Author Archives: jon

The Fight Begins. Again.

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Sigh. Despite moving Zelda to Freya’s school, the food they have been given the last two days is of an unacceptable standard. Zelda is being inschooled, giving both Jo and I the opportunity to be with her for a few days. Including eating lunch and snack.

The school has a food policy of using organic ingredients, cooked in an on-site kitchen. The problem at the moment seems to be that the old chef has gone, and the new cook does not seem to have the knowledge (or maybe desire) to make interesting, tasty vegan food. This has lead to Yesterday’s lunch being Quorn (NOT vegan) and today’s being a tasteless chick pea, raw parsnip and undercooked courgette mess. Whilst the other children received a fruit smoothie at snack time, Freya and Zelda have been given a bit of banana. Fucking great.

We are on the case already, and shall instigate a short term and long term plan of action to better the food situation for our daughters. I did not give up at Zelda’s last school, the dividends of over a year’s discussions and meetings being an introduction of a daily bean salad and regular soya products at lunch. If the chef thinks he can get away with serving sub standard food then he shall soon realise his mistake.

Tom Yum Het

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The anticipation is mounting, for I am soon to commence the preparation of a well-known Thai dish (vegan stylee, of course): hot and sour mushroom soup. For the record, the recipe is as follows:

Ingredients (for 4 servings):

4 cups water
1 medium onions, quartered
2 stalks lemongrass, chopped
3 -4 kaffir lime leaves, torn in half
4 cm cube galangal, chopped
2 cm cube fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon tamarind pulp
3 dried red chilies, chopped
2 fresh hot green chili peppers ( can use red)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons tom yum paste
200 g deep fried tofu
6 shiitake mushrooms, cups sliced
50 g button mushrooms, sliced
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon caster sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup fresh coriander, chopped
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn

Directions

Put the first nine ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil (this is your stock). Simmer for 15-20 minutes over low-medium heat. Remove from the heat and strain. Reserve the stock and discard the rest.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan and sauté the Soup Paste for a minute until fragrant. Add the tofu, shiitake and button mushrooms and stir-fry over high heat for 1 minute.

Bring the prepared stock to a boil. Turn the heat to medium and add the sautéed tofu and mushrooms, the soy sauce, sugar and lemon juice. Simmer for 5-6 minutes over medium heat until the mushrooms are tender.
Sprinkle the coriander and basil and remove from heat. Serve hot.

I have all the ingredients to hand, and will report back at a later time with the judge’s verdict…

…which is pretty nice. It was a spicy soup full of taste, almost overpoweringly so. I reckon I could take away a bit of the chilli, maybe replace the texture of the fried tofu with something else, and I am not sure if I like galanga or not. However, I give it an 8 out of 10, and its a sinch to make once the soup stock ingredients have been prepared.

First Weekend (of two) Alone

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The rest of the family are still having their holidays up in the north, whilst I had to come back to work. It has now been a week without their presence, and I am starting to feel the last few days of drinking are getting to me.

I have not done anything stupid, and I suppose the first week at work is also playing a part in my current condition, which is one of tiredness and feeling a bit down, along with a generally bad physical and mental state.

I spent this morning mostly lying in bed, reading a book about The Pirate Bay, as well as trying to consume the liquids and food that my body needed to take away the nagging negative thought thoughts that filled my head. At about 3 o’clock this afternoon I decided to take action and go food shopping, which, as usual, helped a lot.

I am currently going through a phase of testing out new recipes. The month up in the north yielded some rather tasty results, and this has given me the boost to seek out interesting meals and side dishes. As I write this I am in the middle of making a variation of Aloo Masala. Potatoes, in all their forms, are the best foodstuff ever.

I miss the family, and will be glad to have them back, but, at the same time, this period alone is much appreciated, if not over indulgent.

Posted in Jon

Current TV Viewing

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Freya has got a new favourite cartoon character: Scooby Doo. As far as I know there is no Scooby Doo revival at her school, so I assume she likes it because…well, she likes it. Whilst it is not in the same league as the wonderful choice of (peaceful) children’s programs offered on Bolibompa, it is a far cry from the irritating cartoons shown on Cartoon Network, which constantly blare out explosions, discordant music and high pitched screaming.

With Freya’s earlier favourite programs (Teletubbies, Dora The Explorer and Charlie and Lola) she has at least one piece of related merchandise; however, we have nothing of Scooby Doo and the gang at home, and neither has Freya asked. Perhaps it has something to do with the lack of merchandise available. Or simply that we have not bought anything for her 🙂

Hello Kitty, although not having her roots in TV or comics, is everwhere at the time of writing, with a myriad items available for purchase. Every other girl at nursery school has some piece of HK apperaI and the big clothes shops seem to stock a never ending flow. For the boys, Spiderman is the height of fashion – No gender bias there, then.

How retro-cool, then, it would be for Freya to start wearing a Scooby Doo t-shirt to school. I think I might try and track one down for Christmas, if her interest has not waned.

Freya’s Wishlist

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Freya has been quite excited about her upcoming birthday, and had long ago written a wishlist. Items include:

  • stick insect
  • laptop
  • perler beads
  • make up
  • books
  • scooter
  • Zhu Zhu Pets playset(s)
  • Littlest Pet Shop stuff
  • ice cream machine
  • sweet machine
  • Pokemon
  • Moxie Girl
  • Hello Kitty bag
  • Sim card for her phone

Most of the above items are the kind of thing that any child over the last twenty years might wish for, but I’m not sure how many would desire a stick insect. In all fairness, she has been asking for a pet for a year now, and at least a stick insect will not last for an eternity. Jo will probably not be allergic to it, either.

We have bought her a laptop. Thankfully we got hold of a pretty snazzy second hand computer, refurbished and, by the look of it, new. It didn’t cost so much (hoorah!) and is actually a fair bit more powerful than the computer that Jo and I have. She will love it. So will we, when she goes to bed.