New Obsession

Image courtesy of http://www.jbox.com/

So, I was looking online the other day at 'stuff' - you know - general browsing that has you jumping from one topic to another, using StumbleUpon and generally having a nice time, when I came across an advert for one of  these - it looed like a beautiful lacquered box, with matching accessories.

How cute, I thought. What is it?

I love pretty boxes & containers of all sorts (don't ask) and wanted an excuse to buy one of these.

It was then I noticed that the 'accessories' actually were chopsticks! What was going on?

Reading a little around the subject, I realised what I was looking at is called a Bento Box and is, effectively, a Japanese lunch box. A beautiful Japanese lunch box. With matching accessories.

Nice. Pretty. Slightly boring. I have quite a few lunch boxes, so no real excuse for another one of these.

How wrong could I have been?

I started googling for Bento Boxes.

It would seem that, in the way that the Japanese people do with many things, they have elevated having lunch to an art form.

Image courtesy of http://casabento.com/

The boxes seem to be available in about a million different shapes, sizes, colours & designs. Some have layers, some come with a matching bag, some have chopsticks.

But, it's not just what they look like that's important, and they are gorgeous; what goes inside them is equally important and part of the art form.

There are 'principles' you have to stick to.

First there's the 3:2:1 principle - 3/6 of the content should be rice, 2/6 of the content should be veg, 1/6 of the of the content should be protein.

Pic courtesy of The Blogging Mum on Flickr

Then there's the colours - you have to have 5.

Next, if you're being purist, you should use 5 different methods to cook the food (boiled rice, fried wonton, steamed veg etc etc) which is being presented in the bento.

Then, and I'm not sure why, but this is the bit I like the best, you have to make the contents look as attractive as possible...rice shaped like animals, veg cut in the shape of flowers. Anything, in fact, that makes the contents look lovely.

See what I mean about the art form?

Pic courtesy of Bentobird on Flickr
I don't know what it is with the Japanese people and cute stuff - anime characters - dressing up - they get completely obsessed!!! It's fab.

So, I was not so surprised when I looked further into the bento accessories and found ALL SORTS of gadgets to make your bento lunch contents as adorable as possible.

Gadgets which include...

o A thing which you put your hard boiled eggs in to change their shape into cars, bears, stars, cartoon characters - seriously - there are molds for Winnie the Pooh shaped eggs!

o Little silicone sheets printed with designs such as monkeys, octopus, rainbows, and cartoon characters which you wrap around the food to keep the flavours separate from each other.

o Cutters which cut face shapes into (and out of) anything. Ever seen a rice ball with eyes?

Pic courtesy of CasaBento.com 

 o And - a personal favourite - a weiner cutter (that's Americano for hot dog sausage) which makes your hot dogs look like a fish, a crab or a penguin. No, really. Look. Penguins made out of hot dogs. In your lunch box.

Pic courtesy of CasaBento.com 

Isn't it stupendous?

Talk about creativity. This is ultimate foodie creativity. Check out the Bento Flickr Pool. Many people who consider their lunch pretty enough to be worthy of a photo. Imagine that.

Gas Part 2 - Gordon is a Hero

The fist part of this story is here ---> 'Gas'

We were left, cut off from the mains, at 2am, snow outside, and the doors and windows having been open for an hour to stop us being asphyxiated!

What to do?

1) HEAT - run around looking for my little electric heater that I used to use in my two, previous, very cold, houses. I found it! We shut the door and cranked up the heat. Fortunately, it being a well insulated house, it only took about 10 minutes before we could take off our skiing jackets! Brrrrr.

2) EXTRA BEDDING - nick Dan's old (15 tog) quilt from the spare room to supplement the 12 tog one we already had on the bed. Done. Result was one cozy night's sleep!

3) SLEEP - it was after 2am. ZZZZZZzzzzzzZZZZZZzzzzzz!

The next morning we put out a call to Gordon - our friendly Corgi/Gas Safe guy. He's the chap who did our two fab bathrooms, and a family friend of the Aldridges.

It was one of the worst slippy-snow days and it turns out he'd already cancelled the job he'd been planning to do that day - because of its location, his van wasn't going to get up the hill to the place where it was.

Anyway, even with a sore throat, and a killer cough, he said, give me an hour to come to (it was 8am) and I'll be over to see what I can do.

An hour and a half later we get a call from him.

"I am coming" he said. "I've been trying to get off our estate for the last hour"

As with our road, their estate was unvisited by the gritters and snow plough.

He got here eventually, and found us sat in the lounge - cardies and jumpers and scarves on - with our little heater now moved in there, so we could work!

After a brief investigation he capped the pipe to the hob and got the supply turned back on at the mains. The heating was restored to us by about midday.

It was a matter of another couple of hours for him to replace the hob with a new silver one! It's lovely!

Thank-you Gordon - you're our hero!

 

 

MTV's response to the controvosy after Jersey Shore (I think!)

Lots of swearing!!!!

 

Tree Preservation

I've just been chopping up the Xmas tree to put it in our wheelie bin - the 1st collection of the year is going to be on Tuesday.

