All Bar One
Before Nowhere Boy last night, I had a drink in All Bar One in Cambridge. I was interested to see that they now have Aspall’s Cyder on draught. It would appear that many bars stock it as it is in the on-line Beer menu.
Even if the bar doesn’t have Aspall, they mention lots of other proper ciders and no mentions of the dreaded chemical ones with added nastiness.
Most All Bar One usually have newspapers to read and some even have the Beano. There is also usually something on the menu that is gluten-free too!
I Cooked my first Christmas Dinner last Night
I’m sixty-two and last night I cooked my first Christmas Dinner.
Because of the snow and travel problems, I had bought a Marks and Spencer Turkey Breast Joint, in case I have to spend Christmas alone. But with last night’s snow, I had two extra mouths to feed, so I decided to cook the turkey.
I was aided by some broccoli and parsnips donated by a farmer and luckily I had potatoes and some ready-prepared Schwatz gravy. Note that that gravy is gluten-free, so it’s fine for coeliacs like me. My guests don’t like sprouts, so they stayed in the fridge.
It was very passable. All my guests enjoyed it.
I even enjoyed the parsnips, which my mother used to cook so badly with the potatoes. I just followed the rules on the BBC web site. This must be the font of all knowledge for novice cooks like me.
Hopefully, the weather will relent by Christmas Day.
Smoking in California Prisons
I hadn’t realised this but California is one of the few places where prisoners are not allowed to smoke. Or at least those who have been admitted after a certain day. A post on the Internet says that it has caused no-end of problems.
It now appears that they have now banned salt and pepper on health grounds.
As California has one of the highest prison populations in the world, these measures don’t seem to be too effective at cutting crime.
Being a Coeliac in Holland
I travel to Holland quite a bit and to Den Haag in particular. In fact, I’ve just come back from a few days in the Dutch capital.
So how do I manage as a coeliac in Holland?
On last Friday, I went for lunch in a cafe in Amsterdam called Puccini. It’s in the Staalstraat fairly close to the Amstel River and the Town Hall and the new Music Theatre. Most of the food was the usual bread offering, but they gave me a delicious salmon salad with no problems. Just remember that gluten-free is gluten-frij or gluten-fry! At least if they know about gluten, you will get food without a problem.
I would say that the level of knowledge in restaurants and cafes in major cities is about the same as in London or Cambridge.
But the biggest help is Albert Heijn. This is the Dutch equivalent of Waitrose or an upmarket Tesco Metro. You don’t have to know your Dutch, as every one of their own label products is labeled with the gluten-free symbol, if that what it is. If you’re still not sure, you can usually check the ingredients, even if they are in Dutch, as food names seem to be similar, even if the spelling is unpronounceable.
Woolpack, Ipswich
The Woolpack is a pub which is within walking distance of the town centre of Ipswich.
I was having a drink in the pub before the football on Tuesday and the landlady informed me that her husband, the chef, cooked everything from scratch and knew all about gluten-free food.
I think I’ll try the pub next time I’m in the town for a meal.
Sausage and Lentil Hotpot
I wanted something different and stole this one from Waitrose.
My version used the following ingredients.
- 1 leek, sliced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 pack of Black Farmer sausages
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 large carrot, cut into cubes
- 1tsp ground cumin
- 2 bay leaves
- 200g lentils
- 200g cavolo nero cabbage, shredded
The method was as follows.
- Heat the oil in a large pan, add the sausages and fry for 5 minutes until browned. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon. Add the onion, garlic, leek and carrot and cook for 5 minutes until softened.
- Add the cumin, bay leaves and lentils with 1.5 litres water. Bring to the boil then simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until thick and soupy and the lentils are almost tender.
- Stir in the cabbage, return the sausages to the pan, cover, and cook for a further 5 minutes until the cabbage is tender.
- Discard the bay leaves and season. Serve in warmed bowls
It was good.
Lowering the Drink Drive Limit
The government has asked a legal expert to examine whether the drink drive limit should be lowered.
I’m not bothered for myself, as I usually only drink a reasonable amount each night in the privacy of my own home. Strangely, over the past few months, when I have gone out for a drink, it’s usually been for a meal as well and the amount I’ve drunk has been usually in the order of a glass of wine. Or I’ve been on a bicycle or driven by one of my children, none of whom drink alcohol.
But I am bothered for the pubs I visit locally. Will they still survive if patrons don’t drink? I suspect that as we never see a policeman in this part of Suffolk, that no-one would get caught unless they crashed.
But the whole episode shows the stupidity of Prudence and his government. He would never get the law on the statute book before the next election, so he would surely lose enough votes in the run-up to make it absolutely sure that Labour was voted out by a landslide.
The other parties must be laughing their heads off.
But anyway it’s all right for our national politicians. They live a lot of the time in London with tubes, buses and taxis. Many of them too have chauffeurs.
If like me you live in deepest Suffolk, we have no buses and tubes, and taxis to get home will often cost more than a meal for one with wine.
Meeting the Black Farmer
I like the sausages produced by the Black Farmer. So I was glad to see that he was at Presents Galore in Newmarket over the weekend. I was also a pleasure to meet him personally at the show and buy some sausages and bacon.
The sausages were pork, onion and chive. I had a pack on Saturday night witha friend. They were delicious.
It’s a pity his products are not too easy to get in Suffolk. Sainsburys used to stock them in Haverhill, but don’t now. I’ve signed his petition.
Do Dogs Work on a 23 Hour Day?
My housekeeper feeds the dogs at about mid-day.
So if I go anywhere near the kitchen from about eleven in the morning at the weekend, they are there staring wistfully at me, as if they haven’t eaten for months.
Chinese Food at the Phoenix, Histon
This is one of my favourite restaurants, so much so that when I took the pictures of the busway, I included a picture.
Phoenix Chinese Restaurant, Histon
I went last night and had an excellent meal.
As a coeliac I sometimes fear restaurants, as I’m not sure about how things are cooked. The waiter explained that most dishes are cooked with potato flour, which surprised me and that soy sauce was a problem.
For a starter, I had crispy lamb wrapped in a lettuce leaf. Note that lettuce leaves are a great alternative to pancakes and totally gluten-free.
I followed it with beef and lemon chicken. That incidentally uses custard powder, which I wasn’t sure about, but I have had no reaction today.
So if you’re travelling down the A14, visit the Phoenix, which is about two kilometres from the road on the B1049 going north.
The Anonymous Widower 