Beginning of lent

Do you celebrate Mardi Gras (fat tuesday), the Venice carnical, pancake day (sponsored by Jiff) or Fastalavn?

Living in the UK it is officially the day for pancakes with lemon juice. However, back in the country where I was brought up we had another way of getting rid of our excess flour, milk and eggs. We make fastalavnsboller, which is basically a bun with a custard centre. Not dissimilar to the American donut. Is it more than danish pastry which originated in Denmark. (Not that danish pastry actually originated in Denmark, but that is another story).

So if you don't fancy flipping pancakes onto your kitchen ceiling tonight, have a donut.

The war of the labels

I am sure most people are aware of the war of labels such as Coca Cola and Pepsi, not to mention the big car labels, but those are not the labels I am thinking of, or is it?

The war of the food labels is all the hype in the UK at the moment. Will the governments recommendation of red, yellow, green, the traffic light code prejudice some foods? And would that be a bad thing?



If we look at the products of some of the food companies who object maybe we can understand better why they don't want the consumers to be able to easily identify which foods are good, and which are bad?

A spoonfull of sugar (might) help make the medicine go down...

The Pizza cure

When I was a child I would eat minimal meals. Sending me to bed without dinner wasn’t actually much of a punishment for me. At school I would sell my sandwiches, and if I didn’t like what was being served for dinner I would just eat nothing.

Then we went on holiday to Switzerland, just across from the Italian border, and one day we went across to Italy for lunch at a pizzeria. I was about 12, and my parents was surprised when I finished a whole pizza. They almost fell of their chairs when I asked if I could have another pizza, and ate it. I have loved pizza ever since. When I turned 30 I had Pizza every day for a whole week.

Now I love food.

Diet season

Like most people I have eaten more than my fair share for Christmas and New Year, and a holiday in January didn't help, but does that mean i have to rush to sign up at the gym or go on a crash diet? And what is worse, do I have to talk about it constantly?

I'm constantly on a diet. In December it was mainly a diet of cake and chocolate, mixed with a diet of over eating and little exercise. End of February and I am getting back to my usual diet of 5 fruit and veg a day and plenty of water, and even the odd occurrance of exercise.

What is this facination with talking about diets? I don't get it.

(Eating Disorders Awareness Week)

My stamp collection

My aunt collected napkins when she was a child, at school we collected stickers, but I collected Coca Cola. Don't say I was ever influenced by marketing. I was. Still am. It's an educated choice. There is something about the Coca Cola logo that noone can beat... it's red for starters!
But I guess I was never much of a collecter. I still have my can's, bottles and glasses in a box somewhere in my parents basement (I think). I am glad I gave up my collecting mania. I was never any good anyway. Nothing like the CocaColaLoft.

Maybe I should have just collected stamps.

Famous danes

Apart from being danish I have no claim to fame, what-so-ever, but then I am neither a cartoonist or an actor.

There are two danish famoush careers going at the moment;

1. Cartoon artist
2. James Bond Villain

But when did the Danes become the bad guys? (not mentioning the Vikings off course)

Emergency spending

What do you need in an emergency?

Martian Anthropologist has a post about Katrina victims spending money on sex toys

Spending federal disaster money on a .45 caliber pistol could be seen as an emergency expense. However, I am sure I could also find an argument (far fetched, but nevertheless) for spending the funds on a diamond ring... diamonds are a girls best friend, and a best friend is always handy in an emergency.

Backseat driver

When I first got my driving license my Dad used to always encourage me to drive if we where going somewhere, so I could get more driving experience. However, I refused to drive if he was in the car. When you are a new driver you don't need someone commenting on every little move you make, or don't make. He used to tell me (he called it advice) when to change gear. Usually just before I was going to do it anyway.

I have now had my license for many years, and have had several years of driving experience. I know when to follow the rules, and when it is safer to break a few (when driving in London eg). Even my dad lets me drive in peace on the rare occasion when he is a passenger in my car (he was never a very good passenger).

..then I got a 3 year old and it has started all over again. "You're over the line", "both hands on the steering wheel", "You're driving to fast", is lines I hear from the back seat all the time... from our 3 year old!

Freedom

The power of cartoons (click link)

Restaurant review

Having worked in the hotel and catering business for years when I was younger, it takes alot to impress me. Lobster and cavier? Smoked salmon? No thank you, I would rather have a cucumber sandwich. And I'm not even particularly fond of cucumber.

However, this weekend we had lunch at the Lion and Lamb Bistro in Farnham (UK)... What can I say, their mushroom and stilton soup was yummy. I should have ordered a double portion.

Is it essential to life?

We have an old PS1 which hardly ever gets used. Ok, so we haven't got many games for it, and all the new games are made for PS 2, and the arguments for updating have been endless. But it is not for me to say what he spends his money on, though spending it on a toy that will spend most of it's life collecting dust, till PS3 comes out and it gets replaced, seems a little pointless to me.

He found an answer. How to prove that a new Playstation is needed? Use the old one more. Buy more games. It seems simple, and a game of Pong arrived. A classic, which I remember playing on TV as a kid (Yes, I am that old).

Nostalgia took over and now we are the proud owners of an Atary, and a box of games, including PacMania and OutRun.

If updating is too expense, downdate. A change is as good as a holiday.

Upper Crust

We went to the monthly market in a local town nearby. Brick'a'brack, arts & craft, and olives and bread. Sampled the olives and bought an assortment, and went to the bread stall to purchase a loaf for lunch.

"Have you seen the footballers?", said the stall owner to our 3 year old, indicating the gingerbreadmen in football shirts. "Yes, but I have not seen the boats. There is water but no boats", was the reply.

When we walked towards the market we had to cross the creek and the white gazebos which the stalls where under, looked like sailing ships from a distance. The bread guy promised to bring sailing ships next time.

We didn't buy a gingerbread man, but got ourselves a medieval loaf, with the story of why we say the upper crust and why the bread is baked as a round bread with a smaller round bread on top, the upper crust.

"The bread was placed as a raw lump of dough, straight into the bread oven. With no bread tin, it just sits on the floor of the oven. The oven is heated by the adjacent fire and is very hot at the bottom. When the bread is done baking and taken out to cool, the base of the loaf is overcooked black and also dirty. The top of the loaf is done just right, and still clean. The bottom of the loaf is for the servants to eat, while the upper crust is for the master of the house."

Stick it

Smoking has been on the decline for as long as I can remember. Non-smoking restaurants and pubs are becoming more commonplace by the day. But did we really smother our smoking habits, or did we just replace them with another habit? Chewing gum anyone?

Apparently chewing gum sales are up, especially among the 45-54 year olds. So previously we used to extinguish our cigarette buds with our stiletto heals, now we just spit out our gum, awaiting someone elses stilettos to step in it.
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History of chewing gum: Short version / Long version