April 17, 2016 by Michael Madden
Council House Caribbean!
I’ll start this edition with a bizarre night in Manchester. Sally and I went to see my old mate Mike Sanchez and his backing band the Drugstore Cowboys, or is it The Portions? Anyway, I am Mike’s official biographer – see below, and as he was close to home we went along to Longsight Sports & Social Club. It was as the name sounds, and very friendly with it too. The dancefloor was full of people of all ages jiving away, and then it was time for the aperitif. The Drugstore Cowboys took to the stage playing their own brand of country rockabilly. The crowd suddenly went all reserved, and stood around the edges of the dancefloor at a respectable distance from the band. The Cowboys strutted their stuff and were given warm applause, but there were quite a lot of things to get through. First there was a raffle, during which Sally gave me a nudge and pointed out that the girl on the next table had a huge chest, and not one that looked like it was filled with doubloons. I honestly hadn’t spotted it! A short time later she gave me another nudge. ‘Have you noticed that the girl with the huge chest has tiny wrists?’ No – I definitely hadn’t spotted that. The raffle seemed to go on for ever, but perhaps not as long as the birthday celebrations that followed. A poor unfortunate reveller was blindfolded whilst all manner of things were done to him. Those who were there just for the night were getting restless, as was Mike Sanchez, but it all worked out in the end. Mike took his seat at his new piano, and then the Drugstore Cowboys swapped instruments and became The Portions to support him. It was his usual all action show, and if you’ve never seen him I can thoroughly recommend him. We will certainly be making the trip down to the Twinwood Festival in August where he will be backed by his full band, including the wonderful Martin Winning and Nick Lunt on sax. And whilst we are on the subject – its not too late to buy the authorised biography!
Some things are worth waiting a long time for. You never know when it will happen, but when it does you have to be ready as the moment may never come back. Here is a case in point…
Sally handed me some well known chocolate.
Me ‘what’s that?
Sally ‘Wispa’
So I did.
Hilarious!
And so the day arrived for us to head off for Cuba. Actually, the day before departure I tried to check in online on the Thomas Cook website but it wouldn’t let me. Ticket error was all it said. So I rang them. Although I rang them half an hour before their customer service was supposed to close, I got an automated message saying that they expected to be able to answer my call after they were due to close, so, very helpfully, they told me I would have to call back tomorrow! Customer Service? Not really. So I went on Live Chat. Sorry, no one is available for Live Chat at the moment. Thomas Cook were rapidly sinking in my estimation. Anyway, I persisted and eventually got someone to answer. There is a ticket error. Yes I know that – what does it mean. I don’t know – its something technical. You will have to check in at the airport. Great. Thanks for your help. Would I like to fill in a short survey on my customer experience? Too f*cking right I would. When I booked the holiday, back in January, the Thomas Cook website warned me that it had been upgraded and some functionality was not working. As I navigated around it three months later the same message appeared. As an IT consultant if that had happened on my watch I would be out of a job. Anyway, it was time for the fun to begin, but Zac was ill. However, with the prospect of a holiday he braved the minibus and managed some chips at the airport. The flight was an ordeal for him, suffering as he was with some kind of virus, but 9 hours of movies would make up for it. Thomas Cook, having already taken around £4k for the holiday, wanted an extra £3 for a headset and £4 for premium movies. Actually, that’s a bit harsh. They knocked £1 off if you bought both. It was definitely on the Ryannair side, Council House Caribbean as someone once said! (probably me). Zac improved a bit, and by the time we landed he had definitely perked up. However, things could have been improved.
Mum: How are you Zac?
Zac: I would have been better if we had flown Premium Economy as I would have had more space to stretch out.
A couple of nice beers on the coach to the hotel went down well, whilst at check in we were greeted with cheap plonk. Tripadvisor warned us that the rooms at the Sol Cayo Coco weren’t up to much, and they were right, but the setting was beautiful, with two Caribbean beaches to choose from.
The were no Americans at the resort (yet) but plenty of Canadians, Brits and Germans. The Brits seemed to outdo the Germans in putting towels out early, whilst they were also at the front of the queue at reception with constant complaints. Drinks were served in minute plastic cups, which meant frequent trips to the bar, whilst the food was a choice between a long queue for freshly made pizza or grilled meat / fish, or take your chances with the pre prepared stuff. Think 1970s school dinners and you won’t be far wrong. Desserts seemed to be a disaster. It was as though they had just given up at this point, perhaps resigned to the fact that the delivery man had failed to deliver baking powder and sugar.
