Mixed Blessings

Looked out the window this morning, sunshine and the park

Good combination.

Left the house 20 minutes later. Wind, Rain, Crap. Might as well have been in Prestwick airport.

This sort of day leaves you confused.

Part optimism (no doubt bolstered by thoughts of 'The Matador' arriving tomorrow, now the next orderer in the Cirle of Trust has got his act together)

Part Depression (could be something to do with the bad meatball wrap at lunch - shop on brewer street which is generally ok - as if meatballs were going to be good - schoolboy.)

The cure is Szechuan Pepper.

Try this Spicy Eggplant with plain rice and steamed chinese greens.

If you don't eat meat, add spring onions, red peppers and more aubergine.

In fact add the spring onions and red pepper anyway for colour against the black aubergines.

If you don't like spicy food, don't make this - in fact sod off entirely.

Pie review tomorrow....

Hard Life.

Tuesday.

Sunshine demands thinking of summer food

So, Forman and Field Smoked Salmon, granary bread, salted english butter, pepper, unwaxed lemons. Salad. New Potatoes

Hard Life.

Slow Food

So, start a blog.

Easy - now I suppose you have to keep writing the damn thing.

So here goes, last post was a while back, and what memorable things have I managed to stick in my face since then.

Eat's French Onion Soup - always slightly disappointing I feel. Needs some kind of booze in it.

Certain nondescript sandwiches from Tesco's. Always too cold but I never have time to leave them to warm up.

Friday night started well with a brief cider tour of Soho (Addlestones, Old Rosie, Aspalls), small pitstop at the Tappit Hen for a birthday drink with The Hobbit and ended up at Aintnothinbut on Kingly Street with a man of slim stamina we'd not seen in a long time. We = me and The Hunter of Lucky Charms. Great band, mad crowd, Charm hunter got Lucky, nightbus home.

....

Sucked in by that purveyor of fine Friday night fare, The Chick King.

Lovely guy on the counter provided chicken that was probably fried on Monday - still it hasn't killed me yet. - Five spicy wings, fries and a chicken portion for £3 at 3am. Not bad at all really.

My latest not hating myself strategy is to only eat as much as I can before I get home (generally about 50%) then put the rest in the bin.

Cider £??

Nightbus £1.50

Hangover reduction therapy £3

Not smelling/seeing fried chicken carcass on Saturday morning... well you can guess the rest.

More on that later.

Meaty Goodness

I just managed to tear myself away from another pint of Landlord in the Blue Posts on Friday to return home to bake the day's pie deliveries.

Oh and a pizza.

Cooking was as easy as described with the jelly injection providing satisfyingly chemistry lesson feel to the process.

Anyway - due to spending Saturday having lunch at Villandry (not bad but out of the way and the service a bit crap) and having a very good dinner at a friends house on Saturday - which ran into brunch and dinner again there were no opportune moments to sample the pies.

Until today.

Fantastic.

Accompanied by green salad, vine tomatoes, spicy peppers, Granary Roll, Olives, Branston, and English mustard. Oh and a small slice of Lincolnshire Poacher

So hat's off to Nell's pork pies they have indeed in the words of one taste tester 'set the bar very high'

Cost - All in about £5 I'd guess. Pies are 2.40 plus about 1.10 / 1.50 postage.

And I could have had piccalilli.

BTW - much thanks to M&J for looking after us so well for so long

Soft Centre

Slightly following on from yesterday, and in discussion with today's lunch companions the future direction of this blog is forming.

It's not just about life, it's primarily about the lunch you live.

What, where, how much, would you go back, some kind of rating system.

If anyone else was reading this then I'd ask them for help in devising the ratings.

hello....

hello.....

Bugger.

Anyway.

Today's lunch.

Probably one of the best pies in central london.

Location: At The Windmill with two very good friends.

The Food: Beef and Mushroom pie (short / puff pastry), mash, mushy peas. - Pretty much perfection where steak pie is concerned with amazing gravy that escapes across the plate to merge with the potato as you cut into it.

Cost: £8.50 but was kindly bought by I for R and me.

Service: Grumpy as ever - but not in a bad way

Drinks: Bombardier

BTW- more on pies on Monday as I have just taken delivery of what are supposed to be the best pork pies in the country.

Now eating crapo gum - supposed to have a liquid centre - What is the point of that in a chewing gum?

And vanilla? - what were they thinking.

Links: http://www.windmillmayfair.co.uk/

Not Born Evil

Some are born evil, some become evil and some have evil thrust upon them....

Well yes to the last two, but no to the first. I'm pretty sure that there are people who are perhaps born genetically predisposed to act on impulse.

Combine those impulses with poor control, a certain moral turpitude and the right set of circumstances and all the ingredients are there for a lovely evil soup for the soul.

But, same person, different upbringing, different circumstances - maybe they just kick the dog every now and again. Bit wrong, but probably not evil in the grand scheme of things.

Just for clarity - I saw this evil / not evil thing on a site run by Toshiba to win a laptop.

I'd like a new laptop. - Not evil

BTW - just ate a lovely yellow plum, now eating rubbish chewing gum.

Wish I was still smoking.

Welcome

I guess most people know what they are going to write here.....

I'm not so sure I do, but I'm sure a lot of it might involve food.

Be back when I do.

BTW - Lunch today

Baked Ham, Montgomery Cheddar and Imaginary Piccalilli toasted Sandwich (£5) - Fernandez and Wells on Lexington Street. (Nice Deli - shame about the owner? -miserable guy with a beard? ) Anyway at £5 the promised piccalilli should have been in the damn sandwich.

Couple of gherkins on the side helped a lot.

Ho hum