It's the time of year when the disasters of the season manifest themselves in clearing every supermarket shelf of dubious spices and concoctions, foreign-sounding meat items, cheese from a species of Bulgarian sheep, and a lorry load of disliked Brussels sprouts...
I also have a fear of running out of washing-up liquid around now, and am unable to describe this syndrome - but it is already affecting me more than somewhat!
Choosing a bottle of brandy is always a pleasure, and spending ages peering at the bottom shelf in Waitrose is a worthwhile and pleasurable occupation, but what makes such a decision rely on the Poirot-style inspection of the whole shelf, the eventual choice, and somehow, without looking, a different bottle is picked up, with hardly a glance, and placed lovingly in the trolley? The same happened the other day with some sort of flavoured olive oil!
I am just thirty pounds short of my budget already, and it's still only half-way through December...
If you are sticking firmly to budget, I foresee an interesting ‘Ready, Steady, Cook!’ situation developing around the end of December where you try to concoct dishes out of the remaining unaccustomed ingredients - odd cheeses, flavoured oils and all.
ReplyDeleteWe had a not dissimilar experience last year after the departure of assorted seasonal house guests with specific dietary requirements. (One of them left behind something impenetrably labelled ‘Vegan Block’; to this day, despite some intrepid sampling, no one is entirely sure whether it was meant to be a substitute for butter, lard, cheese or soap.)
MacHeath wrote: "something impenetrably labelled ‘Vegan Block’; to this day, despite some intrepid sampling, no one is entirely sure whether it was meant to be a substitute for butter, lard, cheese or soap"
ReplyDeleteMy argument with my granddaughter is: if it's vegan it's not cheese"
I'll heave my mega-bottle of Fairy across, to tide you over.
ReplyDeleteUnwanted flavoured olive oil? Sounds as if a fried bread experiment might be worth a try.
ReplyDeleteMac - that is hilarious, and probably going to happen with all the stuff in the freezer, and therefore actually unwanted...
ReplyDeleteI looked up Vegan Block, and it appears to be some sort of cross between Castrol 'R', racing car oil, (remember that gorgeous smell at Brands Hatch ?), and Dulux Weathershield! I may well pass on that delicacy...
TheJ - that is fact! I always thought Halloumi was a sort of peculiar vegan item, but a daughter recommended that I try it fried, and it is indeed rather nice, but different!
ReplyDeleteIt also 'squeaks', which sets the dog off, looking for mice...
Thank you James! I actually water down any washing-up liquid, as with my bunches of bananas, lovingly known as 'hands', I can fill a whole ground floor of an average house with soap suds, and waste gallons of water trying to find my way back to the sink... A spare bottle would be very welcome, but Tesco have come up trumps, and supplied one for the princely sum of One Pound, so I am safe until February 2026...
ReplyDeleteAK! That is genius! I'm willing to forego tweve hours of raging indigestion for a crack at a large slice of that comestible! I have actually lobbed a dollop into a home-made pizza this evening, as I read somewhere, that it'll help with 'the structure' of the said culinary masterpiece!
ReplyDeleteIf no replies to future comments are forthcoming, I suggest a call via 999 to an address in West Kent may mean some sort of recompense for any fire engine enactment...