Post a good thing that happened in your life today

[Allan Bell]

Received "Winter fuel payment" today. Better than the box of matches, three candles and two pints of diesel I quoted earlier.

 

Allan

 

[sb photos]

Pleased that I had my flu jab today, but there were some issues. This is one of those good and not so good posts. Arrived at 9:30am on time at a Lloyds Pharmacy within Sainsbury's, introduced myself and the two pharmacy assistants looked at each other with puzzled looks on their faces, obviously not encouraging. The pharmacist hadn't turned up and they were trying to get another in. They agreed to phone me if the situation changed. Lloyds phoned later, so returned for Flu jab. Flu vaccination was likely more important this year compared to many previous years of vaccinations. Then visited the small roadside anti HS2 camp alongside the A413 near Wendover, but was now too late for photographing Swampy and another protester who had discontinued their 28 days in a tunnel under the previous camp area now occupied by HS2. Temporary traffic lights to allow machinery to cross the road created huge queues and angry motorists honking horns. Other honking was motorists showing support for the protesters. Was still activities to photograph.

Edited November 13, 2021 by sb photos

[Betty LaRue]

I took advantage of an early Black Friday sale, and ordered online an air fryer. $149 before tax normally and I paid $82 including tax. I picked it up this morning, scanned the accompanying how-to booklets and had well-seasoned chicken thighs ready to eat shortly after. Much better texture than baking them, yet still healthy from frying with air instead of oil.

I tried some French fries this evening, chips to you. Came out great.

 

Funny… my fries, your chips. My chips, your crisps. Across the pond, at least. Although one chicken chain, many years ago, introduce fish and chips on the menu. Wrapped in a false newspaper print paper. The seasoned “chips” and fish came with vinegar packets. I absolutely loved them. My husband would often pick me up from work and we’d eat our meal at a park where we could view people playing tennis. For whatever reason, they took it off the menu a few years later. I’m still moaning about it.

Edited November 13, 2021 by Betty LaRue

[Michael Ventura]

1 hour ago, Betty LaRue said:

I took advantage of an early Black Friday sale, and ordered online an air fryer. $149 before tax normally and I paid $82 including tax. I picked it up this morning, scanned the accompanying how-to booklets and had well-seasoned chicken thighs ready to eat shortly after. Much better texture than baking them, yet still healthy from frying with air instead of oil.

I tried some French fries this evening, chips to you. Came out great.

 

Funny… my fries, your chips. My chips, your crisps. Across the pond, at least. Although one chicken chain, many years ago, introduce fish and chips on the menu. Wrapped in a false newspaper print paper. The seasoned “chips” and fish came with vinegar packets. I absolutely loved them. My husband would often pick me up from work and we’d eat our meal at a park where we could view people playing tennis. For whatever reason, they took it off the menu a few years later. I’m still moaning about it.

I got an air fryer earlier this year, seems to be the pandemic fad, here in The States. I have been very happy with it.  Food tastes great, healthier than frying, much faster than the oven, a lot less energy used and in the summer, you don’t have the oven heating up the kitchen, as mine does.  Enjoy it Betty!

[Bryan]

1 hour ago, Betty LaRue said:

I took advantage of an early Black Friday sale, and ordered online an air fryer. $149 before tax normally and I paid $82 including tax. I picked it up this morning, scanned the accompanying how-to booklets and had well-seasoned chicken thighs ready to eat shortly after. Much better texture than baking them, yet still healthy from frying with air instead of oil.

I tried some French fries this evening, chips to you. Came out great.

 

Funny… my fries, your chips. My chips, your crisps. Across the pond, at least. Although one chicken chain, many years ago, introduce fish and chips on the menu. Wrapped in a false newspaper print paper. The seasoned “chips” and fish came with vinegar packets. I absolutely loved them. My husband would often pick me up from work and we’d eat our meal at a park where we could view people playing tennis. For whatever reason, they took it off the menu a few years later. I’m still moaning about it.

I'd not heard of an air fryer prior to reading your post, but when I check they are available at our local shops. I don't think that we eat sufficient meat to justify the purchase, but interesting nevertheless. 

