Ooh ... sausages and mash ... I think you may have given me the inspiration for tomorrow's supper.
And baked beans ...
Is outrage! You can't have baked beans and mashed spuds on the same plate - there'd be cross-contamination!!!
And a cross piglet ...
Ah... But you are too young to remember school lunches in the 1950s...
Thanks, ST - it's quite a while since I was told I was too young for anything!
I lived close enough to the school that I didn't often have school lunch - only on choir practice days. As I recall (from the mid/late 70s), it wasn't great, but not inedible either, and the doughnuts were rather good!
There are a lot of people unhappy with things as they currently are; I think there are staffing issues. I knew phoning on a Monday was going to involve a lot of re-dialling; I swithered about waiting till tomorrow to phone but thought "nothing ventured..." The switchboard must be close to melt-down. Presumably I wasn't the only one besieging the switchboard with 30 calls this morning. It wouldn't surprise me if the switchboard was having to automatically get rid of a thousand calls in the space of an hour.
At least I knew what to expect, had a jigsaw and a coffee and had metaphorically girded my loins. Someone like my elderly mother just wouldn't stand a chance. Fortunately her GP has a better system.
Our vet had a brilliant system which included an option to book online and describe the issue, which seemed to make everything very straightforward.
Ooh ... sausages and mash ... I think you may have given me the inspiration for tomorrow's supper.
And baked beans ...
Is outrage! You can't have baked beans and mashed spuds on the same plate - there'd be cross-contamination!!!
And a cross piglet ...
Ah... But you are too young to remember school lunches in the 1950s...
They were fecking awful in the 70s and 80s too. Anyone who remembers them with fondness has either a faulty memory, faulty olfactory lobe, or both.
Pink custard over chocolate crispies; pink custard over sponge pudding; something really nice made with apples with a crunchy cornflake topping; peach cobbler with yellow custard, apple crumble with yellow custard. Mmmmmmmm........
My daughter had a thing going with the dinner ladies at her primary school. If she told them her dinner at home the previous evening had been a culinary disaster, they gave her extra pudding. If she really hammed it up about my home cooking, she got seconds.
If we left anything on our plates at school dinners when the Physics teacher was on duty, she would tell us to eat it, saying “ It’s the best part” . That included bones, gristle, burnt edges.
Last night after reading about difficulties getting an appointment, I logged on to our medical centre and successfully requested repeat prescriptions, then booked a non-urgent appointment with a doctor. Easy, though the annoying questionnaire offered answers to select, few of which fitted my symptoms.
My surgery allows you to request through the website - and then they triage presumably.
Yes, so does mine and we use the website for making not so urgent appointments. Otherwise it's sit on the phone for as long as it takes and then try to persuade the lovely but often harassed receptionists that you need to be seen urgently!
Success! I settled down with coffee and Jigidi at 7.55. I tried a cheeky call at 7.58 and got the "lines closed" message. Dialled and listened to the "lines busy" message twenty one times, but the twenty-second was the charm! I got the "you are seventh in the queue" message and six minutes later I was speaking to a receptionist! First available appointment a week today, 4 March. All done and dusted by 8.42. a.m.
Ooh ... sausages and mash ... I think you may have given me the inspiration for tomorrow's supper.
And baked beans ...
Is outrage! You can't have baked beans and mashed spuds on the same plate - there'd be cross-contamination!!!
And a cross piglet ...
Ah... But you are too young to remember school lunches in the 1950s...
They were fecking awful in the 70s and 80s too. Anyone who remembers them with fondness has either a faulty memory, faulty olfactory lobe, or both.
Pink custard over chocolate crispies; pink custard over sponge pudding; something really nice made with apples with a crunchy cornflake topping; peach cobbler with yellow custard, apple crumble with yellow custard. Mmmmmmmm........
My daughter had a thing going with the dinner ladies at her primary school. If she told them her dinner at home the previous evening had been a culinary disaster, they gave her extra pudding. If she really hammed it up about my home cooking, she got seconds.
You had to get through the inedible main course before you got to that though.
I remember the desserts being mostly edible but not very exciting. If you got one, rather than timing out the lunch hour sitting with a face like a slapped arse* in front of a cooling pile of inedible crap.
*and possibly also with an actual slapped arse, depending on how honest you'd been about how bad it was.
