mugofstrongtea

I've won a blog award and next week, an interview!

2012-02-01T15:20:00.008Z

Many thanks to Jean of http://averygrandpressigny.blogspot.com/ for the Liebster blog award.

She very kindly described my blog as: Last but not least to Phil who works on the butcher's counter at Tesco in Nottingham and writes wittily about food and life in Nottingham; life in general and his love for all things French.

As a big Francophile I always enjoy her view of the French way of life and the beautiful area to which she and her husband return to as often as possible. And who can blame them!!! How often have I read their posts when they have arrived late afternoon at their French property and have gravitated to the local bar for some French food and drink and would have loved to be able to join them.

On the subject of food I would like to nominate Dom at http://belleaukitchen.blogspot.com/ for his constant enthusiasm for the world of food and his encouragement of sharing food and drink based experiences. I sometimes wished that I drove in order to get to his kitchen out in the Lincolnshire wilds. Thanks Dom for always being there for your readers and sharing great foodie ideas and inspirations.

Another good friend in life and the blogging world is Janette currently at http://janette-jones.blogspot.com/. She always balances her blog posts with a delicate balance of humour, truth and enthusiasm for the written word. In her previous blog Janette challenged herself to achieve 40 challenges before her 40^th birthday and therefore did more adventurous things than most of us might do sitting on our bottoms watching the telly every evening. Inspirational. How she manages to find time for all her writing and reading alongside her demanding job, I’ll never know but am proud to have her and her husband as my best friends.

For a long time I only knew this lady as my blogging friend FF http://frenchfancy.blogspot.com/. This educated and charming lady is a constant inspiration to all those who blog. A true survivor and a true inspiration: thank you Julie for always being there in the background and sharing your life through blogging in a discreet and intelligent way with great wit.

Finally, a chap I know from my flickr account (Gail’sMan) and his blog http://beestonblog.blogspot.com/who never fails to raise a smile through his appalling jokes (see, blokes can say this without falling out) and his gift for photography. It is no surprise that he has so many followers and he is constant in his stream of daily photography around the Nottingham area and always has something interesting to say about his subjects.

Finally, the fantastically talented artist Cheryl, whose honest watercolours are to be surely deserving of an exhibition. See http://cheryldelosreyescruz.blogspot.com/. Cheryl, I'm sure that you have a wordpress blog too but couldn't find it.

The rules for award winners, if you wish to take part, are: post the award on your sidebar, link to the blog that awarded it and write a post passing it on to five other blogs with less than 200 followers.

For all those who I have nominated please copy and paste your award from the link and enjoy passing on the link to five other blogs who you feel deserve the mention. Next week I have an interview with a student who wants to interview me about the motivations behind creating and writing a blog.

Butchers jokes

2012-01-31T10:45:00.001Z

An anthropologist is travelling the world filming tribal dances when he hears of a mystic Australian Aboriginal ceremony called the Butcher Dance. The dance has never been seen by outsiders so the anthropologist travels to the Australian outback to try and film it. It turns out the Butcher Dance is only performed in one remote settlement, so the anthropologist puts together an expedition and the group drives out into the bush. Bad luck strikes the expedition and their petrol tank gets punctured forcing them to take to their feet. They walk for days and days and the expedition members gradually drop through exhaustion, sun-stroke and thirst. Finally only the anthropologist is left struggling along with his camera. Finally he too has enough and collapses in the dust. That evening he wakes to find he’s been rescued. He’s in a tribal encampment and is delighted when he discovers that his saviours are the very tribe that perform the fabled Butcher Dance. It turns out the Butcher Dance is usually performed only once every ten years but since the anthropologist has suffered so much the tribal elders agree to put on a performance especially for him. The anthropologist sets up his camera and the tribal dancers get into a circle. The tribal chief claps his hands, the anthropologist starts recording, and the Aborigines start their mystic dance, ‘You butcher left arm in. Your butcher left arm out. In. Out…’

A lady goes into the butcher shop and as she is walking
around the store, she spies a beef tongue in the butcher's
counter. The lady asks, "What in the world is that?"

"Beef tongue," replies the butcher.

The lady gives a little involuntary shudder, "No way would
I put anything in my mouth that came out of an animal's mouth!"

The butcher nods sympathetically while peeking into the woman's
shopping cart, "I see you're buying a dozen eggs!"

Happy Tuesday folks!

Yes, I've a got a carrier bag and NO, I don't want a damn Nectar card.

2012-01-24T10:24:00.003Z

Dear young man behind the checkout of my local Sainsburys' Local store. You know me. I am the person who sometimes shops in your store but rarely for anything other than a bottle of wine or a bottle of beer. Your company is too expensive and the stock levels in the 'convenience store' are inconveniently limited. As you don't seem to listen to me I must write to you in this format. STOP asking the same damn questions EVERY time I come to your till! Let's remind ourselves of what you say to me.

Shop assistant "I'm sorry to keep you waiting."

Me "You haven't, there was no one else in the queue."

Shop assistant " Well, I'm sorry to keep you waiting."

Me "Right."

Phil puts his bottle of beer on the counter to pay.

Shop assistant "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. Is that everything?"

Me "Well yes, I would have brought other things to the counter if it wasn't."

Shop assistant "Would you like a carrier bag?"

Me "No, orange doesn't suit me but if you have a carrier pigeon I might give in and say yes."

Shop assistant "Pardon?"

Me "Just being witty. Being silly. Amusing. Look, can I just pay for this and go please?"

Shop assistant "Do you have a Nectar card?" (This is about the twentieth time he's asked me in three months.)

Me "No thank you. I did succumb once and kept getting phone calls from Sainsburys trying to sell me things over the phone because I was stupid enough not to tick the box that would have stopped marketing calls. "

Shop assistant "Did you read the Nectar Collector rules?"

Me "Probably not."

Shop assistant "It is important that you read the Nectar Collector rules and the small print."

Me (getting fractious and thirsty) "Well I couldn't read the Nectar Collector rules because the type is so ridiculously small that an ant with very strong glasses would give up trying! Also I work at a supermarket and get 10% discount and points. So why would I want a Nectar card?"

Shop assistant "Just doing my job Sir and you did apply for one Sir!"

Me " And I would JUST like to pay for my beer please."