 

Re fish and chips, I generally find that the smell is nicer than the eating experience, for me the best component is the mushy peas with vinegar. Having said that, I'm home alone again this evening and a "paper" would be a possible solution. We have tins of mushy peas standing by in the larder.

 

I find that you generally get too much to eat and we typically buy one lot of chips between the two of us.

 

Yesterday I lightly fried  some cod in butter substitute and made a parsley sauce, accompanied by Charlotte spuds, fried onions, with spinach and the last courgette of the season. It's a meal I've never had before, but the allotment opens up new gastronomic experiences! The onions were slightly overdone, and the sauce a tad lumpy, but, washed down with a glass of Merlot, I cleared the plate.

[Betty LaRue]

7 minutes ago, Bryan said:

I'd not heard of an air fryer prior to reading your post, but when I check they are available at our local shops. I don't think that we eat sufficient meat to justify the purchase, but interesting nevertheless. 

 

Re fish and chips, I generally find that the smell is nicer than the eating experience, for me the best component is the mushy peas with vinegar. Having said that, I'm home alone again this evening and a "paper" would be a possible solution. We have tins of mushy peas standing by in the larder.

 

I find that you generally get too much to eat and we typically buy one lot of chips between the two of us.

 

Yesterday I lightly fried  some cod in butter substitute and made a parsley sauce, accompanied by Charlotte spuds, fried onions, with spinach and the last courgette of the season. It's a meal I've never had before, but the allotment opens up new gastronomic experiences! The onions were slightly overdone, and the sauce a tad lumpy, but, washed down with a glass of Merlot, I cleared the plate.

It’s not just for meat, Bryan. You can find Air fryer recipes on the Internet. I think I saw a recipe for onion rings, too. I will be exploring those.
My booklet has recipes for mozzarella sticks, Mac & cheese balls, garlic knots made from pizza dough, and on the Internet, zucchini tots, fried avocado tacos, air fryer chickpea nuts, bacon roasted potatoes, eggplant Parmesan, air fryer doughnuts…the list goes on. I even saw a recipe similar to my fruit fried pies. I’ll probably explore that recipe because I mess up the stove horribly when I make them. The mess is contained in an air fryer, which is very easy to clean when I’m done. It’s just the basket and plate that sits in the basket to clean, and it’s non-stick.

The stove? Many parts to take off and clean, then the whole surface around the burners. A 20 minute job against a 3 minute (air fryer) job.

[Michael Ventura]

Most everything I have made so far has been veggies, only made chicken wings once and they were pretty good.

[Betty LaRue]

51 minutes ago, Michael Ventura said:

I got an air fryer earlier this year, seems to be the pandemic fad, here in The States. I have been very happy with it.  Food tastes great, healthier than frying, much faster than the oven, a lot less energy used and in the summer, you don’t have the oven heating up the kitchen, as mine does.  Enjoy it Betty!

I plan on it, Michael! 😊  my sister has been cooking with one for two years. I have some frozen Minh pork egg rolls I will try in the fryer. They take a long time in the oven which I have to wait until it heats up to 425 degrees, then another 20 minutes to cook. I’ll probably shave off 2/3 of that total time with the air fryer. I like to dip them in a honey-mustard sauce.

[Betty LaRue]

2 minutes ago, Michael Ventura said:

Most everything I have made so far has been veggies, only made chicken wings once and they were pretty good.

I’ll definitely do those!

[Michael Ventura]

13 minutes ago, Betty LaRue said:

I plan on it, Michael! 😊  my sister has been cooking with one for two years. I have some frozen Minh pork egg rolls I will try in the fryer. They take a long time in the oven which I have to wait until it heats up to 425 degrees, then another 20 minutes to cook. I’ll probably shave off 2/3 of that total time with the air fryer. I like to dip them in a honey-mustard sauce.

Oh, I made those too, also with honey mustard! And yes, at a fraction of the time!

[Betty LaRue]

Just now, Michael Ventura said:

Oh, I made those too, also with honey mustard! And yes, at a fraction of the time!

Ohhh, good! Nice to know! I will do them tomorrow after your report.