There was a chance to relax by the pool, until ‘boom boom boom boom Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-ga-doo-doo-doo’ drove us towards the beach.
We took a trip snorkelling which was actually quite good for the Caribbean.
Not quite the Indian ocean, but ok, whilst another trip took us to a sister hotel on an open topped bus that could have been a mistake, After an hour the incessant wind gave way to random branches that threatened to scar or decapitate us, but we eventually arrived at Cayo Guillermo, and a better hotel than the one we were staying at. Especially the buffet!
A trip to Moron was an experience, but maybe not worth the effort. Crocodile farm? Well other than capturing this…
…I wouldn’t bother.
There were shenanigans at the hotel, a paedophile ring and a Columbian drug baron to name but two, though we later discovered that this was probably as a result of Helen’s over active imagination.
Sally spotted an entire group of Tweeters who seemed to co-ordinate their wardrobes on a daily basis, and when we pondered how she knew that they were advocates of this particular avenue of Social Media she corrected herself, They were actually Twitchers looking for rare bird species on the island. And with Helen, Sally, Amanda and Jan in residence they didn’t have to look far.
And speaking of Amanda, she claims to have been asked for evidence of her age before they would serve her alcohol, and they soon got it as she celebrated her 50th birthday. The spring chicken was definitely turning autumnal, and the hotel organised the celebration in their a la carte restaurant. It wasn’t exactly as they had promised, but then again, this is Cuba!
The heat and humidity eventually took its toll, with swollen bodies on display. Sally’s Cuban Foot was exceptional, in fact the last time I saw a foot like it the owner’s head had a horn sticking out of it!
The trip home was highlighted by incidents at reception where a couple were accused of stealing stuff. Of course, denials were issued along with threats to inform Tripadvisor. It seemed that the first stance of the hotel was to accuse, and for the guests had to prove otherwise. I’m not sure if this was indicative of the hotel itself, or the clientele that they attract. Who was it that mentioned Council House Caribbean?
Anyway, next year me and Zac are definitely flying Upper Class.
Here’s a puzzling one! Ole gets money to go to college every week. £50 is supposed to cover his train fares and his lunch. However, like many on the Whaley Bridge to Davenport line he doesn’t always pay as there is often no one to collect the money. So, imagine my surprise when he asked for an increase because the fare that he doesn’t pay has gone up. I guess that’s why he is doing A Level maths and I am not!
And so to the kitchen. The meringue didn’t last long. In fact, Sally didn’t even wait for it to fully cool down before picking it apart in search of the gooey centre. The previous Creole Cake was devoured in a hurry, so I started on another one, this time using Cointreau in place of Cherry Brandy and adding the zest of an orange. Five weeks and counting.
I’d never made meringue before, and it turned out quite well. So I tried my hand at vanilla slice. I remember going to proper cake shops as a kid and eating these as well as other fresh cream cakes. Would it be the gooey yellow vanilla, or the chocolate eclair? One thing that both had was a lot of flavour. Not the insipid white vanilla cream that you get these days. Anyway, mine are very vanillaey – and I suspect they wont last long. I also made some biscuits, and the arrival of all of these goodies prompted Sally to add her artistic touch with some photography.
I received a response to my Tripadvisor review of Roomzzz in Nottingham telling me that the WIFI had now been upgraded (finally), I might try it one more time…
The Grand National had added significance, as minutes before the race Zac and Ole decided to invest. Zac went for Vics Canvas simply because it was 100/1. Ole went for The Last Samurai because it was one of the favourites and everyone else seemed to be backing it. As the horses headed for home Vics Canvas took the lead from The Last Samurai. It seemed that both would be in the money, though they unsportingly wanted each other’s horse to suffer a calamity on the run in. And it was then that Rule The World swept past them both and took the honours. Sally gloated as she had chosen the winner. Zac and Ole just wanted to know how much they had won. Paddy Power will be in business for years.
It was an exciting match for Whaley Bridge Under 12s this morning, as Whaley beat the league leaders to take command in the division. Maybe it was the adrenaline, maybe it was the euphoria. If it was neither of those we may have a serious problem as Zac refused a Freddo after his lunch. Update: The Freddo has since been consumed – panic over.
