H2G2 is the online version of a real-life Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, created by Douglas Adams in 1999 and taken over by the BBC in 2001. It's sort of like Wikipedia in that the general public can contribute, but it's written in a more lighthearted way and it has a formal editing process.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2
Why is that interesting? Well because I wrote an article for it a while ago and today, for one day only, it's been sitting on the front page!
Slow-cooked Roast Wing Rib of Beef
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/A36869494
It's a lengthier version of the Wing Rib of Beef I wrote about here a couple of weeks ago.
I've also got another article coming up soon, so keep an eye out for it...
Bat and Trap
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/A36213761
A crazy pub version of cricket I used to play. Actually, it's nothing like cricket at all - who do I think I'm kidding?
Thursday, 26 June 2008
Sunday, 22 June 2008
Another Taste of London
So you might remember me telling you a while ago about the Taste of London food & drink event in Regent's Park. I'd booked tickets for the afternoon/evening session today, and it didn't disappoint.
There were lots of nice foods and drinks to try, and I think I finally got a taste for bitter. Tapping the barman up for a free Bombadier t-shirt (which became a belated Fathers Day gift for my dad - how cheap am I?) was a high-point.
The only down-side to the whole festivity was the guys at the Appletons stand eventually recognising me and hiding the free rum samplers when I got near.
I came away with some tasty onion marmalade, some smoked chilli jelly and some crab pate. It was either that or lose the tokens I'd bought.
Everyone enjoyed themselves, and the important thing was we all left quite nicely oiled up :-). Same again next year?
There were lots of nice foods and drinks to try, and I think I finally got a taste for bitter. Tapping the barman up for a free Bombadier t-shirt (which became a belated Fathers Day gift for my dad - how cheap am I?) was a high-point.
The only down-side to the whole festivity was the guys at the Appletons stand eventually recognising me and hiding the free rum samplers when I got near.
I came away with some tasty onion marmalade, some smoked chilli jelly and some crab pate. It was either that or lose the tokens I'd bought.
Everyone enjoyed themselves, and the important thing was we all left quite nicely oiled up :-). Same again next year?
Sunday, 15 June 2008
Confuser Interface
I don't own a car since apart from the odd hiccup here and there public transport's pretty good in London, and it saves spending money on petrol and parking. The odd time I get a cab is offset by not paying for road tax, insurance, MOTs and repairs.
There is one down-side though, and that's trying to use the Prepay Ticket Machine at Greenhithe train station to get a ticket to Bluewater Shopping Centre. I'm totally bewildered by it every time I go there, so here's a little challenge for you...
You've just got off the train at Greenhithe station and you can see the bus for Bluewater pulling off the roundabout on its approach to the station. You've got about 30 seconds to use the machine below to buy a ticket. What buttons do you press, and in what order? Bonus points for buying the cheapest valid ticket for getting there.
Click the image for a bigger version if you can't read it, and if it's not obvious, I added the letters to the image myself - they're not there in real life.
Good luck - you'll need it.
There is one down-side though, and that's trying to use the Prepay Ticket Machine at Greenhithe train station to get a ticket to Bluewater Shopping Centre. I'm totally bewildered by it every time I go there, so here's a little challenge for you...
You've just got off the train at Greenhithe station and you can see the bus for Bluewater pulling off the roundabout on its approach to the station. You've got about 30 seconds to use the machine below to buy a ticket. What buttons do you press, and in what order? Bonus points for buying the cheapest valid ticket for getting there.
Click the image for a bigger version if you can't read it, and if it's not obvious, I added the letters to the image myself - they're not there in real life.Good luck - you'll need it.
Thursday, 12 June 2008
Prawn Toast
I went to Billingsgate Fish Market with my brother last Saturday at the unholy hour of 06:30 to get some fish. We ended up getting a massive 4.5kg side of tuna, 4kg of prawns and a side of salmon, so our respective freezers are bursting at their seams with sea-faring chow.
I'm not sure quite how I'm going to use up 2 whole kilos of prawns so I thought I'd try making prawn toast...
Raw prawns. Pull their heads and legs off, shell them and then 'de-vein' them - basically, pull our their digestive tract :-(. If you do the first big wrong you end up squirting prawn brains all over your hands, which I did a lot. Made me nearly throw up a couple of times, but I guess I'll desensitise to it eventually.
Prawn heads and bum pipes. Yuck. The orange stuff is their brains, by the way.
Prawn shells and tails. Apparently these can be used to make fish stock so I'm going to freeze them until I've got enough to try that...
I'm not sure if these are really worth the gore-fest needed to extract them.
Next step - blend the prawns with salt, half an egg, some ginger, soy sauce, spring onions and sesame oil.