I like tapioca and often make it at home. My favourite school dessert was semolina with grated chocolate. But the only main meal I remember from primary school (I went home for dinner at high school) is beef in gravy with cabbage and potatoes at primary school.
I went to a small, very old-fashioned, private primary school. The Head's wife did the school lunches and they were excellent, especially the sausages.
I like tapioca and often make it at home. My favourite school dessert was semolina with grated chocolate. But the only main meal I remember from primary school (I went home for dinner at high school) is beef in gravy with cabbage and potatoes at primary school.
I reckon they swapped the paste from art and craft with the semolina and defied anyone to tell the difference.
I became adept quite quickly at smearing a small portion (which thank God we were allowed to ask for) of semolina around a bowl to make it look like the remnants of a large one. Eating the horrible stuff wasn't an option.
I'm on the bus back home. Loved visiting family and friends - and it's such a comfortable way to travel. The cafe at Manchester bus station is first rate while you wait. (I always arrive very early).
Looking forward to seeing the dogs and Mr Boogs - in that order! 😂
My mini greenhouse arrives on Thursday. First job, broad bean seed planting. Exciting!
A road accident on my bus route home - two cars had given each other a fair dunt. Ambulances in attendance, but no serious injuries I don't think. More people sitting about looking shocked. Anyway, it meant the bus took off in the opposite direction to the one I wanted, so had a fair hike with, as ever, too much shopping - bread, bean sprouts, smoked pork, apfelstrüdel (it's Bavarian week in Lidl), blood oranges, limes, a saucepan and a shower curtain.
A calm and grey morning in Arkland the Clement, and Pilates wasn't too much of a pain - in fact, the Torturer thought I did rather a good job.
Lunch will be STEAK n'CHIPS, once again because use-by date, and some Wash Ing may well be hung out beforehand. Neighbour F is off to the Coal People this afternoon, or perhaps tomorrow, to fetch the next pallet-load of Coal. My portion is 50 bags, but Neighbour F (and his two stalwart sons) will do the unloading...
I don't even want to think about our school dinners. Some of the puddings weren't too bad.
At primary school I was for a while a "head of table" which meant I went to the hatch to collect everyone's dinners (two by two) and there were always orders to remember such as "no gravy" or "no carrots". One time I got it spectacularly wrong with one poor small boy who ended up with only mashed potato and sticks of swede on his plate, and he sat there in tears. I felt awful but didn't feel - as an unconfident 9-year-old - that I could do anything about it. I just wish the school had had the policy that you have a bit of everything on your plate and leave what you can't manage. Or that I'd had the gumption to march up to the hatch and say, "I got it wrong, this is my fault, please could I have a plate with..."
If I ever meet that boy again (can't even remember his name now) I will tell him I've carried guilt over that for over half a century . I hope he wasn't scarred for life. Sometimes it's the apparently small things that stay with us .
When I became a dinner lady in later years every child came to the hatch for their own dinner which made it much easier.
We had a morning with Nenlet1 and playing with the GrandNenling who, as well as being delightful as always, is clearly having a growth spurt and is noticeably taller than when we last saw her three weeks ago. We all went for a walk in the sunshine and, gratifyingly, saw a cat. Apparently she saw one cross their garden once and now wants to see one every time she looks out of the window.
I'm just back from our charity bookshop Christmas lunch. I just had the soup and a bit of apple cake, both vegan. The cake was nice, but I can make a much better lentil soup than the one they dished up. It wasn't bad, just needs a lot more spices.
On the way to lunch I went and picked up the ring I brought a few weeks ago to remember my mum by. I am very pleased with it. More good news (well I hope it is) when I got home. I'll know more when I've met up with a friend to discuss it.
We have a recorded message with awful holding music at our surgery. This thread has reminded me that I have to ring them. Ian currently number 14 - I was number 6 yesterday and was still over an hour getting through. Our surgery is going back to the health board which means it will be possible to book appointments for more than just that day.
I'm just back from our charity bookshop Christmas lunch ...
They do know it's very nearly Lent, don't they?
It wasn't a bad day here, although it started trying to rain as I was coming home; fortunately it didn't seem to be trying very hard.
Last episode of the SOUP for supper; I know I probably shouldn't have made so much, but the bag of ready-chopped carrots and turnips was the size that it was, so I sort of had to work around that. It was no real hardship though - it was rather decent SOUP.