Shop assistant " Do you need a carrier bag Sir?"

Me "What?" ( the polite 'pardons' have now flown out of the shop door.)

Shop assistant "Would you like one of our free carrier bags?"

Me "Here's £2.20 for the beer. No carrier bag."

Shop assistant "Would you like a receipt?"

Me (loosing it) " I tell you what I would bloody like! I would like you to stop asking me the same fecking robotic questions every time I come to this till. Look at me! Look at me and take a photo if you like. Middle aged man, balding, goatee beard, tired after a long day at work, wears a green coat and a grey hat, is usually polite and understanding, named Phil. Likes beer and wine and sometimes buys couscous. Quite a regular customer. Lives around the corner although he has never been in shopping in his pyjamas. Yet.

Got that? Good. Now, instead of 'Think 21' think 'nice guy, bit nutty' but I don't have to ask him if needs a Nectar card ALL THE TIME!!!!"

Shop assistant (hand poised over alarm bell) "Right. Sorry to have kept you waiting."

News Flash: The Sainsburys Local store in the village of Ruddington was attacked earlier today. A man carrying a giant home made replica Nectar card and wearing an orange carrier bag over his head was seen on CCTV footage viciously trying to demolish one of the tills. He was last seen running away screaming the phrase " I just wanted the bloody beer!!!"

PS: If you want an illuminating read check this book out.

Maybe we'll all be kinder to the check out men and women.

A trip down memory lane

2012-01-18T22:53:00.000Z

Yesterday I took a trip to the first place I ever learnt the skills of butchery way back in 1971 aged fifteen. The butcher's shop belonged to a Mrs Bosworth at the time and is now owned by Barry Fitch and his sons. The business is located in a place called Little Eaton - a village on the outskirts of Derby. Mr Fitch and his staff were very welcoming as I turned up out of the blue asking to be shown around the premises in order to gather together some details for a proposed book I am writing about my years in the butchery trade - off and on - throughout my life so far. The proposed book will concentrate on amusing stories and be chock full of 1970s and 1980s detail.

I took along my camera and Dictaphone and had a thoroughly enjoyable day exploring my past and relishing a day in the Derbyshire countryside. I did a lot of talking to myself collecting fine audio details on my country walks and was utterly delighted when I got given a paper bag from Bosworth's that they would have used in the 1960s. Check out the phone number and put you penny in slot A. Some of you may be too young to understand the last reference. Such is life!

As well as making forty-six audio recordings I also took a lot of photos around the shop and in the village and found a phone box with books in it and met two very handsome baby cows in a field. There was a street called The Town, a derelict old house that looked haunted and the old village Post Office was a dank boarded up shell of a building with ripped out postboxes and tatty green baize in the window - the sort that greengrocers pretend is grass.

More Derbyshire walks for me in the future! And, Mr Fitch the cornish pasty was superb, thanks.

Oy Veh! Mushy cornflakes with hot milk and an avalance of sugar and frogmen free in the cornlfakes.

2012-01-14T19:59:00.009Z

My dear old Dad would have been mega confused with this blog post. He liked his daily breakfast hot and simple, a deep bowl of Kellogg's Cornflakes smothered in sugar and drowned in hot milk. Some for him and some for Misty the cat. I always found his habit of chewing the cornflake mush and passing remnants on to the family cat a bit disgusting way back in the early 1980s, but hey ho.

As a child of the 1960s I remember the freebies better than the Cornflakes themselves. In one of the previous post I've already mentioned the free toy soldiers but I have another stronger memory of the Kellogg's packets, free masks. Surprisingly I couldn't find any images of the animal masks that you could cut out and construct freely from the back of Kelloggs' Cornflakes packets. I loved them and got terribly confused with the instructions advising 'slip tab A into the back of tab D after folding twice in a complicated origami way etc.' I also remember the less complicated gift of a free frogman toy with every pack of Cornflakes and a submarine that rose and fell to the top and bottom of whatever watery grave you wanted to construct from things in the kitchen.

My step sisters and I would delight in fighting over the Variety packs of Kellogg's products most days when they appeared on the dining room tables. Happy Days!

Incidently, when I typed in 'variety pack' into Google search for images I got lots that weren't quite what I was looking for, including: Variety packs of Trojan 'groovy sensations' condoms and Groovy Grayola Crayons in multiple colours.

Not Cornflakes

Also, on the offical Kelloggs website, I was offered exciting chances to link onto a variety of food options including: Vegetarian, Vegan, Kosher certified, Halhal certified, Low sodium and Gluten free cornflakes. What would me deceased, dear old Dad, Bob Lowe, think of that. Bless him!

Dad from beyond: Cornflakes IS Cornflakes for God's sake! Ooops, sorry God, no offence! And by the way, Misty is with me and enjoying heaven. He appreciates endless rock salmon and mushy hot cornflakes, tons of fussing and no fleas or worms, or vets.

As for Misty the cat... well! I think of old Misty in his mortal existence. This sweet natured cat just liked something moist, free, and sugary and a real contrast or alternative to a constant diet of smelly rock salmon from Derby Market Hall. Then, who I am to judge such things? Certainly not a desperate, sugar fixated, cat begging at the family table. Lol.

skirt and kidney stew with Guinness

2012-01-09T21:12:00.000Z

Feeling in the mood for some winter warmth today I made myself a stew from beef skirt, lambs kidneys, beef stock, flat leaved parsely, carrots, new potatoes, mushrooms, garlic, shallot onions, horse radish sauce, lots of pepper and salt, Guinness and finally some suet dumplings and green beans. Yum yum!

There's enough left for three more meals. Want some?

'And the rain, it raineth every day' time for a Belgian beer.

2012-01-03T16:08:00.002Z

It’s been raining on and off today with 60 mile an hour gales so most of my day off has been spent indoors doing a bit of clothes washing, a bit of cleaning and a quick puddle dodging, falling branch evading, nip out to the local Co-Op to get something for tea and other bathroom related shopping – alright – bog rolls. Oooh, you have to lower the tone!

I also purchased a couple of wheat beers which led me to remembering a delightful weekend away in May 2010 when I went to Norwich for a much needed holiday from signing on and job seeking back then. It rained a lot that weekend too but it didn’t spoil my fun. The Adam and Eve pub and the Belgian Monk were two pubs I found as I trudged around the wet cobbled streets in search of adventures, beer, sustenance and photo opportunities, in places with quirky names like, Tombland.

