Category Food

Chicken Soup For The Soul

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I’m a fricking Genius.

By accident , may I add?

The slow cooker is paying for itself already. Yesterday I cooked a chicken in it and had the foresight to leave all the juicy juices, chicken stock and leftovers in said pot.

Why?

I NEED CHICKEN SOUP FOR MY SOUL.

Jackie recipe :

Randomly dice up one onion, a few carrots, a few potatoes and fry them gently in olive oil for some time. Add the juices from the crockpot plus more Chicken Oxo cube stock and a splash of herbes de provence. Simmer until all the veg is tender.

Let the pan cool, add a few chunks of rescued chicken then bash it all about a lot with a whizzy thing until you get a smooth something – I had to add a bit of milk here to help the whizz.

Season to taste. Lots of salt and pepper.

Fry off some bacon lardons. Add to the mix.

I have some double cream to hand and may go a bit creamy when I add the rest of the chicken and reheat everything about 5pm.

MANNA.

I’d make a brilliant TV cook :o)

Follow A Recipe?

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Nah. Living on the edge here :o)

I’ve got me a brand new slow-cooker. £37.99p against £600 for oil? No contest.

Today I decided on a ham/gammon joint, on high, in the crock. A touch of chicken stock. A press of a button.

We also have Dijon Mustard Mash potatoes and Sweetheart cabbage with butter and about 3 tons of pepper.

I HATE Coke.

The last time I wilfully drank a whole can of it was on the ferry from Dover to Calais. It cures my seasickness. Nope. I lie. I had some last week. It also cures heartburn.

Ham and coke? MAPLE SYRUP? Just the thought makes my teeth want to fall out!

And y’all think I’m weird?

Nasi Goreng

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I grew up with this dish.

We had an amah in Singapore and she taught my Mum how to make it.

Mum – being English – translated it to feed young kids and then older kids. I know the difference. I had authentic Nasi Goreng in Singapore a few years back. HOT as ….

Her recipe used pork, liver, prawns, omelette, spring onions and rice.

I used to line the the prawns up around the edge of my plate like Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor, Rich Man, Poor Man, Beggar Man, Thief.

Then she’d make me eat all those fishy little beasties :o(

Enter the soy sauce.

Today I marinated the pork in sesame oil, hoisin and soy sauce before frying it.

GREAT SUCCESS.

My boys call it Nazi Goering. That’s what a good education will do to kids :o)

I Use Tagliatelle : My Choice

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When traveller-in-crime and I went to Italy – Rome and Venice – I was DETERMINED to eat authentic, made-on-the-spot Italian food. And I did :o)

Apart from the pizza. It was mass-produced and frozen. Said so on the box that we took back to the hotel room for a midnight snack.

The BEST meal I had was a Carbonara. On the street. From a restaurant less than 5 minutes walk from the hotel.

Droooool!

I always use tagliatelle. Dunno why. And bacon……..we don’t have an Italian butcher close by. And parmigiano reggiano. From Tesco.

MY kids love it too. Good job. We have it for tea tonight :o)

Did I just drool again?

Gammon & Pineapple

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Way back when I was a kid (around 11/12) my Dad was on a huge child murder enquiry that took him away from home for weeks.

At the time Mum worked in the restaurant (where I went to work aged 13) next door to us and every Thursday – her late shift – my brothers and I would come home from school, get washed and changed and go to the restaurant for our tea.

I ALWAYS chose gammon, pineapple and chips. Something we very rarely had at home.

On the menu tonight, plus the egg, plus petits pois, because I can…….

P.S. My traveller-in- crime girl is a pina colada fan. Whereas I prefer a Bloody Mary. Sweet is she. Sour am I :o)

Thoda Bweath aka Soda Bread

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I’ve been promising for days now and finally got round to making it today.

I have Paul Hollywood’s book and love it.

Today we doubled all the ingredients to make a HUGE loaf.

Thoda Bweath?

Youngest and I couldn’t wait to taste so we ate some – straight out of the oven.