Spread the paste onto some bread, which should preferably be a bit dry so it doesn't soak up loads of oil when we fry it. I bunged the bread in the oven for a few minutes to dry it out.
Frying tonight!
I realised at this point I forgot to coat the tops in sesame seeds before frying. Oh well, maybe next time. I've still got about 6 bags of prawns left, anyway...
I'm not sure quite how I'm going to use up 2 whole kilos of prawns so I thought I'd try making prawn toast...
Raw prawns. Pull their heads and legs off, shell them and then 'de-vein' them - basically, pull our their digestive tract :-(. If you do the first big wrong you end up squirting prawn brains all over your hands, which I did a lot. Made me nearly throw up a couple of times, but I guess I'll desensitise to it eventually.Prawn heads and bum pipes. Yuck. The orange stuff is their brains, by the way.Prawn shells and tails. Apparently these can be used to make fish stock so I'm going to freeze them until I've got enough to try that...I'm not sure if these are really worth the gore-fest needed to extract them.Next step - blend the prawns with salt, half an egg, some ginger, soy sauce, spring onions and sesame oil.Spread the paste onto some bread, which should preferably be a bit dry so it doesn't soak up loads of oil when we fry it. I bunged the bread in the oven for a few minutes to dry it out.Frying tonight!I realised at this point I forgot to coat the tops in sesame seeds before frying. Oh well, maybe next time. I've still got about 6 bags of prawns left, anyway...
Saturday, 7 June 2008
John's Sixtieth
It was my dad's sixtieth birthday last week - my parents hired a villa in Lanzarote and invited the family to book flights out for a week.
I didn't really know what to get him as present, so in the end my brother and I clubbed together to send them on another holiday later on this year. They go away about half a dozen times a year but it's normally a Mediterranean location so we figured we'd try and entice them a bit further abroad (literally).
Rather than just give him an IOU on his birthday we thought we'd make a little scrapbook for him to help choose where to go. It'll kind of serve as a keepsake after they've been as well. So without further ado, here is "John's Dilemma"...
I didn't really know what to get him as present, so in the end my brother and I clubbed together to send them on another holiday later on this year. They go away about half a dozen times a year but it's normally a Mediterranean location so we figured we'd try and entice them a bit further abroad (literally).
Rather than just give him an IOU on his birthday we thought we'd make a little scrapbook for him to help choose where to go. It'll kind of serve as a keepsake after they've been as well. So without further ado, here is "John's Dilemma"...
Wednesday, 4 June 2008
Locked Out
I was was reading the following article earlier and it reminded me of a similar incident I had a while ago:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/may/12/2
A good few years ago I was renting a room from a couple of friends who had bought a house together. The house had a very small porch at the front, about a metre or so square, and glazed all round like a miniature conservatory. The outside door had a deadlock on it. (All of these facts will become important shortly).
I'm a late riser so I was always the last to leave for work, and on one occasion I happened to forget my keys. I realised this at the *exact* moment I closed the inside door and heard the little click as the deadlatch engaged. Another moment later I also realised that someone had deadlock the outside door, leaving me trapped in a glassy cell.
Luckily I had my mobile phone with my, but it meant one of my housemates had to travel back home from work to release me, and I had to wait there with no comfortable way of sitting down for a couple of hours until they'd finished a meeting. A woman walking past with a dog came over to try and help at one point, but after I explained what had happened she just laughed and walked off (not that there was much she could do anyway).
I make a point of holding my keys in my hand when I leave the house now, and I've not locked myself out since.
Update: I managed to do this to a friend staying at mine earlier this year as well - I forgot he was there and deadlocked the outside door on my way out. Luckily he was able to clamber out of a top-opening window.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/may/12/2
A good few years ago I was renting a room from a couple of friends who had bought a house together. The house had a very small porch at the front, about a metre or so square, and glazed all round like a miniature conservatory. The outside door had a deadlock on it. (All of these facts will become important shortly).
I'm a late riser so I was always the last to leave for work, and on one occasion I happened to forget my keys. I realised this at the *exact* moment I closed the inside door and heard the little click as the deadlatch engaged. Another moment later I also realised that someone had deadlock the outside door, leaving me trapped in a glassy cell.
Luckily I had my mobile phone with my, but it meant one of my housemates had to travel back home from work to release me, and I had to wait there with no comfortable way of sitting down for a couple of hours until they'd finished a meeting. A woman walking past with a dog came over to try and help at one point, but after I explained what had happened she just laughed and walked off (not that there was much she could do anyway).
I make a point of holding my keys in my hand when I leave the house now, and I've not locked myself out since.
Update: I managed to do this to a friend staying at mine earlier this year as well - I forgot he was there and deadlocked the outside door on my way out. Luckily he was able to clamber out of a top-opening window.
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