Picture 1 is of two gorgeous semis on the A608 to Heanor and everytime I pass them I think how beautiful they are and a comment from our 'architectural correspondent' would be valued. This morning the right-hand one has sprouted a For Sale board. Perhaps thirty years ago ..............
My thought that Matalan could be a source for my magazine rack proved correct and Picture 2 is it. The face peering over the edge, from the front cover of the current RPS magazine, is Kurt Vonnegut which makes it a cherished issue for me. Next door to Matalan is Morrisons and I couldn't resist a browse and I'm glad I did because they had Pak Choi. So I decided to do a crispy beef stir-fry for lunch. I busked it and extended it to a 'surf and turf' stir-fry as the extra-large prawns were to hand in our recently packed freezer. The 'surf and turf' description always concerns me slightly because it almost suggests horse as an ingredient. The bean-sprouts, bamboo strips, cut up mange-tout, sliced mushroom, thin parings of carrot (I do them with the potato-peeler) water chestnuts etc., are all just bunged in after the protein is crisp and then the pak choi for the last few seconds only, because the leaves need to wilt, nothing more.
First job is to toss the matchstick size strips of beef in seasoned cornflour and sizzle till crisp in rapeseed oil, then in with the prawns. Then drain the oil thoroughly and add maybe a desertspoon of Sesame Oil, and a dollop of oyster sauce and in with the rest. And, as I have said, finally the pak choi and when I dish up I let the diners add rich soy sauce to taste. For me, it doesn't need it, but it adds a chinese redolence I suppose.
After lunch I messed about trying to persuade BBC iPlayer to work but not yet. As I had had another foul night I decided on a kip but only managed 50 minutes before my leg started. Ah well !Hannah rang late afternoon to say they were safely back from Swanage and had had a great time. The second meet with David & Co. had been a triumph and it is lovely that all the kids and adults get on so well. David doesn't come back till Wednesday and I shall look forwad to seeing them all. I think Steve is tired but the break will have done him good.
Thanks 'Anonymous' for the gripe-water contribution. I am sure you are right in that the alcohol content was effective. Similarly with cough-syrups. Now they say 'non drowsy' I suspect that the ingredient which actually worked is now omitted. Prolly an 'elf & safety' issue. The crossword yielded before lunch but tomorrow we will catch up on the papers. Gordon Brown seems to be hitting the correct tone. How wise to holiday handily in Dorset and congratulations to him for returning immediately to London upon the outbreak of 'foot & mouth' In my opinion Cameron will be nowhere near a match for him come a General Election.
Which leads me, somewhat obliquely, to my quote:-
"There is nothing more dreadful than imagination without taste"
Goethe
I'm quite early tonight. So I think coffee and a read.
I'm very much enjoying my 'Food for Thought' - a charity shop acquisition. It isn't as you would expect a book of recipes - it covers each month and what is around, what you can plant etc., and is a collection of pieces originally written for The Spectator. Sleep tight everybody !!
I'm quite early tonight. So I think coffee and a read.
I'm very much enjoying my 'Food for Thought' - a charity shop acquisition. It isn't as you would expect a book of recipes - it covers each month and what is around, what you can plant etc., and is a collection of pieces originally written for The Spectator. Sleep tight everybody !!
I think it is a young starling - right beak and head colour. The one eating the rowan berries concerns me - looks like a thrush with bubonic plague.....
ReplyDeleteI had all the stitches out my arm yesterday and bandaging all off as it has healed so well - just a white line that goes right over my elbow joint, I thought it would have been a difficult place to get to heal, but seems OK. It is much easier now without the bandaging, I just have to remember not to lean on it on a hard surface, am still sleeping/sitting with it on a pillow.
Surf'n turf never appealed to me - like the pineapple chunk jelly though, my signature dish is tinned mandarin oranges in orange jelly - with added real fruit juice.....
We're disappointed in Cameron - he started off well - think the grammar school fiasco plus going off to Africa when his constituents were flooded showed lack of judgment. Is he being badly advised or are these his own ideas? I do fancy Boris for Mayor of London though!
Our lovely old family gp (alas no more - Evan, Y and T know who I mean)always said sea-air was the best for recovering from chest infections, do hope Steven benefitted from his break.
There is a very old-fashioned cough medicine called Pulmo Bailey that is still sold by some small independent chemists that still has morphine of a sort in it - it just seems to be morphine and codeine, puts you out for the night, no matter how bad your cough is! seems to have escaped the clutches of whoever polices these things.
Fingers crossed with te house-buyers - on my other hand....
I find that I accidentally added today's comment to yesterday's blog. Fancy doing a silly thing like that
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I have topped up the gripe water bottle with gin.
That should do the trick.
Anon 1 - Just wanted to say that the contribution about gripe water wasn't me, there is obviously another 'annonymous'! However, it made very interesting reading. I can remember my Mum buying gripe water for my brother when he was a baby and she doubtless gave it to me too. Hope it works for Bungus, I'm sure the addition of gin will be highly effective!
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