I’m off out for my walk in a few minutes. My plan for the day is to do some gardening but as no-one will be up for hours I might be virtuous a mark a couple of assignments while I’m waiting.
I assume tonight will be the weekly online gaming session with my eldest.
I'm contemplating the manufacture of SOUP, and possibly a foray to Tessie's or Sainsbury's to get WINE.
My brother and sister-in-law were supposed to be coming out tomorrow to help me assemble the dining table, but my brother got his Covid jag yesterday on top of a slight cold, which has turned into a filthy cold, so they might not be able to come.
I'm tempted to try and drag it out and do it myself; I think I should be able to do the actual assembly, but turning it right way up might be challenging for one person, as it's really heavy.
I’m really not fancying our dog walk today! It’s pouring down and blowing a gale - I don’t think even the dogs will enjoy it. The forecast drops to 16% rain later, so I’m going to wait until then.
No complaints from the dogs - so far!
I made pea SOUP for lunch yesterday and there’s enough left for today. The bread is baking. 🍞
I get green with envy reading about everybody's cooking skills and the great meals they produce - a lot of the time, things I've never heard of! Cooking for one seems too much faff now, so just to join in today I will be having:-
A wee bit of cold chicken left over from a chicken breast (Tesco, cooked) on a ciabatta olive roll, also Tesco, followed by half a banana (they were huge this week) and a chopped apple with yoghurt, and two cups of tea!
Tea tonight could be anything, depending on how I feel and what I can find in the freezer!
Yes, I agree about those food boxes. I got a discount leaflet for one of the organisations who do them in my last delivery of birthday flowers so I did look into it and might try it in the future. Nenlet1 and son-in-law did them for a while and said they make a nice change, no shopping involved, and as you're given the recipe and method you can always do a favourite again, buying your own ingredients. At present I am excited enough over my successful weekly online shopping with Sainz Breeze and I'm sure I shouldn't have too much excitement at my age.
Our son-in-law was unexpectedly and at short notice invited for his covid jab this week; he is asthmatic and being a secondary school teacher it was a very anxious time for him when schools had to be in. So I'm delighted (and also slightly envious). I have a friend of 65 who's going for her first one today.
I've had a good FaceTime catch up with a friend this morning and am now debating when will be the best time to go for a walk so as not to get blown away or drenched or both.
we’ve just booked an apartment in Brighton for a week in August, overlooking the marina.
I'll wave as I go past - assuming that, having been double vaccinated by then, I have plucked up the nerve to ride on a bus.
Then again - I avoid buses and Brighton in August anyway, without Covid, so maybe I'll just semaphore from the local cliff top walk.
We tried a recipe box from Riverford, along with the veggie box. It was amazing, an Ottolenghi recipe using Portobello mushrooms, but the two portions fed us for two meals - so four portions, and we hated all the little plastic pots for the spices and extras (particularly when I had most of the spices anyway). We ended up buying the Ottolenghi book instead and have been cooking from that.
The other trick I did occasionally when I was living on my own were the meal deals from Tesco's or M&S, both of which are local. I wouldn't do it unless I could pick and choose, so say the paella for two meals, with green salad, cheese board instead of pudding which was lunch all week with oatcakes and salad, whatever side that would give me another meal. And the wine would be my bottle of wine for the week. (The usual deal is £10 for a main, side and pudding plus bottle of wine or alternative drinks.)
Or there's the usual technique: cook my normal amount (so for four), freeze two portions, eat one at the time, left overs for later in the week, either packed lunch or as quick for supper after coming home from work.
Nice weather for the second day running, and the fields are drying out slightly, as in less standing water on them. Better walks than seeing glorious weather on Thursday as we had to wait for the veggie box to arrive then getting soaked when we finally got out. The other delay was a broken lace on my daughter's boots, so we took one out of mine and I'm wearing wellies.
My thanks to all for the valuable advice re the correct accompaniment to SOSSIDGES.
Alas, with a heavy heart, I have to confess that no Bun is available, though an alternative is, I suppose, to have a Samwidge.