Sunday lunch at the Adam and Eve

How can you fail to like a city that has an area called Tombland? I found the Adam and Eve pub near the delightful river walk and had a wonderful Sunday dinner of steak and kidney pudding and Spotted Dick there, but the most memorable pub visit was to the Belgian Monk. Like the song New York New York, it was so good I went twice.

Amongst lots of delightful things in the characterful city of Norwich, I discovered this pub in which, should I ever want to move there, I think I would become a very regular visitor. As I said, this pub was called The Belgian Monk and it serves a fantastic array of Belgian beers. According to the beer menu the owners 'go to great lengths to ensure that a varied amount of Belgian beers are available by travelling to Belgium three times a month and enjoy exclusivity from four smaller regional Belgian breweries thus offering beers that are not available anywhere else in the UK.'

I spent two happy evenings in this packed but tiny pub enjoying some fruit beers and Belgian Pilsner and watched, with enormous envy as some student regulars wolfed down big cones of frites (Frieten) and steaming plies of freshly cooked mussels (Mosselen) in their shells. At the time of my visit I was unemployed so I had to watch the pennies, big time. What a shame, as the food looked fab.

The main beers that they sell are Grimbergen Abbey Beer, Belgian Pilsner, Belgian regional specialities, Fruit beers (eighteen at the last count), Guest beers and Low Alcohol beers. They range between 2.6% and 12% abv and I love their names, mostly Belgian and some French.

The very look and sound of the beer names appeal to me never mind how they taste. Some examples would include: Maes Pils, Sparta Pils, Cuvee de Ciney Bruin, Judas, Ter Dolen Blond. But, to me, the fruit beers have the most exotic sounding names.

Fruit beers: Mort Subite Gueuze, Mort Subite Framboise Extreme, Lindemans Appel, St Louis Peche, Bosbier, Ter Dolen Kriek, Cherish Frambozen, Klokke Rolland, Celis White, Piraat, Gulden Draak, Zwyntje, Monks Café Flemish sour ale, Augustijn, Mea Culpa Blond, Spitfire.

Guest beers: Omer, Hopus, La Chouffe, McChouffe, Tripel Karmelite, Kwak, Delerium Tremens, Palm, Rochefort, Orval, Bush Blond, Bush Amber, Cuvee de Trolls, DeKoninck.

Apparently, again, according to the beer menu, if you ask for a bollekje, they won’t be offended and they offer a variety of tasty blondes, some stronger than others. Well!! When's the next train?

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part of the interior of the Belgian Monk pub

Each of the beers is brewed without pasteurisation and is second fermented in either the bottle or keg. They are ‘living’ beers, strong and easily drinkable. The establishment also does a variety of red, rose, white and sparkling wines and very scrummy food.

Today, I went on their website, www.thebelgianmonk.com, to see what food items they offer and was going to list a few with descriptions for your delectation. However, for a real taste of what this fantastic pub offers you need to check it out yourself by clicking on the link, then the second link for food. It’s like being abroad – except you can understand the menu – and it looks very affordable and mouth wateringly good, and Belgian!

Norwich Cathedral

I may have to go back to Norwich one day (perhaps Delia Smith will invite me) and enjoy this wonderful pub in the heart of Norfolk and maybe, just maybe, another Sunday lunch at the Adam and Eve as well as some Belgian fare at the Belgian Monk.

Adam and Eve pub. Norwich. UK.

Back at the time of my visit I wrote a professional review for Simonseeks travel website. I would certainly recommend the guest house I stayed in and the lovely city itself.

http://www.simonseeks.com/travel-guides/norwich-great-weekend-destination__166592

Dolly tubs, podgers and mangles ... life in the 1950s.

2011-12-30T14:26:00.005Z

Imagine the scene, it’s the mid to late 1950s on a large and relatively new built housing estate near Derby, pretty ice patterns are forming on the inside of the house windows, there’s no central heating, a smoky coal fire warms the living room. Lino and Formica grace the kitchen. No fridges or freezers, so food was kept cool in a larder or pantry. In winter time the rented council houses were freezing enough anyway. The solution to being cold was to put on more layers of clothes and then wrap a blanket round you. If you were still cold, you could always jump up and down a bit or skip with a skipping rope.

Once in bed you covered yourself in layers of sheets and a heavy eiderdown and warmed your stockinged feet on a stone hot water bottle. This was domestic life for me and my family in the late 1950s and early 1960s. I started to think about this after using my new luxurious washing machine after five weeks of hand washing and being blessed with good drying weather. How times have changed.

stone hot water bottle

ice patterns on the glass

mangle

Only fifty years ago (when I was five years old) my Mum Marjorie would have had her work cut out on a Monday doing all the clothes washing in a dolly tub in the kitchen. The soapy wet fabrics were pummelled with the podger and then she would have freshened the washing with clean tap water and afterwards squeezed all the moisture out with the hand operated mangle. Hard manual work. Every week for the then foreseeable future.

Subsequently, the washing was hung out on the washing line secured with dolly pegs and hoisted up in the air with a big wooden clothes prop. The concrete washing line posts were supplied in every back yard or garden courtesy of the local County Council. The washing itself would very often freeze on bitterly cold days and the frosty stiff ice filled clothes were carried in and defrosted in front of the coal fire on a wooden clothes horse. The steam produced made the bay windows run with condensation. The bay window net curtains would then have to be washed too before the constant damp caused them to rot. In the mid sixties my family got a spin dryer which danced dangerously around the kitchen and made a terrible racket but saved a lot of the damp problems and served as cheap entertainment.