Not a single needle had fallen.

Well, not until I got the big snippers out on it, anyway!

I suspect, this was partly due to the fact that the tree went up pretty late this year. (Hey! At least it went up, thanks to Grace & Harry), but partly due to the fact that we have, over the years, developed a super technique for putting up the tree, and keeping it alive once it's up.

Since living in my own house, and putting up my own tree, I must have bought every single tree stand available on the market - but now we have the simplest method in the world.

It starts with a wooden half barrel - just an ordinary outdoor plant pot - then it's lined with a couple of the super strong bin liners which are used for rubble. Into the bottom of this we sit a plastic bowl which just fits inside and which was a new addition to the ensemble after last year's little water incident.

We then stand the tree in the pot and wedge it in with cobbles. This allows the tree to stand up without being held, but still allows the trunk to be moved about a bit so we can get it straight. (This method was invented by me years ago when I didn't have Dan, Grace and Harry to help me get the tree up - only one pair of hands being the mother of invention - I would get the tree in the pot, lean it against a wall, and wedge half bricks in to make it stand up!)

Bearing in mind what can happen when you let the water out, we then came up with this year's pièce de résistance which was the addition of an empty Vimto bottle, upside down, through the cobbles and into the plastic bowl at the bottom which would allow water to be easily topped up in the system! This was Grace's idea!!!

The final phase is that we use scoops to pour gravel into the gaps between the cobbles, and this makes for a very securely held tree and a heavily weighted one which isn't likely to tilt over!

It was such a successful method of watering the tree that whilst we've dismantled it all, I've kept all the constituent parts for next year!

 

Gas

We were counting ourselves lucky. The train we'd got - the last one from London - was due in at 01:18am and somehow it arrived 40 minutes early - at 12:40. Because of the horrible weather, we grabbed a cab outside the station instead of walking across town to the non-hansom cab office. This meant we were pulling into our road before 1am.

1st thing we noticed was that the alarm light was flashing on the house. After our previous experiences with the burglars (Break-in-Part1, Break-in-Part2) we were a bit nervous. We looked around the outside of the house but nothing looked disturbed or tampered with. Bizarre.

Still, we were a bit nervous when we opened the door, and we opened it very carefully and cautiously.

Something *was* wrong. There was a terrible smell of gas.

Only one thought went through my mind...Don't Switch On The Lights!

Fortunately, due to the recent cold weather, the hallway in our house contained a collection of torches which we'd been taking with us in the car just in case of any snow-induced breakdown incidents.

Dan grabbed a torch and we went through the house, opening all the doors and windows to get rid of the gas.

I rang the gas emergency number 0800 111 999 which is the number for Transco/National Grid. I placed the call at 01:06am and they gave us a list of things to do - don't switch on any electrical equipment, check, open the windows & doors, check, switch off the gas at the mains...errr....what? Where is the meter? I had no idea!

It took me a few moments to remember that the meter is actually outside - no wonder I'd not seen it before!

So we managed to get the gas turned off at the mains, and then waited for the gas board man to come.

01:46 he arrived - complete with gas detector sniffer.

He moved around the house with the detector, and due to our excellent fumigation techniques of EVERY door and window open in the house, he couldn't detect any that was lingering in the building.

He then went to turn on the gas at the mains to find out where the gas was escaping from.

The smell seemed to be coming from the kitchen, so he concentrated on the boiler and the stove. Bingo! It was one of the valves on the hob which looks like it had stuck open.

"Obviously", he said, "I'm going to have to disconnect you from the mains until your hob can be replaced".

"Well, obviously", I replied. "I'm not exactly going to turn the gas back on, am I?"

"You'd be surprised what people do" he said, and off he went to cap the pipe at the meter.

So there we were, at 2am, having had all the doors and windows open in the house for an hour, sub zero temperatures outside, and no heat!

Story continues... 

Brother Dan

Dan was cold and so I wrapped him in my Snug-Rug blanket and took a pic - it looks like he's joined the Franciscans.

 

 Amen to that!

 

 

Guilty Pleasures and Guidos

We've confessed before, in several posts on this blog about the fact that we quite like some trashy TV shows which allow us to switch our thought processes off when we've been at work with brains at full tilt, so it's probably only right we tell you about our new Guilty Pleasure.

There's a new show appeared in recent weeks on MTV called 'Jersey Shore'. It's a reality program about a group of 20 somethings who are put in a house (at the Jersey Shore) together and are filmed.

Photo Courtesy of MTV

"Nothing new there", I hear you say.

The house isn't shut off from the world, like Big Brother. The TV producers don't organise them or give them tasks. In fact, they all have to work whilst they're there. It's just normal life.

So, what is so compelling about the car crash TV that this has turned out to be?

Well, these youngsters self-identify as belonging to the group called 'Guidos'.

A "Guido" according to Wikipedia, is a pejorative term for a "working class Italian-American".

However, in an interesting example of linguistic reappropriation, where the insulted group reclaim the word for their own use, these people wear their Guidohood with pride.

Italian pride.