Mash is a good idea, but I have no suitable Potatoes, so Chips it is. It's so easy to pop them on a baking tray, along with the SOSSIDGES, and put them in the Dragon Rayburn for half-an-hour.
That half-hour can be usefully occupied by drinking BEER on deck, as it's quite a mild and pleasant day here, with a southerly breeze...
*sings*
Blow the wind southerly, southerly, southerly,
Blow the wind south o'er the bonny blue sea;
Blow the wind southerly, southerly, southerly,
Blow bonnie breeze, my lover to me.
SOSSIDGES again today, I think - but O! the agonising decision-making! Shall I have them with Chips, or a Baked Spud?
Neither - mash. IMHO, anything else with SOSSIDGES is verging on the heretickal!
@Boogie - those box things like Hello Fresh are OK, but you still have to cook the dish, so I'm not sure they'd be right for someone who really has no interest in cooking. We tried it when I was staying with my sister, and while some of the dishes were lovely, some were no better than all right, and I think once the introductory offers wore off, it worked out quite expensive. Also, you're limited by what they've got on offer any given week, and if there isn't anything you fancy, you're scuppered.
My niece swears by it: she started using it when she was working full time, and now that she's got a baby, I suppose she can justify it (and she can afford it). The other issue for me would be that I couldn't be in the house to receive the package, but for retired people like you and @Thomasina that wouldn't be a problem.
David couldn't understand people who said they couldn't cook: his contention was that if you can read, you can cook. It's maybe not quite as simple as that, but he had a point. If you've got a clearly explained recipe and you follow it, you shouldn't go too far wrong.
Edit: sorry, cross-posted with everybody re: mash.
In better news for the royal family, Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank have announced the names of their son.
Taking them in reverse order: Hawke - who knows? Family name on his side? Philip - a nice nod to the baby's great-grandfather. August - link to the Hanoverians? Or maybe because it was the Prince Consort's middle name?
I can bake. Bread cakes, brownies, biscuits - not much of a problem.
It’s not about following a recipe for me, it’s the tasting. I hatetasting things. If Mr Boogs ever says ‘taste this’ from his cooking, I refuse. I’m either eating a meal or not - my brain won’t compute tasting! Thus the pressure cooker for SOUP is fine - it all goes in and comes out, no tasting required apart from when one is eating it and may need a little more salt or pepper.
I’m odd, I know I know.
My dyslexia also kyboshes the ‘if you can read you can cook’ idea. It’s very easy to completely miss a crucial step when you have a dyslexic brain. 😏. But a few mistakes usually overcomes this flaw. Once a recipe is known no reading is needed.
SOSSIDGES again today, I think - but O! the agonising decision-making! Shall I have them with Chips, or a Baked Spud?
Neither - mash. IMHO, anything else with SOSSIDGES is verging on the heretickal!
<snip>
Edit: sorry, cross-posted with everybody re: mash.
Heretickal I shall have to be - if you wish to burn me at the stake, please add some Gunpowder to the firewood...a few bangs and flashes makes it all so much more entertaining...
Haven't you got a kitchen timer? I have a delightful one in the shape of a little piggy, and I wouldn't be without him for the world!
I have a Clock, but I rather like the idea of a proper timer. I shall visit my good friend Mr E Bay, and see what he has to offer in his commodious emporium...
I wondered about "Or-Gust" as in "our august company." I probably tend towards the predictable thing of, if you're going to call your child a month of the year it needs to be the month they're born in... and I would consider August to be a girl's name if you're going to inflict something like that on the unsuspecting infant do that.
I understand bangers'n'mash and sausage'n'chips and even Sossidge Samwidge but with a baked potato... just no.
Been for a walk. Got a bit damp and windswept. Now home.
Haven't you got a kitchen timer? I have a delightful one in the shape of a little piggy, and I wouldn't be without him for the world!
I have a Clock, but I rather like the idea of a proper timer. I shall visit my good friend Mr E Bay, and see what he has to offer in his commodious emporium...
There are plenty of well-known people called August, and they're all men. Including, for example, August Coppola (Francis Ford Coppola's brother, Nick Cage's dad.)