I was looking for a sharp knife in the kitchen drawer, and I found a packet of wine bottle stoppers. You know the kind – you use them to put in the top of a bottle of wine if you haven’t finished it. The packet was completely untouched, the stoppers have never been required – not a great surprise.
Interesting meeting last week at the High Peak Business Club breakfast meeting. It was hosted by the remarkable Edwina Currie and featured a fascinating presentation by Maggie Porteous of The John Lewis Partnership.
Can’t wait to see the pictures!
March 26, 2016 by Michael Madden
From Marple To Cuba – The Road To Recovery
I suppose my big news centres around two visits to medical professionals. First up was my physio and she is very pleased with my progress. However, in rolling over on her table I got a very strange sensation in my groin / pelvic area. Not in a sniggering way! This has happened before and its very odd, as when I lie face down my pelvis just doesn’t like it. Its not painful – its just very uncomfortable. A quick and slight shift in position and its gone. Anyway, she went through my medical history, including a torn groin from a gardening incident, another tear after an slip in the rain on a cricket field in Romiley, at which point the only available sub was a cider filled Andrew Atkins, and of course a double hernia operation. ‘Aha!’ she said. Its probably your psoas muscle. Well that was news to me. Never even heard of it. I certainly couldn’t put my finger on it, fortunately she could! Exercising the psoas is all a part of core stability, and its very difficult to isolate. Ended up being sorry I ever mentioned it. Still, at least the knee is holding up.
My second session was with my consultant who has effectively signed me off until December. He took some more x-rays and showed where the bone is healing. Quite impressive, though he did remind me that it is still early days. He then again explained that after 12-18 months he would take out the plate, so that if I need a knee replacement in 15-20 years time it would be much better fitted to a fully healed bone, and they would have to take the plate out anyway. He also showed me another remarkable phenomenon. The realignment of the knee has seen the pressure on one side relieved, and this has led to the growth of new cartilage, which is a very positive sign. Before I had the high tibial osteotomy he told me that for six weeks after the operation it would be very frustrating and more than a little uncomfortable, but after that I would see genuine improvement. He was absolutely right. So there you have it. I had the operation done in the hope of 10 extra years of active life in the joint, and now he suggests its 15-20 years! Happy days.
So I celebrated by cycling to Marple and that could have been a mistake. I was ok physically, but it was very, very muddy. The bit past Swizzels is muddy in the height of summer, so that wasn’t a surprise but some bits around Strines were a real bog. Still, the coffee at Costa made it all worthwhile.
Got my laptop back, and as feared they had wiped it. I got the data back on without too much trouble but feared the rigmarole of resurrecting licences from Microsoft etc. Actually it was surprisingly easy Maybe this licensing is just a pretence, and anyone can download anything as long as they have a key!
There haven’t been many blockbuster movies recently, in fact since the days of Armageddon and Independence Day there haven’t really been any ‘America saving the earth’ pieces of sheer escapism. So I watched San Andreas hoping that it would fit the bill. I was sadly disappointed. Absolute utter garbage. I would rather believe that Will Smith could fight aliens than this far fetched nonsense. If you get chance to watch it – just don’t.
I went to the Plaza in Stockport last weekend, to watch Frankie Boyle. Its a long time since I’ve seen him, and he didn’t disappoint, though he finished rather early. At around 9.15 he said ‘thanks and goodnight’, and it was so early that many of us stayed in our seats expecting, at the very least, an encore. But it wasn’t to be, and I suppose the art of a performer is to leave the audience wanting more, which he duly achieved. Much better to do that than to suffer at the hands of Jason Manford at the Buxton Opera House. Jason is a funny guy, but he just went on and on and on! Anyway, the Plaza is a really good venue for comedy. Hoping to see more there soon.
Had another cycling trip to Marple, and this time it was much easier. Hardly any mud (except around Swizzels of course), and although its still tiring I managed to get there in around 45 minutes. I think the next step is to actually do some running, possibly emulating a cricket match, but that’s not likely to happen any time soon!
This week the highlight of the kitchen was Zac’s cereal bars as a part of his food tech homework. It was quite easy, and actually he did most of it. Oats, honey, syrup, butter, raisins, nuts and pumpkin seeds were all mixed together then baked. The result was quite tasty, so he cut them up, wrapped them, and stuck labels on them ready to take to school the next morning. I know what you’re thinking, and no he didn’t forget them. Unfortunately the mixture set into a rather hard bar, and although he found a softish bit to give to his teacher he actually threw a whole bar at the wall and it didn’t break! Ah well, back to the drawing board.
