A quick hello for 2026, why I’m skipping my usual January break, and what I’ve been making lately.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I hope you had a lovely festive season and managed to switch off at least a little bit. It’s been a while since I last sent one of these, so this feels like a good moment to say hello properly and ease back into it and keep you updated with bits! Happy 2026… no hoverboards around just yet though…

Normally, I tend to take a bit of a break in January. After the madness of December, it’s usually a chance to reset, plan things out, and come back feeling refreshed. This year though, after a fairly tough personal year last year (which some of you are aware of, especially Patreon folks), I’ve decided to keep uploading. Not out of pressure or routine, but simply because I enjoy making videos so much and don’t really want to stop. That distraction has helped a lot….

That said, I may not have chosen the easiest way to ease myself back in!!

WHAT I’VE BEEN MAKING RECENTLY
I’ve just wrapped up a video where I test a selection of chefs’ tips and tricks to see how well they actually work in a normal home kitchen. Some genuinely improved the food, some were very situational, and a couple surprised me far more than expected - i’m looking at you whole skin banana smoothie thing!

You can watch that here if you fancy it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P84M95jEY04

I’ve also started the year by attempting to follow a recipe in French, despite not speaking French…. That video should be up soon, and in hindsight it probably wasn’t the gentlest reintroduction back into filming for this Year, but it did make things interesting… the result, well, let’s just say a French chef may squirm lol

MY NOTES APP IS LONELY
I must have about 100 ideas on the notes on my phone, some that now make no sense whatsoever! I’m an ideas person and YouTube is very copy and paste these days, it’s hard to be original… if something works, people jump straight on it, I don’t mind it though, perhaps you all like a certain way people present their videos… but I really am trying to push the boundaries a bit and just enjoy making the videos… otherwise, what’s the point right?! I type this as I look at a note of a video idea for cooking against an actual monk… some ideas are easier than others lol

TOFFIFEE MAGIC
It turns out in Germany and other Countries they showed how to get these out of the box easily on their TV adverts… I normally would scratch at them and they pop out! So I thought i’d give this a go…

JANUARY PRESSURE
Anyone else think January always seems to come with this strange pressure to reset everything at once?! New habits, new goals, new routines. I’m trying to resist that a bit this year and just keep doing the parts I actually enjoy, and see where that leads. I’m probably the last person to take advice from, but sometimes talking to the community I do sense this pressure to press a switch on January 1st, in reality any day can be your January 1st.

WHAT HAVE I GOT PLANNED FOR 2026
Quite a lot, actually. I get asked regularly about crowdfunds, meet and greets, more Barry gadgets, and what’s coming next. There are lots of things in the pipeline, but it’s extremely hard being a one-man band and wearing so many hats. Last year I had to prioritise my family, and I still can’t quite believe I managed to upload at points. Making videos became a strange kind of sanity for me at times.

On the plus side, if anyone needs help with travel insurance claims, I’m now your go-to guy. I’ll keep you updated on here as things progress. Some ideas take time, but I’ll send these out occasionally so you know what’s going on. There’s a couple of really exciting things i’m working on that i’ll share soon.

ONE QUESTION FOR YOU…
Is there happens to be anything you’d particularly like to see more of this year? Videos, tests, formats, or even things you’ve always wondered about but never tried yourself. I do read replies and keep a running list… in my notes app ;)

OH. ALSO BOSTON NOW HAS WHITE EYEBROWS

Right, that’ll do.
Thanks for reading, thanks for watching the videos, and I wish you all the best for 2026. I’m hoping to send a few more of these out regularly, without overdoing it. Keeping you updated with bits and bobs happening this end.

Barry

Links to everything are here if you need them:
https://linktr.ee/barrylewis