Sunday 28 September 2008

Party time!

This is Phoebe's cake (it's supposed to be Rapunzel - in case you couldn't guess!).


Some people found it hard to wait for the Birthday tea!


And here's the birthday girl with her adoring public!

Friday 26 September 2008

Tuesday 16 September 2008

Saint Phoebe the Deaconess



Happy Saint's day Phoebe!
Phoebe made Pasta bake and chocolate pudding for the family for dinner (well, it's better to give than to receive!), then she got a special present:

which she gets to ride to school tomorrow. You have no idea how exciting this is!

Monday 15 September 2008

All the fun of the fair!

Everyone had a nap today so we were well rested.

To spend the evening at the fair!





This was last year's picture, but it's still our favourite ride!


Wednesday 10 September 2008

Bit of a foodie, me!


The Omnivore's Hundred

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.


2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.


3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.


4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.


NB. They don't have formatting options for the very useful "I can't remember" or "what the hell is that" so I will have to annotate as we go.
I should state for the record that I’m currently an ovo-lacto vegetarian, who eats fish on high days, holy days, and if it’s something really yummy and someone else is paying! I also lived in Africa for a while and I’m very polite about not refusing food.



The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison

2. Nettle tea
 - In tea bags rather than wild but I think it still counts.
3. Huevos rancheros

4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
- As I say, I used to live in Africa.
6. Black pudding
 - A staple of English boarding school breakfasts
7. Cheese fondue

8. Carp
9. Borscht – Being Russian Orthodox we get to eat a lot of this!
10. Baba ghanoush

11. Calamari

12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi

15. Hot dog from a street cart
 - I have definitely eaten hotdogs. But from a street cart? I think I need to do one of those things where they open your brain and poke it to see if your memory works.

16. Epoisses
 - Don’t think so - but I can't bold for certain because I just don't know.
17. Black truffle – only grated as a garnish on top of pasta. Never done the whole tin foil thing.
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes – elderberry wine, strawberry wine, damson wine. Stop me if I’m boring you.
19. Steamed pork buns

20. Pistachio ice cream

21. Heirloom tomatoes

22. Fresh wild berries

23. Foie gras – not anymore. Well, maybe; if it was really offensive to refuse
24. Rice and beans


25. Brawn, or head cheese
- or face pie as my husband calls it. Doesn’t appeal, but I never say never!
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
 - are you insane?
27. Dulce de leche

28. Oysters

29. Baklava


30. Bagna cauda
 - some Italian dip, apparently
31. Wasabi peas
 - yum!
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
 - sort of have had the chowder and the soughdough bowl, but not at the same time!

33. Salted lassi
 - mango version – yes. Salted-no.
34. Sauerkraut

35. Root beer float

36. Cognac with a fat cigar – again had the cigar and the cognac, but not at the same time.
37. Clotted cream tea
- I come from the West Country – ‘Nuff said!
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O

39. Gumbo

40. Oxtail
- Once my father spent the entire week’s housekeeping money on a pallet of oxtail soup – not smart!
41. Curried goat

42. Whole insects
 - In Kenya we used to eat cooked flying ants, but just the fat bit on the back. Not the wings and thorax bit.

43. Phaal

44. Goat’s milk

45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
- My Scottish heritage!

46. Fugu
 - the exploding japanese death fish thingy? Um, no thanks.
47. Chicken tikka masala

48. Eel

49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
- have you not seen the size of my thighs?

50. Sea urchin
 - you peel it, I'll eat it
51. Prickly pear

52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone

54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal – one of the few things I wouldn’t consider eating under ANY circumstance
56. Spaetzle

57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV


59. Poutine
 - I haven't, but my Canadian friends reminisce every time we go to a fair.
60. Carob chips - Carob is the chocolate they serve you in Hell! (Ha ha! This is my friend’s comment but it’s good so I left it in!)
61. S’mores

62. Sweetbreads
 - Not sweet. Not bread. Rename, please.
63. Kaolin
 - We used to try drinking Kaolin and Morphine when we were teenagers – doesn’t work!
64. Currywurst
- oh yes! The worst of the wurst!

65. Durian

66. Frogs’ legs

67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake

68. Haggis 

69. Fried plantain

70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini

73. Louche absinthe
 - or perhaps I have drunk loads of it, explaining the memory loss evident throughout this meme (Ha ha! This is my friend’s comment but it’s good so I left it in!)
74. Gjetost, or brunost – Norwegian breakfast cheese – tastes of soap!
75. Roadkill – have eaten pheasants people have clipped with their cars then taken home. Not the stuff that’s been on the highway for weeks!

76. Baijiu

77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail

79. Lapsang souchong

80. Bellini

81. Tom yum

82. Eggs Benedict

83. Pocky –we get these in our stockings at Christmas.

84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
 - No, but if anyone's offering...
85. Kobe beef

86. Hare
87. Goulash

88. Flowers
 - nasturtiums in salad and crystalised violets and rose petals.

89. Horse

90. Criollo chocolate

91. Spam – Spam fritters are a staple of English boarding school meals
92. Soft shell crab

93. Rose harissa

94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano

96. Bagel and lox

97. Lobster Thermidor
 - one of the best meals I ever had!
98. Polenta

99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee

100. Snake



Feel free to take part!

Saturday 6 September 2008

Rainy days!

Shiny, happy people!





This is what we did while it was raining;





And this what we did when it wasn't;