I also managed to make the topping for the Creole cake. Marzipan decorated with gingerbread stars looked quite good, though at that point the stars were a bit firm, and I hoped they would soften in storage. A week or so later the great unveiling happened at my mum’s and we had a piece each. To be honest I’m not sure that I should have driven home afterwards as the brandy, port, rum. bacardi, cherry brandy and angostura bitters kicked in. It was very moist and flavourful, and has proven to be very popular. Definitely nicer than the traditional Christmas cake, and the stars had indeed softened to give a nice gingery touch. If you want a piece you had better be quick – it will be gone by Monday! I guess I’ll just have to make another one, and I think I might experiment with an orange theme as we have a rather full bottle of Cointreau in the dining room!
I’m off to Cuba next week, which of course means that when I get back I won’t have any holidays booked, and that just won’t do. So, I booked a week in a villa in Malta in August. Flights are still quite cheap from Manchester and the villa has a pool and all mod cons. Should be nice, but I am leaving it to the villa owner to book our hotel transfers as the journey from the airport to the villa involves about 40km and a ferry. Past experience of driving abroad tells me that without this assistance I would probably end up throwing Sally off the ferry, or vice versa, assuming that we could find the ferry in the first place.
Anyway, a week in Malta will clearly not be enough, so the following week we are off to Killarney races, flying to Cork and staying at a very nice spa hotel for a couple of nights. No kids – woohoo!
My third trip to Marple followed the road as far as Disley, avoiding the muddiest parts of the canal. and I made the discovery that Whaley Bridge to New Mills along the A6 is actually uphill. Not dramatically uphill, but enough to make a difference on a bike. Anyway, I got as far as Redhouse Lane and joined the canal just short of Disley. From there it was an easy ride into Marple, and the traditional Cortado at Costa. For the return trip I decided to try Strines Road, and for the first couple of miles it was great. Occasional slight downhill slopes followed by a steeper fall when I could get up quite a bit of speed. Then I reached the outskirts of New Mills. I didn’t realise that hill was quite so steep. It took some climbing, but I made it, and then headed for Swizzels and the comfort of the towpath, It took a bit longer than the usual 45 minutes, but after 3 challenging cycles in quick succession there were no adverse effects on my knee. The spectre of running is starting to loom large. Maybe in Cuba!
And speaking of Cuba, Zac asked if it would be full of posh people. I asked him what he meant, and although he didn’t fully explain he did admit, ‘I don’t like posh people. They are too serious.’ He then asked about where we are staying.
Zac: ‘Is it a resort?’
Me: ‘Yes’
Zac: ‘Will we have to go to the supermarket as soon as we get there?’
Me: ‘No – its all inclusive.’
Zac: ‘All inclusive? Does that mean I can go to the bar and order chips whenever I want’
Me: ‘Yes’
Zac is now really looking forward to Cuba!
March 9, 2016 by Michael Madden
Mosh Pits & Muslims & No More Heroes
Been a few weeks since an update so there’s quite a bit to fill in.
I went over to Dordrecht to see my friends at Cornerstone, which was eventful. The night before I wanted to check that my phone would work and to get a data add on. Text EUDATA it said on the website, so I did. Apparently its not available for my package. So I rang EE (don’t get me started on EE). Yes it will work – but it takes 24 hours to activate. I tried again on the day of departure – still wouldn’t work. The chap told me that it only works once you are in the EU. Aren’t we in the EU? At least for now? Yes – but its the European bit. So I tried it again over there. It didn’t work. Then I got a text message from EE saying I would need to buy a roaming add on. I said don’t get me started on EE! Now, whenever you say you are flying to Amsterdam there is a lot of ‘nudge, nudge, wink, wink’, but in this case it was just a flight to Schiphol and then a train well away from the Metropolis to Dordrecht. Sadly, I got a virus that wiped me out. I got to the hotel around 6.15, hoping for a smooth check-in, but Hotels.Com had not informed the hotel of my reservation. Fortunately a room was available, so I went to bed at around 6.30 for 12 hours. Rested? Not at all. Helpfully there was a digital clock on the tv that told me I was awake approximately every 20 minutes. I managed to get a load of paracetamol down me and that got me through Friday, but it was a long journey home. On the plus side, Schiphol have finally got rid of the concept of having security at the departure gate, so now you can get your bags checked and leave yourself plenty of leisure time in the airport.