Haven't you got a kitchen timer? I have a delightful one in the shape of a little piggy, and I wouldn't be without him for the world!
I have a Clock, but I rather like the idea of a proper timer. I shall visit my good friend Mr E Bay, and see what he has to offer in his commodious emporium...
You have a phone, it has a timer. 🙂🙂
Yes, but if you mean a mobile phone, this is one of The Things Which In My Case I Have Not Got...well, I do have a basic pay-as-you-go mobile for emergency use only.
A nice novelty timer is more Fun (and easier for me to use)!
@Thomasina hearing about your style of meal planning was so encouraging - I’m the same. I bake, but I’m not an imaginative or prepared cook. The boxes of ingredients probably wouldn’t work for me because of allergies and the amount of packaging that I suspect they come with. To vary my meals I occasionally have a pub meal delivered.
I can cook, but after nearly 60 years married, and cooking all that time, when I became a widow, I felt I had had enough!! I make, sometimes, large casseroles and portion them up, or sauces to go over pasta, and again portioned up and frozen, but I also get frozen ready meals delivered, which are incredibly handy when I am too tired, or just can't be faffed!
However, solitary drinking still seems incredibly wicked, so I still have half a bottle of Cinzano and a lovely bottle of red wine at the back of the cupboard.!!
There are plenty of well-known people called August, and they're all men. Including, for example, August Coppola (Francis Ford Coppola's brother, Nick Cage's dad.)
If you have to be explained as someone's brother and someone's dad are you, in fact, well-known?
My son's middle name is Augustus, for the simple reason he was born in August. I sometimes think we should have used that rather than his much more common first name, and I rather like the shortened form Gus. However he isn't keen, and as he is extremely dyslexic he'd probably got in a total muddle trying to spell it for people.
He is also an ace cook, and can follow recipes OK, though he adapts them. The nut roast I helped him cook the other year for Christmas was much nicer than it would have otherwise been because it was a Jamie Oliver recipe and 'Gus' reckoned he understood what Oliver meant to write in the recipe rather than what was actually down there. Being a chemist help too.
There are plenty of well-known people called August, and they're all men. Including, for example, August Coppola (Francis Ford Coppola's brother, Nick Cage's dad.)
If you have to be explained as someone's brother and someone's dad are you, in fact, well-known?
Well that was odd - I’ve just spent half an hour or so starting to tidy the garden, and had 3 Lindor chocolates lobbed (or catapulted?) over the fence one at a time every few minutes. There may have been more. I have no idea who could have done the lobbing, but the chocolates were most welcome!
I wanted to give my August born daughter the middle name of Octavia, but the initials spelled out something I thought might get her bullied/nicknamed at school. Her now nickname with her friends is almost the Tavvy that she'd have ended up being called.
... solitary drinking still seems incredibly wicked ...
Absolutely not!
I have a glass of wine with my supper most nights, and toast David in heaven, and I don't think it's the least bit wicked; all those nice casseroles and pasta sauces are just crying out for a vinous accompaniment!
And don't worry about keeping it fresh: most wines these days come in screw-top bottles and will keep quite happily in the fridge if they're white or a cool place if they're red.
I have been most virtuous and spring-cleaned our balconies. Husband en rouge's niece is passing through Paris next week and will probably be heading this way for drinks (which is allowed, so long as everyone's home before curfew). Given that it's going to be warm and sunny, it struck me as a good idea to serve said beverages outside.
I have now scrubbed everything down and pigeon proofed them all, no small task owing to our strange neighbour who feeds the feathered vermin. Pointy spikes, windmills, and repellent spray are all in place. Any pigeon who invades my balcony now is going to have to be a very determined beast indeed.
A productive day, marking did not get done but we had a lovely day in the garden and now have a soft fruit area next to the fruit trees with rhubarb, raspberries and currants, as well as a new red buddleia by the wild garden and patio buddleia on the decking.
Tea was teriyaki lamb ribs with satay vegetable noodles, followed by yoghurt and honeyed nuts (corner shop is Turkish owned so have interesting random stuff).