I got down to number 4 and then pressed the wrong button and had to go back in the queue 😥 I was number 14 and held on until after 6 when the night service gets put on, so rung off.
I got down to number 4 and then pressed the wrong button and had to go back in the queue 😥 I was number 14 and held on until after 6 when the night service gets put on, so rung off.
Slightly frustrating day - my only totally free day this week and decent weather, so I was in the mood to go out, but my daughter said she would pop over, so I waited in. She didn’t arrive till 3.20 as she had been making the most of the good weather to do her garden. She brought two lots of bad news, but as a bonus, her son, 17, came here after school. Always a pleasure to see him.
Hope you managed to get through to the GP @Priscilla.
As it is Wednesday it should have been a Ramblers walk day. However it was raining rather a lot at the time we should have set out so we headed to the Leisure Centre instead. I did a dance class I've not done before and husband went to the gym. The class was fun and very hard work. I reckon I used as many calories as I would have done on a gentle 7 mile walk.
After lunch we looked at our cookbooks to decide what to cook tonight. My suggestion of a pad Thai won out, so I went and got the ingredients from Waitrose. It amazes me that no matter what exotic ingredients they have they often haven't got the one I want. Anyone got any idea what brown rice syrup tastes like and would pomegranate molasses be a good substitute? I also found a recipe for tofu scramble that I'll try out this weekend, the ingredients for that were a bit more straightforward.
Captain Pyjamas is seven today. I have no idea how this happened.
In honour of the occasion, we have been on a very pleasant Expotition to the zoo, to contemplate Europe's largest herd of giraffes and the rhinoceros and the lions. CHIPS for lunch. I need to go and make a (banana) cake for later.
The party with his friends will be a bit later on because it's currently the holidays and some of them are away.
The Expotition sounds fun, but enquiring minds need to know how many Rhinoceri (?sp) were available for inspection.
Dull and Rainy in Arkland the Ever-Damp, but there are SOSSIDGES n'MASH for lunch. At least the Rain has washed most of the seagull messages from the car roof...
I have landed myself the job of co-ordinating a new u3a Scrabble group. Our preliminary meeting today merely established the time, place and frequency. I haven’t a clue how the actual session should be run, eg in twos or fours? How long does a game typically last or do you put a time limit? What dictionary should be used? I’m sure there are lots things things I haven’t thought of and will be expected to know, so if there is any collective wisdom on this board, do please let me know.
Choral society tonight. Better get my German brain in gear ( Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem).
Many happy returns to Captain P - your mum's quite right - how on earth did that happen???
@Puzzler - re: dictionaries - I'd always recommend Chambers, as they're the ones beloved of crossword compilers.
Re: brown rice syrup - no idea whatsoever. I didn't even know rice made syrup (doesn't it come from maple trees?)
After a slightly damp amble to work (via Gr*ggs to pick up a cappuccino and a BACON ROLL, because Wednesday*), I had a fairly quiet day, and it managed to stay dry as I ambled home.
Pasta with prawns and veggies for supper.
* J, who brings me a cup of tea when I get in in the morning, isn't in on Wednesdays, so I treat myself to coffee and a BACON ROLL. He isn't in on Thursdays either now (I think he's maybe practising for retirement), but (to paraphrase Lady Whiteadder) two would be an extravagance.
I used maple syrup instead of the brown rice syrup and it worked fine. It was very nice and there is enough for tomorrow, but I think we might need to add a bit more broccoli and there didn't seem a lot left when I tidied the remains away.
Good luck with the scrabble club @puzzler. I used to play with a very lovely Quaker gentleman. He was the most saintly man I have ever met, but he had a killer instinct when it came to playing scrabble. I never got close to winning.
Happy birthday Captain Pyjamas. A trip to the zoo sounds like a good birthday treat.
We were always recommended a Chambers dictionary at school but mine is, of course, really old now. Nenlet2 gave me a very large, one volume Oxford dictionary a few years back, it's more up to date and has been invaluable.
I spent a happy three hours with a friend this morning. We last met up around this time last year, vowed we wouldn't leave it long before seeing each other again and lo and behold... so we had a lot to catch up on. We go back a long way (her daughter's the same age as Nenlet1 and they were at school together) and always have an enjoyable and wide-ranging conversation.
Sunshine and showers all day. Baked salmon and roast vegetables in parsley sauce for tea.