Dolly Tub and podger

slightly more modern washing machine

Housework in the fifties followed a rigid timetable, regardless of the weather or anything else. Mondays were wash days and the day for making Bubble and Squeak from the leftovers of the Sunday dinner. Tuesdays were dedicated to the massive amount of ironing. We may have had an electric iron but my grannies definitely used a flat iron that was heated up on the gas stove and ironed clothes on the kitchen table covered with an ironing cloth to protect it. This item also needed to be kept immaculately clean by sandpapering and polishing it. Dusting and polishing were always done on Thursdays, the big shop on Fridays. The shop would mainly take place at the Co-Op store to take advantage of Green Shield stamps or Co-Op dividend points. But, generally, folk back then shopped with a variety of local tradesmen too including a grocery van that came every week. Nothing whatsoever was done on Sunday – excepting making a roast dinner and then doing all the washing up with hot water from the hot water tank. A roast chicken for dinner was seen as a luxury, more commonly and, less expensively for the tight family budget, a joint of brisket or a lamb joint would be the meat of the Sunday dinner. Any leftover meat would be eaten cold for as many days as it took to get rid of it all without wastage.

The kitchen at Perth Street was also the dining room and under the bright, patterned, curtained storage space next to the huge porcelain kitchen sink and draining board, were products like Zal Pine Fluid disinfectant, Vim for cleaning the kitchen sink and bath, Starch, Reckitt’s blue bags, slabs of green Fairy soap for clothes washing, body and hair washing too, a collection of stout bottles for returning to the Off Licence, a tub of Vick’s vapour rub for chesty colds, shoe blackening polish for keeping the family shoes shiny like in the army and a few of my boys toys like toy soldiers given free with Kellogg’s Cornflakes.

My Mum liked to bake and the kitchen would often be filled with the scent of freshly baked Fairy cakes and Victoria sponges and many other confections. I don’t think that she would have baked bread though as our bread diet was mostly in the form of Hovis loaves, large, white and sliced and perfect for making toast on the coal fire with an extendable toasting fork. Aside from home made jam, one of the fave things to eat on the toast was beef dripping as well as lard sprinkled with Saxa salt. Oh we knew how to live back then!

toasting fork

When the chimney got full of soot my Dad even had his own set of chimney brushes to do the chimney sweeping job himself to save money. All the furniture got covered in sheets as my Dad huffed and puffed and manually forced the stiff brushes up the chimney to dislodge the black soot. The resulting soot then got taken outside and spread about the garden to warm and condition the clay soil for the Spring and to deter soil pests like slugs.

Funny what thoughts can be generated by appreciating the modern gadgets that we take for granted sometimes. Oh well, must get the washing done. Now, where's me podger gone?

Spicy duck soup with rice.

2011-12-29T19:37:00.006Z

Sometimes it good to make something that you've never made before and today was one of those times. I've been off work today as I have been feeling rough (weak and wobbly from coughing my lungs up all night -ie no sleep at all - and practically voiceless today as well as feeling exhausted). Blech!

on way to shops to get fresh veg

I've been in bed most of the day but tonight I decided to make something mega healthy from bits and pieces I had around the house and a quick dash in the rain to the greengrocers across the road. So, the remains of the duck I had for tea last night plus garlic, ginger,black pepper, hot chilli peppers and thyme plus mushrooms, arborio risotto rice, red wine and chicken stock all got made into a health giving soup helped down with some homemade bread from next door. Next door also passed over a Christmas card from Dagan, Sun and family in Montserrat featuring a cat that looked just like the back of my fave cat (also from Montserrat) the handsome Mr Harris. Mr Harris has been round himself for a cuddle and fuss. Feline better already. :0)

healthy stuff from the greengrocer

ingredients

arborio risotto rice cooking

finished duck soup

hmmmmm! yummy!

christmas card from Montserrat

Christmas Day + digging the microwave out of the coal shed.

2011-12-26T11:15:00.044Z

Christmas Day 2011

At last, a day off, a double bonus as it is a Sunday off and I would normally be working. The month of December has been a very active one for me with my trip to Germany to perform my one man show of A Christmas Carol and on return to perform it again on Sunday 11^th at the Lace Market Theatre.

On top of this I have been working hard at Tesco helping to prepare the counters (meat/fish and deli) for the Christmas shopping experience. As regular readers will know I mainly work on the meat counter where we have had special offers of beef rib on the bone and boned and rolled loin of pork (both half price) as well as Turkeys and Gressingham ducks on sale.

I have also been helping out on the fish counter, mainly selling whole salmons and de-scaling, filleting and steaking these large fish for the festive season. Additionally I’ve been helping my colleagues on the deli cut, wrap and price up a mountain of cheeses ranging from Davidstow creamy mature cheddar from Cornwall to the unctuous brie from the French Président company as well as many a fragrant blue cheese or two. And, on top of this, I have become a master of the Tesco tannoy system, verbally promoting the goodies on offer across the counters.

I haven’t had too many late nights working but often had to be at work at 5.30am and 6.30am to set up my meat counter attractively with all the fresh meats ready for the Christmas shoppers. All the counters staff have worked very hard over the run up to Christmas and come 2.30pm yesterday afternoon I was quite ready to go home and relax and celebrate Christmas in my own style. Actually I was knackered.

Not for the first time, I nearly fell asleep on the bus home and, with four carrier bags of produce in my hands, I stumbled through my front door late yesterday afternoon, unpacked, fussed next door’s cats and set to in cleaning my house ready for Santa. The hovering had been neglected as has the clothes washing this month. Also, I’ve been a bit late in writing Christmas cards this year and, on return, first of all things, I finished writing my remaining cards for neighbours and friends and took a card over to my friend Ann and her cat Henry and spent an hour in her warm and welcoming home catching up on news over a coffee and chocolates. I haven’t seen her for a while and it was nice just to stop and relax and chat convivially. Henry the cat remembered me and all was well with the world.

new curtains in bedroom

I mentioned in the last paragraph about the mounds of clothes washing. Well, some time ago my washing machine broke down and I have been washing everything by hand since and only recently have I purchased a new one. Being too busy and too stressed out consider setting it all up (plumbing in and connecting to plug and reading the bloody confusing manual and trial wash etc) I let the new machine sit forlorn in the middle of my kitchen floor for days. I mentioned this situation to my neighbour Jo on a mad dash for my bus on Thursday and low and behold when I came back from work at 11pm on Thursday night the washing machine situation had been all sorted, by Jo's husband Mick, and, ‘thankfully’ was sitting snugly in the hole provided. I still haven’t actually used it but Boxing Day may be the first day it gets to clean my proverbial Everest of dirty washing.

My bedroom now has some new curtains – the correct drop length- after buying some two feet too short in a rushed attempt at Wilkos last Friday night and having had to return them on the following Monday for exchange.

Spiced beef pre oven

So, back to Christmas Day. It’s now about 1.30pm as I type and the beef is in the oven. The house is clean and smells wonderfully spicy as the roast starts to cook. I have been round to my neighbours Jo and Mick and had a glass or two of champagne and admired their festive décor and they have given me some home-made mackerel pâté and some chicken liver pâté, both big faves of mine.

Telly-wise I have watched Rick Stein’s Spanish Christmas and Nigel Slaters’ Christmas show, Eddie Izzard in BBC’s Lost Christmas as well as a few festive DVDs – The Snowman, A Christmas Carol (Jim Carrey), and It’s A Wonderful Life. Plus I was utterly blown away with a DVD of the 25^th Anniversary of The Phantom of the Opera performed and filmed at the Royal Albert Hall.

being summoned for festive nibbles

Mid-afternoon I got called round to my neighbours’ house for some festive nibbles and more drinks. Their house looked beautiful with lots of natural decorations and they were as welcoming as ever. Their friend Terry was also invited and we had a photo together using my camera and Mick’s sturdy tripod.

I popped in and out of their house throughout the afternoon and also in the evening when we got my unused microwave out of the coal shed so that we could cook the Christmas pudding quickly. Their other friends Jon and Sue arrived and more festive drinking and laughter followed.

About 4pm I retired back to my own house to see to my Christmas dinner of roast rib of beef, roast potatoes, roast parsnips and horseradish sauce with onion gravy. I forgot to cook the carrots and use the goose fat that I had purchased especially for my Christmas dinner. Doh! Later on I watched the Christmas episode of Doctor Who. Great fun.

The rest of the evening got a bit blurred and I remember reading a short paragraph from A Christmas Carol about the Cratchit’s Christmas pudding experience as we ignited and consumed the micro waved pud.

blurred Xmas pudding

Today is Boxing Day and some time today I WILL sort out my washing machine and do some festive clothes washing. Merry Christmas everyone!!

Mr Harris's Christmas pose

Merry Christmas from Christmas Foodie heaven.

2011-12-21T18:16:00.002Z

I love to sit back and watch tv cookery or food associated programmes at the best of times and with a few days festive holiday coming up this weekend then why not indulge myself with programmes by my favourite chefs on the telly. After all Christmas is the time many of us get festive, enjoy some foodie treats and drinks.

Browsing through the Christmas Radio Times I was astonished at the amount of food and drink programes on the telly over the period - 17th -30th December. Just for fun I typed out the list of programmes and added a few others for a giggle. This is just the tip of the iceberg and I didn't even look at the radio programmes that might feature food reports or anything on Sky ect.

Come dine with me. Five episodes in one afternoon.
Countrywise Kitchen – stocking the winter larder.

Countrywise Kitchen - five other episodes.
Sunday brunch – Saturday starter.
Food Network
The Roasts of Christmas Past.
Celebrity Eggheads - a cracking show.
Christmas at River Cottage
River Cottage Christmas Feast
Christmas at River Cottage (yep, another one from another year)
River Cottage Christmas Fayre
Christmas with Gordon.
An Italian Christmas with Mario and Giada.
Ratatouille – film from a Parisian kitchen from the viewpoint of a cuddly rat
Nigella’s Christmas Kitchen – several luscious episodes.
Best Dish – the chefs.
Jamie’s Christmas – with Bells on.
Sweeney Todd- the demon barber of Fleet Street. Programme with pies and free meat.
The Hairy Bikers Christmas Party.
The Food Hospital.
Delia’s Classic Christmas
Rick Stein’s Spanish Christmas.
Nigel Slater’s Simple Christmas.
Lorraine’s Last Minute Christmas.
Raymond Blanc’s Christmas Feast

Come Dine with me - Comedians Christmas Special.
Gordon’s Christmas Cookalong – Get Ready.
Come Dine with me – extra portions.
Porridge.

HAVE A GREAT CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR!!!

A Christmas Carol in Nottingham - final part of the story.

2011-12-17T20:45:00.001Z

on the way to work on Sunday with my costume bag and stick

After returning from Germany with my successful one man show, at very late notice, I did a rapid script edit and performed in English only at The Lace Market theatre on Sunday 11th December. The event was organised shortly before I went to Germany. Sorry to anyone who didn't get to see it this time.

I finished my shift at work that day, got a taxi into the city and set up my set and lighting on the Lace Market theatre stage with the help of Colin and Rose with box office help from Gill Scott. I had additional help from a bottle of Sanderson's Specific throat gargle. Since I had come back from Europe I had developed a cold and a particularly croaky voice. Not good when an hour and a half of performing awaits one. Sandsons Specific tastes like wet coal but does the trick in terms of clearing the voice box. The evening went well and I was greeted by an additional round of applause when I entered the bar after the show. I stayed behind and chatted to various friends who had come to see the show, all of whom were very complimentary.

The review below appeared online the next day and in the paper on the Tuesday.

One –man show pays homage to Dickensian delivery.

Phil Lowe’s successful rendering of this Dickens’ classic is a development on the highly successful full-play version he presented three years back.

It is admirable that Lowe doesn’t attempt to usurp the author. This is an homage to the writer; a demonstration of his greatness. And it isn’t a play of the sort with one actor who keeps changing hats – that might have been an embarrassing error.

Rather, it’s an entirely engaging dramatic reading, the kind of show that Dickens himself took on the road. At the start, as soon has some jaunty carol music has faded, Lowe enters from the audience, goes straight to the lectern and gets down to business.

The narrative is beautifully spoken, of course. But Lowe also does the characters well, particularly the grotesques. And he evokes the colours the smells and the emotions. He brilliantly brings out the unfailing emotional tug of the story – Tiny Tim is as annoying as ever, but that’s always the price you pay for Dickens.

Storytelling is, alas, no longer a central part of our culture, but on the strength of this piece of work, it should be.