Ouch. Burn. Stupids :o)

P.S. I use semi-skilled milk (yup!) with a splash/dash of lemon juice to sour it….much like buttermilk.

P.P.S. The Irish say that you cut the cross in the top to bless it and prick all four quarters to let the fairies out. How wonderfully Christian/Pagan !

SOUL FOOD : Great Success

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Meatloaf is not really a UK traditional dish but I had all that I needed and was a bit brain dead. So I went back to Momma Cherri and her meatloaf.

Woohoo. 12 out of 10 on the scoreboard. Though I may’ve been a bit heavy handed with the Worcestershire Sauce :o)

Spicy. Like a Bat Out of Hell….?

P.S. Years since I saw the original programme. Momma lives in Brighton, on the south coast, methinks.

Ulster Fry

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We watched this this morning and I learned something new!

Katina eats an Ulster Fry….a big one. Yeah. Whooopppeee. It makes her famous.

Way back in the day when eldest was 18 months old and we lived in Ulster and Himself was in charge of the G.O.C’s protection team, working a 20 hour day……..me and the little ‘un used to go exploring.

OMG. Nobody told me at the time that taking the train from Lisburn to Belfast for a jolly day out was #banned by a “wife of.”

Me and my baby son did it regularly.

He’s just had a truly explosive moment about my life without him in Ulster. YOU DID WHAT?

Baby and I loved it. But in those days an Ulster Fry was sausage, bacon, eggs, beans in a separate bowl (NEVER on the plate) and soda bread.

The NI peeps have strange customs. NEVER had a waste bin in the house. Kitchen bin always outside the back door. Didn’t display knick-knacks in house. Never tainted a meal with baked bean juice. Loved the colour ORANGE (check that out???)

I loved Belfast. The people were great. The city is awesome………….oops :o)

Note to Self : Buy some Bicarb of soda to make soda bread next week.

Weird Patterns : From Sparta to Scotland

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I watched 300 and had to smile. I had no idea who Gerard Butler was but his Scottish accent kept slipping through.

Himself (the man about the house) just threw me googly by saying that he ACTUALLY missed eating Jock Pies.

Jock Pies recipe.

We used to be able to buy them here, in town. I said WTF? I grew up on them.

When Lily and I went to get the messages, she’d always buy us a Scotch/Jock Pie from the Butcher. Or Baker. Sheesh. It was a long while ago :o)

I’ve made my own but…..:o(

HA! We Have Taller Bread Than Y’all :o)

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I’ve been following the Midwest Americans since they arrived.

After watching Magic Geekdom and ItsJPS, my feed (!) is bringing up tons of these videos.

They all have one common feature…..BRITISH FOOD. Always fish & chips and always our supermarkets.

Today the Midwesterns are in a M&S. Again with the taller UK bread.

?

Once upon a long time ago I’d go to the M&S Food Hall in Lincoln and treat us all to some fancy food.

You can’t beat a Marks & Sparks Lamb Shank

My Updated 1755 Recipe

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Yesterday was slightly stressy.

It’s not like I’ve not cooked for unexpected guests from around the world before but it’s been a while.

Today I was expecting 3 sweaty, hungry Navvies over for tea but the bloody stupid phone intervened. Two of the three were called out on an Emergency at 3pm yesterday. They finished work at 5am today and have been stood down until 4pm today.

I knew nothing about their 14 hour stint and went out to get stuff to feed 7 peoples.

Quick. Easy. Prep ahead.

MY recipe :

Some chicken breasts. Some bacon. Some onions. Some red peppers. A tiny bottle of white wine. Some chicken stock. Some herbes de provence. Some cream/creme fraiche. Some rice.

Fry cut up bits of chicken in olive oil, remove from pan. Fry (in same pan) sliced onions, sliced peppers, cut up bacon. Add wine and boil for a few minutes to get rid of the alcohol. Add back the chicken, herbs, seasoning, chicken stock and simmer for 20 minutes. Thicken with cornflour if needed and add cream/creme fraiche. Taste and adjust seasoning.

