Month: April 2010

Good morning to you all and, in response to numerous enquiries, “Yes, thank you. We had a marvellous weekend on the south coast.” The weather was glorious – bright and sunny and moderately warm. But, for those of us who wanted to take some photographs of our walk along the Downs (think of the white cliffs of Dover), it was frustratingly hazy. Must have been the fallout from the Icelandic volcano.

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I cooked dinner on Wednesday evening and I wish I could have shared it with you all, if only for it’s amusement value. I appreciate that it will come as a surprise to most of you that I even know where the kitchen is, let alone how to put anything together. However, I do cook occasionally (once in a millennium, or so) and, as I now have a bit more time on my hands, I have become somewhat more adventurous. (Well, just about anything is a step upwards from a boiled egg).

I decided to have a go at Pesto and Goat Cheese-Filled Chicken Breasts (a) because it sounded really tasty and (b) because we had most of the requisite ingredients. Creamed spinach and tagliatelle with a pesto sauce completed the main course.

Penelope was out at the gym so I was essentially on my own as I began to work my way through the recipes. (And by the way, why do recipes say that the preparation time is, say, 20 minutes when, in fact, for someone with my skill set it’s closer to two hours). I flattened the chicken breasts quite convincingly, mixed the pesto and goat’s cheese, spread it all over each chicken breast and then set about attempting to roll the breasts into a neat little parcel. Ha, ha, ha!

What I had not appreciated was that the chicken breasts, in spite of being flattened to within a quarter inch of their lives, gradually begin to un-flatten themselves if you don’t keep a very close eye on them. I wish I had thought of taking a photo of my first attempts at rolling them up but by that time my hands and most of the rest of my body was covered with the filling. The pesto and cheese squidged out everywhere and soon covered every surface and utensil in the kitchen, including some which just happened to be in the neighbourhood on a temporary visit.  I discovered that I needed three pairs of hands and several spatulas and even that was only partially successful. My first attempt produced a pathetic-looking collection of misshapen parcels secured with several dozen toothpicks from which pesto and cheese was oozing from a dozen orifices. The second attempt was marginally better and, by the third effort, I had something slightly better than dismally wretched which, given the hour and the approaching arrival home of Ms Playchute, would have to do.

Having said that, the result was tolerably tasty in spite of the somewhat disconcerting appearance and the creamed spinach was a definite success.

Speaking of cooking, you all might want to give some thought to the dishes you would like to prepare for this year’s Stragapalooza. I would love to do Pesto and Goat Cheese Chicken Breasts and I’ve no doubt you would find it tasty and wonderfully amusing but I don’t think I could possibly deal with rolling twenty or thirty chicken breasts. Back to the drawing board.

And, still speaking of cooking, I was amused by this article on the BBC web site. It seems that an Australian cookbook has had to be pulped because of one, tiny, inconsequential misprint. The recipe for tagliatelle with sardines and prosciutto called for “salt and freshly ground black people” instead of pepper. Oops!

As well as an epicurean delight of staggering proportions and a delightful trip to the south coast, this was also the week, it seems, when Spring finally did “burst” as has been predicted by the weather forecasters for the past three or four weeks. On Wednesday afternoon I had a very pleasant stroll across the countryside with Molly, camera in hand to catch the first of the blossoms. I also nipped into a lovely garden owned by one of our new best friends, an elderly widow in Chipping Warden whom we meet from time to time walking her dog. Some time ago she invited us to have a look at the garden and it is lovely. So, with most things beginning to bloom I sneaked in for another look.

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Much love to you all,

Greg

Good morning on a Surprise Saturday for the Befouled Weakly News. As I mentioned last week, we are off to the south coast for the weekend and wanted, at the very least, to wish a particularly lovely couple a splendid anniversary. We’re sorry to be missing the annual Restaurant Ramble to Hemingway’s in celebration but, instead, we are putting our minds to good use in thinking of all the fabulous feasts we shall enjoy together this summer.

A gentle reminder to those of you who have not yet booked your place at the festivities to come – space is running out fast! And so far, we’ve had confirmed confirmations from Karin and Zac, Sarah and, er, me and Penny! I am hoping that the final numbers might be a bit higher than that.

I guess you will have seen that northern Europe has essentially been shut down by the ash emanating from the Icelandic volcano.  Firstly, they lose all our money in the collapse of the Bank of Iceland and now they try to shut us all down by dumping copious quantities of ash on us all.

Of course, we’ve noticed nothing but I guess at the altitude at which airplanes fly it must be pretty grim. And, who knows how long it will go on for?

