- MacSween's makes an unquestionably superior haggis to Halls
- Good haggis requires no condiments.
- If your haggis commits seppuku, you can dispense with the whole Address to a Haggis nonsense
- In fact, it turns out nobody really cares if you don't recite any Burns at your Burns Supper.
- Although certain people will threaten to recite McGonagall instead.
- Or, in fact, that your Burns Supper doesn't actually fall on Burns Night.
- However, kilts are apparently mandatory.
- In fact, it turns out nobody really cares if you don't recite any Burns at your Burns Supper.
- Haggis, neeps and tatties is really easy to make for large amounts of people.
- Especially if served buffet-style.
- Nutmeg goes well in tatties.
- Ginger goes well in neeps.
- All malt whisky is good whisky.
- Except if it has lemonade in it.
- I am married to a philistine.
- Except if it has lemonade in it.
- The tactic of inviting people round to decrease your whisky collection fails if you go out beforehand and purchase another two bottles of whisky.
- However, it does allow for repeated whisky tastings in future.
Luckily, it's by far the worst-tasting of the supermarket brands, too. Far too sweet. Go with Blue Dragon, which has more of a kick to it. Sharwoods is okay, too.
After an episode of Jimmy's Food Factory:
![]() | I live in fear of him joining up with Heston Blumenthal. |
![]() | ...and making babies? |
![]() | I'm not sure they could do that... |
![]() | Heston can do anything. |
Well reared, well butchered meat tastes so much better than supermarket stuff it's just not funny.
Must adjust purchasing habits accordingly.
(However, kidney was not so good. Fried it as a treat for kitteh, leaving the kitchen smelling of wee — after which kitteh turned her nose up at it anyway. Cats aint stupid.)
Edit: Gloucester Old Spot, IIRC
When water is added back to the concentrate, the product is labeled "reconstituted" or "made from concentrate" and has the same nutrition profile as the original juice.
— "Juice up your diet", 11 Jun 2008, Peggy J. Noonan, CNN health
"It's a misconception that it's freshly squeezed from the groves of Florida," she said. Rather, it's often a heavily processed product. In the pasteurization process, it's heated, stripped of oxygen and flavor chemicals, then put in huge storage vats for up to a year. When it's ready for packaging, flavor derived from orange essence and oils is added to make it taste fresh. Each company has its own special flavor pack, but to call it natural at this point is a real stretch.
— "That not-from-concentrate orange juice? It's not so good for your budget", Jul 2009, John Ewoldt, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Fresh orange juice, on the other hand, is a totally different thing, and is both nutritionally better for you [Noonan 2008] and tastier [Ewoldt 2009] than either reconstituted or not-from-concentrate juices.
(Next time, less brandy).
Maybe I can make them in time for New Year's.
Any other ideas for interesting Christmas goodies?
I am more than a little sceptical. The reasoning seems to be that the increase in Caesareans over the last half-century or so coincides with the increase in numbers of births attended by husbands. Maybe so, but it also coincides with an enormous range of other factors too, both medical and cultural.
Also in today's news was the 200th anniversary of the opening of the first curry restaurant in the UK, which makes quite an interesting read.
The Scottish Diet is an ingenious nutritional system invented by the Scots to keep their pension funds in balance by reducing the number of people who make it beyond the age of 60. like many of the world's smartest inventions (most of them invented by the Scots), it is devilishly simple. It increases the premature death rate through a well-balanced diet:
The Scottish Diet
«Any and all thing you can eat
But this proportion always heed:
A third from fat
A third from sugar
A third from alcohol
From time to time, you can eat a small amount of fruits, in the form of jams or preserves, or even better, distilled.»
— FXCuisine.com, "Deep-Fried Cheeseburger"
Browse through the other articles, as well — it's a pretty fun site.
Edit: it amuses me that the random advertising on the site quite frequently selects a British Heart Foundation advert for this page.
The secret ingredient is for sweet & sour battered pork.
The secret ingredient is nutmeg!
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Two turkey crowns, gammon, pigs in blankets, stuffing balls, roast tatties, potato croquettes, honey-cinnamon parsnips, carrots, bacon-and-chestnut-fried sprouts, and bread sauce. All finished roughly on time and ending up edible — no help from Nigella there. (Honestly, avoid that woman's books. Jam-packed with what are either typos or really bad advice). Quality ranged from the just-about-rescued-from-inedibility (roast
More than a little stressful at the time, but so satisfying. I've never cooked anywhere near that amount of food before, and am proud of myself and
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(Didn't do the starter or desserts ourselves, but that I'm happy to leave for another year.)
After cooking it all, proceeded to absolutely stuff myself, and become unable to move for a good hour and a half.
Now we are home and Cassie is being unbearably adorable at us.
Merry
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1 mug chocolate milk
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp chili powder
Mix all together, heat in microwave, top with squirty cream. Omnomnom!
Also have made sauce from scratch both yesterday and today. Not my strong point, but something I really want to improve on. Yesterday's wasn't great — I always forget that sauces need at least a bit (usually a lot) of sugar in them to bring out the flavour. Today's was a huge improvement.
( recipe, for those interested )
One thing I could use is a method of thickening sauces that doesn't involve flour, which can make things too stodgy and powdery. Am I missing anything obvious? Or am I going to have to be more adventurous with my ingredients?
Edit: have purchased ground arrowroot. Shall try it some time in the future.
The Omnivore's Hundred, from the Very Good Taste blog
( long meme is looooooong )I make that exactly half. Must try harder.
I do worry that I sound like a bit of a ponce from the above list. Caviar, oysters, kobe beef! Bloody hell. I guess this is something I can thank my father for — he was always keen to get us to try interesting (and sometimes expensive) stuff, even if just the once.
Then I realised. I have a spice rack.
And thus, curry beans were made. And they were far better than the Heinz's version. Nom nom nom.
It's Three Guys Argue A Lot About Cookery (title subject to change). Actually, I think they're officially known as Kamikaze Cookery now. In any case, they consist of
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I've been hearing them proudly declaring, in multiple takes, that they are using the Power of Science to Bring Cooking Into the 21st Century.
Right now, they are attempting to vacuum pack a steak. With a hoover. Like you do. It doesn't sound like they are having much success. I'm sure they'll get there eventually.
Resultant video to appear YouTube at some time. Should be entertaining. 8^)
One to avoid.
Also wasn't greatly impressed with Loch Fyne restaurant last time I went. Edinburgh seafood in general, in fact. Positive recommendations in this area welcomed. (Went to Fisher's bar a while back, which was better, but expensive. Anything cheaper would be good.)
Porto & Fi, in Newhaven, is very nice, though, for lunch.
Now I am off to make onion bhajis. Num num.
Edit: Onion bhaji! Is good. Note to self: next time, use slightly more chili powder (or even better, chopped fresh green chili).