Early Risers.

[southern42]

Happy Birthday, Rick.

 

2 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Morning all,  

 

Sixty-four laps of the sun safely completed as of today.  And with perfect timing the Borismaster has re-opened the insides of pubs, restaurants and cafes allowing me to enjoy the day at least in my mind.  I shall have to wait a few more weeks yet as Dr. SWMBO insists no indoors venues until Second Jab-plus-two-weeks.  She is off for hers later today.  I get mine on Friday.  I did however receive a very welcome surprise invitation first thing this morning from Former Neighbour (Upstairs) who I didn't think even knew the date but who offered me drinks to mark the occasion at a mutually convenient time in the near future.  A lovely start to my day.  

 

And so we move to the next "irreversible" step on a path which has proven to be as slippery as it is tortuous.  Should I link to "The Long And Winding Road"?  Nah - I'll go with the obvious .....  

 

 

 

.

 

When I was 64, I dragged...oops!....took the family went to the Beatles land in the Royal Albert Dock, Liverpool. The only downside is that would be a lie if I sang it now. 

[Kelly]

Someone called? 

 

Afternoon everyone. I have been rather quiet online over the past few months as life has been rather hectic with my other half and his eyes. 

 

He had his surgery 4 weeks ago,  and has had good recovery so far. 

 

Had a bit of a scare with my car the other week mind. The brakes failed at 50mph, but I was thankfully able to bring it to a stop. The car is awaiting being scrapped now however,  so future show attendance is going to be somewhat hampered as it will not be getting replaced at this time. 

 

Poppy continues to keep us smiling though,  so there's that. 

 

Kelly 

[Gwiwer]

1 hour ago, simontaylor484 said:

Sorry @Gwiwer forgot to say Happy Birthday 

If I remember to thank you that will make up for it, won't it   

[chrisf]

Some things are too important to put off until tomorrow.

 

Many happy returns, Rick.

 

Chris

[New Haven Neil]

Indeed Chris - Happy Birthday Rick, wishes also left elsewhere.  Good wishes, that is!

[Chris116]

Happy Birthday Rick, hope you had a good morning at the House of Fun and are enjoying a restful afternoon.

[leopardml2341]

2 hours ago, Barry O said:

I have a lot of "knowledge in my head..

 

....same here, if only I could remember it

 

[iL Dottore]

1 hour ago, jonny777 said:

 

Sadly not, I'm afraid. I am old school and use a chip pan filled with dripping/lard on the hob. 

 

1 hour ago, Coombe Barton said:

Chip pan on top of the stove - a darned sight easier to clean - and a load less costly

 

Cheap, yes. Maybe easier to clean, but uncontrollable in terms of temperature and much, much more dangerous (apart from spitting fat, chip-pan fires do seem to be quite a regular occurrence/hazard in the UK)

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

Open freezer door, get frozen chips out and bung 'em in the oven.  Works for Bear, though is sure to horrify iD....

Frozen chips can be pretty decent when cooked in a deep fat-fryer and done so properly (e.g. at the right fat temperature) and an awful lot of low and medium budget restaurants use frozen chips. Frozen oven chips are - believe it or not - worse for you than "proper" deep fat fried chips (nor do they taste as good). Apparently it's all down to the amount of fat and processing required to make the chips crisp up in the oven.

13 minutes ago, Kelly said:

...He had his surgery 4 weeks ago,  and has had good recovery so far. 

 

Had a bit of a scare with my car the other week mind. The brakes failed at 50mph, but I was thankfully able to bring it to a stop. The car is awaiting being scrapped now however,  so future show attendance is going to be somewhat hampered as it will not be getting replaced at this time....

I'm pleased to hear the good news about "him indoors", I have had my fair share of ocular surgery and follow-up check-ups and I can't think of many "less-fun" things to go through.

 

As for your motoring experience, WOW! What can I say, except that you obviously had someone "up there" looking after you (I love your understatement: "had a bit of a scare" to describe a definite "brown trouser" moment....). Although you say you won't be soon replacing the ole jalopy, have you considered a motorcycle? NHN (and others of this Parish) could direct you to a suitable "lady's bike"....

[Gwiwer]

Just now, leopardml2341 said:

....same here, if only I could remember it

 

I once came across a very honest "answer" to an exam question.  It read "I have learned too much too quickly with the result that I can now remember nothing at all"  

[leopardml2341]

Harpy Biffday Rick

[jonny777]

5 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

 

Cheap, yes. Maybe easier to clean, but uncontrollable in terms of temperature and much, much more dangerous (apart from spitting fat, chip-pan fires do seem to be quite a regular occurrence/hazard in the UK)

 

 

Not a problem with modern ceramic or induction hobs. 