And somewhere in between all that boil some rice. We LOVE Jasmine or Basmati or Half Long Grain/Half Wild Rice.

Arrange artistically in a bowl and serve.

THEN – Heat up the next day because you’ve made far too much!

Meanwhile : The History of Chick Fric from 1755

:o)

FAKE HISTORY

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History is a multi-specialist subject. Choose your preference. Religion. Society. Food. Folklore. Clothing. Architecture. Psychology. Weapons. Legend. Gardening. War. Law. Memoirs. Households. Sex. Childbirth. Legend. Politics. Family….etc.

I have a few books about Leo. One of them talks about his vegetarianism. Another about his homosexuality. Another about his drawings.

Food for thought.

Today – chez moi – I’m doing Tesco croissants with melted cheese and baked ham.

It’s too freaking hot for a Sunday lunch, sweating in front of the oven with frizzy hair and a beetroot face.

:o)

Ah-fter-Noon Tea

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This is a wonderful tradition. Every one loves afternoon tea.

BUT…

…I never eat breakfast at home. I snack about 10/11am and then we eat tea (our main meal) about 4/5 pm.

Unlike the Victorians who had about 17 meals a day. Afternoon Tea included.

I cannot eat a full meal after (at the max) 6 pm. Unless it’s a “special” occasion and we go out to a restaurant for dinner.

Anyhoo – enough about my weird food preferences :o)

Ah-fternoon Tea.

Tattie Scones

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We watched a yt vid the other week and both drooled. It was from Ireland : Potato Cakes and Beef & Ale Stew.

Yes. I know. It’s the height of summer but…

…some days you just need to be comforted.

In Scotland they are Tattie Scones. Less dense than dumplings and absolutely bangin’

:o)

P.S. I put a tiny bottle of red wine in the stew because to use a can of Guinness in food is sacrilege here!!

P.P.S. My tatties are thicker and rounder and cut out with a fluted pastry cutter. Ding Dong.

P.P.P.S. Scone as in ‘s’gone. Not sc-oh-ne. In my opinion.

Mulligatawny Soup

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I do it to myself every single day!

What’s for tea, Mother?

Dunno. What do you want?

Youngest spent most of his early/mid 20’s in the Middle East and has exotic food tastes. Brunch was raw carrot sticks and humus.

I just happened to mention Mulligatawny soup – Heinz cans are your Grandad’s fave meal ever.

I had to explain what it was and at the word “curry” he shouted – I’ll have THAT. With cheese on toast.

Weirdo!

When his Dad and I were in Karachi we had freshly made Mulligatawny. OMG. To die for.

I’m not a fan of the Heinz kind so I’ve promised to make my own for all of us….Eeeek.

Some days I can be very stupid. Sigh.

:o)

Research Recipe.

Coronation Chicken – My Way!

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Yes. We all know the story. It was created for Betty when she was made Queenie in 1953.

I’m doing a simple tea today. Kind of like a ploughman’s but a bit different… and I had a truly brilliant idea (?!)

Coronation Chicken, but without the chicken and with teeny Jersey Royal potatoes and 7 minute hard boiled/soft boiled eggs – all squished together (roughly diced to use a proper cookery term.) With a carelessly artful dash of powdered Smoked Paprika on top.

Hecking Delicious. I’m a genius :o)

NEVER…EVER Put Eggs in a Fridge!

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These two have been making me smile for a while now.

Everything I’ve seen has evolved around food.

This one is a new experience for them.

Welcome to my daily 8am morning adventures in Tesco. Bless ’em. It’ll never be the same again :o)

P.S. Eggs. In. Fridge? Noooooooo!

P.P.S. I’ve no room to talk. My trip to Rome and Venice was a “forced” Italian foodfest for my traveller-in-crime. We HAD to eat REAL Bolognese, lasagne, pizza, risotto, Carbonara, minestrone and gelato. She was well-up for it :o)

When ACCOUNTANTS Design PIES!

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I’m so with the content creator here.

As a kid (slightly after 1881) the Fray Bentos Pie was a #LuxuryFood.