Alan Geary

Nottingham Post.

promotional display at the Lace Market Theatre

A super trip to Germany

2011-12-10T20:27:00.022Z

Carsten and myself

Where do I begin? The great hospitality from my hosts Gerd and Herrlich and their friendly dog Frickr or the warm reception at the theatre from Markus, Carsten, Manfred and all my friends at the Jakobus theatre? Everything was done to make my stay and my performances as comfortable and easy as possible and I had a thoroughly good time. The reading had been very well advertised in the local papers and arts magazines too.

Alright, the weather was utter pants, raining for two days out of the three but there ain't a lot one can do about that. The last day (Thursday) cleared up and I was able to be a tourist in the beautiful city of Karlsruhe without getting soaked to the skin. Plenty of opportunities for chilling out and taking a host of photos and enjoying some mulled wine, coffee and apfelstrudel and cream.

My friend Thorsten came to the first performance on Tuesday night and we met up on the Wednesday and enjoyed each other's company at the Christmas Fair over a glass of mulled wine and, later at a student pub and viewing the sights around Karlsruhe. I also went to the theatre that Thorsten belongs to and saw the fantastic set they have built for a production of Snow White.

set and theatre ghost

I thoroughly enjoyed re-uniting with my witty friend Markus during my stay and although our time together was brief it was as fun as always. See you next May Markus!!

Me and me mate Markus. Don't mention our double chins!!

Both the Tuesday and Wednesday audiences were very receptive and seemed to enjoy my storytelling and the actions that helped to tell the story of A Christmas Carol. Another good friend, Andrea Voos and and her daughter Lea and the daughter's boyfriend came to enjoy the Wednesday night show. It was lovely to meet them again and chat after the show, although I was feeling very tired after not sleeping for nearly two nights, due to over excitment I suppose.

After the shows we all went to The Trompeter restaurant in the city and enjoyed some after show beers and pizza. Again my generous hosts refused to let me pay for anything. As promised in the last blog post, I managed to spend some time cruising around town (bad choice of word methinks) on the trams. I also 'managed' to get a nose bleed two hours before my first performance and did the whole show with a discreet wadge of bloody paper tissue stuck up my right nostril. Charming!

A nice beer and me in Cafe Bleu

interior of Cafe Bleu

On Thursday I spent some time at lunch in Cafe Bleu with a beer and also later in the evening with Andrea, Gerd, Herrlich and myself. Lena from the Jakobus theatre made a surprise visit to say 'hello' and it was nice to see her too since their theatre's visit to Nottingham. I feel that I have some real good friends in Karlsruhe and look forward to another visit with the Lace Market Theatre next May. Hopefully the weather will be better and warmer. lol

Weihnachts Markt in the rain

On the food side, I managed to find a fair few joints to nose around and learnt some new names for the specialities on offer. I'm sure one exists, but I never got round to finding an indoors market to nose around. It seemed though, that on every street corner and sometimes one or two in between the was another Apotheke ( a chemist). I have never seen so many in one city!

Regarding the performances I enjoyed them both and enjoyed employing some subtle physical actions to enhance the storytelling. Both the audiences were very attentive considering that the English was very flowery and Dickensian. I felt the idea of playing the music of Personent Hodie and creeping on as the Storyteller rather than just walking to the lectern really worked.

Fricker the happy dog

Gerd and Herrlich, my friends and hosts.

Biggest thanks go to Gerd, Herrlich and Frickr for making my stay so wonderful and last but not least thankyou to Jo and Mick my neighbours for driving me to Stanstead Airport and back!

Not long now

2011-11-29T10:57:00.002Z

Less than a week to go until I fly off to Karlsruhe to perform my one man show of A Christmas Carol at the Jakobus Theatre. People keep asking me if I'm nervous. The answer is 'not at the moment', more excited about the 'journey' both practical and theatrically speaking and meeting up with my friends from Karlsruhe, having the chance to shine on their stage and a chance to explore the city and its proper German market. I also love their old fashioned trams so will be gliding about town in the big yellow/gold trams and soaking up the atmosphere. A small glass of gluhwein and a bratwurst in a bun might come into the equation.

I am performing on Tuesday and Wednesday night and the second night is sold out already and apparently there aren't many seats left for the Tuesday. Nervous now Herr Lowe? Hmmm. In a good way. After the shows I may well be found in the lovely Cafe Bleu opposite the theatre. http://www.cafe-bleu.de/

Back here in Blighty I have been going over my script and making sure that all is organised for me in Karlsruhe. As an actor I have also been talking to myself oftmal in the mirror and devising ways of making an entrance. Actually they are doing a fantastic job of promoting my show and I even have ideas of what else I can take over there in the future.

I will be taking my camera so next time around I will be able to show you readers some of the places and people I have visited. If I have time I will be writing a blogpost about German food culture soon.

Barcelona - wish I was there.

2011-11-21T12:27:00.002Z

Feeling the cold today and going through some old photos in an album I came across some images from a holiday in 1999 to Barcelona. There is me with my sun hat on by the Sagrada Familia. That week my girlfriend and I had visited a monastery in Montserrat, eaten at a seafood restaurant, and various tapas bars, enjoyed the fabulous Gaudi architecture all over the city. Like good tourists we visited the wonderful indoor market (Mercat de Sant Josep or La Boqueria) and drooled over the aromatically and visually fabulous displays of food, familiar and un-familiar and the small bars serving sherry.

The menus were written in Catalan and Castilian and part of the eating challenge was working out what the food was as neither of us spoke even a smattering of Spanish, which might have helped. Finally, after several failed linguistic attempts we worked out that 'els Entrants' were the appetizers, 'el primer', the first course, 'el segon' the main course and 'postres' were the desserts and nothing to do with stamps. Of course, in Barcelona, like all of Spain, they don't eat their evening meal until after eight in the evening. Back home we were used to eating between five and six so waiting another two hours (and more on occasion) was murder sometimes.

Las Ramblas

Parrots flew through the air and palm trees were normal street furniture: living statues entertained on La Ramblas and practically every street corner and the old Medieval cathedral in the Gothic quarter was truly beautiful and cool respite from the heat outside. How I wish I was somewhere warm and full of artistic treasures as I sit typing in my cold kitchen. Maybe I'll put the heating on and cook a pollo. Sherry anyone?

Luks grate. Dus wot it sais on hte box overall.