 

On my old ceramic hob, my chip pan bubbled over when I miscalculated the temperature and dropped a large amount of chips into the fat without realising how hot it was. I prepared for the whole thing catching fire as very hot oil spilled over the side of the pan, but all it did was smoke and set the alarms off. 

 

I had time to wipe the smoking oil off the hob with a couple of folded tea towels and breathed a big sigh of relief. 

 

I have now replaced that with an induction hob, and they are supposed to be even less of a fire risk. I have no interest in tightly controlling the temperature of the oil. If it is too hot the oil smokes. Add cold food to the oil and the temperature will drop significantly for a few minutes. 

 

Maybe the sellers of expensive deep fat fryers are not keen to reveal these truths? 

[petethemole]

Happy Birtday Rick!

[Coombe Barton]

20 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Maybe easier to clean, but uncontrollable in terms of temperature and much, much more dangerous (apart from spitting fat, chip-pan fires do seem to be quite a regular occurrence/hazard in the UK)

Clean - dishwasher

 

Temperature - thermometer - about seven quid from Amazon

 

Fires - yes if unattended - remedy obvious

[tigerburnie]

The trip to Dundee for the covid test went without a hitch, nice young lass was considerate and thorough, in and out in no time, just wish she was doing the procedure, the doc's a bit of a butcher. Day off tomorrow, who knows what we will do.

[PupCam]

3 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Sixty-four laps of the sun safely completed as of today. 

Well done, happy birthday!

 

 

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Puff pastry might be a little too delicate for a pie with such bold flavours.

No I'm sure the puff pastry and steak are absolutely delicious.    Just ditch the offal ......

 

2 hours ago, Barry O said:

I have a lot of "knowledge in my head.. not much paperwork as places I have worked have been decidedly not happy if you take anything out of work. 

Yes, "Her Maj" did not look too kindly on  information being removed or passed on  from my place of work and could get extremely grumpy (well, her "staff" would) if provoked so discretion and restraint was always the better part of Valour!

 

2 hours ago, jonny777 said:

Sadly not, I'm afraid. I am old school and use a chip pan filled with dripping/lard on the hob. 

Now that sounds excellent.   I remember there use to be a lovely little fish and chip shop down our road in the late '70s.   Vegetable oil had either not been invented or was just not yet "On Trend" and so huge great blocks of gorgeous white dripping were turned into liquid in order to cook their products.    You could smell it from the other end of the village and it was a smell to die for!   Come to think of, plenty probably did die from its effects ...... Didn't stop it being a wonderous smell though!

 

2 hours ago, polybear said:

Open freezer door, get frozen chips out and bung 'em in the oven.  Works for Bear, though is sure to horrify iD....

Uncouth, heathen!     

 

I don't know, call yourself a connoisseur of fine taste?     Clearly all that eating in expensive restaurants OCS was wasted

 

[AndrewC]

Good day all. Just popping by to wish Rick a Happy Birthday. 

 

 

 

Laterzzz

 

 

[J. S. Bach]

64?  Well, happy birthday, Rick! Okeh, just for you:

 

 

[The Stationmaster]

2 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

Chip pan on top of the stove - a darned sight easier to clean - and a load less costly

 

And a heck of a lot easier way to start a fire - around 20% of all domestic fires are caused by chip pans!

 

https://www.fireservice.co.uk/safety/chip-pans/

 

And on a brighter note Happy Birthday young  Rick - somewhat easy to overlook which day is which when you're trying to catch up so I wasn't sure if it was today or tomorrow

 

[iL Dottore]

54 minutes ago, jonny777 said:

 

Not a problem with modern ceramic or induction hobs.

....Maybe the sellers of expensive deep fat fryers are not keen to reveal these truths? 

 

47 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

Clean - dishwasher

 

Temperature - thermometer - about seven quid from Amazon

 

Fires - yes if unattended - remedy obvious

Hmmm!

 

My sole criterion for buying a bit of kitchen kit is "do the pros use it?". This means that most of the extras on domestic kitchen equipment are superfluous and only serve to push up the price (and, dare I say it, make the item less effective or efficient).

 

My sole criterion for NOT buying a bit of kitchen kit is "do the pros use it?". If the answer is NO, it doesn't get bought (I've never seen a restaurant use a chip pan....)

 

As for very expensive? It depends. The cheapest deep fat fryer currently available in the UK costs £15.99 and the most expensive (at least on Amazon) is £1,917 (but it is a dual tank 4800W restaurant item. Domestic top whack is about £150).