Today they are cheap as chips and full of fluff and air and goo.

Side Note : I’d never, ever, ever eat a snake & pygmy one. Gak!!!!!

My family have me blackmailed on this subject. If I go cheap and quick (aka Fray Bentos) rather than make one myself (FULL of meat and veg and gravy aka expensive) they’ll just give me evils for the next week and a lot :o(

Sigh.

Beef Wellington

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My eldest boy’s birthday on Sunday.

I’d already decided what to cook for him…!

When asked by his father what he wanted as a Birthday Treat.

Oh. Mother KNOWS?

Yup. His favourite ever, ever meal.

I don’t do the squished mushrooms, I use mushroom pate. And make individual ones.

OK. Off to rob the local bank so that I can afford 4 small fillet steaks. Don’t tell ANYONE :o)

Macaroni Cheese

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aka On The Menu Here Today.

I grew up with this as a luxury dish. Mum would make it from scratch (apart from the pasta) and we loved it.

Way back in this dim distant history of mine – the meal was known as Macaroni Cheese.

It’s a firm favourite here. BUT –

The family men have all been “programmed” by TV and video games and Hollywood (they’ve been americanised…….eeeeek!) and call it MacandCheese.

No matter what I say to the contrary :o(

They have zero interest in the fact that this is NOT a United States of A. invention. It appears in European cookbooks in the 1300’s.

So there and booyasucks to y’all.

Please, Sir. I Want Some More

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I’ve never really been a fan of Dickens but he has been a part of my life for decades.

Bleak House – Gibraltar.

The Charles Dickens Pub – Portsmouth.

Great Expectations – School.

One of his sons was a lawyer/Queens Council, Henry, who tried some famous criminal.

Monica Dickens – a great granddaughter who wrote about Follyfoot Farm.

Anyhoo and not the point.

GRUEL is the subject.

P.S. My Dad always made porridge with salt and not sugar. Water and not milk. Bloody Scots peeps :o)

Coriander : Love It or Hate It?

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They reckon that smell preference is genetic. In that case my youngest did NOT inherit my coriander hating gene.

I’ve just cut up a bunch for his meal later and it’s all I can smell now.

Yuk and barf.

Dis-flipping-gusting.

The May-Tree blossom is similar. I have hawthorn in my garden and LOVE the smell of it but some think it’s revolting.

Then we have cyanide/prussic acid. Only a few peeps can smell the bitter almonds. P.S. I’ve no idea about that one. Never had the chance to test it out.

:o)

Off to wash my hands.

AGAIN!!!

MY WEAKNESS!

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I was given a present this morning….some one KNOWS my fatal weakness.

Y’all can keep your Eclairs, Profiteroles, Gateaux, Danish Pastries etc.

THIS will make me go weak at the knees and binge eat.

Best with a good amount of salted butter and/or Extra Mature
Cheddar.

My Dad always said that you could tell a perfect Mature Cheddar – it makes your teeth itch :o)

A London Particular

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This is one of my favourite soups. I’m particularly partial to it.

Let Ade/Eddie tell you all about pea-soup fogs, Bleak House and fibre.

Then learn about a real pea-souper…..one that happened way beyond the Victorian Era and

Sherlock Holmes :o)

P.S. We still call it a pea-souper. A bastard to drive in :o)

P.P.S. GIANTS built the lamp posts apparently. And they were all antiquitech….or so the they say

And….R E L A X : Porcini Risotto

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Those glorious, wonderful people at Tesco (?!) sent me some money off vouchers today so I went mad in the aisles and bought porcini mushrooms and a huge bag of arborio rice.

There is something so relaxing about cooking a risotto.

I can take a good half hour or more just stood, standing, stirring. Watching those little grains of rice puff up and make the stock all creamy and delicious. MammaMia.

Making too much is the Name of the Game.

Youngest son will snaffle some later tonight and I may have enough left over for lunch tomorrow.

Good Food. Made with LOVE :o)

Da Vinci Minestrone Soup

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I’ve been feeling down and depleted for days. Too much interference on my frequency.