However, solitary drinking still seems incredibly wicked...
So married people are allowed to drink, but not singles???
I enjoy wine with dinner. It's especially been a pleasure since my divorce. When I was married, it was to an alcoholic, and I was practically a teetotaller because that was supposed to "help" him (ha!), and I wasn't supposed to have alcohol in our home.
I have been most virtuous and spring-cleaned our balconies..
RESPECT!
Now please come and do my porch.
It is an utter disgrace. I didn’t realise this until my friend called. She’s an artist and paints the eyes of out Cottage Industry dogs (tea light holders). I have tried but can’t do them like she does. I was ashamed at the state of our porch!
However, solitary drinking still seems incredibly wicked...
So married people are allowed to drink, but not singles???
I enjoy wine with dinner. It's especially been a pleasure since my divorce. When I was married, it was to an alcoholic, and I was practically a teetotaller because that was supposed to "help" him (ha!), and I wasn't supposed to have alcohol in our home.
I have achieved nothing whatsoever today except making a pot of SOUP, some of which I'm now having for supper with home-made bread and - yes - a glass of WINE.
I decided against a foray to Sainz Breeze - it's been a rather wet, miserable day, so I didn't fancy going out. As I'm taking Monday off, it can wait.
eta: I've achieved something else: I'm in the process of making a batch of mushroom pâté - the mushrooms are cooked, and cooling before putting them in the food processor.
... solitary drinking still seems incredibly wicked ...
Absolutely not!
No - I am not on my own but would have no compunction about drinking wine with a meal if I were.
And don't worry about keeping it fresh: most wines these days come in screw-top bottles and will keep quite happily in the fridge if they're white or a cool place if they're red.
I uncorked a red for consumption with our stir fry this evening and it was corked - urgh! So I uncorked another. It was good.
Mr Nen currently consumes red with without sulphites so I leave him to it and open a bottle of my own. This means we each have a bottle of red to consume over the course of a weekend. I usually have some of mine left for Monday evenings as we eat our main meal on Sundays at lunchtime and Mr Nen has a glass of wine with it. But if I drink wine with lunch (or have a midmorning sherry) I am out of it for the rest of the day.
All this talk of wine is making me very envious- we never do Dry January (January is miserable enough without tackling it Stone Cold Sober) but we do try and do Dry Lent (partly for the extra motivation, and partly because I have it on good authority that Sundays are always Feast Days )
Last year we would have been on holiday for a fortnight during Lent, and agreed that all bets were off for those two weeks - but we had to come home early anyway, into Lockdown 1, just looked at each other and shrugged. So we really have to make it work this year!
However, solitary drinking still seems incredibly wicked...
So married people are allowed to drink, but not singles???
I enjoy wine with dinner. It's especially been a pleasure since my divorce. When I was married, it was to an alcoholic, and I was practically a teetotaller because that was supposed to "help" him (ha!), and I wasn't supposed to have alcohol in our home.
First service in church since January 3rd. About half our "usual" congregation though I know some were at home for very good non-Covid reasons. It felt good to be back even though we were a bit spaced out - in the literal sense of the word!
Comments
I’m off out for my walk in a few minutes. My plan for the day is to do some gardening but as no-one will be up for hours I might be virtuous a mark a couple of assignments while I’m waiting.
I assume tonight will be the weekly online gaming session with my eldest.
My brother and sister-in-law were supposed to be coming out tomorrow to help me assemble the dining table, but my brother got his Covid jag yesterday on top of a slight cold, which has turned into a filthy cold, so they might not be able to come.
I'm tempted to try and drag it out and do it myself; I think I should be able to do the actual assembly, but turning it right way up might be challenging for one person, as it's really heavy.
No complaints from the dogs - so far!
I made pea SOUP for lunch yesterday and there’s enough left for today. The bread is baking. 🍞
A wee bit of cold chicken left over from a chicken breast (Tesco, cooked) on a ciabatta olive roll, also Tesco, followed by half a banana (they were huge this week) and a chopped apple with yoghurt, and two cups of tea!
