Tag Archives: steak

Disjointed Notes

I had a rejection yesterday afternoon. I’m currently at 5 and 3 with two more to go. The worst it can now be is 5 and 5, and 50% isn’t too bad. I’ve written enough on that subject recently so I will pass on to other subjects.

How about a Flying Saucer? We ate there several times when going to see Julia’s family as it used to be at the point where we turned off the A1. I was sure it was there for longer than the time frame reported in the article, but my mind plays tricks these days. I found an article about it while browsing the internet but this link is better.

I then went on to read a list of amusing rude names for British towns and villages. However, I’m trying to portray the image of a clean-living, serious-minded poet here, so I won’t provide the link as it’s not for the fainthearted and I wouldn’t want to upset anyone.

This one, on the other hand, is quite interesting. The trophy, which is even more interesting, cost £125 when it was made, which was a lot of money at the time.

We had steak for tea. Julia received two boxes of gifts for Mothering Sunday via Amazon, so I thought the least I could do was produce a decent meal. I did oven chips, as they always seem better than wedges, and I found, as usual, that onion rings at home are never as good as onion rings when eating out. We also had peas with garlic and mushrooms, so I kept the veg level reasonable. My vision didn’t extend as far as a fancy pudding so we had fresh fruit.

You need very finely chopped garlic when making the peas (a new recipe for me, if you can call it that), every time I peel  garlic clove I remember an incident with a teacher. I was demonstrating on the farm and had trouble peeling one. He told me, in front of the whole class, it wasn’t even worth trying to peel cloves as it wasn’t possible.  Several teachers did that sort of thing o me. I doubt they would have appreciated me walking into class and correcting them in front of their pupils.

I needed three more and prepared each of them in seconds. It’s normally that easy, and he looked like an idiot.

Whenever I peel a clove of garlic these days I think of him and regret the incident. I shouldn’t have continued to peel the cloves, but I needed them and couldn’t think of a tactful way to do it and let him save face. Having said that, much as I regret it, he brought it on himself. A true dilemma, and not really my fault, even though I do feel bad about it.

I’ll post some pizza photos from my great days as a baking instructor, such as they were.

 

 

Back to Normal

I went for a haircut today.  Julia’s orders. Because of my lack of dress sense she’s keen on my looking as tidy as possible in case someone mistakes me fora tramp. I was going to do my own hair (it hasn’t been done since the start of lockdown) but it can be tricky getting it right so I agreed. I haven’t actually had my hair cut by anyone else for about ten or twelve years, when I had it done on a whim while was in the barber with the kids. For some reason they would never let me cut their hair.  The time before that was about 25 years ago. It’s saved me a fortune. Anyway, after enduring a conversation that hasn’t changed a lot in the last 25 years (despite the fact it’s a different barber from the one that did my hair in that shop 25 years ago), I was then charged a price that hasn’t changed a lot in the last 25 years. To be honest, I may start going there regularly as it’s so much tidier when someone else does it. And I had my eyebrows touched up. That’s when you know you are getting old.

The nurse who took my blood this morning is the mother of a kid who went all the way through school with my kids. He joined the army when he left school, went to work on cruise ships and liked the sea so much he’s now joined the Royal Navy. Quite an adventurous life so far. It was nice to catch up.

I also went shopping. They ask you to be considerate to their staff by wearing a mask (and most people do). Sadly, two of their staff and a security guard couldn’t be bothered to wear a mask. Makes you wonder why you bother. Also makes me wonder what message they think they are sending.

I’m now going to think about trimming my beard. If I’m careful I can tidy it enough to satisfy Julia whilst leaving it long enough to scare small children.

Oh, the shopping? I bought her some flowers. And a quiche. I’m back at work tomorrow and I fancy a slice of quiche.  also bought steak. I’m going to cook tonight. Baked potato, steak, salad. Looks good, virtually no effort. That’s my sort of cookery.

Anniversary!

We had an interesting conversation after I picked Julia up from work yesterday.

“I’ve bought steak for tea.” I said.

“I thought we were going to have that for our anniversary.” she said.

This was news to me as I thought that I’d had the idea all on my own. She has probably been using mind control techniques to manipulate my weak and feeble man’s mind.

“I thought we’d have it early, as part of a longer celebration.”

“You’ve forgotten when it is, haven’t you?”

“No I haven’t. It’s later this week.I just thought I’d prolong the joyous celebration.”

She wasn’t convinced and went on to narrow it down and corner me like a rat in a trap. It isn’t fair, I can’t drive through traffic, talk and lie convincingly at the same time.

It’s today. This time next year I am going to search “wedding anniversary” and check the date. WP may yet prove to be good for something apart from blogging and providing shoddy “improved” services.

Thirty one years. Where have they all gone?

I’m going to think about that as I go about decluttering,

The pictures are from Huttoft beach car park on our last (and only) trip to the coast this year. It’s just a long concrete strip of parked cars and a stretch of beach. Very old-fashioned and very relaxing, particularly when trying to avoid social contact.

Two ladies on the beach at Huttoft

Fishermen on the beach at Huttoft

I’ve had the photos since we went, but haven’t got round to using them.

And back to Sunday

We had a pleasant evening last night with Julia’s brother and his wife. I had a nice steak with chips, onion rings, mushroom, pepper sauce and followed it up with sticky toffee pudding and custard. It was a simple and not particularly healthy meal for a simple and not particularly healthy man.

Due to Julia’s brother’s understanding of discount systems, special offers and loyalty cards, it was half price. Substantial, flavoursome and discounted – what more could you want?

I noticed that due to the lockdown there was no salt, pepper or vinegar on the table. We ordered from paper menus which we were asked to throw in the bin on the way out.

I also had what was referred to as a complimentary salad. At least I assume that was how it was spelt. It didn’t say anything nice to me, so I suppose it was complimentary only in the sense of being (supposedly) free. As it was a steakhouse rather than a food bank, it wasn’t actually free, as they clearly charge for it somewhere along the line.

It certainly wasn’t complementary as it didn’t enhance the steak and chips.

Come to think of it, it wasn’t really a salad either, just a few bits of green leaf and veg in a small pot. I’m not sure where a salad ends and a garnish begins, but I have definitely seen garnishes that were bigger than this “salad”.

Despite this, it was an excellent meal in good company and I’m looking forward to a time when we can go out without having to worry about contracting a fatal infection.

It’s roast veg, pie and gravy tonight. The picture is a library picture so I can post before eating.

Damsons

The bottom picture is the damsons we picked – very nice harvest from a tree in a pot. Not sure if I mentioned them before.