[Dave Richards]

Went to John Lewis store and filled up our Quality Street tin with our favourite chocs ready for Christmas.😋

[Betty LaRue]

7 hours ago, Dave Richards said:

Went to John Lewis store and filled up our Quality Street tin with our favourite chocs ready for Christmas.😋

I’ll be right over. Why wait until Christmas?  I’ll bring the wine if I can figure out what goes with chocolate.

[Cecile Marion]

4 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

I’ll be right over. Why wait until Christmas?  I’ll bring the wine if I can figure out what goes with chocolate.

Champagne, darling. 😀

[Dave Richards]

8 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

I’ll be right over. Why wait until Christmas?  I’ll bring the wine if I can figure out what goes with chocolate.

You would be very welcome. Bring red wine, always goes well with chocolate. A nice Barolo is always good....................or bubbly! 🥂

Edited November 15, 2021 by Dave Richards

[Dave Richards]

4 hours ago, Cecile Marion said:

Champagne, darling. 😀

I'll go for that. Come on over 🥂

[Bryan]

What? wine, champagne etc ?? There is  only one accompaniment for chocolate, and that is malt whisky. 

 

Or a cup of tea.  🙃

 

I'm slightly addicted to fruit and nut dark chocolate and was encouraged by a recent revelation that a small quantity of dark chocolate, say 2 squares per day, is actually beneficial to health.

Edited November 15, 2021 by Bryan

[Ed Rooney]

 

 

 

Mushy peas hasn't made it across The Pond, Bryan. I consumed the above when I first arrived in Liverpool. 

 

My friend, Harvey Zucker, who some of you will remember as the owner of A Photographers Place bookstore in SoHo, NYC, had a successful fish & chips place next to the Sullivan Street Theatre in Greenwich Village. His wife was a Londoner and they did well with that place. 

 

I don't make a habit of eating deep-fried foods but there's nothing I won't eat occasionally. Oh wait, that's not true. I avoid processed meats (with added nitrogens) and most other foods that have been altered in anyway. In other words, I do the best I can. Can't drink tea; it makes me cough. I drink 2 mugs of strong black coffee with sugar in the morning. Yeah, sugar is bad for us -- but I don't eat chemicals like saccharin masquerading as food. 

[Bryan]

35 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

 

 

Mushy peas hasn't made it across The Pond, Bryan. I consumed the above when I first arrived in Liverpool. 

I think you may have been short changed on the fish there Edo, but I'd swap the mushy peas

 

 

We still have fish quays here in the north east, on the Wear and Tyne rivers, so fresh fish is a resource I should really make better use of.

[Allan Bell]

Now that's a fish.

 

 

 

Allan

 

Edited November 15, 2021 by Allan Bell

[Mr Standfast]

37 minutes ago, Bryan said:

I think you may have been short changed on the fish there Edo, but I'd swap the mushy peas

 

 

We still have fish quays here in the north east, on the Wear and Tyne rivers, so fresh fish is a resource I should really make better use of.

Fish and chips peas tea And bread and butter! The 1960s phoned they want their menu back! 😀 

[Ed Rooney]

 

Here's a generous portion in a place in Montreal city centre. Touristy but tasty.  

 

 

And this dish was at a non-Italian bistro on the corner of Mulberry and Grand, the heart of Little Italy. It lasted about a year. Basta. 

[Betty LaRue]

First time I ever heard of mushy peas. Rather grateful they weren’t served with my beloved fish & chips. I eat peas maybe 3 times a year and am very neutral to slightly “don’t care for” about them. I’ll buy them occasionally just for variety. If they go with anything…they go with meatloaf and mashed potatoes, which causes me to rather like them.

[Betty LaRue]

2 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

Here's a generous portion in a place in Montreal city centre. Touristy but tasty.  

 

 

And this dish was at a non-Italian bistro on the corner of Mulberry and Grand, the heart of Little Italy. It lasted about a year. Basta. 

Now you’re making me hungry.

[Allan Bell]

5 hours ago, Mr Standfast said:

Fish and chips peas tea And bread and butter! The 1960s phoned they want their menu back! 😀 

 

What do you mean 1960's menu?

 

I had that exact meal in 2019 in Bridlington by the sea.  Hmm! Well!  Maybe you have a point.

 

Still it was a nice meal.

 

Allan