Jo’s braised Winter Celery recipe
Celery had never been a great love until I discovered Winter Celery. I thought that it was just celery cleverly rebranded. When I tasted it, I was stunned by the flavour and texture. Intense and crunchy in a way that makes ordinary celery seem very flat. So I made our oven baked celery soup and took some round to a vegetarian friend. She was smiley and polite. A few hours later she telephoned. “Where exactly did you get the celery? The soup was sublime.” Like me, she hadn’t heard of Winter Celery. Since then, the flags have gone up...
read moreSam’s. The best fast food takeaway in Newmarket and maybe all of Britain
Sam’s stand caught my eye initially because it was so clean. He was talking to his customers and all of them were smiling. I was intrigued. Many months ago I bought my first sausage bap from Sam. I was amazed to see that he only sells Musk’s Sausages. It was very, very good. I don’t like burgers so I didn’t try his. We don’t tend to eat takeaway food. But sometimes, pressed for time, I find myself with no lunch and a long afternoon ahead. In the past I’ve bought the soggy sandwiches and rolls available from supermarkets. Now Jalopy...
read moreProgress
I don’t think that I’m going to give up the day job and become a computer repairer. Despite having the dexterity achieved from making virtually every Blue Peter project for a good five years during my childhood, I have failed on one simple point. The button that allows a laptop computer screen to be displayed on an external monitor is NOT the button with a symbol of a small square box with a solid square inside. It’s the button that shows an oblong with another oblong inside and a vertical line at either end of the interior oblong. It...
read moreOf mice and motherboards
I made a trade this evening. A swap to use D’s laptop in exchange for cooking his favourite cauliflower cheese recipe with bacon and tomatoes. I’m still trying to fix my laptop. The kitchen table is awash with pieces of paper holding tiny screws corralled with Sellotape, with scribbles noting from where they originated on the computer. We have discovered that it probably isn’t an inverter problem as the monitor that we hooked up to the laptop shows nothing from mine but Danny’s displays OK. Thank you Peter and Colin for suggesting...
read morePatchy intermission of service
For the last few weeks my laptop has gradually been developing cataracts. It has been difficult to write and publish my articles. The problem started with a display that flickered intermittently, then long spells with a black screen and a very faint image of what I should see when I touched the lid switch. Last night it moved from sick to critical. A black screen with a faint unreadable display. As this is the engine that drives the blog writing, there can be no posts or answers to comments until the laptop opens its eyes again, I’m now...
read moreClear skies with Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
Planning my decorating week, I checked the weather forecast last night as I still have a backlog of outdoor jobs. The symbols indicated that it would be misty and foggy all day. Too damp to paint outside. But this meant that I’d be snug indoors, beside someone else’s Aga in a house where the central heating is always on. And as I’m painting Georgian sash windows, I’d be gazing at the landscape through the mist for hours. The thought of heat and views had me pulling on my work boots at 09:00 am. I love the filigree of trees in the...
read moreSunday roast: Roast duck with piquant plum and apple sauce recipe
We were both working at the weekend so a trip to the new butcher in Fordham wasn’t an option. But we did wake on Sunday to home cured bacon slowly cold smoked for 36 hours over apple wood in our inglenook chimney. Our sitting room is unheated at the moment so long, cold smoking is viable, Sometimes cutting back on the heating reaps real dividends! But we had no joint for the Sunday roast. “I’m happy to eat Spaghetti Bolognaise. We don’t need to roast a joint every Sunday.” Danny cut a forkful of bacon and topped it with a grilled...
read moreDanny’s simple and succulent herb infused lamb chops recipe
D generally cooks on a Friday. It used to be steak. Now it’s something a bit more economical. On Thursday I found a chunky pack of lamb loin chops in the fridge reserved for his chef spot. They’re cheaper than steak but still a big Friday night treat. When I pushed open the cottage front door he was busy with string and chops. “Don’t look. It’s a surprise dish.” My antenna has 20/20 surround vision. He was tying the chops together with string. The effect resembled an eccentric rack of lamb with chunkier chops. The result was...
read more
FD