Tea tonight could be anything, depending on how I feel and what I can find in the freezer!
Maybe one of those boxes with all the ingredients and recipe would be a way to make your own tasty meal?
Mr Boogs thinks they are crazy, but I’d do one a week if I lived alone. No shopping or weighing, new things to try, sounds really good to me!
Our son-in-law was unexpectedly and at short notice invited for his covid jab this week; he is asthmatic and being a secondary school teacher it was a very anxious time for him when schools had to be in. So I'm delighted (and also slightly envious). I have a friend of 65 who's going for her first one today.
I've had a good FaceTime catch up with a friend this morning and am now debating when will be the best time to go for a walk so as not to get blown away or drenched or both.
Inna bun?
Then again - I avoid buses and Brighton in August anyway, without Covid, so maybe I'll just semaphore from the local cliff top walk.
If not - definitely chips.
The other trick I did occasionally when I was living on my own were the meal deals from Tesco's or M&S, both of which are local. I wouldn't do it unless I could pick and choose, so say the paella for two meals, with green salad, cheese board instead of pudding which was lunch all week with oatcakes and salad, whatever side that would give me another meal. And the wine would be my bottle of wine for the week. (The usual deal is £10 for a main, side and pudding plus bottle of wine or alternative drinks.)
Or there's the usual technique: cook my normal amount (so for four), freeze two portions, eat one at the time, left overs for later in the week, either packed lunch or as quick for supper after coming home from work.
Nice weather for the second day running, and the fields are drying out slightly, as in less standing water on them. Better walks than seeing glorious weather on Thursday as we had to wait for the veggie box to arrive then getting soaked when we finally got out. The other delay was a broken lace on my daughter's boots, so we took one out of mine and I'm wearing wellies.
Alas, with a heavy heart, I have to confess that no Bun is available, though an alternative is, I suppose, to have a Samwidge.
Mash is a good idea, but I have no suitable Potatoes, so Chips it is. It's so easy to pop them on a baking tray, along with the SOSSIDGES, and put them in the Dragon Rayburn for half-an-hour.
That half-hour can be usefully occupied by drinking BEER on deck, as it's quite a mild and pleasant day here, with a southerly breeze...
*sings*
Blow the wind southerly, southerly, southerly,
Blow the wind south o'er the bonny blue sea;
Blow the wind southerly, southerly, southerly,
Blow bonnie breeze, my lover to me.
O well. You never know your luck...
Neither - mash. IMHO, anything else with SOSSIDGES is verging on the heretickal!
@Boogie - those box things like Hello Fresh are OK, but you still have to cook the dish, so I'm not sure they'd be right for someone who really has no interest in cooking. We tried it when I was staying with my sister, and while some of the dishes were lovely, some were no better than all right, and I think once the introductory offers wore off, it worked out quite expensive. Also, you're limited by what they've got on offer any given week, and if there isn't anything you fancy, you're scuppered.
My niece swears by it: she started using it when she was working full time, and now that she's got a baby, I suppose she can justify it (and she can afford it). The other issue for me would be that I couldn't be in the house to receive the package, but for retired people like you and @Thomasina that wouldn't be a problem.
David couldn't understand people who said they couldn't cook: his contention was that if you can read, you can cook. It's maybe not quite as simple as that, but he had a point. If you've got a clearly explained recipe and you follow it, you shouldn't go too far wrong.
Edit: sorry, cross-posted with everybody re: mash.
Taking them in reverse order: Hawke - who knows? Family name on his side?
Philip - a nice nod to the baby's great-grandfather.
August - link to the Hanoverians? Or maybe because it was the Prince Consort's middle name?
It’s not about following a recipe for me, it’s the tasting. I hate tasting things. If Mr Boogs ever says ‘taste this’ from his cooking, I refuse. I’m either eating a meal or not - my brain won’t compute tasting! Thus the pressure cooker for SOUP is fine - it all goes in and comes out, no tasting required apart from when one is eating it and may need a little more salt or pepper.
I’m odd, I know I know.