2011-11-17T10:57:00.000Z

I am currently looking for a new washing machine to replace the old one that starting smoking (bad habit, I know) and couldn't help but share some of the reviews on a couple of Zanussi machines. In fairness most of the reviews were well written and formulated but these just had me in tucks. They are based on good and bad aspects of the purchaser's opinion of the washing machine. N joy.

* looks great, simple to use, quick wash options,has delay option and different spin speeds which reduces irony, always a bonus to me!

*Looks good, very easy to use, large drum, quieter than expected, washes very well and 1200 spin gets everything much drier that our previous machine, which was 1000 spin. Our previous Zanussi lasted 16 years and so we wanted to replace with another Zanussi.

*is bigger than the last machine i had, and doesn't qutie fit in the same space

*great value - does what it sais

*I found the washing machine instructions very easy to fowllow for plumbing in and using hte machine.

*Good no nonsence machine

*Bad Points. non so far

*I put dirty washing in and clean washing comes out.

*Good value for money easy to use, having a larger drum is extremely helpful when the children move back home,easy to use. (no spare room? - Phil.)

*a bit noicy

*Clean looking machine works rfficiently

*good that you can have a quick wash

*Well built, well priced product with all the programes you need without being over elaberate and too gadgity. Runs quitly. Vwery happy with this washing machin

*I have just retired your previous model after loyal reliablity of two washes a day for 19 years after my sister gave it to me second hand at 2yrs old.I am so pleased to say the new one is quieter and looks younger so hopefully this one shall lasts as long. Thanks Zanusi

*we have always had sanuzzi and this was great value

*It's a Zanussi. It just works.

*Much quiter than my old Zanussi. Very easy to use - neither my husband or I have looked at the instruction book yet!

*Very happy overall. The drum size is significantly bigger and I'm very impressed.

*the start and pause button are too close toether and often end up pausing it then realise half an hour later its not on!

*Haven't found any nega yettives

Another day at the homestead

2011-11-15T20:45:00.001Z

Had a great day considering I didn't get up until midday. I cleaned all the house, hand washed a load of clothing and towels (no washing machine presently) made a meat ball dinner with pasta and watched episode after episode of Frasier. Not laughed like this for ages. As I type I'm on the last series. Frasier is currently dressed as a clown, with a cleaver. Frasier's father has just had a heart attack!!! Ok, a cardiac event.

I have trimmed my bush (the lavender, behave!) and bagged up all the garden rubbish.

Here are some pictures to celebrate a fun day off.

trimmed bushes

washing time

visit to the bottle bank

hoovering

meatballs coming out of the oven

chuckling at Frasier

Frasier time

meatballs and pasta

snails for tea?

2011-11-05T10:33:00.000Z

Do you like eating snails? Certainly not something I do every day, in fact I think that I’ve only ever eaten them twice in my life, both times in the French Living restaurant in Nottingham. Rick Stein featured them at an Escargotlade (snail festival in France) in his French Odyssey series and also in the recent one about Spanish cuisine. The snail festival looked good fun actually. When I had them at French Living, the person I was having the meal with reminded me (just as I was about to pop at portion in my mouth) that the oil and garlic liquor was red hot! I could easily have got a burnt mouth.

When I’ve been abroad I have seen the snails sold in tins and the two varieties of snails most commonly found on menus and in their stores are the escargots de Bourgogne and the petit gris. The petit gris are about one third the size of the escargots de Bourgogne. I have also occasionally seen the achatine variety in markets. This is a tropical variety from Africa and Asia that can grow to half a kilo in size, but is sold in France at the same size as the escargots de Bourgogne, which are normally described as gros (large) or extra gros (extra large).

As I mentioned, snails are commonly sold canned. Small cans, 200 grams gross weight, will contain either 4 dozen small, 3 dozen medium, or 2 dozen large snails. The next size up is three times larger and contains a proportionate number of snails. Canned snails are cooked in a court-bouillion prior to canning and some of the cooking liquid is packed along with the snails. The cooking liquid may be as simple as water, salt, and spices, or it may also contain some vegetable matter. Before use, the snails should be thoroughly drained and then rinsed under flowing water. The canning liquid is either discarded or reserved, depending on the recipe. If the recipe calls for small snails and all you have is large ones, the snails can be cut in half without affecting the finished recipe.

If you go down to the cemetery today...

2011-10-17T16:03:00.001+01:00

Had a little visit to a cemetry in Nottingham today to get some atmospheric pictures as documentation of my costume for my one man show of A Christmas Carol. I was attempting to pose Victorian style amongst the gravestones (like you do) and had my camera setting on the self timer setting. I posed with a few gravestones and was crossing the main path when I saw a young woman coming in my direction. She looked friendly and had a Nikon camera with her so I asked her if she would be kind enough to take some pictures of me in my costume. Her name was Jenna and did a great job. Thanks Jenna! She was in the graveyard to take some pictures of her own of graves of soldiers killed in the First World War. I hope that you remember my site name and enjoy seeing your work. :)

After this I went into the city and had some lunch at the Broadway cinema and hung around the backstreets of the Lace Market area and took some more photos before I went home.

No Nigel NO!

2011-10-16T20:18:00.001+01:00

I found Nigel Slater (who I do like) had a new series on Channel Four and keenly picked up an episode on iplayer. This episode was about sausages. Image my horror when this imposter very very slightly resembling our dear Nigel appeared on my computer screen! Shock horror!

What has he done to himself in the latest series? Where has the naughty boyish floppy haired charm gone? Now he has a shorty haircut and a rough goatee and 'other guests' including Nigella who looked like she'd just died on the 'sausages' episode. Bring back bad boy Nigel!!! Please!!!

It's not OUR Nigel is it?

Added later: a picture of our Nige as we like to see him, slightly scruffy, slightly cheeky and great in Simple Suppers.

They've named a posh burger after me and other oddities

2011-10-11T17:33:00.021+01:00

I took my camera for a walk around Nottingham today and saw some interesting sights. For those who know me as Frenchyphil, I spotted a sign outside a posh burger bar where they had a special on named after me! I've never been 'Burger of the Month' before. So proud!

The contents are brioche bun, 100% Aberdeen Angus beef with Stilton, bacon, onion jam, salad and relish. Aberdeen sur Mer being that famous city in France where they produce Le Stilton of course.