Wet here for most of the day and no fun for walking in. I completed and returned a batch of marking (still on policy in end of life care but I get a different batch arriving tomorrow) and then cooked a very nice aubergine and lentil curry (courtesy of the weekly delivery). I’ll get round to sharing a few of these recipes later in the week.
Mr Heavenly has gone out for a drink with some friends and I am having a glass or two of rose frizzante before an early night.
I don't know about good company, but Zebras have really terrible manners. Every time we encountered them in South Africa they turned around and mooned us.
Comments
Thanks, ST - it's quite a while since I was told I was too young for anything!
I lived close enough to the school that I didn't often have school lunch - only on choir practice days. As I recall (from the mid/late 70s), it wasn't great, but not inedible either, and the doughnuts were rather good!
At least I knew what to expect, had a jigsaw and a coffee and had metaphorically girded my loins. Someone like my elderly mother just wouldn't stand a chance. Fortunately her GP has a better system.
Our vet had a brilliant system which included an option to book online and describe the issue, which seemed to make everything very straightforward.
Pink custard over chocolate crispies; pink custard over sponge pudding; something really nice made with apples with a crunchy cornflake topping; peach cobbler with yellow custard, apple crumble with yellow custard. Mmmmmmmm........
My daughter had a thing going with the dinner ladies at her primary school. If she told them her dinner at home the previous evening had been a culinary disaster, they gave her extra pudding. If she really hammed it up about my home cooking, she got seconds.
Last night after reading about difficulties getting an appointment, I logged on to our medical centre and successfully requested repeat prescriptions, then booked a non-urgent appointment with a doctor. Easy, though the annoying questionnaire offered answers to select, few of which fitted my symptoms.
Yes, so does mine and we use the website for making not so urgent appointments. Otherwise it's sit on the phone for as long as it takes and then try to persuade the lovely but often harassed receptionists that you need to be seen urgently!
You had to get through the inedible main course before you got to that though.
I remember the desserts being mostly edible but not very exciting. If you got one, rather than timing out the lunch hour sitting with a face like a slapped arse* in front of a cooling pile of inedible crap.
*and possibly also with an actual slapped arse, depending on how honest you'd been about how bad it was.
I reckon they swapped the paste from art and craft with the semolina and defied anyone to tell the difference.
I became adept quite quickly at smearing a small portion (which thank God we were allowed to ask for) of semolina around a bowl to make it look like the remnants of a large one. Eating the horrible stuff wasn't an option.
Never touched either since I left primary school and no desire to either.
OTOH, you could do as @KarlLB did.
Or you could simply throw up.
Looking forward to seeing the dogs and Mr Boogs - in that order! 😂
My mini greenhouse arrives on Thursday. First job, broad bean seed planting. Exciting!
That will be done by Mr Boogs - he will insist. 🙂
And you most certainly wouldn't wish to deny him the pleasure of so doing
Lunch will be STEAK n'CHIPS, once again because use-by date, and some Wash Ing may well be hung out beforehand. Neighbour F is off to the Coal People this afternoon, or perhaps tomorrow, to fetch the next pallet-load of Coal. My portion is 50 bags, but Neighbour F (and his two stalwart sons) will do the unloading...
At primary school I was for a while a "head of table" which meant I went to the hatch to collect everyone's dinners (two by two) and there were always orders to remember such as "no gravy" or "no carrots". One time I got it spectacularly wrong with one poor small boy who ended up with only mashed potato and sticks of swede on his plate, and he sat there in tears. I felt awful but didn't feel - as an unconfident 9-year-old - that I could do anything about it. I just wish the school had had the policy that you have a bit of everything on your plate and leave what you can't manage. Or that I'd had the gumption to march up to the hatch and say, "I got it wrong, this is my fault, please could I have a plate with..."
If I ever meet that boy again (can't even remember his name now) I will tell him I've carried guilt over that for over half a century
When I became a dinner lady in later years every child came to the hatch for their own dinner which made it much easier.
We had a morning with Nenlet1 and playing with the GrandNenling who, as well as being delightful as always, is clearly having a growth spurt and is noticeably taller than when we last saw her three weeks ago. We all went for a walk in the sunshine and, gratifyingly, saw a cat. Apparently she saw one cross their garden once and now wants to see one every time she looks out of the window.
Glad you had a lovely time away @Boogie .
That's a lot to have to carry @Firenze . I find my shoulders and arms suffer these days if I carry too much.
