Renoir

Posted on December 21, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Conversation, Drink, Fears, Food, History, Life, Lunch, Memory, Oil painting, Painting, Renoir, Thinking7 Comments

I just saw a photo of this painting and thought of simpler times. When people could meet in groups, no one wore face coverings, and there was less fear in the world.

The conversation flows, there is gentle banter, there are smiles and laughter. People drink and eat and share food, a mouthful or two of delicious fruit or a compote. Wine and beer, fruit juice and water. The voices murmur, no need to shout through a mask and at a distance. I hope we can go back to more carefree times, but we will have to see. Stay safe. X

Mini mince pie!

Posted on December 20, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Christmas, Christmas treat, fifty pence piece, Food, mini mince pie, morsel, Tasty, Tiny2 Comments

Mini mince pie with fifty pence piece to show the scale…. A nice nibble, but moreish. I didn’t want just one. I got these in the local supermarket because they didn’t have ant full size ones (about double or triple this). The crust overlaps the tinfoil cup shaped base, and the filling only comes half way up the inside. But it was a tasty morsel.

Cream

Posted on December 16, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged added ingredients, Cooking, Cream, dairy, delicious, Fat, Flavour, Food, Hot chocolate, Poem, Poetry, TasteLeave a comment

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!

Mince pies

Posted on December 6, 2021December 13, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Christmas, Christmas card, Christmas tree, Food, Home made, Mince pies, mincemeat, shop bought, short crust pasty, sugar free, TastyLeave a comment

December comes and I fall for delicious mince pies again. These are traditional Christmas treats that historically have been eaten around this time of year. Nowadays they are made with mincemeat which strangely has no meat, but instead is a gooey, sweet mix of dried fruits like sultanas and raisins, possibly some lemon juice and lemon zest. In this pie which was shop bought had bramley apple puree in it too. The filling is enclosed in a short crust pastry dusted with a little icing sugar.

Shop bought are nice enough, but home made are lovely. I tried a couple made by a friend at the weekend. She made them smaller- less calories, and sugar free mincemeat. Tasty and healthy.

I’m not sure what they were made of in the past. I suppose I should look it up. Probably they were ‘fast food’ in the past. Served hot I think? I would imagine they became popular in the Victorian era when Christmas celebrations ramped up with the use of Christmas trees and Christmas cards… I know I should check all of this…. But I’m too busy eating my mince pie!

B’oatcake boat

Posted on December 5, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged b'oatcake boat, cheesy burger, Food, Que Sera Sera, Stoke-on trent, Walking, Westport lakeLeave a comment

Called at the B’oatcake boat, Que Sera Sera, on the canal today. We wanted cheese oatcakes but they were sold out ao we had cheesy burgers with salad instead. I have to say they were very tasty with a nice hot drink. Suitably fed we went for our walk round Westport Lake. Thank you b’oatcake boat.

Food

Posted on December 4, 2021December 4, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Chicken, Courgette, Evening meal, extra garlic, extra turmeric, Food, food box, food order, green beans, raita, TastyLeave a comment

I just made a very nice curry with bombay potatoes, raita, mixed garlicy vegetables and chicken.

I was using one of the meal boxes that get delivered by post. My friend have it me because she had already got food in and she decided she didn’t need it.

Unfortunately I didn’t take a photo, by the time I had eaten it I realised it was too late. I added extra vegetables (courgette and fresh tomatoes) to bulk it out a bit, I’m trying to add vegetables to our meals to make them healthier. I don’t know if I would ever order a food box myself, I don’t know how much it cost as it was a gift. The meal was very tasty, but I added extra garlic and turmeric.

One tiny block of cheese!

Posted on December 1, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Box, Cooking, Food, Food delivery, herbs and spices, home cooking, Ice, Life, Meat, tiny block of cheese, VegetablesLeave a comment

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

Posted on November 24, 2021November 25, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged aubergine, Broccoli, Cooking, Courgette, Curry, Food, Lentils, mild curry sauce, Onion, Tasty, turmeric, white fishLeave a comment

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.

A birthday bash

Posted on November 19, 2021November 20, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged a lovely night out, birthday bash, Food, Gin and tonic, Poem, Poetry, Sawadee Thai taste, Thai food2 Comments

November birthday bash

Thai at Sawadee

Seafood platter

Noodles and rice

Beansprouts aplenty

Delicious and nice.

Too many gin and tonics

Made me giddy

Now replete and happy

Homeward bound and tipsy

Christmas adverts!

Posted on November 11, 2021November 11, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged christianity, Christmas, Community, consumerism, cop26, Food, Spirits, Thinking, Toys, World4 Comments

Buy this now! You know you want it! Eau de Parfum! Jewellery! Food! A new colour for a hair dryer, a new electric car, toys toys toys.

Everything the consumer wants. Chocolates, biscuits, turkey, wine, spirits with edible gold. Lots of lovely stuff… That most people in the world can’t afford. That they will never have.

Meanwhile at Cop26 deligates have not been able to agree on reducing carbon emissions. Rich countries are not helping poor countries with funding…

This world is selfish. The Christian idea of peace and loving one another doesn’t seem very evident. Will we ever care enough to think of others?

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Food