My wife is revolting

[gus3049]

We have an equitable arrangement about chores.

I do stuff to the house and do the cooking - my wife cleans up after me.

She does the garden, she is, after all, a professional. My bit out there is mowing the grass. There are four hectares or so. It takes me quite a long time. Admittedly the sit on mower does take a little effort out of it.

So there I was, checking out the F1 qualifying position and HLship comes in says "how much do you like gooseberry crumble?" She is fully aware, of course, that I put it fairly close behind the heights of culinary opulence that is rhubarb crumble.

"er..." "Well" she says " its you or the birds, I am pulling the onions, garlic and shallots and if you don't get out there the birds will win - I AIN'T DOIN' IT!!!"

So Jonzjob, you have no idea how lucky you are to have one working hand.

Ronnie did come in when I had finished to ask if I had used her gardening gloves Oops.

 

[Steve Maskery]

About a decade ago I had a number of foreign friends. We were all students on the same course. I tried to be a good host as they were living in student houses and I was living in my own. One day I asked if there was anything particular they would like to do whilst they were in England. Cindy and Ally, both Chinese, said they would like to learn to cook something typically English. Well, here am I, belly the size of a planet and you want to learn to cook something English (to misquote a phrase from another thread).

So one Saturday they came over and we cooked dinner. I can't remember what the main course was, but the dessert was Rhubarb Crumble. So the first step is to catch your rhubarb. We went down the garden and I started pulling and topping. They fell about laughing, literally holding on to each other. I suppose it is rather amusing if you have never seen rhubarb before.

Anyway, we made the pud (I recommend AWT's recipe - bit of a faff but well worth it) and I asked them if they could remember what is was called.

<Comedy Chinese accent> "Ah! Rumble Crumble!" </Comedy Chinese accent>

So the recipe title has been scrubbed out and penned in again for perpetuity.

The same Chinese lady, Ally (pronounced "I'll -eee" - go figure, her proper name is Ling Xing Ping, although I'm ashamed to say I'm not sure the three words are in the right order. It doesn't help them putting their surname at the beginning, as in Ban Ki Moon, Mr Ban, but I digress) always assessed the meal as "Quite Nice!" with a smile on her face and a good deal of enthusiasm. After I had got to know her a bit better, I ventured to discuss her usual verdict. It made me laugh because there was a mismatch between what she said and the way she said it. She obviously meant it to very complimentary, but I pointed out that "Quite nice" can mean "Well it's all right but I wouldn't bother if anything else was on offer", or "Well, it's quite edible really. I was expecting it to be ghastly but it not as bad as I feared". She was, of course, devastated to to learn what she had been saying for months. So from then on everything was <Comedy Chinese accent> "Ah! Very delicious".</Comedy Chinese accent>

Actually it is a serious point. When they come over here the diet is very different from what they are used to. Much more fat and bread. In Nottingham we have a very large ethnic population, from all over the world, so finding exotic foods is not difficult, but of course, they have to find out where. After a couple of weeks, One of our lecturers asked if they had found somewhere good to eat yet. "Yes!", came the reply, "Steve's house!". Result!

Ah, happy days.
S

 

[Jonzjob]

I must be honest and say that there are lots of forigne restauramts here too. Loads and loads of French ones :shock:

I usedto love the Bhugie Street all nighters in Singapore, but that was a long time ago. The food was fantastic and te best looking women were normally blokes or cow-tows as the Chinese called them, he-shes!!

 

[thick_mike]

Had a colleague from Taiwan come over to work with me in the 80's. First day we went down to the canteen and Austin (for it was he) went first. He put Brussels sprouts and baked beans on his plate and sat down to eat!...from then on he asked me to go first and had the same.

 

[Steve Maskery]

He put Brussels sprouts and baked beans on his plate and sat down to eat!

That must have made for an interesting office atmosphere in the afternoon!
S

 

[gus3049]

Further to my original post.....

Ronnie also refuses to top and tail the goosgogs!!. Much as I love the flavour, I can't stand the little bits that get in the teeth. Quite spoils the whole experience.

"Life is too short" she says. For me, life is too short not to make every experience as good as possible. If that means sitting down for a couple of hours, snipping the top and tail off a few thousand gooseberries, so be it. The crumble will be that much more enjoyable.

So thats what I did yesterday afternoon. Pity the hands were still lacerated from picking the damn things but no pain no gain apparently.

Into the freezer with them to be doled out sparingly over the year. We are still eating the supply from the year before last so, me 2 - birds 0

 

[Frank S]

Ahhhhhh, Bhugie street !! what memories that name brings.Almost missed my flight home due to one last visit before going to airport. Such a long,long time ago.
Frank.

 

[Jonzjob]

You will almost certainly remember that wonderfull smell of the durian season then Frank?

I always wanted to try it, but I could never get past that smell ! It was said that it was like eating peaches and cream in the dirtiest toilet in Singapore and that was the one at the end od Bhugie Street :shock:

An incredible friut though. You would have had hours of fun sorting and topping and tailing those Gordon, with a peg or two on yer nose :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/durian-fruit.html

 

[RogerS]

.....

An incredible friut though. You would have had hours of fun sorting and topping and tailing those Gordon, with a peg or two on yer nose :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

.....

Actually it's only three minutes of smell as after that time your brain switches off recognition of that smell. Which is why the worst thing you can do on entering a smelly place is to leave every few minutes because the fresh air resets the brain. So stick it out for three minutes.

 

[Jonzjob]

Roger, pray tell. Have you ever smelled durian?

 

[MickCheese]

Roger, pray tell. Have you ever smelled durian?

A few years ago my wife bought a Durian Fruit from China Town as she thought it looked so interesting.

She carried it home on the underground, not very popular with the other commuters.

She did try it but could only eat a small amount as she descried it as discusting. After smelling it I could not even try it.

Mick

 

[Phil Pascoe]

We tried durian icecream in Singapore's Chinatown - you could smell it about 30yds from the stall, but it didn't taste too bad.
It just had to be done!
Phil

 

[Benchwayze]

Best thing I ever had from Singers was a small tin of 'Tiger-Balm' Never knew a headache that could out last that stuff!... Pity it was a bit addictive! :lol: :lol: :lol: