My lunch was a big fat cheeseburger, fries and red Coca Cola. I do not feel guilty. So there.
You can get such things in la belle France???
You're quite right though - you absolutely shouldn't feel guilty about any kind of food.
Lunch chez Piglet was The Sausage Thing, which was rather nice. It was accompanied by a glass of v. nice red wine and followed by some ice-cream, and I don't feel guilty either.
In honour of my upcoming birthday, D's organ recital today began with the Renaissance Dances (Möhrentanz and the Battle Pavane by Susato and Springtanz by Praetorius*, and finished with the Carillon Sortie by Mulet (which we came down the aisle to when we got married).
He's an old romantic, really ...
* If you Google them, you'll probably get recordings by the late, great David Munrow and the Early Music Consort; they'll be familiar as the incidental music from such things as The Six Wives of Henry VIII and Elizabeth R.
I am enjoying a quiet day today - the builder has had some noisy work to do to get the new downstairs cloakroom ready for the loo and basin to be installed. It’s over to me this weekend to paint the woodwork and paper the walls, then he’s back on Monday to install, then get on with the other side of the utility to where the washing machine is going - more noisy work but it’s looking good already.
In honour of my upcoming birthday, D's organ recital today began with the Renaissance Dances (Möhrentanz and the Battle Pavane by Susato and Springtanz by Praetorius*, and finished with the Carillon Sortie by Mulet (which we came down the aisle to when we got married).
I didn't know the Mulet - it's very much in the style of the Widor Toccata, isn't it? Either of Lefevbre-Wely's Sorties would have done well, too - I think the one in Eb is particularly fun!
I’m having a lazy day at home as nobody else wants to do anything. So I’ve just made homemade baked doughnuts! A first for me and they turned out well.
... Either of Lefevbre-Wely's Sorties would have done well, too - I think the one in Eb is particularly fun!
It is indeed. We got engaged shortly aftet D. discovered it, and I briefly considered it, but decided it was maybe rather silly! As it happened, he'd already decided on the Mulet (which my sister and b-i-l had also had), and I was more than happy with that.
The Lefebure-Wely E flat has become something of a tradition at family funerals: my brother-in-law requested it for his*, Dad asked for it at Mum's and D. played it at Dad's as well.
* It felt a bit odd having something so jolly being played in a crematorium chapel (and at what was a very emotional funeral, as he was only 56), but I'd like to think that R. was having a quiet chuckle in Heaven.
* * * * *
It looks like quite a nice day, but it's been blowing a hoolie since late yesterday evening, and the temperature hike we got yesterday only lasted long enough to give us freezing rain, which has since frozen hard into Patches of Treachery™, so getting about will Not Be Fun.
Had a v. late lunch of a chicken leg with avocado and tomatoes sprinkled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Why did it take me until my 50s to discover that avocados are proof that God loves us?
Further proof may be ascertained tonight - we're going out for dinner to the restaurant of a golf club, where they've got lamb shanks on the menu - it's the last night of Dine around Freddy, so it's a fixed, two-choices-per-course menu, but it was very good last year, so we're rather looking forward to it.
Trip out with friend, K, today. Nearly cancelled due to wash out, but the wing was so strong it blew itself out and the rest of the day was breezy but blue-skied.
Visited Beverley for the first time. The Cathedral is stunning and had a lovely, working church feeling. Too late for a visit to the museum, but will definitely return.
I remember visiting Beverley Minster when Mum, Dad and I spent a week in Yorkshire, and while we all thought it was lovely, we rather regretted doing York Minster first, because Beverley was so much smaller, and less impressive. The way D. puts it is that Beverley is like a feminine expression of York's masculine, which sort of makes sense.
* * * * *.
We had a v. nice feed at the golf club: the starters were interesting without being silly (maple-baked brie for D., shrimp and pork gyoza for me), and the lamb shanks were very nearly perfect, served on good, creamy mashed potatoes with carrots and parsnips. They had run out of pecan pie, which would have been my choice for pudding, but the chocolate brownie they substituted it with was very nice, and came with good ice-cream; and D's green tea sorbet was a wee bit different and very refreshing.
We discovered that their regular menu includes confit of duck, so I suspect we'll be going back ...
Grrr... just great - while the snow is disappearing fast, with temperatures suddenly up to a springy 10C plus, this apparently means... ye hazel pollen are a-comin'! I tend to forget the pollen allergy in winter; it's just not there. And now this again...! Ach well. Out they come, the meds and treatments.
In terms of oft-cited in-thread culinary enjoyment, however, I've found some rather nice tortellini ai funghi (tortellini with shroom filling) which rather please my palate and assorted organs, and go down a treat. Veeery nice.
Yesterday was fun, but energetic - a five/six hour first aid course to update my qualification. Mine had lapsed in October (the meeting where I would have refreshed it didn't offer first aid this year), so I had to do the full session. But because it was out of town in the church rooms of a picturesque church in the middle of nowhere, and I really don't like cycling the route there as the roads are country lanes driven as if they are A roads, I walked across the fields and golf course there and back.
This church used to be part of the team I worked for so I know it and the routes there well.
On gustatory topics, I'm experimenting with making gluten free bread. First loaf tasted so much nicer than the bought stuff, risen properly or not, that we're currently eating the second loaf. That one rose better, but still not as well as I'd like, but apparently the texture is still better than the bought stuff. I'll head over the recipe thread for further comments.
We saw our first lambs of the year yesterday! We had tune club in the afternoon, so went to Abergavenny in the morning . Our usual route is being rebuilt, and so we went via Pontypool, and in the fields alongside the Pontypool/Abergavenny road - LAMBS, Spring is finally on its way.
Can we not talk about springy things like lambs and crocuses when it's -9° and feeling like -18 and the snow-heaps have frozen so solidly that the top is pure ice and shines in the sun?
Sorry to sound grumpy, but we've already had over three months of winter, and it's rather lost its appeal.
Never mind, I'm having a nice birthday so far - lots of hugs and a mountain of Facebook posts to reply to - and D. gave me two lovely books (one about the Plantagenets, who fascinate me, and the other a Jamie Oliver cookbook) and a bottle of Cloudy Bay Cabernet Sauvignon; we love their Sauv. Blanc, but haven't tried their reds yet and decided we'd wait for a proper excuse. I'll have to make a nice beef casserole to drink it with.
In honour of my upcoming birthday, D's organ recital today began with the Renaissance Dances (Möhrentanz and the Battle Pavane by Susato and Springtanz by Praetorius*, and finished with the Carillon Sortie by Mulet (which we came down the aisle to when we got married).
He's an old romantic, really ...
The Mulet just joyfully graced the waves of Radio 3.
Today vanished, sadly - I felt quite wobbly at church and made it home, but spent the afternoon sleeping something off. It meant cancelling a visit with a friend to see the new Thelwell exhibition at the local National Trust Property (he lived in the next village so the scenes in his cartoons and watercolours are very familiar). Never mind, another time.
My wife has been wobbly with a nasty tummy virus for over week, and hasn't been downstairs since last Saturday evening. She's slowly progressing, eating a little"soft" food, and getting very bored!
Oh poor thing, I’m hoping this was a one off (I ate some meaty things at a buffet yesterday that aren’t part of my usual diet so it might simply be my stomach complaining).
Indeed. Hopefully, both of you will soon feel well again. Better out than in, as they say!
Tummy Bugs, for me, may lead to Secondary Adrenal Insufficiency (a form of Addison's Disease), which, if not dealt with in time, could lead to coma and death.
Which would be quite peaceful, and unpainful, so not to be sneezed at.
There you are - a Cheerful Thought For The Day.
Actually, I would have 2-3 hours warning of what might happen, so plenty of time for more pills, or an emergency hydro-cortisone injection, or to call 999, should I feel that my Life's Work is not yet done.
Ugh indeed. I hope you keep on being tummy bug free, @Bishops Finger.
I’ve eaten carefully today, and am currently enjoying Ben & Jerry’s vegan dairy, rice and oat free chunky monkey - purely medicinal you realise.
BT, one of our local GPs used to prescribe white pop for everything. It's actually very good for tummy upsets as it's basically sugar and boiled water, but more palatable than some of the rehydration liquids available.
I remember flat cola or ginger ale being recommended for tummy upsets - presumably on the same principle.
D. bought some Fever Tree ginger beer today: he loves it, but I find ginger beer (as opposed to ginger ale) just too gingery. I had a mouthful which he said was fairly well-diluted with fizzy water, and even that had too much heat for my taste.
Having said that, we also got some whole cardomum pods, and I'm planning on making a proper curry with real spices* for tomorrow's lunch, which will also have ground ginger in it, but possibly moderated by cooking.
* I already had the other spices I wanted, so I should be set up for a while.
D. bought some Fever Tree ginger beer today: he loves it, but I find ginger beer (as opposed to ginger ale) just too gingery. I had a mouthful which he said was fairly well-diluted with fizzy water, and even that had too much heat for my taste.
It needs to be mixed with dark rum, not fizzy water.
I suspect it would still burn my throat; I have memories from when I was a very small piglet of Mum making Yulade*, which was a cordial concoction that came in either raspberry or ginger flavour, and the ginger one being rather horrid. And I'm not fond of rum either.
I think I'll stick to wine or GIN.
* It was what was served to children and teetotallers at Christmas.
BT - I have a friend with Addisons and it’s so well managed that I forget sometimes somethings that are relatively mild for most folk require a heck of a lot more vigilance for her - thanks for the reminder. Thankfully she, like you, can apply humour to this.
I suspect it would still burn my throat; I have memories from when I was a very small piglet of Mum making Yulade*, which was a cordial concoction that came in either raspberry or ginger flavour, and the ginger one being rather horrid. And I'm not fond of rum either.
I think I'll stick to wine or GIN.
* It was what was served to children and teetotallers at Christmas.
I loved Yulade, though the ginger one was a taste to be acquired in the teens, not being sweet enough for a young child. A few years ago my local Coop found a few dusty bottles in the beck room (ginger) and sold if off cheap - I think it was so old that it didn't have a sell by date. Anyway it was mainly sugar, so preserved. I made some up and it was delicious!
The Proper Curry™ came out rather nicely - I'll certainly make it again. There was just enough ginger and crushed chillies to give it a tiny little kick, which suited this curry wimp very well.
It's at times like this that I miss WW, who would probably have suggested I measure the spices in tablespoons rather than pinches ...
* * * * *
We're bracing ourselves for more sn*w - they're forecasting up to 40cm, which is about a foot and a half. A foot and a half more than we need.
I find ginger beer (as opposed to ginger ale) just too gingery.
That's ok, Piglet, I'll have your share. I find all ginger things delicious, the stronger the better. Both glace and crystallized went into a rhubarb fool at the weekend, using the first of the forced rhubarb. Yum.
I share your sentiments, Arachnid. Love ginger, as strong as it comes. I have recipe for a loaf style ginger cake which has powdered ginger, fresh and crystallised ginger in it,along with treacle although I substitute golden syrup. Smells wonderful cooking and tastes even better.
I used to love Yulade, it reminded me a somewhat of the ginger punch that they sold from the corona lorry, I developed a taste for that quite young and remember being disgusted when someone gave me a glass diluted with water as they thought it was too strong for a child otherwise.
I recently discovered a ginger flavoured toothpaste which is quite nice, much better than mind which I detest
And another vote for ginger from me. I have discovered a lovely dark chocolate ginger delight sold by the Real Sweet Shop near me.... oh dear there goes the diet. My ginger cake follows a recipe in an old Good Housekeeping recipe book given to me for my 11th birthday, using treacle and ground ginger, to which I add chopped up preserved ginger (the sort in syrup) and sugared ginger.
The odd thing is I quite like gingerbread and ginger snaps, and I'd use ginger and garlic to start off a stir-fry - it's just anything with enough gingericity to catch in the throat that I'm not so keen on.
I'm about to pack my bags ready to return to the UK after a fabulous two weeks doing a wheelchair distribution back in the Eldoret diocese of Kenya where we were based between 2012 and 2016.
Just hoping the contrast in weather does not floor me as I am returning to the craziness (due to the complexities of my wider family) of planning my my mother's funeral.....
Wish me luck!
So sorry to hear of your loss, Mrs Beaky, I hope it all goes as well as it can.
I’ve been and done the shopping and caught up online with my work schedule. I have a whole heap of marking to do which I should have started yesterday but was distracted by having to take my teenage son to the GP with asthma and a chest infection. Now both my sons are home (the other has a revision week from college) and are hogging my sofa.
BT, one of our local GPs used to prescribe white pop for everything. It's actually very good for tummy upsets as it's basically sugar and boiled water, but more palatable than some of the rehydration liquids available.
We lived in North Africa for 18 months when I was around eight years old and everyone suffered from upset tummies. Lemonade, with a little salt mixed in and some orange squash to counter the saltiness, kept a lot of us kids ostensibly healthy. Some alas couldn;'t handle it and they had to return to the UK.
I’m beginning to get normality back: the downstairs loo is complete, the laundry has been moved to the other side of the utility, and a load is chugging away in the washing machine. Tomorrow a radiator is being added to my chilly dining room, then that’s it for another ten years (well, that feels like the gap between sorting things out).
Comments
You're quite right though - you absolutely shouldn't feel guilty about any kind of food.
Lunch chez Piglet was The Sausage Thing, which was rather nice. It was accompanied by a glass of v. nice red wine and followed by some ice-cream, and I don't feel guilty either.
He's an old romantic, really ...
* If you Google them, you'll probably get recordings by the late, great David Munrow and the Early Music Consort; they'll be familiar as the incidental music from such things as The Six Wives of Henry VIII and Elizabeth R.
I am enjoying a quiet day today - the builder has had some noisy work to do to get the new downstairs cloakroom ready for the loo and basin to be installed. It’s over to me this weekend to paint the woodwork and paper the walls, then he’s back on Monday to install, then get on with the other side of the utility to where the washing machine is going - more noisy work but it’s looking good already.
It’s pouring down and blowing a gale out there. It’s not often I postpone my dog walk but I’ll be waiting until this one dies down!
💨 💨 💨
The Lefebure-Wely E flat has become something of a tradition at family funerals: my brother-in-law requested it for his*, Dad asked for it at Mum's and D. played it at Dad's as well.
* It felt a bit odd having something so jolly being played in a crematorium chapel (and at what was a very emotional funeral, as he was only 56), but I'd like to think that R. was having a quiet chuckle in Heaven.
* * * * *
It looks like quite a nice day, but it's been blowing a hoolie since late yesterday evening, and the temperature hike we got yesterday only lasted long enough to give us freezing rain, which has since frozen hard into Patches of Treachery™, so getting about will Not Be Fun.
Had a v. late lunch of a chicken leg with avocado and tomatoes sprinkled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Why did it take me until my 50s to discover that avocados are proof that God loves us?
Further proof may be ascertained tonight - we're going out for dinner to the restaurant of a golf club, where they've got lamb shanks on the menu - it's the last night of Dine around Freddy, so it's a fixed, two-choices-per-course menu, but it was very good last year, so we're rather looking forward to it.
Visited Beverley for the first time. The Cathedral is stunning and had a lovely, working church feeling. Too late for a visit to the museum, but will definitely return.
* * * * *.
We had a v. nice feed at the golf club: the starters were interesting without being silly (maple-baked brie for D., shrimp and pork gyoza for me), and the lamb shanks were very nearly perfect, served on good, creamy mashed potatoes with carrots and parsnips. They had run out of pecan pie, which would have been my choice for pudding, but the chocolate brownie they substituted it with was very nice, and came with good ice-cream; and D's green tea sorbet was a wee bit different and very refreshing.
We discovered that their regular menu includes confit of duck, so I suspect we'll be going back ...
In terms of oft-cited in-thread culinary enjoyment, however, I've found some rather nice tortellini ai funghi (tortellini with shroom filling) which rather please my palate and assorted organs, and go down a treat. Veeery nice.
This church used to be part of the team I worked for so I know it and the routes there well.
On gustatory topics, I'm experimenting with making gluten free bread. First loaf tasted so much nicer than the bought stuff, risen properly or not, that we're currently eating the second loaf. That one rose better, but still not as well as I'd like, but apparently the texture is still better than the bought stuff. I'll head over the recipe thread for further comments.
Sorry to sound grumpy, but we've already had over three months of winter, and it's rather lost its appeal.
Never mind, I'm having a nice birthday so far - lots of hugs and a mountain of Facebook posts to reply to - and D. gave me two lovely books (one about the Plantagenets, who fascinate me, and the other a Jamie Oliver cookbook) and a bottle of Cloudy Bay Cabernet Sauvignon; we love their Sauv. Blanc, but haven't tried their reds yet and decided we'd wait for a proper excuse. I'll have to make a nice beef casserole to drink it with.
The Mulet just joyfully graced the waves of Radio 3.
Tummy bugs and upsets are horrid - hope you both feel better soon!
Tummy Bugs, for me, may lead to Secondary Adrenal Insufficiency (a form of Addison's Disease), which, if not dealt with in time, could lead to coma and death.
Which would be quite peaceful, and unpainful, so not to be sneezed at.
There you are - a Cheerful Thought For The Day.
Actually, I would have 2-3 hours warning of what might happen, so plenty of time for more pills, or an emergency hydro-cortisone injection, or to call 999, should I feel that my Life's Work is not yet done.
Or perhaps not.
PS I've never heard of that condition - ugh.
I’ve eaten carefully today, and am currently enjoying Ben & Jerry’s vegan dairy, rice and oat free chunky monkey - purely medicinal you realise.
D. bought some Fever Tree ginger beer today: he loves it, but I find ginger beer (as opposed to ginger ale) just too gingery. I had a mouthful which he said was fairly well-diluted with fizzy water, and even that had too much heat for my taste.
Having said that, we also got some whole cardomum pods, and I'm planning on making a proper curry with real spices* for tomorrow's lunch, which will also have ground ginger in it, but possibly moderated by cooking.
* I already had the other spices I wanted, so I should be set up for a while.
I suspect it would still burn my throat; I have memories from when I was a very small piglet of Mum making Yulade*, which was a cordial concoction that came in either raspberry or ginger flavour, and the ginger one being rather horrid. And I'm not fond of rum either.
I think I'll stick to wine or GIN.
* It was what was served to children and teetotallers at Christmas.
I loved Yulade, though the ginger one was a taste to be acquired in the teens, not being sweet enough for a young child. A few years ago my local Coop found a few dusty bottles in the beck room (ginger) and sold if off cheap - I think it was so old that it didn't have a sell by date. Anyway it was mainly sugar, so preserved. I made some up and it was delicious!
It's at times like this that I miss WW, who would probably have suggested I measure the spices in tablespoons rather than pinches ...
* * * * *
We're bracing ourselves for more sn*w - they're forecasting up to 40cm, which is about a foot and a half. A foot and a half more than we need.
Bloody Trump sending us his weather ...
I recently discovered a ginger flavoured toothpaste which is quite nice, much better than mind which I detest
Just hoping the contrast in weather does not floor me as I am returning to the craziness (due to the complexities of my wider family) of planning my my mother's funeral.....
Wish me luck!
I’ve been and done the shopping and caught up online with my work schedule. I have a whole heap of marking to do which I should have started yesterday but was distracted by having to take my teenage son to the GP with asthma and a chest infection. Now both my sons are home (the other has a revision week from college) and are hogging my sofa.
We lived in North Africa for 18 months when I was around eight years old and everyone suffered from upset tummies. Lemonade, with a little salt mixed in and some orange squash to counter the saltiness, kept a lot of us kids ostensibly healthy. Some alas couldn;'t handle it and they had to return to the UK.