A week later we went to see Goodnight Mr Tom at the Opera House in Manchester. I knew it was about the war, and evacuees, but when I go to be entertained I want some thing a bit cheerful, This involved child abuse, several deaths, bullying and more, and its on the school curriculum. Give me The Cat In The Hat any day of the week. We took my mum to see the show, and she quite enjoyed it, but I suspect she enjoyed the conversation with Zac a bit more! He wanted to know if he has any other race apart from English in his family tree. His great grandmother on my mum’s side is from Galway, so he figured out that he was one eighth Irish. If he married an Irishwoman their children would be nine sixteenths Irish. All good so far.
Sally, ‘Do you think you will ever marry an Irish girl?’
Zac, ‘No’ (he was quite adamant on this one)
Sally, ‘Why not?’
Zac, ‘Aren’t they all ginger?’
My laptop crashed. Absolute disaster. Its only 6 weeks old and it just stopped working. At first it said ‘Preparing to Repair’, then nothing. I rang Knowhow, and they took me through a few (very) simple tests to prove that yes it wasn’t working. I should take it into PC World and it would be back within 5 days. FIVE DAYS?! Yes, 5 days. Can’t they repair it in store? No – they can’t. And if you get it repaired elsewhere it invalidates the warranty. Reluctantly I took it to PC World the next day. Five days? said the repair man. They shouldn’t have told you that. Oh good, I thought. A quick turnaround. No, it generally takes around 10 days to get it back to us. And really, as its so new we would generally offer a replacement, I don’t want a replacement, I’ve put a lot of important software on there that I need. The data is backed up, and I could reinstall but that will take ages. Well let me check the replacement option….no – that model is no longer stocked. I can give you one to the same value. Well firstly that was in the sale so you will now give me a laptop at approximately half the value of the one that broke, and secondly, I don’t want a replacement. So he sent it away. It actually took around 6 days, and until I pick it up tomorrow I won’t know if they’ve managed to fix it, or just replaced the hard drive which is effectively getting rid of all of my software. I have an old laptop that I have gone back to. Its a Sony Vaio, the hinges are knackered, and its falling apart. But it works. Something you might want to consider mister HP salesman!
My Creole Cake is well under way, with the fruit having been steeped in brandy, rum (dark and white), cherry brandy, port and angostura for ten days. It was supposed to be a week, but that took me to the day before the Amsterdam flight, and as the cooking is measured in hours rather than minutes I didn’t want to be up all night. So I waited until the weekend and mixed in a ton of fruit, crystallised ginger, mixed peel and nuts, and then it went in for baking. Several hours later it came out to cool. There was evidence of someone picking at it, but it was largely intact, and then it went into storage. A week later it was uncovered to be fed with brandy, and ten days after that it again emerged, this time for a dose of port. It is very moist and I reckon one more feed will do before it gets topped with marzipan and soft gingerbread shapes. Mmm…
Other culinary delights included my balti paste whilst Sally was away (only just got the smell out of the house for her return), then there was steak and ale pie that is currently in the fridge, half eaten and maturing nicely.
Ole is getting excited for YNot, and he was less than happy when Sally announced that she might go too. ‘We go in the Mosh Pit where you get thrown around and drinks go everywhere, you wouldn’t like it,’ he announced, assuming that no one over the age of 20 has ever been to a gig before, but Zac was more thoughtful, and told his mum, ‘No place for an old lady’.
Zac continues with his badminton on Monday evenings, so I asked him if the teacher taught him anything.
Zac, ‘He shows the amateurs what to do.’
Me, ‘Are you an amateur?’
Zac, ‘No, I’m a professional’
Then there was the Cadbury’s chocolate pudding. ‘Serves 3’ it said on the package. Zac looked puzzled. It would certainly need to expand in the microwave to serve 3 of Zac’s portions. After just two, well actually not even two, the pot was empty. So last week I made a chocolate sponge pudding. ‘Serves 8,’ I told everyone. It didn’t!
Sadly I was working last weekend when it snowed, but Zac wanted to build a snowman. First up though he had to get dressed.
Zac, ‘Mum, where do you keep those pull up things?’
