Friday, November 07, 2008
Old mince for new
After two days of Devon slaughtered lamb cold with hot vegetables - a dish from childhood which seems to be coming back into our vogue as we head into our second childhood - decided that enough was enough and minced the balance. Added minced carrot and onion, simmered gently for a while. Added minced cold cooked carrot and swede. And, for a change, added minced uncooked runner beans. The bean part that is, from beans that were too long in the tooth to contemplate eating. Went down very well; a reminder that minced cold meat is quite differant from the minced raw meat one buys at a butcher. I guess that part of the differance is the differant quality of the meat; roasting meat rather than the scraps and srags that go into butchers' mince. (Not that there is anything wrong with this last. Plenty of nourishment there). And part is the differant texture you get from mincing cold rather than mincing raw. As a food texture buff, a differance I am very alive to.
We also learnt, the the Spong people whom I had thought only made mincers - we have a large example in my desk in our front room - also make, or at least used to make, cutlery. They were responsible for the Exminster bread knife.
And back in Epsom, have topped up the lentil levels with half a gallon of lentil soup of which I have done maybe a third for breakfast. There not being any carrots I had to use white cabbage in their place. Seemed to work OK. And the bacon was dry cured from Devon. A bit salty - and I think I prefer the smoked streaky from Cheam. Let's hope he has some today.
Spent the first part of this morning lifting a thirty year old carpet, most of the backing of which had turned into a black powder. Luckily a fairly heavy powder which did not seem to get everywhere - but maybe the BH will take a differant view on that point. Whoever put the carpet down read the Daily Mail and the Observer - an odd combination - former being for the middle classes and the latter for the middle classes with pretensions. Sufficiently long ago for the Daily Mail to be advertising jobs for print workers - I think that it used to be the paper for those trades, rather as the Evening News used to be the paper for the building trades, and for the Observer to look posh.
Second part of the morning converting a chest of drawers back into its natal flat pack format. Wonderful things wrecking bars once you get going. A smart crack on the interior of a drawer and it flies apart. A smart crack on the knob and it flies off. From the wreckage have recovered maybe a dozen 1.5 inch chipboard screws with a wide thread. Must be made of very hard steel because when whacked with the wrecking bar they simply smashed out of the chipboard rather than bending.
Day before yesterday afternoon to Dawlish Warren. Remains a wonderful place, even if a third of it is a golf course and another third is in the hands of the RSPB. Tide well out; occasional bird calls drifting about in the late afternoon air. A small dead dogfish washed up on the beach which did not appear to be attracting the attention of the gulls. We wondered why not. They don't seem too fussy most of the time.
Most of the breakwaters were put in about 40 years ago, but there is a remnant of the series before that. Perhaps 80 years old? The uprights were six inch diameter round post in good condition, but with interesting wear on their tops - which looked rather like the serrated teeth of a herbivore like a cow - only circular rather than rectangular. One then wondered whether cold salt water was a preservative: brine does for meat so why not for posts? Wouldn't do in the tropics though, where even salt water is infested with all kinds of wood eating livestock.
Back to the pub at the head of the Warren for tea - which was very good value at £1.35 for a pot for two. We forgave them the lack of saucer for one of the cups. Pub rather like a Wetherspoons in style and the only place open, tricked out with a seaside decor. One interesting old-looking board on the wall claimed to be a sign from a Dawlish pilchard merchant who had been established in 1590. Rather a clever fake; diverting and easy to do once you get the knack.
We also learnt, the the Spong people whom I had thought only made mincers - we have a large example in my desk in our front room - also make, or at least used to make, cutlery. They were responsible for the Exminster bread knife.
And back in Epsom, have topped up the lentil levels with half a gallon of lentil soup of which I have done maybe a third for breakfast. There not being any carrots I had to use white cabbage in their place. Seemed to work OK. And the bacon was dry cured from Devon. A bit salty - and I think I prefer the smoked streaky from Cheam. Let's hope he has some today.
Spent the first part of this morning lifting a thirty year old carpet, most of the backing of which had turned into a black powder. Luckily a fairly heavy powder which did not seem to get everywhere - but maybe the BH will take a differant view on that point. Whoever put the carpet down read the Daily Mail and the Observer - an odd combination - former being for the middle classes and the latter for the middle classes with pretensions. Sufficiently long ago for the Daily Mail to be advertising jobs for print workers - I think that it used to be the paper for those trades, rather as the Evening News used to be the paper for the building trades, and for the Observer to look posh.
Second part of the morning converting a chest of drawers back into its natal flat pack format. Wonderful things wrecking bars once you get going. A smart crack on the interior of a drawer and it flies apart. A smart crack on the knob and it flies off. From the wreckage have recovered maybe a dozen 1.5 inch chipboard screws with a wide thread. Must be made of very hard steel because when whacked with the wrecking bar they simply smashed out of the chipboard rather than bending.
Day before yesterday afternoon to Dawlish Warren. Remains a wonderful place, even if a third of it is a golf course and another third is in the hands of the RSPB. Tide well out; occasional bird calls drifting about in the late afternoon air. A small dead dogfish washed up on the beach which did not appear to be attracting the attention of the gulls. We wondered why not. They don't seem too fussy most of the time.
Most of the breakwaters were put in about 40 years ago, but there is a remnant of the series before that. Perhaps 80 years old? The uprights were six inch diameter round post in good condition, but with interesting wear on their tops - which looked rather like the serrated teeth of a herbivore like a cow - only circular rather than rectangular. One then wondered whether cold salt water was a preservative: brine does for meat so why not for posts? Wouldn't do in the tropics though, where even salt water is infested with all kinds of wood eating livestock.
Back to the pub at the head of the Warren for tea - which was very good value at £1.35 for a pot for two. We forgave them the lack of saucer for one of the cups. Pub rather like a Wetherspoons in style and the only place open, tricked out with a seaside decor. One interesting old-looking board on the wall claimed to be a sign from a Dawlish pilchard merchant who had been established in 1590. Rather a clever fake; diverting and easy to do once you get the knack.
# posted by Jim @ 1:37 AM 
