Things I like ...

I love certain breads: the sourdoughs made locally and sold in the Saturday market across the road are great. Adore spelt, which is so dense and weighs a ton, but is so very filling in a nice, not bloating, way, especially with a good cheese and very tasty tomatoes. Been most impressed with the bruschetta from Carluccio's, just round the corner, which last a good four days without going stale. Fabulous for toasting and then topping with pretty much anything.

Unfortunately, most commercial breads make me feel lethargic and bloated, so unless I'm really desperate and can't find the 'artesanal' varieties, I tend to try and avoid them.
 
You just can't beat a good slice of brown bread in my book.

Wrights of Howth is always my last pitstop in the airport whenever I'm travelling over to the UK these days. I've never come across brown bread anywhere near as nice in England (and believe me I have looked).
 
trackside528 said:
You just can't beat a good slice of brown bread in my book.

Wrights of Howth is always my last pitstop in the airport whenever I'm travelling over to the UK these days. I've never come across brown bread anywhere near as nice in England (and believe me I have looked).
Click to expand...

England is great for a lot of things but the english don't understand (or are not bothered about) good bread. Going back to Ireland or over to France makes this very noticeable very quickly.
 
Sourdoughs are wonderful and have the added advantage they keep well. Have promised myself that once my kitchen is finished and back to normal, I'll start myself off a proper 'sponge' to make sourdoughs with. Takes about 5 - 7 days to start working - you're basically using the naturally occurring wild yeasts in the air to start the ferment off - but once it is, you just feed it every few days to keep in working and make your soughbough as and when. You need rye flour and strong white flour, water and a kilner jar and that's it! How leavened doughs used to be made before comercial yeats and bread makers!!

Went on a five day artisan bread making course three years ago run by Andrew Whitely and it was great - learned loads!
 
And I've found the tastiest blackcurrant jam ever to put on the good stuff: Maribel's the make, nice big jar for under a quid in Lidl - our flats' manager just brought me in four jars by the same manufacturer: the blackcurrant (which is chokker with the berries, not too sweet, got a nice sharp bite to it), strawberry, raspberry, and apricot varieties. (Yes, the diet is going very well - in fact, I think it's fair to say it's gone!)
 
Last edited:
Still in one piece, I hope, Shadz? (You, that is - I'm sure the unruly beast is just fine!)

Going back to the Maribel/Lidl-sourced jams... I have opened the strawberry one and it's stuffed with huge strawbs! And not icky sweet and jellified mush, either. In the interests of quality control, I've just had a spoonful on some (ordinary Hovis 'Best of Both') bread with butter. Gorgeous. Now, for a healthy walk into town to buy chocolates for tomorrow's winners at Brighton!
 
Last edited:
Back to Krispy Kremes: as thank you's for the help I've had this season, I've bought a dozen assorted for Brighton's r/c office, another for the guys in the weighing-room who are so helpful during out backstage tours (anyone catch the lovely Leigh O'Brien - Clerk of the Scales - explaining the job to Gina Bryce on ATR today?), and one more for the ever-patient crew on the SIS film van, who voluntarily show the 'tourists' the workings of their rig. Regrettably, and I mean this most sincerely, they're three donuts short... I wonder how that happened? :o
 
Oh I'm fine Kri, thanks for asking! She's just being an absolute madam at the moment, very hormonal indeed. About the only harm I've come to so far is an aching arm from utilising said beating instrument.......!
 
Frosty mornings. Not so much scraping the car and slip-sliding everywhere, but the clarity and colour of the morning and evening skies is so beautiful.

Tilly-cat and I did a bit of stargazing in the front garden last night. The sky was very clear, moon almost full and stars very bright, so a good warning that there would be some de-froster and the scraper needed this morning and I was actually organised enough to put them by the front door ready to go out.

I'm loving my little stray's fluffy ears at the moment. Those of you who know that he has lost a lot of fur through chemo will know what I'm on about.

The fur on his head, neck and chest has grown back in and he looks less like a turkey now. The front half of him looks like an ordinary short-haired mog, but his ears are starting to go "fuzzy" in their outline, so his "undercoat" is growing in too.
 
You are right, the light in Autumn on clear cold mornings is other worldly. Really lovely. Our wild stripet guy likes to star gaze, he was out most of the night for the full moon. Came in with his under carriage all wet really funny. Unfortunately he did a bit of hunting too and is eating all the owl's dinners. But at least he does eat the mice he catches.

Ah, poor Dougal! You know his dignity will be affronted by us discussing his fluffiness! :lol:
 
While we're on the topic, may I recommend Cadbury's Crunchie Biscuits? Very little biscuit, thank goodness, but plenty of Crunchie bits, all covered with a smooth milk choc... excuse me, the last two are still in the fridge...
 
They sound good, Kri.

I was introduced to some Thornton's cookies the other day. Sadly the acquaintance was very short-lived.

Absolutely delicious. Recommended for a special treat as loaded with choc chips, nuts and a generous layer of chocolate. Seriously bad for the figure but oh so good for morale!
 
You might want start up with that on 'Things I Don't Like', Ali. I imagine that list would take about 500,000 hits.
 
Shall we kick it off?? Just for pure naughtiness? :lol: Shadz would account for the first 9,459 hates, no problem!

Did I mention caravans?
 
I thought you were going to start off with "I hate lists"! Thing is, I guess for every dislike there's an opposite like, so perhaps the lists would end up evens. For every 'rude person' there's been a 'polite person' or even 'charming person', so maybe the nasties are evened out by the nicies. But it seems that it takes only one really awful person to spoil the mood for much longer than a nice one, so perhaps I am very fortunately surrounded by more nice things than nasty. (She says, pouring boiling oil on the next dirty bastid who pees upsides our flats' wall!)
 
krizon said:
I thought you were going to start off with "I hate lists"! Thing is, I guess for every dislike there's an opposite like, so perhaps the lists would end up evens. For every 'rude person' there's been a 'polite person' or even 'charming person', so maybe the nasties are evened out by the nicies. But it seems that it takes only one really awful person to spoil the mood for much longer than a nice one, so perhaps I am very fortunately surrounded by more nice things than nasty. (She says, pouring boiling oil on the next dirty bastid who pees upsides our flats' wall!)
Click to expand...

I don't think likes are equal to dislikes, I like very little in this world.
 
Back
Top