Racist behaviour?

We spent the evening in the local Thai restaurant. The food is always good, but I do wonder at the behaviour of some of the customers!

While we were there we overheard a phone order for a takeaway. After explaining that it would need to be collected the owner took an order for about eight dishes including rice and a mixed starter. It sounded like a big meal, but she was happy to cook for the customer. That was about 7pm with the collection due at 8pm. No one came, so I chatted with the owner and she said it happens quite frequently! By 8.30pm she decided to call them, but no one was answering so all she could do was leave a message letting them know the food was ready.

We were finishing off our meal just before 9pm when someone else rang to ask if she was still open. They arrived a few minutes later but after looking at the menu asked for chips and cola! When she explained it was a Thai restaurant they decided to walk out without paying for the drinks!

What bothers me is that a hard worker and restaurant owner, who is already struggling because of the covid situation is being messed about by so called customers. I think it’s appalling to treat someone like that. No doubt there will be complaints on social media. But cooking for customers requires respect on both sides. I’d go so far as saying this almost looks like racist behaviour. I felt very sorry for her and the treatment she experienced.

Mince pies and stollen

It was just me and my hubby together for Christmas, but that means no pressure to get all the trimmings done! I haven’t made a trifle yet, I will probably do so for New year’s day. We had a £3.80 chicken for our Christmas Dinner (a medium turkey crown in sainsburys was £27.90!) We had a few beers and I made pigs in blankets to go with the chicken. I also roasted all the veg including the sprouts. There are plenty of left overs for sandwiches today and I don’t have to think about turning a turkey into a stew and a curry later in the week. The one thing I miss though was having a party with my sister, but I’d rather make sure we are all safe.

Sprouts popping!

A sprout tree, that’s what my hubby bought for Christmas Dinner. I wasn’t sure how to cut the sprouts off this knobbly stick. I don’t have sharp knives so they are hard to cut off. When I tried the springiness in the branch they were on I suddenly had a sprout popping up the air! It flew up and landed on the floor, rolled sideways, and ended up under the fridge freezer. Cue some scrabbling with a spoon to get it back out! It happened again with the next one so I realised I needed to hold the sprout with one hand and cut it off with the other. I didn’t want to use the whole sprout tree today, ten ot twelve sprouts are enough, but the branch was too long. I could not cut it in half so hubby snapped it across his knee after I’d tried to cut through it.

I part cooked them in the microwave and now I’m toasting them with out Christmas chicken (the turkeys for sale were four times more expensive).

Cream

Time for cream to celebrate, on mince pies, trifle and pud. With brandy added or sugar, it’s got to make it good.

On chocolate hot, or a steaming pot of coffee with some whisky. Cream is such a delightful treat, when it’s single, double of whisk-ed.

Add a bit to soups and sauces, give a drop to fruit and berries, savour its flavour in cocktails too. It all depends what you do!

One tiny block of cheese!

My friend ordered some food on the Internet for home cooking. I saw what was in the box. There were various things:

Lots of herbs, chick peas, box of tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, sweet potato, garlic bulb, two carrots, baby carrots, two bags of potatoes, a shallot, two onions, green beans, a small pouch of honey, spices, an aubergine, an avocado, sumac?? And other stuff. Including bags of ice to keep two packets of minced meat and two chicken breasts cool.

There was also a tiny block of cheese, two inches by one inch by one inch, that made me chuckle…. Oh and a Partridge in a pear tree!

Second hand curry

Well not second hand, but with left-over ingredients. I made this using curry powder and turmeric. I diced up some courgette, onion, broccoli, and aubergine. I then added a tin of tomatoes. I added water to it to stop it burning on and to add moisture. I also added a few lentils. The fish was bought today. It doesn’t really matter what sort, but a white fish isn’t too strongly flavoured. I’d added it later as you don’t need to overcook fish. It flaked nicely as I cooked and turned a nice golden brown. Much nicer than using a jar of curry sauce.

Thai again

The trouble with having food at Sawadee Thai taste in Stoke is that I eat the food before I think of taking a photo of it. Today I had some noodles with king prawns and pak choi for lunch. Very tasty. The owner is a lady called Apple who is very friendly and helpful. It’s worth a visit if you want to taste Thai food, and it’s not expensive.

Making bread

The blob

I decided to make a loaf today. Its just gone in the oven for half an hour, gas mark eight. Today’s loaf is half a packet of ready mixed linseed oil bread and half strong white flower. To make sure I had the right amount of flour I tipped flour from the big bag of strong flour into the small half full one till it was filled (I don’t have scales). Then as the strong flour didn’t have yeast I added a level teaspoon of dried yeast. I mixed it with about half a pint of luke warm water and a teaspoon of honey. I should perhaps have added a bit of oil and salt, but I decided not to.

The photo is the dough after it had risen, doubling on size, then it was knocked back and allowed to rise again. I’m happy with how much it has expanded. I hope the loaf that comes out will be light and fluffy… We will see. X