I've had two Beko cookers inflicted on me by the landlord or the agents. They were both poor cookers: badly designed and with unreliable temperature control in the ovens.  The first one lasted a few years and was replaced in Xmas 2015. The new one lasted for about a year (the brand comes last in Which's most recent reliabilty survey, with one star ( Read more... )

After all the going-out of the last few days, today was planned to be a day of staying in and not doing anything much ( Read more... )

Mum and Dad sent a cheque this year, so I could buy what I liked for Xmas, and I chose to spend it on furniture. The four bookcases in my living room were all white, and perfectly functional, but not very satisfying as objects in themselves. I wanted some nice, mid-century teak furniture, like the sort I grew up with. I love the warm colour of teak ( Read more... )

Today has been a quiet day of rest and recovery following three busy and enjoyable Christmassy days.

( Tired but happy )

Weetabix breakfast biscuits are a very Beige food.

However, they are immesurably improved by spreading on a light layer of rum and raisin marmalade.

Tomorrow's cat show, the Notts and Derby, has been cancelled because of the weather. It's usually the first show of the year, and is convenient as an excuse for me and Helen to spend a day in Ikea. We'll have to make our visit to Ikea some other time instead.

At least there wasn't too much snow on Wednesday, as salmon_of_doubt and rhubarbtriangle came over to dinner. It was ( Read more... )

Made on Thursday, actually, but still eating it. The current soup is parsnip and carrot, seasoned with sage and black pepper. Very tasty and has a lovely texture to it. I've eaten two helpings and there's enough for a third. I worked out that the ingredients cost about 50p altogether, so that's pretty good value, per portion, for fresh soup. Of ( Read more... )

A couple of weeks ago, I bought myself a new kitchen gadget - a soup maker. Basically, it's a blender that attaches to a heating unit, with a timer. You can use it just as a regular blender/liquidizer, as well as for soups, sauces etc ( Read more... )

It was my birthday on Tues, last week. I had a lovely evening with the Chivers, plus Rich and Adam. It was pancake day, so we had pancakes with meaty, savoury filling, and then more pancakes with ice-cream, butterscotch sauce, and rum soaked raisins. It was all very nice, as was the Battenberg cake K had got for a birthday cake. We played a few ( Read more... )

This year I managed soemthing I've rather wanted to do for a while - today I attended the local Boxing Day meet in the town centre. OK, today isn't Boxing Day, but the meet of the Dunston Harriers was put back a day as Boxing Day fell on a Sunday last year. Horses and hounds actually first gathered by the sports field behind the library, which my ( Read more... )