My dyslexia also kyboshes the ‘if you can read you can cook’ idea. It’s very easy to completely miss a crucial step when you have a dyslexic brain. 😏. But a few mistakes usually overcomes this flaw. Once a recipe is known no reading is needed.
According to the article in your link, yes, yes and yes.
But is his first name pronounced "AW-gust" (like the month), or "ow-GOOST" (as the Hanoverians would presumably have said it)?
Heretickal I shall have to be - if you wish to burn me at the stake, please add some Gunpowder to the firewood...a few bangs and flashes makes it all so much more entertaining...
I have a Clock, but I rather like the idea of a proper timer. I shall visit my good friend Mr E Bay, and see what he has to offer in his commodious emporium...
I understand bangers'n'mash and sausage'n'chips and even Sossidge Samwidge but with a baked potato... just no.
Been for a walk. Got a bit damp and windswept. Now home.
Like @Nenya, I read the name as *Or-Gust*...
Re baked spuds - I just happen to have some on hand, and they need to be etten. One will go nicely with Irish Stew for supper, maybe...
You have a phone, it has a timer. 🙂🙂
Yes, but if you mean a mobile phone, this is one of The Things Which In My Case I Have Not Got...well, I do have a basic pay-as-you-go mobile for emergency use only.
A nice novelty timer is more Fun (and easier for me to use)!
However, solitary drinking still seems incredibly wicked, so I still have half a bottle of Cinzano and a lovely bottle of red wine at the back of the cupboard.!!
I know, I know..............
If you have to be explained as someone's brother and someone's dad are you, in fact, well-known?
He is also an ace cook, and can follow recipes OK, though he adapts them. The nut roast I helped him cook the other year for Christmas was much nicer than it would have otherwise been because it was a Jamie Oliver recipe and 'Gus' reckoned he understood what Oliver meant to write in the recipe rather than what was actually down there. Being a chemist help too.
(I’ll get me coat.)
I have a glass of wine with my supper most nights, and toast David in heaven, and I don't think it's the least bit wicked; all those nice casseroles and pasta sauces are just crying out for a vinous accompaniment!
And don't worry about keeping it fresh: most wines these days come in screw-top bottles and will keep quite happily in the fridge if they're white or a cool place if they're red.
I have now scrubbed everything down and pigeon proofed them all, no small task owing to our strange neighbour who feeds the feathered vermin.
Tea was teriyaki lamb ribs with satay vegetable noodles, followed by yoghurt and honeyed nuts (corner shop is Turkish owned so have interesting random stuff).
So married people are allowed to drink, but not singles???
I enjoy wine with dinner. It's especially been a pleasure since my divorce. When I was married, it was to an alcoholic, and I was practically a teetotaller because that was supposed to "help" him (ha!), and I wasn't supposed to have alcohol in our home.
RESPECT!
Now please come and do my porch.
It is an utter disgrace. I didn’t realise this until my friend called. She’s an artist and paints the eyes of out Cottage Industry dogs (tea light holders). I have tried but can’t do them like she does. I was ashamed at the state of our porch!
Bless you.
You very much deserve that wine - enjoy! 🍷
Well, they both start with p and end with t - so I guess it's close enough.
I have achieved nothing whatsoever today except making a pot of SOUP, some of which I'm now having for supper with home-made bread and - yes - a glass of WINE.
I decided against a foray to Sainz Breeze - it's been a rather wet, miserable day, so I didn't fancy going out. As I'm taking Monday off, it can wait.
eta: I've achieved something else: I'm in the process of making a batch of mushroom pâté - the mushrooms are cooked, and cooling before putting them in the food processor.
I uncorked a red for consumption with our stir fry this evening and it was corked - urgh! So I uncorked another. It was good.
Mr Nen currently consumes red with without sulphites so I leave him to it and open a bottle of my own. This means we each have a bottle of red to consume over the course of a weekend.
Last year we would have been on holiday for a fortnight during Lent, and agreed that all bets were off for those two weeks - but we had to come home early anyway, into Lockdown 1, just looked at each other and shrugged. So we really have to make it work this year!
Thanks, Boogie! I do.