance, fire exit, any defibrillator machines which are often found in public areas and near swimming pools.

If you are a landlord, or renovating a building, you might wish to check regulations and install fire exit signs.

Chinese and Japanese symbol for exit on left.

Russian sign. From Wikipedia.

Old French and English sign. Nowadays pictures of a running man are used because they are more universally understood.

Useful Websites

https://www.fireandevacuationservices.co.uk/training/fire-warden-training?msclkid=ad0760c9dd9b1a9814ce0997b09b1453

https://landlordcertificatelondon.co.uk/fire-safety-and-fire-exit-signs-uk-regulations-2025-lcl/

https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/swiss-bar-fire-crans-montana-what-happened-zf9ks68cf

French Words You Already Know In English

French menus need not be a mystery. You already know many French words.

French flag

B

ballet

banquette

bête noire 

bon - good, used in bonjour, good day, bonsoir, good evening, and bon-bon the sweet

boulevard

bouquet

brasserie - eatery

brassiere - bra, item of women's clothing also called soutien gorge which means lift neck which is a euphemism or polite word

C

cafe

cafetiere

centre - centre

chauffeur

coiffeur

corps - body, corps de ballet

croissant

E

entrepreneur - person who starts businesses and enterprises, entre-enter - prener to take

et - and , as in son et lumiere

fumer - to smoke, as in pas de fumer, no smoking, no fumes. De means of. ne - pas is no.

L

lait - milk, cafe au lait is coffee with milk, au is at 

lumiere, as in son et lumiere, light

M

madame - madam

matinee - afternoon performance, matin is morning

menu - le menu is the menu

mortgage - literally dead hand

moulin - mill or windmill as in Moulin Rouge, red windmill, a London landmark

N

naive

ne - no, don't 

noir - black, as in film noir which is a gloomy or sad film

Nom de plume - pen name, literally name of pen

P

President

R

r.s.v.p respondeez s'il vous plait - reply /respond please, literally if (it) you please

regrette - regret, as in the Edith Piaf song, je ne regrette rien, I don't regret nothing (anything) 

renaissance - rebirth, art era, newspaper name

republique - republic (newspaper name and street name)

Restaurant

Reunion - meeting

rouge - red, as in the cosmetic, also as in moulin rouge, red windmill, adjective second after the noun

S

servis - service, as in servis compris means service included

son et lumiere - sound and light

suave

T

train - train (written the same way, pronounced tran, just the same without the letter i)

V

Ville - town, centre ville means centre of the town

W

W le weekend - the weekend - le is the, weekend is an English word which pops up in conversational French

Useful Websites For Spelling & Meaning & Inserting Accents

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/bete-noire

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Memories Of New Year's Eve Safety Precautions In London Evoked By The Swiss New Year's Eve Fire Findings

A couple of years ago I attended  New Year's Eve dinner at a restaurant near Trafalgar Square in London.

Spiral Staircases, Basements & Exits

 It was down a spiral staircase. I asked where the fire exit was. They had another second exit beyond the kitchen. That would be the escape route if the fire was between me and and the spiral staircase. If the fire started in the kitchen, the escape route would have been up the spiral staircase.

I was concerned about the staircase.  But half an hour after midnight, I was glad to be out and going home.

Entrances and Exits To Tube Stations

Unfortunately, when it was time to leave, there were huge queues outside the nearest underground railway station. Police had blocked off the entrance because crowds from Trafalgar square and areas all around had already filled the station platforms, escalators and entrance hall.

We asked the waiting time, which would be about half an hour, estimated. We could see a huge line, behind snake barriers, like you get at Disney and I had experienced many years ago at Habitat in Canada.  We did not want to queue. We did not want to stand still in the cold for half an hour or more.

We went back to the warm restaurant which was still open with about half the diners still there and we reclaimed our table felt obliged to order more wine and food. Down and up the spiral staircase again. 

Crowds and Crushing

I remembered another New Year's Day in Singapore when we joined a crowd watching the parade of Harley bikes with the riders, and the the passengers in colourful costumes. I was swept away from my husband and I retreated into a shop doorway. Even there, for a moment I was crushed by the press of passers-by, and for a moment I feared I would be injured by the press of people.

Avoiding Crowds

This year, my American relative in London told us he did not want to join us for a New Year's eve dinner in central London. he preferred to stay home and watch television, not go to a crowded city centre. He also does not drive at night in London in winter.

My husband was still keen to go. After being frail, I declined to go to the city centre, ending late beyond midnight. 

Instead we took a frail friend who is on chemotherapy, to a New Year's Day lunch at Borough Market (see my other blog posts). The Market was closed for New Year's Day, so the streets were not crowded.

A spiral staircase to a basement is not ideal for a fast exit.

If I don't see a fire exit. I try to sit near a door, away from the kitchen.

The latest news reports 40 dead and 116 injured. The basement had a permitted capacity of 100. So either there were more than the permitted number in the basement, all of whom died or were injured. Or people above on the ground floor were also injured. Or people who went back to rescue others, or retrieve belongings, were also injured.

Long Term Effects Of Fire

 Whichever it was, a huge number either dead or with physical and mental trauma for many years, probably for life. This event will certainly stay in my mind for the coming month, and every New Year's Eve, and when planning where to go. The costs of lifetime care require huge payouts from individuals or insurance companies.