(If the collapse of the Bank of Iceland is an obscure reference for most of you, my apologies. In brief, many UK and other European governments and local authorities had invested considerable sums of money in the Bank of Iceland who, at the time, were offering very, very generous interest rates. Unfortunately, in the banking crisis they essentially lost everything and now are not sure if they will ever be able to pay it back. Oxfordshire, my former employer, lost £5 million – small change in the grand scale of things.)

The election grinds on – only three more weeks to go. Adam forwarded an interesting link to a site called Vote for Policies, not Personalities. What an interesting concept!

What is Vote for Policies?
Vote for Policies makes it easy to compare what the political parties are promising to do. It helps you make an informed, unbiased decision about who to vote for. Find out which party you really support…

So, how does it work?
Compare policies from six UK political parties on a range of key issues (just select at least four). After you have chosen the policies you agree with we’ll show you which parties they belong to. But be ready – the results can be surprising!

Have a go yourself here. So far, the Green Party is in the lead with nearly 28%. My results were reassuringly split between Labour and the Green Party. I suppose it’s nice to know that I can still spot a smelly policy a mile away even without knowing which party is behind it. Having said that, it’s pretty clear I am not going to support a party whose policies include sending all the immigrants home and withdrawing from the European Union.

As I guess most of you know, I quite enjoy watching and listening to sports. Each day I download a number of sports related podcasts and listen while I walk the dog or do the hovering or whatever.

One particular podcast is sponsored by Head and Shoulders and I was mightily amused by the introduction yesterday:

“Make the most out of the hair you have. New Hair Endurance for men from Head and Shoulders, cleans to give you fuller, thicker looking hair in just one week. To learn more log on to Head and Shoulders dot com. Head and Shoulders – Respect the Scalp, Get the Hair!”

That’s certainly what I need – someway (anyway) to make the most out of the hair I have which is, as you know, not much. I wonder what I would look like with fuller, thicker looking hair – would the few stray follicles clinging desperately to the bald pate on top of my head come to resemble coils of rope? In just one week? I’ll let you know.

I was sent the following link by John Dey, one of my classmates at Webb. It relates to a clip highlighting “The Farmer and the Cook” which is owned and run by another Webb classmate, Steve Sprinkle. It’s a clip from CNN which is on You Tube and you can catch it here. If anyone is passing through Ojai drop by and say hello!

Finally, I found the following amusing and reminiscent of what Ms Molly might have felt on recent occasions when a visit to the vet has been required:

Off to the seaside – let’s hope the weather is friendly and that we’re not inundated with too much ash.

Love to you all,

Greg

I sat down on Thursday afternoon to watch the recording of the Wednesday night baseball game between the Yankees and the Red Sox. As I settled into my chair, I was astounded to hear Dave O’Brien describe the day’s weather in Boston – sunny with temperatures reaching 91 degrees.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!

We’ve just seen the sun for the first time since early October 2006 and still need gloves, hats, sweaters, jackets and our Bronco Nagurski long underwear!

Actually, although you will know that it is a rare occurrence, I am exaggerating just a bit. In fact, the weather for the latter part of the week has been glorious. The temperature reached nearly 60 degrees on Thursday and has been in the same vicinity since then. And, while the sunshine has not been blindingly blinding, we have at least seen the sun for much of the time. It turns out they were right after all – Spring is bursting.

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I guess you will have picked up that the tediousness of our election campaign has begun. We are exceedingly fortunate that our campaigns only last four weeks (apart from the constant name-calling that goes on all the time). The election itself will be on 6 May, but even that four week period seems like an eternity when there is nothing but negativity spewing forth from either side.

There was a 61% turnout at the last election, almost exactly the same as in the last Presidential election, I’ve just discovered. I’m impressed that even that number of people can be bothered – they’re all as bad as each other and it is increasingly difficult to find any differences between the various manifestos. In any event, given the bizarre democratic process we employ in this country, the election is actually decided in a handful of marginal constituencies and, in our case, it doesn’t matter who we vote for: this area has had a Conservative MP since the time of Simon de Montfort.

Fortunately, some people have got the right approach to the whole charade. Have a look at this clip from the BBC site – I think it’s a great strategy.

Those of you following David’s blog in Japan will know that he needs to acquire an Alien Registration Card and carry it with him all the time. When I first came to the UK in 1973, I too needed to acquire a similar certification to prove my dispensation to live and work here. Of course, I didn’t need it to acquire a mobile phone – there weren’t any! (Indeed, I don’t think we had a landline until Adam was born).

