Tony_S

Odd that, I too sprinkle a tiny amount on chips. Though I have tried unsalted crisps and I quite liked them, though no one else did.

The washing machine has a door…

Our friend sent us a cookery book published by someone from her small town in Connecticut and included a set of spoon and measuring cups. I am sure I am not imagining it but I think the waffle maker we bought a few years ago came with Australian cups to go with the recipe book.

Yes, I do. Also, slow cooker crock pots and Breville toasted sandwich makers. We never had a George Foreman grill. After Aditi’s family forgave us for getting married they held a Havan where their friends could celebrate Aditi’s readmission to the family. Gifts were brought. I am sure some of these had been circulating through the Indian community like some sort of cargo cult for quite some time. There was an Indian copy of a Breville toaster and a slow cooker without a mains lead. As for worktop gadgets we have a breadmaker, a waffle maker, a Kenwood Chef, coffee machine, a panini press, an ice cream machine (not used much now), food processor, and a grill/oven combi microwave. Smaller stuff hides in cupboards. Breadmaker and microwave probably get the most use. Just remembered there is a kettle too. Some of the above devices live on the utility room worktops. I am sure Australian residents will be horrified that we make bread and coffee in the same room as the washing machine and tumble dryer.

Thanks to horticultural explorers we can have sweet without all the sugar associated problems. I was at the RHS garden years ago and there was a plant from South America called Stevia that was used as a sweetener. Now used in reduced sugar baked beans. When Aditi makes desserts she reduces the sugar content drastically. This does mean that rhubarb crumble tastes of rhubarb though. We have got used to it , like using very little salt in recipes. This makes eating out a bit noticeable about just how much salt commercial cooking uses.

My Mum had some similar device sourced from Lidl or Aldi too, She didn’t really like cooking and didn’t like the oven in the retirement flat she had bought .

Old tea towels (clean of course) work quite well for fruit in the bottom trays of the fridge. We don’t want all the bananas we buy for a week to ripen at once so half get wrapped in a tea towel and get taken out a couple of days before we want them.

Our neighbours are returning from North Wales today to the relative calm of South Essex. I think they hoped to set off before Storm Kathleen affected their journey. It is a bit blustery here and isn’t expected to be much worse later today.

Certainly is.

Banda copiers.

This was I believe an app for for members of a political party to pay for access to,other members contact details.

Panel tasting notes, Definite hint of pyridine detected…

I suspect the app would contain the details if those who had “agreed” to have their membership details distributed. That is why reading those “I do , do not “ tick boxes on membership forms is sensible.

Well it certainly is when compared to baked beans. I think they are merely processed (cooked). Whisky or whiskey doesn’t look anything like its source ingredients.

Where we live may be really dull and not at all trendy but at the end of our road there are bus routes to both local large hospitals, the railway station and various community clinics on Canvey. One bus route stops right outside our GP surgery too. Not that I am obsessed about healthcare access…

The defrosted unlabelled meal now looks as if it contains beef, carrots and celery amongst other things so should be ok with some tagliatelle.

The dining chairs just visible in dining room photo have an amusing tale associated with them. Aditi chose them not long after we got married. Her mother didn’t like them and said they wouldn’t last a year but at least that was longer than she predicted for the marriage. Fortunately MiL had no recollection of saying such things and seems to,think,she has always liked me!

Nearly every wall in my house is painted that colour, Dulux Matt Magnolia.

My nephew was telling his parents that his then girlfriend’s house had bedrooms with walk-in wardrobes. He asked why didn’t his family house have such things. Matthew was there and said “so what, I have a walk-in bedroom”.

For barons.

I have only ever associated the term “reception room” with estate agents. We have a lounge and dining room though there are no doors between the two, just a double door sized archway. We usually eat in the kitchen, where there is a dishwasher but no washing machine. I am fairly certain that the reason for washing machines being in the kitchen in the UK was due to it being the only downstairs water supply, and drain access.

The first time I saw a mole was when I was at university. What really surprised me was how small it was. I had somehow imagined them to be much bigger.

All this because I enjoy beans on toast! Actually it has been educational because I never knew that a portion of Heinz beans counts as one of my “five a day”. Not that I am likely to fail to get them, Aditi seems influenced by the more than 5 a day and different colours too diet advice. The only way a tin of baked beans is going to harm my health is if it falls off a shelf and hits me on the head.

I was relieved it wasn’t one of these…

But it turned out not to be malignant.