I remember these!
Physalis. I mean, I don’t remember it from childhood. Do you? It’s South American, so I feel like I should. I remember it from when Uncle B grew it for me in the greenhouse some years ago.
If you’ve not had them, they have a tart and interesting flavor. The Wikipedia article says grapes or tomatoes, but I think oranges with a twist (okay, they’re orange in color and I’m suggestible).
You’d starve to death trying to eat enough for a meal, but they’re great as a mouth refresher.
So, is everyone excited about the Dead Pool tomorrow at 6 WBT? I know I am!
August 31, 2023 — 7:28 pm
Comments: 7
Dis-gust-ing
A chicken chain, which consists of five whole London restaurants, has joined forces with Oreo, of all things, to make this disgusting chicken and Oreo meal deal.
The Oreo shake is fairly orthodox – though that one looks a touch Oreo heavy, if you ask me. The thing on the right is garlic fries topped with crushed Oreos, the hell.
The abomination in the middle is the Big Twist Burger: “fried chicken is layered between nacho cheese, smoky chipotle mayo and an exclusive mexican-inspired mole sauce made with OREO crumb in a burnt chocolate charcoal bun.”
The article – which I found in a Sussex news source – is obviously just the press release verbatim. They describe the meal as “sparked by a social movement which has seen fans celebrating and debating the different ways they enjoy eating the iconic black and white cookie.”
Which is bullshit. There is no such conversation. Oreos are not particularly popular here (Uncle B says, “why would you eat black food?”). I can’t find anything on social media.
Maybe it’s on the ‘gram. I don’t have an Instagram account.
There’s something weird going on here. It’s only on the menu for three days (the first three days in September). Each store is giving away 150 of these abominations free per day, first come first served. That’s 2,250 free meals.
At a guess, I’d say they’re trying to go viral for some reason. They’ve launched it two days ago with the hashtag #OREOtwist, which is getting zero engagement on Xwitter.
Five English fast food joints and American cookie giant Nabisco? Beats me.
August 17, 2023 — 7:37 pm
Comments: 10
Hey! Blog’s back up!
Too late! Burger night…gotta go burger.
Noooo, not cooking a Big Mac. I posted this here picture because I have downloaded the McDonald’s phone app.
We only go to Mickey D’s about once a month – if that! – but it seems stupid to ignore discounts. Also, I can order food on the way and it will be ready when we get there, so they tell me.
I feel kinda dirty, though.
True story: in 1975, I had a Big Mac, fries and a Coke every single day for the whole year (not counting summer when I was down on the farm). And I was skinny. Okay, I had to walk a mile there and back, but still.
If memory serves, it was less than a buck.
August 10, 2023 — 8:04 pm
Comments: 9
Will the innovations never cease?
Headline: Heinz making big change to its ketchup bottles from next month
The change? The lids are also recyclable now. *squints*
Brits are big consumers of Heinz products, go figure.
I don’t know if this is happening where you are, but recently our plastic bottles, like fizzy water bottles, the lids don’t come all the way off. They remain connected by a thin strip of plastic.
Naturally, I assumed they were defective bottles and wrestled the caps all the way off. Then I bought a bottle of Coke that did the same thing but had the courtesy to explain on the label that this was deliberate, so the lid would stay with the bottle and they could all recycle together.
Oh, and plastic milk bottles! They’re usually color-coded (though they have it all backwards here – blue is whole milk and red is skimmed) but lately, for recycling purposes, they’re clear plastic. That means at a glance you think the bottle doesn’t have the lid on at all.
Hippies. Is there nothing they can’t ruin?
July 27, 2023 — 7:55 pm
Comments: 8
First of the season
I’ve got one tomato (Uncle B ate one of the ones in the picture), a dozen radishes and two onions. Do you think I can make a soup out of that, or would it be intolerably spicy?
This isn’t at all what I was going to post about tonight. I was going to post about getting out of a chair and how I’m finding it increasingly difficult (I know, I know…it comes to us all). I was going to ask if you think it’s waning leg strength, core strength or arm strength.
But in casting around the internet, I’ve discovered “getting out of a chair” YouTubes are a real genre. I’ve been watching people get into and out of chairs all evening. Then I’ve been imitating them getting into and out of chairs.
Fun.
I won’t say I’ve found the perfect technique, but I’ve learned some interesting tips and given my thigh muscles some exercise. Which has helped. All the methods seem to start by schooching out to the edge of your seat.
And it’s the leg muscles, mostly.
July 26, 2023 — 7:38 pm
Comments: 14
It’s not just the wheat
Our cobnut tree is about ready to be harvested. Wikipedia uses cobnut, hazelnut and filbert interchangeably, but then says “according to species” – so they are three different things.
This site says “the cobnut is a cultivated variety of hazelnut introduced in the 19th century in Kent in southern England; hence, it is often commonly known as a Kentish cobnut.” Sold between mid-August and October, they say, so definitely early.
I like cobnuts, filberts and hazelnuts, so it’s all good.
As for the wheat harvest, it goes on. I haven’t had any more close encounters with combine harvesters, but I can hear them grinding away in the field. Sitting in the garden, I was covered in little bits of stuff and I didn’t put two and two together until Uncle B said, “that’s chaff.”
So it is.
July 17, 2023 — 6:40 pm
Comments: 4
How much?!
Afternoon at Mickey D’s. £16.47 is $20.45. Ow. I can remember when we both ate for £5.
What’s a meal at the golden arches set you back in America these days?
I was the pig who had the Big Tasty which, I have to admit, was both big and tasty. For a McDonald’s, anyhow.
This is the second time we’ve eaten at this one in the last year. The man who drifts around wiping tables and greeting customers looks like Mike from Breaking Bad.
Older. Grizzled. Tattoo’d. Unfailingly polite. Looks like he won’t take no shit.
The thought occurred to me that he was, in fact, hired muscle. I wonder if it gets spicy at McDonald’s sometimes…?
p.s. Kitty was much better today, but went out this afternoon and has been gone for an unusually long time now. Still we worry.
p.p.s. Kitty is back. Seems fine. Hail Bast.
May 23, 2023 — 7:45 pm
Comments: 18
Well, that didn’t last long
My fancy new coffee subscription service, kaput. I only had two deliveries.
I joined them after I saw an ad on Twitter. I wonder if they had one last marketing blowout trying to revive their fortunes.
Oh, well. I have now more or less figured out what I do and don’t like, so coffee surprise! isn’t such an important service.
I mean, I haven’t worked out what all that language about tropical fruit and notes of tobacco and chocolate means in real terms, but I know I cannot tell the difference between one dark roast and another. And I don’t like ’em.
March 29, 2023 — 7:20 pm
Comments: 8
A little Greek swag
Pretty little cup to go with my fancy coffees. It’s the tiniest demitasse I ever did see, but I have a carafe for the coffee, so that’s okay.
The latest is me trying (and failing) to make a proper Turkish coffee. I can’t tell you how many YouTubes I’ve watched.
You start with a medium roast arabica, ground to a fine powder. Add one heaping teaspoon per cup plus sugar (if desired) and water into a cezve (I don’t have a one of them, but I do have a small copper-bottomed vessel I used for making chai).
Heat it slowly over medium heat until just before the boiling point. It bubbles up and you skim off the crema into a cup (a larger cup than this, obvs), then slowly pour in the coffee. The grounds either dissolve or sink to the bottom, I’m not sure which is supposed to happen.
Because it doesn’t. I get a giant mouthful of hot grounds. Every time.
Oh, well. Once I pour it through a filter, it makes a really very nice cup of coffee. It’s just not a Turkish coffee.
March 27, 2023 — 6:59 pm
Comments: 7
Moo!
Weather was atrocious again today – wet and windy. We were going a little stir crazy, so we headed out to a new farm shop. Yes, that’s what we do for kicks. We have to go further and further afield to find new ones, though.
You might think they’re all alike, but wrong again, my imaginary internet friend. There are some things all farm shops seem to have in common – there’s a particular brand of frozen entrée name of Cook that’s in every one of them and some local grocery stores. I think Cook supplies the freezers for free, which explains that.
But they all have their specialities. Some have their own local fruit farm or market gardens. The one nearest us specializes in being terrible, which is a shame. It’s a fake farm shop for tourists.
The one we went to today specializes in meat. They rear their own pigs and sheep and especially cows. We like meat.
On a Summer’s day, you can watch the herd contentedly grazing behind the shop. You probably could’ve watched them discontentedly munching hay in a barn today if you had a mind to get wet.
They clearly have a mixed meat/dairy herd because FRESH MILK DISPENSER, Y’ALL! You buy the bottle (or bring it back washed), press the button and DAIRY MIRACLE. I’m very fond of milk.
I’d like to think on the other side of that wall is a cow hooked up to a milking machine.
March 22, 2023 — 7:15 pm
Comments: 8