In those days a woman married to a British citizen was automatically allowed to settle in the UK. A man married to a British woman, however, had no such rights, hence the need for me to acquire a Work Permit and an Alien Registration Card. I was also obliged to register with the local police station – clearly it was essential that the local constabulary knew who and where these dangerous aliens were. One time we even had a visit from a policeman from Stratford when we moved from Bracknell to Edge Hill or Radway who was anxious to inspect me (and my card, I guess). Fortunately, he found everything in order and it wasn’t for another two or three years before the EuropeanCourt decreed that the British position was discriminatory and men were granted the same rights as women married to UK subjects. After that judgement, I had to send my passport off to the Home Office to be adorned with a stamp/visa stating that I was “Given leave to enter the United Kingdom for an indefinite period”. Since then I’ve been through three or four passports and nowadays when I pass through immigration they very kindly endorse my passport with “VIPP” which I would love to think stands for “Very Important Person Possibly” but, in fact, means “Visa in Previous Passport” which I can only acquire each time I come through by continuing to carry the original albeit now expired passport with the all-important original visa.

Since the weather has been fine for three days now, Ms Penelope has suggested that it’s time for the first lawn mowing of the season. Naturally, I disagree but fortuitously I ran across an Andy Capp cartoon providing the perfect opportunity to turn this into a romantic gesture.

We’re away next weekend so you may be lucky and escape the dross of the Befouled Weakly News clogging up your inbox. Well, you can always hope for the best.

Much love to you all,

Greg

PS – She won. The lawn received its first trim of the season yesterday.

So, we lost an hour’s sleep last weekend but not only that, as soon as British Summer Time kicks in the weather takes a dramatic and exceedingly unhelpful turn for the worse! It turned freezing with sleet and snow almost immediately “summer time” began. If there was ever a reason for stopping this nonsense, surely that was a sign! We’ve had the cold temperatures, gales and sheets of rain while Scotland and Northern Ireland have had the bulk of the snowfall.

Scores trapped on snowbound train

Passengers endure six-hour wait in darkness for rescue train after Edinburgh to Inverness service is stranded in snowdrift.

More than 100 rail passengers were trapped for six hours overnight after their train got stuck in a snowdrift in Scotland.

The Edinburgh to Inverness service ground to a halt at 8.20pm near Aviemore as the country was hit by blizzards, high winds and heavy rain, leaving one girl dead.

A snow plough had to clear the track before a rescue train with food and blankets could travel down to Blackmount, between Carrbridge and Slochd and around 20 miles from Inverness, at 1.30am this morning.

The 107 passengers, described as “tired and fed up”, had to battle through snow and driving winds as they clambered between the trains in the darkness.

“The weather is bad, but we wouldn’t be transferring people if we thought the conditions were dangerous,” said a spokesman for First ScotRail. “It will be done in a safe and orderly fashion.

“People have been on board for about six hours. They are tired and fed up, but the driver has said no-one is in distress.”

The stranded train “is set-in and would require digging out”, the train operator added.
First ScotRail said the passengers were due to reach Inverness at around 3.30am, where taxis were being laid on to get people home.

Police in the Highlands said attempts to rescue the travellers had proved difficult because of the remote location and snowy conditions.

A train service between Inverurie and Keith was also suspended because of bad weather, with 200 people being accommodated in Aberdeen overnight.

So much for Spring “bursting” forth!

We had an intriguing and, at the time, somewhat bizarre experience during the week. It was about 7.30 or so and Penny was just in the process of dishing up some dinner when the doorbell rang. Standing on our door step was a fellow from the village whom we know on a casual basis; we’ll nod and say “hello” to each other as we pass or should we see one another at a village social event such as the recent Quiz. But, he is certainly not what one would call a “friend” and his arrival on our door step in the early evening was somewhat puzzling.

Naturally, we invited him in with greetings such as “How nice to see you?” and “What a pleasant surprise!” and so on. In he comes and we slowly make our way to the kitchen, continuing the exchange of pleasantries initiated at the door. “So, are you keeping well?” and “What about this crazy weather?” and the like.

This small talk continued for about five minutes. “So, are you still working?” and “Still making those parachute things, are you?” and “How about you – have you retired yet?” Every so often Penny and my eyes would meet amidst two quizzical expressions – “What on earth is he doing here?” we both silently mouthed.

In the end, after about ten minutes, I can’t remember whether one of us eventually asked what we could do for him but I have the feeling that he finally suggested that we might be wondering why he had come by?

Indeed, we were wondering.

It turns out that he had come to the wrong door. He was actually looking for Sally next door who was after him to give her a quote for some landscape gardening in their back yard. After conceding this important fact, he shuffled out the door again and we were left thoroughly bemused.

Such an exciting life we lead!

I hope everyone is following David’s blog while he is in Japan – if not, you can find it here. He did concede that he was a little bit worried that it wasn’t terribly “interesting” at the moment. Heck, if there was a requirement for this stuff to be “interesting” 99% of it would never see the light of day including, of course, the Befouled Weakly News.

Finally, loved the following:

Love to you all,

Greg