Problems with Genius Bread
I like the Genius gluten-free bread, as the texture seems to be just right for me. It also makes very good toast, which I like to have with proper jam or marmelade. I suppose, I’ve been eating it for perhaps a year, since it started to be stocked in Waitrose in Newmarket.
But I’ve been having problems with it lately, in that it tends to grow a spotty mould after only a couple of days, so I have to throw it away. This probably started a couple of months ago.
I thought that it might be me, but then I use the same bread bin as I did in Suffolk, I keep the bread properly wrapped, when I’ve cut it for the first time. I also thought it could be the air in London, which hasn’t been of too high a quality since about CHristmas.
But then in Waitrose in Upper Street, Islington, when I was reaching for a new loaf, a lady was doing the same. So I asked her, if she’d had a problem with the bread and she said yes.
I did report it in store at Customer Services to an assistant, who seemed to know the product well as she said she had a wheat intolerance.
So is this a temporary problem or something more serious?
A First Visit to ExCel
ExCel is an exhibition and conference centre in London’s Docklands. Despite it being opened for several years, I’ve never gone.
Until today, when I went to see Grand Designs Live.
It is certainly a lot better than Earls Court or Olympia, which have been tired for years.
I was even able to get a gluten-free salad and a fresh orange juice.
Gluten-Free Salad and Juice at ExCel
My only worry is the wooden disposable cutlery. It often isn’t strong enough for my hands.
I remember asking for any gluten-free options at Earls Court some years ago and got a reply which was something like. “There is none and anyway if we offered anything, we wouldn’t sell any, as you’re the first that’s asked.”
I got no reply to my letter of complaint.
Some People Have All the Luck
This pub will be coining it in after the wedding.
The Shape of Things To Come
BBC London has just reported live from a party in Canning Town. Some may think that the royal wedding is a waste of space, but not the East End.
Roll on the Olympics!
Harira
This is another recipe from One-pot Cooking (“Australian Women’s Weekly”)
The ingredients are as follows and are enough for four.
- 100 g. of green lentils
- 500g diced lamb, cut into 1 cm. pieces. I got it from the butchery counter in Waitrose already cut up.
- 1 medium onion, chopped finely.
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed. I used garlic granules.
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- pinch of saffron threads
- 1.5 litres water
- 400g can chikpeas, rinsed and drained
- 100g of long grain rice.
- 3 small tomatoes, finely chopped
- ¼ cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley
The method was as follows.
- Cook lentils, lasmb, onion, garlic and spices in a large flameproof casserole dish, sirring until lamb is browned.
- Add the water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer covered for one hour.
- Add chickpeas, rice and tomato to dish.
- Simmer uncovered for about 20 minutes or until rice is just tender.
- Stir in the parsley.
It was simple, pretty quick and everybody liked it.
Giving Up On Real Garlic
Is this lazy, as I’ve just bought some garlic granules in Waitrose? But I do find getting the pesky cloves out and crushing them.
On the package of garlic granules is a recipe for Garlic Mushrooms.
- Preheat the oven to 220°C or Gas Mark 7.
- Remove the stalks from 500g medium cup mushrooms and arrange the mushrooms, rounded side down, in a baking dish.
- Mix together 75g. softened butter, 2 tsp garlic granules, the juice and grated zest of half a lemon, 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, salt and pepper.
- Divide the garlic butter between the mushroom cups.
- Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the mushrooms are soft and the garlic butter is sizzling.
- Serve with bread to mop-up the juice.
Pizza Express in Swansea
I made very little progress in finding a gluten-free restaurant in Swansea, so it had to be a tuna salad with a glass of wine at Pizza Express.
It was a great improvement on my dreadful trip to Coventry, where the waitress had learned her trade by watching Catherine Tate videos. But saying that, Pizza Express in Leeds had been very good too.
Swansea is also a Pizza Express with good views of the old Swansea Castle.
Swansea Castle
The waiter also told me how to find the Liberty Stadium, which wasn’t shown on any direction signs or maps.
Network Rail’s Pigeon Eradicator
This is not what you think it is on the platforms at London Paddington!
Network Rail's Pigeon Eradicator
It has shades of Hancock in The Radio Ham, where he was annoyed with pigeons on his aerials, so he gave them 1,000 volts and a very cheap thrill.
