29 December 2022

Fading air fryer fervour sends gadget to the cooling rack

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CAN’T help wondering how many of the doubtless thousands of air fryers bought in the Christmas shopping madness will end up discarded, re-gifted  or otherwise dumped. This must surely be the most useless bit of kitchen gadgetry ever. Over-publicised, over-promoted and  oversold it is destined for the dump once reality bites. As commented on here… Continue Reading

29 December 2022

Fading air fryer fervour sends gadget to the cooling rack

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CAN’T help wondering how many of the doubtless thousands of air fryers bought in the Christmas shopping madness will end up discarded, re-gifted  or otherwise dumped. This must surely be the most useless bit of kitchen gadgetry ever. Over-publicised, over-promoted and  oversold it is destined for the dump once reality bites. As commented on here… Continue Reading

11 November 2022

Frying the air is no way to cook

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Kitchen gadgets come and go. Yet so few stay with us unless stored well out of sight and accessibility. There is a damned good reason for this; cooking is a sensory art. A touchy feely joy; the fondling foreplay before the final act of love – presenting your creation. It can be as simple or… Continue Reading

18 December 2021

Alco-free bubbles: boozing minus hangovers

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alcohol-free wine

BOUGHT a couple of bottles of alcohol-free wine. One a bubbly, the other labelled as a Merlot. Friends and dearly beloveds familiar with my past indiscretions might be worried about my sanity on hearing this news. Wondering if this statement is another piece of  fiction. Or whether years of running have finally taken their toll…. Continue Reading

17 September 2021

Fishy feelings over dubious delights of national dish

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WHAT is so damned special about fish and chips? The question has to be asked after again foolishly succumbing to the fiction that a chunk of lukewarm battered cod and a heap of pale limp would-be chips is the food of the gods. An endlessly desirable feast for a nation. A national treasure even. Allegedly… Continue Reading

17 May 2021

Restaurant reviews too tough to digest

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DINERS everywhere are champing at the bit. No more heavy dependence on takeaways and ready meals. No more huddling outdoors beneath heaters and umbrellas to “enjoy” a meal with family and friends. We can venture inside our favourite restaurants to escape the British summer’s Atlantic gales; seated at table, a menu to peruse, staff to… Continue Reading

29 May 2020

Even humble hummus can become too much to bear

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IT appears that waste is good. More than that, it is to be encouraged rather than discouraged, despite the extent to which it is universally decried. This is proved time and again on my regular excursions to buy the necessities of life. The recent panic buying epidemic – caused by an even greater pandemic –… Continue Reading

23 May 2020

Down to the pub for Gramp’s jug of beer

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A CLICHE it maybe, but the saying that “everything old is new again” is one that has stood the test of time. As reliable as ever as each generation “discovers” something that was commonplace to their parents or grandparents. It rushed to mind as today’s papers splashed on the “innovative” ways public houses were coping… Continue Reading

4 June 2019

All you need to know about a (M&S) cucumber

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ON a day when Waitrose announced it was following a move at least partially made by other supermarkets, it was intriguing to discover how dear old fuddy-duddy M&S was faring. So, in the interests of research (are there other reasons for favouring this pricey purveyor?), I bought a cucumber from the M&S Food Hall (such… Continue Reading

1 August 2018

Idyllic times when fishing villages were all the go the Costa Brava

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MEMORIES continue to be stirred as I return to flicking through those old postcards about which I wrote some time back. And this time there were none of  the earlier struggles of recollection when I gazed at the next two postcards in my time-worn pile. So much to remember here. So many highs. Such a… Continue Reading

12 December 2017

Beating the Bah Humbug blues

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The elephant is back in the room, wearing his tinsel, Santa hat and stupid grin. Continue Reading

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