Thursday, May 03, 2007
Visas
We learn that the US, having decided that people from some backgrounds present more of a risk to their homeland than those from others, are thinking about asking the former to get a visa before they visit - the backgrounds in question cutting across national lines. According to the DT, the first response from the Blair crew is that any differentiation between one group of UK citizens and another is out of the question. Divisive if not worse. To which the US might say: fine - you can all get visas. For once, I think I'm with them! Nowithstanding any blame there might be for the pickle we are in, given that we are in a pickle, they are entitled to defend themselves in this way if they want. If it damages their tourist business, that's their problem.
Excellent lunch yesterday with ox kidneys on toast. Cut them up, fry in some butter. Add carraway seeds. Some minutes later add some chopped onion. Some more minutes later add some chopped tomato. Simmer whole lot for hour or more, taking it down to a stiff dropping texture as they say of cake mixtures.
And a little while ago, a fine peice of brisket on the bone. Unlike the last peice we had, this one was from the thin end and looked really good raw. About seven pounds. Wrapped it up in foil and baked for about 10 hours at slow - 80C - then a couple of hours at 120C. Good gear - although suprisingly little juice or fat came out of it - barely a quarter of a pint. I was expecting loads of the stuff, as one gets from, say, shoulder of lamb. And another time I think I would either boil it or slow roast at a slightly higher temperature, perhaps 100C.
Day 2 and 3 had it in hash form - that is to say baked with some gravy and coarsely chopped raw potatoes. Day 4 saw it off as broth. And with all the bones and gristle very good broth it made too.
Runner beans now in; packet and a bit of Scarlet Emperor from Dobies, straight in the ground. Not had a lot of luck with bringing them on in pots recently. Trench a bit improvised - the intended trench having been taken over by potatoes - with only three barrow loads of leaf mould, rather than having lots of allotment compost (picture of bin to follow) in a proper trench - that is to say the stuff made from allotment waste rather than kitchen waste so not particularly composty. But the leaf mould was well rotted down and it will interesting to see what differance it makes. And I think I have the most impressive bean poles on the field, with the highest around 10 feet high and the whole construction reflecting well on a scouting background with pioneering specialisation. General construction the same as previous years: solid pole at each end with line wire strung between them and with the bean poles proper strung in pairs off the line wire. Two long side struts in the middle to give lateral stability. A novelty this year was simply hitching the poles to the line wire with a long, single peice of nylon cord, rather than separately tying each pair of poles. Quick and effective. We shall see whether the nylon rots in the sun. I have also strapped two rows of horizontal poles to the uprights to give the young plants a bit more to grip on. The luxury of lots of poles being the reward for chopping down the willow tree last Autumn, as previously mentioned.
Excellent lunch yesterday with ox kidneys on toast. Cut them up, fry in some butter. Add carraway seeds. Some minutes later add some chopped onion. Some more minutes later add some chopped tomato. Simmer whole lot for hour or more, taking it down to a stiff dropping texture as they say of cake mixtures.
And a little while ago, a fine peice of brisket on the bone. Unlike the last peice we had, this one was from the thin end and looked really good raw. About seven pounds. Wrapped it up in foil and baked for about 10 hours at slow - 80C - then a couple of hours at 120C. Good gear - although suprisingly little juice or fat came out of it - barely a quarter of a pint. I was expecting loads of the stuff, as one gets from, say, shoulder of lamb. And another time I think I would either boil it or slow roast at a slightly higher temperature, perhaps 100C.
Day 2 and 3 had it in hash form - that is to say baked with some gravy and coarsely chopped raw potatoes. Day 4 saw it off as broth. And with all the bones and gristle very good broth it made too.
Runner beans now in; packet and a bit of Scarlet Emperor from Dobies, straight in the ground. Not had a lot of luck with bringing them on in pots recently. Trench a bit improvised - the intended trench having been taken over by potatoes - with only three barrow loads of leaf mould, rather than having lots of allotment compost (picture of bin to follow) in a proper trench - that is to say the stuff made from allotment waste rather than kitchen waste so not particularly composty. But the leaf mould was well rotted down and it will interesting to see what differance it makes. And I think I have the most impressive bean poles on the field, with the highest around 10 feet high and the whole construction reflecting well on a scouting background with pioneering specialisation. General construction the same as previous years: solid pole at each end with line wire strung between them and with the bean poles proper strung in pairs off the line wire. Two long side struts in the middle to give lateral stability. A novelty this year was simply hitching the poles to the line wire with a long, single peice of nylon cord, rather than separately tying each pair of poles. Quick and effective. We shall see whether the nylon rots in the sun. I have also strapped two rows of horizontal poles to the uprights to give the young plants a bit more to grip on. The luxury of lots of poles being the reward for chopping down the willow tree last Autumn, as previously mentioned.
# posted by Jim @ 8:03 AM 