My all time go-to is a homemade veggie soup.

Y’all know the goss on the block, yes. Leo da Vinci was a vegetarian and he ate this every day.

Allegedly.

Today I have – olive oil, bouillon powder, onions, garlic, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, herbes de provence, dried spaghetti, smoked paprika, cayenne and V8. (look it up)

I never blitz this. I leave it chunky and wholesome.

SO – according to the Science Museum of Virginia – Da Vinci eating this is FAKE HISTORY.

Wow. Who knew?

P.S. Did they have fire in Italy before America was “discovered?”

Congrats to LFC

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Liverpool turned RED yesterday. FA CUP.

I’ve had some amazing Scouse mates throughout time.

John Joseph (aka Scouse) was my boss when I worked for the MOD in a secret location in Hampshire. He regularly told me to eff off and stop being so efficient :o)

I once took an overnight ferry from Belfast to Liverpool. Stayed there overnight before driving home to Lincs.

The Scousers……

P.S. One of my fave characters in PR’s /Merrily Watkins series of books is DI Francis Bliss.

Franny is a Liverpudlian, a lapsed Catholic, so he and Merrily (an Anglican Vicar) have many a fractious moment. But they always turn to each other in times of need.

Mr & Mrs Beard

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Last weekend we ended up watching a few Mr Beard videos. I’ve not seen him for ages and then, suddenly, we find out that he’s being doing his thing just down the road from us. A couple of days ago.

“Right out in the sticks” as he says!

Why does nobody tell me anything?

Tut.

P.S. WHY? WOULD? ANYONE? DO? THIS?

L’addition, sil vous plais

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Picture this. Me and three other gals in a restaurant just off the Place Vendôme, Paris.

We had finished an amazing meal (restaurant is upstairs) and needed the bill. The waiter came over and chatted in English. One of them asked out loud how to ask for the bill in French. I mumbled something about an addition.

The waiter was wonderful. He said – I love the English accent speaking French. Absolute truth.

So I said…..

I love the French accent speaking English.

BTW: Castiglione is the restaurant. Amazing food. Been there about 4 times. OK. 3 times. One time me and partner in crime were waiting outside, sat at a table when an older man hoved into view and started his chattychit. The waiter whispered in my ear… come back later – when the letch had gone. We didn’t go back. Creepy vibes.

Butternut Squash Soup

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I was stunned this morning when Himself requested this for tea tonight.

Twice in one week?

I’m feeling kinda feisty today. HE HATES James Martin. If this man shows his face on our TV then the room turns blue.

:o)

I’m not a recipe follower. Mine, today, is made partly from yesterday’s left overs.

Works for us so keep your snarky judgements SCHTUM. Thanks!

Spring onions, red pepper, new potatoes, savoy cabbage, a whole bag of carrots, butternut squash, about three tons of salt and pepper and some chicken stock. Boil, simmer, till all tender.

My best kitchen friend is the whizzer. So and so forth. When all is not nuclear burns- I deploy the whizzer and blend everything to liquid.

Adder-oners…Yesterday’s baked ham cut into cubes, a dash of cream and a sprinkling of stale bread (oven cooked with olive oil and salt and garlic pepper.

TahDah.

The worker can heat it up himself when he finally returns after another day of out-of-hours ER.

Yum. Tasty. And all in one pot.

From Russia…With Love

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I could’ve done it this lazy, packaged way but “I Did It MY Way.”

:o)

It gets tricky when 2 think that mushrooms are the food of the devil, 1 thinks peas are the devil’s food, 1 is in Vampire mode (awake from dusk til dawn) and another one of you is on Emergency Rescue again and won’t be home until about 9pm.

I’ve learned to juggle meals and timelines. And weirdos.

MY recipe – Irish beef, cut into thin strips and fried. One white onion (diced) one red pepper (diced) A HUGE dollop of Dijon Mustard (don’t lick the spoon clean afterwards…I’m still a bit red in the face but my sinuses are clear) beef stock, cornflour, smoked paprika, about half a ton of freshly ground pepper and a huge spoonful of Clotted Cream. All served with Basmati rice.