On the way to lunch I went and picked up the ring I brought a few weeks ago to remember my mum by. I am very pleased with it. More good news (well I hope it is) when I got home. I'll know more when I've met up with a friend to discuss it.
It seems to be simultaneously Greek week. Also Easter already.
It wasn't a bad day here, although it started trying to rain as I was coming home; fortunately it didn't seem to be trying very hard.
Last episode of the SOUP for supper; I know I probably shouldn't have made so much, but the bag of ready-chopped carrots and turnips was the size that it was, so I sort of had to work around that. It was no real hardship though - it was rather decent SOUP.
How frustrating @Priscilla ☹️
They sometimes have same yummy almond pastries with different packaging on Greek week and alpine week
As it is Wednesday it should have been a Ramblers walk day. However it was raining rather a lot at the time we should have set out so we headed to the Leisure Centre instead. I did a dance class I've not done before and husband went to the gym. The class was fun and very hard work. I reckon I used as many calories as I would have done on a gentle 7 mile walk.
After lunch we looked at our cookbooks to decide what to cook tonight. My suggestion of a pad Thai won out, so I went and got the ingredients from Waitrose. It amazes me that no matter what exotic ingredients they have they often haven't got the one I want. Anyone got any idea what brown rice syrup tastes like and would pomegranate molasses be a good substitute? I also found a recipe for tofu scramble that I'll try out this weekend, the ingredients for that were a bit more straightforward.
In honour of the occasion, we have been on a very pleasant Expotition to the zoo, to contemplate Europe's largest herd of giraffes and the rhinoceros and the lions. CHIPS for lunch. I need to go and make a (banana) cake for later.
The party with his friends will be a bit later on because it's currently the holidays and some of them are away.
The Expotition sounds fun, but enquiring minds need to know how many Rhinoceri (?sp) were available for inspection.
Dull and Rainy in Arkland the Ever-Damp, but there are SOSSIDGES n'MASH for lunch. At least the Rain has washed most of the seagull messages from the car roof...
Choral society tonight. Better get my German brain in gear ( Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem).
Only the one? AIUI, they are rather solitary beasts, but s/he must long for company sometimes...
They must get horny at some point.
O! how I wish I'd thought of that...
Many happy returns to Captain P - your mum's quite right - how on earth did that happen???
@Puzzler - re: dictionaries - I'd always recommend Chambers, as they're the ones beloved of crossword compilers.
Re: brown rice syrup - no idea whatsoever. I didn't even know rice made syrup (doesn't it come from maple trees?)
After a slightly damp amble to work (via Gr*ggs to pick up a cappuccino and a BACON ROLL, because Wednesday*), I had a fairly quiet day, and it managed to stay dry as I ambled home.
Pasta with prawns and veggies for supper.
* J, who brings me a cup of tea when I get in in the morning, isn't in on Wednesdays, so I treat myself to coffee and a BACON ROLL. He isn't in on Thursdays either now (I think he's maybe practising for retirement), but (to paraphrase Lady Whiteadder) two would be an extravagance.
Good luck with the scrabble club @puzzler. I used to play with a very lovely Quaker gentleman. He was the most saintly man I have ever met, but he had a killer instinct when it came to playing scrabble. I never got close to winning.
Happy birthday Captain Pyjamas. A trip to the zoo sounds like a good birthday treat.
It keeps company with the zebras. Whether zebras are good company I couldn't say.
We were always recommended a Chambers dictionary at school but mine is, of course, really old now. Nenlet2 gave me a very large, one volume Oxford dictionary a few years back, it's more up to date and has been invaluable.
I spent a happy three hours with a friend this morning. We last met up around this time last year, vowed we wouldn't leave it long before seeing each other again and lo and behold... so we had a lot to catch up on. We go back a long way (her daughter's the same age as Nenlet1 and they were at school together) and always have an enjoyable and wide-ranging conversation.
Sunshine and showers all day. Baked salmon and roast vegetables in parsley sauce for tea.
Wet here for most of the day and no fun for walking in. I completed and returned a batch of marking (still on policy in end of life care but I get a different batch arriving tomorrow) and then cooked a very nice aubergine and lentil curry (courtesy of the weekly delivery). I’ll get round to sharing a few of these recipes later in the week.
Mr Heavenly has gone out for a drink with some friends and I am having a glass or two of rose frizzante before an early night.
They remind me of Humbugs (the sweet sort...).