Moving on, I witnessed a young woman in a blindfold being guided around the Lace Market area with her guide describing the things that passed in front of them whilst the 'blind' person wrote everything down on a big pad. I think they were fashion design students.

I found out that Delilah (award winning deli) have built an outside eating section and I was intrigued by a massive round of Dutch cheese in the window. My cheese loving friend Rebecca would love to have a sample of that I guess.

I had a coffee at the Bonnigton cafe (part of the Trent Uni campus) and a beer at the Broadway cinema and some Aberdeen Angus beef with red onion chutney 'Food on the Move' sandwiches from M&S as I walked the streets and back alleys of Nottingham and was amused by this opportunity to capture a guy eating on the street.

I was amazed to see that the Ostrich burger bar near Waterstones had changed hands once again and the new owners were gearing up to sell their burgers and mussels (?) Good luck on that one guys.

For some reason I seemed to have an obsession for photographing old doors today and equally distressed buildings around and about.

Finally I spotted a spaced out dog and a man whose face was melting in a car park near to the music venue, Rock City. Fun days!

A Christmas Carol

2011-10-05T19:27:00.005+01:00

Sorry I've not been around lately on this blog so much as normal. Truth is that I have been busy creating and sewing my costume for my German production of my one man show of A Christmas Carol in early December this year. I have also been writing and editing my script for the dramatic reading and adding in subtle pieces of the German language and additional descriptive passages from my original adaptation I've worked from in the past. I've enjoyed it all and my days off work have been filled with buttons galore, sewing, tatting and dying objectives and creative imaginings to bring my costume to fruition to illustrate a storyteller cum Victorian character (certainly not trying to be Charles Dickens) telling the story in a new way but keeping faithful to the original.

the jacket for my show (so far)

The jacket of my costume has been dyed and embellished and distressed with the base being an old chef's coat that I wore when I worked at Cafe Coco Tang eighteen months ago and also wore in the Lace Market Theatre production of Festen as the drunken chef, Kim.

The top hat is authentic and embellished with brown lace and silk. The top hat came from Wild in Nottingham and the lace from Baklash - a vintage store also in Nottingham. The silk was something I had around the house and was formerly a cushion and now an embellishment meant to enhance a funereal scene early on in the show.

scenes from A Christmas Carol at the Lace Market Theatre

Scrooge in the LMT production - played by Roger Newman

As I'm working with all this material (text and fabric) I think back fondly on the times when my full stage production of the same story at the Lace Market Theatre, directed by Martin Berry, was also being echoed at the Jakobus Theatre (where I am about to perform my one man show this year) at the same time in their own theatrical version of the Dickens' novel.

Funny how these things come around and I'm really looking forward to telling all you readers of the great time I had socially and the theatrical success that I had in Karlsruhe with the show that I am currently putting together.

The German language aspects of the piece have been taken from a copy of another 'very true to the original' adaptation of the story published by CBJ Klassiker as I wanted what German I introduced into the script to be correct language-wise. I decided to keep things as simple as possible and added in the titles of the chapters, some small piece of dialogue with the merchants and the final line of Hope by Klein Tim, otherwise known as Tiny Tim. I am hoping that my audiences in Karlsruhe will appreciate all this effort and enjoy re-telling of Dickens' classic tale.

Meals on Wheels with Si and Dave

2011-09-29T20:25:00.002+01:00

I've been very busy with working overtime at work and adding final edits to my A Christmas Carol script as well as making my costume and communicating with my German friends in Karlsruhe regarding my performances in early December so forgive me for any lack of blog posts of late.

The good news is that I have discovered that Si and Dave (The Two Hairy Bikers) have started a great new series helping the folk who volunteer and run Meals on Wheels for the elderly in the UK. I have watched two episodes of the series so far and have been blown away by the positiveness that has come from their endeavours to provide fresher food and encourage volunteers across the country. So
inspiring!

Well done to all, Si, Dave, and the experienced helpers (often older than the folk they provide for) and the inspirational younger folk who are keen to help in whatever way they can. I was particularly impressed by the catering college students and the young chap who'd been out of work for three years yet found new positiveness from helping others. Such a change from hearing about the alleged 'youth of today' who are 'apparently' completely selfish and think only of themselves. I think that the latter is a very broad statement and that the young can be developed or encouraged to be a caring society for the future too.

I can't wait for episodes three and four.

For details on the programmes go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b013y0nz

Alien in my frying pan.

2011-09-21T19:40:00.005+01:00

a·li·en

adjective /ˈālyən/ /ˈālēən/

Belonging to a foreign country or nation

Unfamiliar and disturbing or distasteful

- bossing anyone around was alien to him

- they found the world of adult education a little alien

Relating to or denoting beings supposedly from other worlds; extraterrestrial
- an alien spacecraft

(of a plant or animal species) Introduced from another country and later naturalized

noun /ˈālyən/ /ˈālēən/
aliens, plural

A foreigner, esp. one who is not a naturalized citizen of the country where they are living
- an illegal alien

A hypothetical or fictional being from another world
A plant or animal species originally introduced from another country and later naturalized

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You may have seen the image of Jesus in a mango (who hasn't?) or whilst cutting up a grapefruit but early today, whilst frying some eggs for a fried egg sandwich breakfast I caught the sign of an alien face in the frying pan. Yes you may scoff but over the last few days I have witnessed three double rainbows and have heard voices outside the house at three in the morning. Plus the supermarket I work in has had a sudden influx of foreigners (aliens) as customers. Are aliens trying to contact me?

I took this picture at 5.40am this morning as proof.

Top tip for saving money on spices

2011-09-12T10:14:00.000+01:00

My work friend Paul recently asked me to do some spice shopping for him as he loves to make his own curries and spice blends. I found that by shopping at the ethnic stores around Nottingham that the Asian, Turkish and Chinese population use I saved him a fortune and got much better spices than you might get from a regular supermarket. I also found that the Jamaican stall in the Victoria centre had a big selection of spices and dried herbs and got some great Curry leaves from there. Shopping became an adventure and I was fascinated with all the food stuffs on offer, even though I hadn't a clue what half the products were in the Chinese mini supermarket!

On a regular note: Waitrose do a great smoked mackerel pate which I love but find hard to get.

Would love to hear of any of your 'food finds'.