Mum, ‘What pull up things?’ (I suspect she knew he was referring to a snow suit)
Zac, ‘They keep you warm. You know, we use them in the snow.’
Mum, ‘Don’t know what you’re on about’
Zac, ‘They are like Lederhosen’
Hmmm!
You may have come to the conclusion that Zac likes his food. That is certainly true in the cases of chips, sausages, chocolate cake, toast and anything else related to chocolate or fried potatoes. Anything else, such as fruit, may be tolerated if accompanied by items from the previous list. So it came as a bit of a surprise when he announced that he was going to do what Muslim’s do. There go the sausages we thought, but no, he was going to fast. Ole laughed. ‘You won’t last 2 hours,’ he said. But Zac was determined, and when he puts his mind to it he generally gets what he wants. I came home from work a couple of hours later and thought I’d best have a word with him, as I really thought fasting might not be good for him. I needn’t have worried.
Me, ‘How’s the fasting going?’
Zac, ‘I’ve had a box of microchips’ (it was actually two – but who’s counting?)
Punishment for Zac is generally the removal of Xbox privileges, but mum has decided she needs confirmation that he isn’t sneaking on, so she hides his remote controllers. This week its, surprise surprise, an untidy bedroom. As ever, Zac believes he has been wronged as in his eyes his bedroom is tidy, which it clearly isn’t. Anyway, he took drastic action, but the game was given away by a giggling Ole who could not control himself. Things threatened to go awry, as Ole was implicated in whatever mischief had clearly occurred, so he had to come clean. ‘He’s hidden mum’s laptop and phone and she can’t have them back until he gets his controllers back’
Its going to be a long few years when he becomes a teenager.
Of course, when I’m away Sally gets to take her chance in the kitchen, or rather the kids get to take a chance! I wondered what this was…
And so to Monday night. The Stranglers were playing at Rock City, which is about 50 yards from the hotel I normally stay at whilst in Nottingham. I got tickets and decided to meet early at Annie’s Burger Shack. I’ve said it before and I will say it again. Highly recommended. I had the Double Boston Nibbler, and if I am being honest its probably a bit too much. Delicious, but I did leave about 5 sweet potato fries!
February 6, 2016 by Michael Madden
My Golden Plums
The Transylvanian Green Bean Soup caused a bit of stir last week. Sally asked how I would ever consider making such a thing, and its quite simple really. She would not think twice about buying a hundredweight of beetroot or red cabbage to eventually end up with a small jar of pickle, whilst I looked in the freezer and saw that we had at least 5 kilos of green beans, therefore, in my mind, a green bean recipe was called for. The green bean forest was caused by Sally’s scatter gun approach to shopping, but that is a discussion for another day. Anyway, green bean soup is, unfortunately, not just green beans, so I had to get soured cream and parsley, but everything else was already in the cupboard.
And here’s how it happens…
900g green beans
bunch of fresh parsley (chopped)
1 clove garlic (crushed)
water
salt
2-3 slices bacon
3 tablespoons cornflour
1 onion (chopped)
1 pot soured cream
3 tablespoons vinegar
Put the green beans, parsley, garlic and salt in a large pan. Cover with water and bring to the boil.
Fry the bacon until well done, then chop and add to the pan.
Add the onion, cornflour and a little water to the frying pan and mix until smooth. Add it to the green beans pan then stir in the soured cream and vinegar. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
If you want any other recipes for stuff mentioned here just let me know.
Sometimes there is something that I just want to make, for instance Creole Cake. This calls for a load of ingredients, including Cherry Brandy and Angostura Bitters. There’s no way I’m buying bottles of those for a one off cake, so I put out a a FB message and found them both in the same place. Fortunately my sister Fiona has a reputation where alcohol is concerned, and she will be delivering at least 3 tablespoons of each this week. Any idea what Angostura Bitters is? I had always thought that it is part of a hangover cure, and maybe it is. Originating from Trinidad in the Caribbean, it contains 44.7% alcohol. So maybe it won’t cure your hangover, but it will probably make you forget about it in a hurry.
Heading for Nottingham last week I left Chilli Chicken and Garlic Chilli Chicken behind. One extra word but completely different dishes. The first is along the lines of chilli con carne, whilst the second is a curry. Both can be found in Mmm…No1…Cookbook.