For he and me, I’ve added peas from yesterday. And not a mushroom in sight. Sadly.

So that’d be From Russia (via Lincolnshire) with love, yes?

The Ploughman’s Lunch

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We are all feeling a bit strange at the moment. Our skies are blue and a big yellow thing has been shining all day. Very bizarre!

So we decided to start on the good weather eating. And you don’t get much better than the original English Ploughman’s Lunch. As the name suggests it is a portable meal eaten by ploughmen in the field. Crusty bread, cheese, pickles, an apple, a boiled egg. Or somesuch.

Today we have freshly baked bread (from the local baker), I cooked a ham, salad leaves, baby tomatoes, red pepper, coleslaw, potato salad, cheddar, pickled beetroot, piccalilli, some grapes and a slice or two of pineapple.

Plus an ice cold pint of Danish lager.

Simple but filling. Much like the Cornish Pasty that the tin miners would eat. Or the Scottish haggis. Or the pork pie.

P.S. I’ve never been to the Cheddar Gorge. It looks beautiful.

Hot Cross Buns

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I love these. Toasted and spread with a good dollop of salted REAL butter.

One a penny. Two a penny.

I’m a Christian…Protestant if y’all wanna label. Like my ancestors.

I am IRL an UNORTHODOX christian.

I do my upbringing. But Easter to me is much like Christmas. FAMILY time.

Good Friday is Hot Cross Buns for tea… some weirdos put jam on them, I prefer Mature Cheddar Cheese. I’m salty. Sue me.

Easter Sunday is the full Lamb Roast plus trimmings.

OMG – how effed up is THAT?

We have baby lambs in the fields around us.

OK. I’m also a carnivore.

Another lawsuit?

Nursey Rhyme followed by Cooking Hot Cross Buns.

One a penny? Not here. 4 of ’em cost over a pound.

So Much To Do : So Little Time To Bother with Trivials

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I’ve done this Biryani before and it took half a day. Even with the hijacking of several males to finish off grinding the spices!!!

I’m planning to do it tomorrow so I’m prepping.

The Hairy Biker’s Curry book is fabulous. But first…

No Time For Wasters :o)

P.S. I have a beautiful, huge, old pestle and mortar. Grinding those spices by hand makes one strong in the biceps and high/giddy on the smell.

Tarragon/Dragon & The Myth of Artemis

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Tarragon is a herb : Artemisia dracunculus.

Said to be the herb of Artemis the Huntress and also a cure for snake bite and rabies.

All I know about it is…I grow it. I use it with chicken.

Chicken Fricassee – with tarragon.

Chicken Pie – with tarragon. Today’s meal.

The first time I ever tasted chicken and tarragon together was via a sandwich in a cafe inside the Natural History Museum in London when my boys were toddlers and their mother was edu-ma-cating them!

HERBS……Will always and forever remind me of this programme :o)

Every Day Classic

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You’d never believe how hard it is to find Pudding Rice in town.

In Ye Olde Dayes of Yore – when I was at school, we’d get proper school meals.

They were mostly shite but very welcome.

I’m not a pudding person. Especially after having to experience days of three choices…Spotted Dick, Tapioca, Sago.

Then we’d get a rice pudding day. Woohooooo! We were always given a jug of rosehip syrup for every table and that was usually poured onto the rice pudding and everyone left the dinner hall smiling.

I found pudding rice today. But forgot to make it. The Rayburn is best. Shove it in there for 2 or 3 hours and heaven. But as we don’t have a spare £600 floating around….!

Anyhoo.

The most comforting of comfort food. In my humble opinion. Over to you, Mary :o)

P.S. I even bought frozen strawberries and blueberries to put on top. SMH.

Why is Cottagecore so Gay?

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OOOPS!

I must’ve been “Gay” all my life and never knew it.

That’s a bummer.

I’ve done ALL that Rowan describes, all of my life.

OK. That’s me out of the wardrobe.

