A forage, a rant, and a recipe
I've had a good day at the auctions; you can expect a blog post soon, (more cuddly toys, more memories). To celebrate, we've just got back from shopping at Waitrose, and I managed to score a rarity, one of their Sashimi trays, complete with proper Wasabi paste, not the green-coloured mustard that other supermarkets try to fob you off with. It's gone now, but I thought I'd share the memory of it with you.
As I struggled to find places in the kitchen for all the things I had bought that didn't require immediate eating, I realised that although I have finally learned to curb my appetite, I haven't yet got my compulsion to store food under control. Well, maybe not so completely out of control; I no longer store it in me, but the shelves are full of packs of Canadian flour, couscous, tins of mushy peas (poor man's guacamole), and goodies such as tins of octopus chunks and squid cooked in ink sauce. If the end of civilisation arrives next week, I shall die a gourmet's death.
I have another reason to celebrate; I read last night on the BBC website that an entrepeneur who had suffered his idea being rubbished by the Dragons had gone ahead anyway, and his first orders were rolling in. Good for him. I watched some of the 'Dragons' series, and some of 'The Apprentice', and some of 'Big Brother', and some of 'Masterchef', and some of, well, the list is almost endless. And my reaction to these programs? They're all celebrating the rule of the gob. Whoever puts their views across most forcefully wins, because it's television, and TV producers want gritty tell-it-like-it-is programs that don't pull any punches, and civilised, well-balanced, moderate individuals who can consider other people's points of views and pull several disparate ideas into a way ahead just don't come out with sound-bites. But that's television, life's not like that.
I've worked once or twice with individuals who would have fitted straight into The Apprentice, but they were not the norm, and most people were glad to see the back of them when they moved on. Most of the people I've worked with have been mild-mannered easy-going types. It pains me to see these reality shows giving the message that the only way to get ahead in life is to be a bit of an over-bearing bastard, because the sad thing is the youngsters who're watching these shows are going to get that message loud and clear. It looks good, it looks flashy, it seems to work, so they'll try it.
Rant over, here comes the recipe.
Poor Man's Guacamole
Take one tin of mushy peas (mushy, not processed)
(Optionally, see footnotes) open the tin and empty contents into a microwave-proof dish.
Heat for 60 seconds.
Open a bag of Tortilla chips and place on a tray.
Remove the dish from the microwave, place on the tray , season liberally with Lea and Perrins sauce.
Footnotes
1) A good party trick is to put the tin directly into the microwave and double the time.
2) A subtle stratagem if you're going through a difficult marital patch and want to bring matters to a head is to put the tin, unopened, into the oven, together with several other tins of peas, and turn up the heat. When the inevitable explosion occurs and the kitchen is covered with green goo, announce that cleaning is her job, and wait for the ructions to run their course.
Author's comments
Please don't try 1) and 2) at home. If you have to, try them at someone else's home.
As I struggled to find places in the kitchen for all the things I had bought that didn't require immediate eating, I realised that although I have finally learned to curb my appetite, I haven't yet got my compulsion to store food under control. Well, maybe not so completely out of control; I no longer store it in me, but the shelves are full of packs of Canadian flour, couscous, tins of mushy peas (poor man's guacamole), and goodies such as tins of octopus chunks and squid cooked in ink sauce. If the end of civilisation arrives next week, I shall die a gourmet's death.
I have another reason to celebrate; I read last night on the BBC website that an entrepeneur who had suffered his idea being rubbished by the Dragons had gone ahead anyway, and his first orders were rolling in. Good for him. I watched some of the 'Dragons' series, and some of 'The Apprentice', and some of 'Big Brother', and some of 'Masterchef', and some of, well, the list is almost endless. And my reaction to these programs? They're all celebrating the rule of the gob. Whoever puts their views across most forcefully wins, because it's television, and TV producers want gritty tell-it-like-it-is programs that don't pull any punches, and civilised, well-balanced, moderate individuals who can consider other people's points of views and pull several disparate ideas into a way ahead just don't come out with sound-bites. But that's television, life's not like that.
I've worked once or twice with individuals who would have fitted straight into The Apprentice, but they were not the norm, and most people were glad to see the back of them when they moved on. Most of the people I've worked with have been mild-mannered easy-going types. It pains me to see these reality shows giving the message that the only way to get ahead in life is to be a bit of an over-bearing bastard, because the sad thing is the youngsters who're watching these shows are going to get that message loud and clear. It looks good, it looks flashy, it seems to work, so they'll try it.
Rant over, here comes the recipe.
Poor Man's Guacamole
Take one tin of mushy peas (mushy, not processed)
(Optionally, see footnotes) open the tin and empty contents into a microwave-proof dish.
Heat for 60 seconds.
Open a bag of Tortilla chips and place on a tray.
Remove the dish from the microwave, place on the tray , season liberally with Lea and Perrins sauce.
Footnotes
1) A good party trick is to put the tin directly into the microwave and double the time.
2) A subtle stratagem if you're going through a difficult marital patch and want to bring matters to a head is to put the tin, unopened, into the oven, together with several other tins of peas, and turn up the heat. When the inevitable explosion occurs and the kitchen is covered with green goo, announce that cleaning is her job, and wait for the ructions to run their course.
Author's comments
Please don't try 1) and 2) at home. If you have to, try them at someone else's home.
posted by Sopwith-Camel | 7:54 pm
4 Comments:
the youngsters who're watching these shows are going to get that message loud and clear
One can only hope so. It might go some way to counteract the wet-behind-the-ears, unquestioning, everyone-wins-at-sports-day, grass-on-your-mates-for-everything, never-threw-a-snowball-for-fear-of-litigation generation the education system seems intent on producing.
I'm not saying kids should all be little bastards but being successful comes from knowing how to fight for things you want and understanding the meaning of the words 'healthy competition' and, above all, understanding that just because you enter into a race, doesn't mean you're gonna win it. Shit happens. But you'll get over it.
"understanding that just because you enter into a race, doesn't mean you're gonna win it."
True enough, P; but I see a sports-like tendency to try and win the races by mouthing off beforehand, boxing-style, and arguing about the rules afterwards, F1 style.
I didn't see the particular episode of Dragon, so I don't know how the inventer presented his idea or defended himslef. But from watching other episodes, I suspect that the Dragons condemned his idea because it made better TV. That's my main point.
I also love to store. And I'm insanely jealous that you can visit Waitrose. Coles and Woolworths are supremely uninspiring.
Having a Waitrose nearby does make life bearable in this otherwise desolate spot. Especially since the last two traditional stores have closed, leaving us in the grip of hypermarkets, french-style.
I didn;t realise that Woolworths sold serious food. Over here it's just sweets and toys.
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