Tescowatch : an occasional series
TESCO snapped up half of all the new shopping space in Britain this year once store closures were taken into account, according to data obtained by The Sunday Times.
More here.
another year over …
well, not quite – and I will be writing up some stuff about 2006; I bet you can all barely contain yourselves. I hope you all had a jolly time.
we had a very quiet festering season, which is exactly what we wanted. We collected kalunina from Temple Meads on Friday afternoon, and apart from a brief foray to North Street for veg and brunch on Saturday, we didn’t stir out of the house again* until we returned her to Bristol Parkway (why she used two different stations, lord knows). And we saw nobody apart from Pat and Dave (WANOLJ) who popped over on Xmyth Eve with some home made gifts of fudge and damson vodka.
mostly, we cooked and ate, as follows:
- Friday: lasagne with embedded spinach, something that I tried once when we had some of the green stuff to use up, and it worked fabulously well. Just bung a load of fresh washed spinach in between the last meat and bechamel layers.
- Saturday: lunch in cafe in North Street, boeuf stroganoff and chips for supper. I know, I know: chips. In my defence, it’s Rick Stein’s idea, and it works so well …
- Sunday was 24 hour roast chili and lemon pork. I was so looking forward to this – and I was all geared up to do all the fiddly stuff on Saturday night. But it was disappointing – very dry, and no gravy juices. Don’t think I’d bother again. We had it with sweet potato/ordinary potato mash, which was delicious. And some sprouts.
- The Day bought forth roast goose with apple sauce, red cabbage, sprouts, roast parsnips, roast spuds, home made sage and onion stuffing. All cooked as a team effort, dished up right on time at 3 p.m., and all perfect. I was well chuffed. We were far too stuffed for pudding, and barely managed anything else all day!
- Boxing Day – cold cuts, including a gammon boiled and baked in spices according to the blessed Nigella, which was beautiful.
we also consumed home made sossidge rolls (go me), mince pies (dozens), walnut bread (go pete), grapes, and god knows what else.
tonight perlmonger is cooking his wonderful indian lentils with spinach – we’ve eaten *far* too well over the past few days, and we’re both suffering from it :)
*actually, we did go for a walk down the part of the River Avon trail yesterday, but it was miserable and damp, and the cold got right into my joints. My arthritis really is bothering me right now, but hey ho.
now we’re going to go into hibernation until NYE, when we will be holding our usual Open House. If anyone in the Bristol area (or further afield for that matter) would like to join us, drop me a mail to my LJ address, and I’ll furnish you with details.
I said I wasn’t much of a baker
but I’m quite pleased with this – it’ s a work in progress, but it’s coming along nicely.
it has a sort of amateur charm, don’t you think?
quite like this …
By mac and has no comments yet.
How oft at Christmas-tide the sight
Of green ramtops gives us delight.
O Christmas Tree
from the Christmas Song Generator.
round of applause
By mac and has no comments yet.
to Hotel Chocolat. I ordered two boxes of stuff, and last night I found a package outside the front door – odd, as we were in all day.
it was all overwrapped with grey tape and polythene, and when I opened it, there was *one* box of chox inside. We get [cough] quite a lot from there, and I’ve never seen it packed like that, and the despatch note said there should be two boxes. I spent 10 minutes on their customer care line, and then had to go out for xmyth drinkies with neighbours.
got back on the phone at 8 this morning and explained the situation, and they are going to replace the missing box (which was sent) via their gold courier service, and while they couldn’t promise, they should be here in time.
bloody good service, I thought. But I’d better buy some more choccies just in case they don’t arrive, don’t you think?
our christmas message
I’m quite surprised perlmonger let me send this out – I must have caught him at a weak moment :)
bouncy
regular readers may remember the neighbours with the trampoline.
last week, he was spotted *dismantling his shed*, and we became cautiously optimistic that they might finally have sold up. And today, Matt From Next Door knocked on the door to tell us that a large hire van was outside the house, and was being loaded – they’ve gone! No more trampolining, thank $deity.
I fervently hope two things:
- that the new occupants aren’t too disappointed when they find out they won’t get planning permission for an extension, because the estate agent was overheard telling them that they “could just take the garage down and build an extension”, and they won’t get planning permission, and
- that the sodding trampoline was not included in the fixtures and fittings!
Sunday
By mac and has no comments yet.
I slept till about8.45, which is almost unheard of for me. We flung back the curtains (well, you know what I mean) to find a gorgeous bright sunlight outside, so decided to go for a walk. Before even a cup of tea had been drunk!
we were out for about three hours – all round the fields on the village circular walk on the north side of the village, through the sheep and cabbage, then down to the farm shop for chicken, black pudding, bacon, gammon and potatoes, then over Weston Road, and through the fields to the railway path (where Pete spotted this lovely lady) and home.
then I made some scones as a late brunch, baked the aforeposted sossidge rolls, cooked a roast chicken and accoutrements, and collapsed in front of “Gideon’s Daughter” which we’d kept on the Tivo, and was well worth a second watch.
and then we dragged our exhausted skelingtons to bed :)
sausage rolls
By mac and has 3 comments.
I’m a good cook, but I’m not great at baking. And I’m lousy at pastry.
however, inspired by this recipe which claimed to be “easy flaky pastry”, I thought I’d give it a go.
I had to get perlmonger to come and grate for a while – it was hard work. But *I* rolled out the pastry, and rolled out the sausage meat, and brushed it all with eggy stuff, and put it in the oven, and baked them. And they were *gorgeous*.
the sage plant in the garden had died, so I made do with some rosemary, and a hefty grating of nutmeg.
go me, I think. And we only ate three – the rest have gone in the freezer.
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