Today I made Beef in Chilli and Ginger (with a few other things thrown in) and Rocky Nests. These are like Rocky Road with less biscuit, and after pouring the first half into the dish to set, Cadbury’s Mini Eggs are placed uniformly onto the mixture before the rest is poured on top. In theory, each piece should have a mini egg inside. I’ll let you know how it turns out later! And whilst on the subject of Cadbury’s Mini Eggs we appear to have a magpie in our house. The eggs, in their original packaging, were stored safely out of the way from prying eyes and prying fingers. Unfortunately, Sally found them and by making a tiny hole in the bottom seam she managed to extract an egg, and then another, and then several more. Of course, the bag now looked and felt considerably lighter than it was before, so I asked the question. Who has been stealing the eggs? It did not take long to figure out that the uncontrollable sniggering and tears running down her cheeks said ‘guilty’. She then had the bare faced cheek to offer to show me how she had perpetrated the crime. Now you see how Zac’s maternal role model has an adverse effect on him.
And now on to my golden plums. I got them from Sainsbury’s. Fresh and juicy and already ripe. Then I noticed that the package said ‘keep in the fridge for extra freshness’. Up until today I had always kept my plums on display, golden or red, so was I doing it wrong? I did what every self respecting person would do, I Googled it. I then discovered that there was a whole science and a plethora of different rules for keeping fruit fresh. Ripen at room temperature seems to be the standard advice, then move to the fridge to enable it to last longer. Berries should be placed in the fridge straight away, but then there is the avocado. To get that to ripen you should place it in a brown paper bag with some bananas. So now you know, and now I know how I can keep my juicy golden plums fresher for longer!
My Blog is certainly getting read. I got a message from California regarding the contract mentioned in the last edition, whilst my daughter said, ‘I read that you had been cycling’. Felt a bit like I was being paparazzied for Hello magazine! I wonder how much further I can reach?!
Its been quiet on the WI Jam & Jerusalem front, but I am sure that the Whaley Bridge chapter of this originally Canadian institution will soon be in full swing. The aims of the WI were originally to revitalise local communities and to encourage women to produce food during the first World War. I expect that the second of these will come to fruition in the form of a Whaley Bridge Bake Off or a Who’s Got The Biggest Marrow? competition, whilst the revitalisation of the community will come about through loose tongued gossip, whispered over cups of Earl Grey and a slice of Lemon Drizzle, I suppose that is just the nature of the beast. No? Well I already know a potted life history of many of the attendees! Seriously though, the WI is a great institution and is to be encouraged. I just think that in this most unique of rural villages their choice of speaker and subject matter must be very carefully considered!
Got a bit of an ear infection or possibly just a blockage this week. Quiet disorientating when one of your ears won’t clear. Solution is simple – just drive to Buxton and hey presto, ‘Pop’ at the top of Long Hill.
Back to cycling this morning, and although the stiffness and a little soreness is still there, I was able to get up out of the saddle for a few yards/ I managed to turn the corner out of Shallcross Mill Road onto Elnor Lane without getting off and walking. A small triumph but another significant step forward.
The US election is all over the tv at the moment, and Zac wanted to understand deficits.
Zac: Why do we want to leave the EU?
Me: Well sometimes we have to pay more money than others.
Zac: More money for what?
Me: Well remember when Greece went bust?
Zac: Yeah.
Me: Well we had to pay a lot of money to bail them out.
Zac: And will they pay us back when they are back on their feet?
Me: Hmm, probably not.
Zac: Are we richer than America?
Me: Well we both owe money, but I suppose as they are bigger than us then they probably owe more.
Zac: Is that why they don’t have proper traffic lights?
Me: Err, what do you mean?
Zac: Ours are proper traffic lights that are fixed in place, but theirs just hang over the road.
So, America, you need to get your house in order on the traffic light front!
Finally, frustration on the football field. Zac’s game got switched last weekend, whilst Ole’s was called off altogether. At this rate the season will extend well beyond April, and Sally is getting a bit fed up about it. Our own pitch certainly takes a big part of the blame, and she questioned the drainage. ‘Why didn’t they spend money on the drainage rather than that fence? Or why did they buy that silly little thing that they sit in (the dugout) rather than sort the pitch out?’ She has a point. With no games the fence and the dugouts become rather glaring white elephants.
N.B. The next edition could well concentrate on the unusual subject of ‘Lady Magnets’. Yes, there is such a thing, and I have commissioned a bit of a survey to verify the benefits of these magical devices.