You may think it is to stop the pigeons sitting on the video cameras, but it is a fiendish device to kill them, by giving them a large electric shock. Note how one camera is angled so it can see the pigeons on the spikes. This allowed the charge to be accurately timed. The pigeons are then recycled in the meat pies on the trains from London.
Football Shirt Sponsorship
Years ago, many of the top football clubs had shirts that were sponsored by drinks companies.
I’m just watching Manchester United and Everton on the television. United are sponsored by Aon, who are an insurance company, although they are a lot more than that! Everton on the other hand are sponsored by Chang, which is a beer company. To me, a brewer is someone who makes real ale, and I doubt that the Thai company who makes it observe the same principles as say Adnams or the Germans. I don’t think that you would call Chang a significant player in the UK drinks market. It’s certainly something that I as a coeliac couldn’t drink safely. The tie-up between Everton and Chang also has some interesting links to post-tsunami projects, so it could be seen as being benficial to both partners. It certainly doesn’t promote excessive drinking.
So are any other clubs in the English Premier League sponored by drinks companies. Carlsberg used to sponasor Liverpool and in fact the Premier League, but I don’t think they do anymore. Obviously, advertising at football in England doesn’t make sense to them now.
So who sponsor the shirts of the other teams? The complete list is here.
- Arsenal – Emirates – airline
- Aston Villa – FxPro – financial trading
- Birmingham – F & C Investments – finance
- Blackburn Rovers – Crown Paints – paint
- Blackpool – Wonga – finance
- Bolton – 188Bet – gambling
- Chelsea – Samsung – electronics
- Everton – Chang – alcoholic beverages
- Fulham – FxPro – financial trading
- Liverpool – Standard Chartered – finance
- Manchester City – Etihad – airline
- Manchester United – AON – finance
- Newcastle United – Northern Rock – finance
- Stoke City – Britannia Building Society – finance
- Sunderland – Tombola – gambling
- Tottenham Hotspur – Autonomy – technology and Investec – finance
- West Bromwich Albion – Homeserve – emergency repair experts
- West Ham – SBOBET – gambling
- Wigan Athletic – 188Bet – gambling
- Wolverhampton Wanderers – Sportingbet – gambling
If you look at many of these companies, it is unlikely I would ever deal with them. Perhaps the only ones I might use are the airlines and perhaps one or two of the finance companies. As to the betting companies, I wouldn’t use any as if I have a bet it’s on Betfair. But the only company, which anyone could possibly have any serious objection to is Wonga, which is a very high interest rate lender, that I would never touch with a bargepole. Unless of course, they were to pay me serious money for consultancy, which is unlikely.
With the exception of Everton and their deal with Chang, there are no sponsorships from alcoholic beverage companies. I think this is a good thing.
Surely though, the sponsorship of Stoke City by the Britannia Building Society is the most interesting, in that no-one can have objection to a well-run building society can they? Especially, as it is one of the longest running deals in English football.
When it comes to the nPower Championship, I can’t remember seeing a drinks company on a shirt this season.
So what about the Scottish Premier League
- Aberdeen – Team Recruitment – recruitment
- Celtic – Tennents – alcoholic beverages
- Dundee United – Calor – energy
- Hamilto – Reid Furniture – furniture
- Hearts – UKIO – finance
- Hibernian – Crabbie’s – alcoholic beverages
- Inverness – Orion Group – recruitment
- Kilmarknock – Verve – motor dealer
- Motherwell – Commsworld – communications
- Rangers – Tennetts – alcoholic beverages
- St. Johnstone – Taylor Wimpey – house builder
- St. Mirren – Carbrini – sportswear
One or two of these might have changed, but two stand out. Both Glasgow teams are sponsored by the same alcohol company.
Surely with their history of alcohol-fuelled violence at the matches and domestic violence afterwards, this is a very good idea.
Especially, as alcohol can’t be advertised on television and all Old Firm matches are televised.
In fact, I would support a total ban of the shirt sponsorship by alcohol companies throughout Europe.
How To Get Up a Coeliac’s Nose
If there is one thing that annoys me living here, it is the amount of junk I get through my letter box. Most is flyers for fast food restaurants, none of which I would dream of using. As most of the food on offer is gluten-rich, it would do me harm.
I actually had one today from Subway, who claim that all their meat is halal. But their gluten-free offerings can be counted on the fingers of Nelson’s right hand.
I shall be sending a copy of this post to Subway.
The Anonymous Widower 