Records of Fire Checks and Extinguishers & Fire Escape Exits

In terms of fire checks, it seems to me that those in charge of several buildings, whether as landlords, or governments, need a spreadsheet of properties, with records of inspections on a checklist, so that gaps in inspections or provision of fire extinguishers can be remedied.

Fire Extinguishers Misused & Locked

Earlier newspaper reports indicated that fire extinguishers were locked away because bar patrons, youngsters, had tried to use them when there were no fires for a prank. If that is the case, as with fire alarms, signs should warn of large fines for prank use of fire alarms. (Which happens in schools, university dormitories - it happened several times at my son's residence in Brunel.)

Warnings Needed

Scouts and schools should emphasize that such pranks lead to loss of life. Why? Because after pranks, patrons ignore alarms. Also building managers lock away extinguishers. 

Exits Misused

Also leaving without paying through a fire exit, or entering through a fire exit to avoid paying, causes the fire exits to be locked.  

I remember seeing signs in streets on the numbers of people killed on the roads in certain dangerous areas. We have mandatory notices on basins used by staff instructing them to wash their hands. We should have signs saying, 

If patrons leave without paying, then instead of allowing tabs, credit cards should be taken at the beginning, or deposits taken, or money taken for entry with for first drink free.

In London we had to leave a non refundable deposit for our Christmas Day meal at Hawksmoor. that was to prevent no shows. But the same would also deter the use of fraudulent cards, embarrassment over cards which are beyond expiry dates and don't work. Business hotels now take payment in advance as an option, which enables customers to leave whenever they like without paying. A similar system was used at WOW in Portugal. You paid for a museum tour which included four drinks at designated points in a one way system, showed a pink bracelet and a card which management ticked for each alcoholic or non alcoholic drink. This would also prevent people drinking too much.

Sample Sign Warning

40 dead and more than 100 left with lifelong injuries from fire in a building with blocked fire exits. 

Do not block or lock this fire exit! 

Penalty 500 dollars.

Useful Websites On Fire Safety

SAFETY

https://www.cross-safety.org/uk/safety-information/cross-feature-article/fires-nightclubs-started-pyrotechnics

https://www.google.com/search?q=what+are+bengal+lights

WORLDWIDE FIRES

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fireworks_accidents_and_incidents

SWISS FIRE

https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/switzerland-swiss-bar-fire-owner-6z2nnv6fq

VIDEO

https://uk.video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&p=mail+swiss+fire&type=E210GB885G0#id=3&vid=222bbd08dee9ddf4b2bab9916fa98119&action=click

Victims of Swiss Fire

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3vel0xvlvgo

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/swiss-ski-resort-fire-every-36490994

Update on Swiss fire on New Year's Eve

https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/switzerland-swiss-bar-fire-owner-6z2nnv6fq

Update Jan 30 2026

https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/swiss-bar-fire-crans-montana-what-happened-zf9ks68cf

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Fire In Swiss bar On New Year's Eve And Fire Safety Announcements

 The New Year's Eve Fire in Switzerland set me researching safety for my own home and buildings I manage, events I manage at club meetings, and places I visit.

Toastmasters Clubs Fire Exit Announcements

 Toastmasters Clubs worldwide, mostly, although not always, follow the American and British protocol of the Toastmasters of the Day starting the meeting by indicating the fire exits to use if we hear a fire alarm.

Sergeant At Arms

The Sergeant At Arms, in my opinion, should know the location of fire extinguishers in the kitchen. And any first aid box. And defibrulators near swimming pools and corridors and lobbies.

Emergency Numbers

Check the numbers for fire, police and ambulance are on the notice board. Memorize them. Numbers vary from country to country.

He or she should know of any second exit, and how to open the room or building windows.

Door Unlocking

If the building has double doors but only one is open, be the first to rush to the doors and open the second door.  

Inward Opening Doors

 If the doors open inwards, pull them inwards so that people don't rush out and get crushed against the door and prevent doors opening inwards.

Direct people to the fire muster safety point to do a head count.

Safety Centre

Ensure people do not return to the building, for belongings, or to search for others, until the all clear is given.

Ensure they do not leave without informing the convenor. We had a fire alarm at a meeting in Harrow. A visitor who lived nearby decided not to wait around at the muster point and went home. The SAA had thought to grab the guest list, which he had as it recorded which visitors were willing to speak in the impromptu speaking session (called table topics).

In a real fire, the fire brigade, or a volunteer, might have dashed back looking for the absent visitor, risking the rescuer's life unnecessarily.

Guest Lists At Conferences And Hotels

For the same reason, as an emergency checklist, a hotel guest list at reception should include everybody staying in the building, as well as day or evening visitors who have come in for a meeting or party.

It is helpful to know the locations, doors, windows and fire exits of nearby areas.  Your meeting may move to a larger or smaller room when your meeting or another has more or fewer guests.

Knowing the building's layout is handy to you and helpful for visitors who can quickly be directed to car parks, fire escapes, kitchens, toilets and reception areas. 

Entertaining And Escorting To Exits

If adults and children are kept entertained on the premises, welcomed at the entrance, and escorted to the exits, they feel happy, confident, entertained. They are less bored and inclined to unsupervised, annoying and potentially dangerous pranks.

Update Jan 30 2026

https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/swiss-bar-fire-crans-montana-what-happened-zf9ks68cf

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