 

I suppose it's all down to "horses for courses",  given what I fry varies from Tempura to Bhaji to Arancini to Pommes Soufflés, I like the control and flexibility of a good deep fat fryer.

[Ian Abel]

Happy Birthday Rick!

 

Welcome to Monday, another weekend completed <phew> 

 

Friday, the "patio man" discussed options, and will provide the resulting recommendations soon. Expected to be able to execute any plans in early July, with luck.

Goes without saying it'll cost more than originally expected as ALL materials seem to have shot up in price. Oh well, can't take it with you, so I'm told

 

Saturday mostly occupied with cleaning and other "necessary evils" prior to having a group of friends over we've not seen in 15+ months. Plenty of outdoor visiting due to excellent evening weather, a BBQ and much other comestibles consumed, together with the appropriate amount of wine and G&Ts.

 

Sunday, after a VERY late Saturday evening we struggled to get going at a decent hour, but did then manage to get to the nursery and obtain several dozen planting for the Mrs "pots" outside, and three rose plants  for the front of the house.

Then, as if we hadn't done enough for the weekend, proceeded to do way more planting activity that we should have, and tired ourselves out again. NOT to be outdone by that, we then had drinks and dessert around the fire table with our travelling companions in the evening. Have to remind ourselves sometime that we're NOT in our 20's

 

I think there needs to be some weekday time set aside to "recover" from these relaxing weekends!!! 

 

Today taking the afternoon off to have a paddle-boating/dinner fun playtime with our friends. 

 

9 and sunny first thing, 24 the expected high, perfect for our fun afternoon, though pollen levels are in the high/warning levels apparently <sigh>

 

Hope the week starts well for everyone.

[Mark Saunders]

11 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

 

Hmmm!

 

My sole criterion for buying a bit of kitchen kit is "do the pros use it?". This means that most of the extras on domestic kitchen equipment are superfluous and only serve to push up the price (and, dare I say it, make the item less effective or efficient).

 

My sole criterion for NOT buying a bit of kitchen kit is "do the pros use it?". If the answer is NO, it doesn't get bought (I've never seen a restaurant use a chip pan....)

 

As for very expensive? It depends. The cheapest deep fat fryer currently available in the UK costs £15.99 and the most expensive (at least on Amazon) is £1,917 (but it is a dual tank 4800W restaurant item. Domestic top whack is about £150).

 

I suppose it's all down to "horses for courses",  given what I fry varies from Tempura to Bhaji to Arancini to Pommes Soufflés, I like the control and flexibility of a good deep fat fryer.

My criteria was can it be cleaned after use!

[Coombe Barton]

Happy birthday Rick

[jonny777]

8 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

 

Hmmm!

 

My sole criterion for buying a bit of kitchen kit is "do the pros use it?". This means that most of the extras on domestic kitchen equipment are superfluous and only serve to push up the price (and, dare I say it, make the item less effective or efficient).

 

My sole criterion for NOT buying a bit of kitchen kit is "do the pros use it?". If the answer is NO, it doesn't get bought (I've never seen a restaurant use a chip pan....)

 

 

 

Well possibly, but pros also use vacuum packs and 'sous vide' to cook certain meat (duck, pigeon, partridge, etc) but I doubt most people prefer it to a proper pan fried version in butter. 

 

(Snooty chefs - do not read any further), and 6 minutes deep fried in a chip pan can produce a wonderful sirloin or rump steak. Obviously you have to trial and error cooking times depending on the thickness, but the one thing deep frying also does is fully cook the fat on the edge of the steak.

 

The added advantage is that the chips can be cooked at the same time as the meat, and even mushrooms and/or tomato halves if you are feeling really lazy. 

 

 

[New Haven Neil]

6 minutes ago, Mark Saunders said:

My criteria was can it be cleaned after use!

 

I find 'is it fit for the purpose I intend to put it to' the best criteria - and a bit of 'will it fit in the space I have'.  I note iD entertains a lot, and his guests have likely come to expect a 'foodie' feast, but there's just the two of us now, we don't like formal entertaining of guests preferring very ad-hoc approach, so professional equipment would be a waste of train/archery (delete as appropriate) funds.

[Barry O]

Buggggrrrritt! Game tomorrow cancelled.. already.. Flipping rain! and we were going to have a real cricket tea.. first on in 2 years! Not a happy umpire!

 

18 minutes ago, Mark Saunders said:

My criteria was can it be cleaned after use!

Mine is

 

" must be easy to clean after use!"

 

@Kelly hope your other halfs eye ops went well.. I have been "signed off" now for a check up in 6 to 9 months.

 

Well worth a bit of lasing as my sight feels far fresher than it did do!

 

Baz