I AM OFFICIALLY A GAY FEMALE & SLIGHTLY QUEER TOO!

I’m also a huge Agatha Christie fan and she uses “GAY” to mean happy & “QUEER” to mean strange.

BTW : When I was 6 years old and we had to live with Nan for a while before moving to Scotland, I gathered all the fallen petals from her roses and squished them into a jar of water – to make rose water.

I made a jar full of stinky sludge :o)

Homemade Pizza

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I’m kinda one level down from the Amateur in the video below – even though I’ve been doing this for decades.

I don’t have a “recipe”

I just chuck things at homemade dough and hope for the best.

Today I made three huge ones.

Two were dough, bashed around a lot on the kitchen table, after proving out in the garden spring sunshine and given a severe talking to. Topped with onion and red pepper fried in olive then mixed with English Tesco passata, garlic pepper, herbes de Provence (so shoot me!!!) topped with Spanish Chorizo, German Salami, Italian Pepperoni and Mozzarella Cheese.

‘T’other was a calzone. Same as above but he has PINEAPPLE on his pizza. And I ran out of cheese.

:o)

They are all ugly but taste bloody nice.

P.S. The image above is not mine. I stole it from google images ….but it looks quite close !

The Queen of Smørbrød

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I just call them Swedish Open Sandwich.

Had some yesterday. After a night of noodles and fried rice. Having some today, using what is left over.

A Typical Smerderbrerder (?) for me is two slices of fresh bread drizzled with French dressing. Topped with salad stuff, some wafer-thin meats, maybe beetroot, maybe pate, maybe cheese, maybe halved 7 minute boiled egg, maybe apple slices, maybe gherkins, maybe tinned tuna (the ONLY seafood I eat) and Always Black Olives.

Yum.

Knives and forks essential – or just get messy :o)

Stays

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Mmmn. So named because they make the wobbly bits STAY ?

We had our annual Chinese takeaway last night. About 3 hours later than planned because someone got that good ol’ EMERGENCY RESCUE call at exactly the wrong time.

Sigh.

I usually don’t eat after 5pm. 6pm at the latest. That’s why we do tea and not dinner.

Going to bed with a full stomach is not healthy. As a kid, even after Sunday lunch, the family would go out in all winds and weather to “walk off” the big meal.

Where was I? Oh. Stays. Stays are not corsets.

I’m seriously thinking about making some stays. Even though I HATE tight, restrictive clothing. But the idea of pushing all that unwanted wobbliness north to ….. I’ve said too much!

The Brit Chinese Takeaway

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Is soooooo expensive now but…

Once in a Blue Moon we treat ourselves. And this Friday night will be Chinese Night.

Me and him are so predictable.

Him : Prawn Curry (no onions) Special Fried Rice, Chips.

ME : Beef Chow Mein, Fried Rice, Chips, Curry Sauce.

The boys are weird and unpredictable but somewhere along the line we get Chicken Balls with Sweet and Sour Sauce.

When I was pregnant with Dan….Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls from Harmony Hill were my go to. After ginger nut biscuits and apples. I had 8 months of Morning (all day) sickness.

My earliest early childhood was full of Chinese food in Singapore. Mother made the best Nasi Goreng ever.

Real Chinese peeps HATE Brit Chinese Food.

Yuh, whatever.

Future prediction…Saturday morning I will be learning how to make a Victorian Corset to hold in the multiple body wobbles. Hai wike noodwles :o)

Ellen’s Stardust Diner and Eggs Benedict

Jacquelyn Greig Leave a comment

So good we went there twice.

We did. Only in America…!

Breakfast here was such fun. And I didn’t learn from the first the time because I ordered Eggs Benedict the second time too.

Droooool.

Everyone else did the sweet thing – Stack of Pancakes.

I swear to God we could’ve fed our entire extended family with eggs and pancakes for a week. Not a single one of us finished the meal. It put the usual UK 2 slices of toast with Marmite/Marmalade/Strawberry Jam/Soggy Weetabix to shame :o)