With gelled hair, fake tans and loads of gold chains.

And that's just the guys.

I kid you not.

It's kind of like the worst of the 2 cultures, smashed together, and it makes compelling watching.

First, there's the fashion sense.

I always like Italian men for being well groomed and looking good. The guido culture takes it one step too far - the guys are primped to the point of ridiculousness - daily gym sessions, tanning salons, waxing, not a hair out of place.

You'd think this was a good thing, right?

But like any subculture, certain looks are 'in' and that tends to mean they all look the same - check out these online images for guidos!

Guido girls, known as Guidettes, are no better. Fake tan, gold and loads of makeup. Usually fake boobs too, and lots of their body parts hanging out!

Then there's the egos. The guys & gals have typical HUGE Italian egos. It comes from being part of Italian families who worship you & tell you how wonderful you are, all the time.

I should know!

In Italy, this seems to work fine though, as the rest of the culture (respect for your elders and a sense of community) keeps the egos at bay. However, set that against a backdrop of American culture of excess and instant gratification, and somehow it spills over into aggression and means that the guidos & guidettes are permanently getting into fights and arguments with everyone around them.

We spend the whole show with our jaws open in shock at the things they say, do, and how they dress. And the fact that they seem proud to be who they are.

Like I said; Guilty Pleasure!

Guido Links

The Jersey Shore phenomenon has spawned a whole load of interest in the Guido subculture...

Do you know what your Guido names are? Our guido names are Connie Mortadella & Danny Salami.Take The Jersey Shore Nickname Generator today! Created with Rum and Monkey's Name Generator Generator.
 
TV.com interview Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino - the guy on the far left in the cast pic above
 
 A funny sketch with little kids playing the characters from the Jersey Shore

Cooking By Numbers

As Li has mentioned we can just about eat anything and enjoy working out what to put togther when we have a swede, stick of celery, mars bar and a dishcloth.

Well it seems there are other people out there who also do and i found this website . Enjoy

Creative Cookery

We're pretty creative when it comes to our cooking - we will cook, and eat, mostly anything.


This week's cold snap has, however, pushed us to our creative limits. We've not really been out of the house for a week, and the last shopping was the Sainsbury's truck arrival on Sunday, hence we're seriously getting to the bottom of the barrel when it comes to fresh ingredients to make our food with - and not leaving the house, we're eating breakfast lunch and dinner here at home!

So, what has our creativity run to in the last few days?

Firstly, I'm a big believer in the freezer! We freeze both bread and milk and so those supplies haven't been a problem.

Sunday night we discovered 2 packets of Ostrich Mince which we bought earlier on in the year from Leeds Farmers Market - this went into a spectacular bolognaise.

Last night we broke out some frozen sausages + using the remains of about 4 (pretty manky) potatoes + 4 eggs + a bit of stilton = delicious frittata - this also did for our brekkie today!

Today we going for.. a tin of water chestnuts, a tin of bamboo shoots, half a butternut squash, a pinch of dried shrimp, and some Tom Yam Paste to make an interesting Tom Yam soup.

We have found some really interesting ingredients at the back of the cupboard so we're not Old Mother Hubbard yet...yet to be used

Tins of tuna and tins of mixed bean - great for salad.
Tortilla wraps - a great find - will substitute for bread
In addition we still have tins of peas, beans and soups

  I'm thinking we have a few more days of the Creative Cupboard Extravaganza to go!

 

 

Phones

I'm desperate for the new palm pre - but...

(1) my current plan (with Vodafone & my Palm Pro) doesn't end until June

(2) Vodafone aren't going to carry the Pre - even though it was mooted that they were going to - it looks like O2 has pipped them to the post.

Find the best cell phone plans and more graphics at BillShrink.com

Neigh

We have some bizarre people out there in the world. I read this article and thought WHY ?

Interesting temperatures...

Dan braves the elements

 Dan bravely goes out to the garage









...nearly decapitating himself in the process...(the door fell on his head - tragially missed by the camera)






...to asuage his hunter-gatherer instincts..






             ...and scores some provisions to keep us going in the cold. (Milk and orange ice lollies)

Snow

Snow

snoW

snow

snow

Snow

Snow

SnOw

Snow

snoW

snow

link to snow pics

New Nails

Way back at the end of 2008, we decided to cut back a little on our expenditures so that we'd not be so exposed by the credit crunch side effects. One of our decisions was to try and pay the mortgage off a bit faster.

Some things had to go.

My once-every-3-weeks pedicures, (how fab do my toes look on Holiday?) and other regular beauty treatments were my biggest extravagance. I offered to give them up and put the money aside to make overpayments on the mortgage.

A hard decision - especially for my feet - but the right one for the house!

Anyway, here we are a whole year later and I decided that my tootsies were in need of attention. So, by way of a New Year treat, I booked myself into my regular salon (Skin & Health in Selby Rd) for a facial and a serious attack on my feet.

It was so nice to see Caz, the owner, and the 2 lovely girls, Em and Nat, who work there. (Hello Ladies, if you're reading!!!) Lots has happened in the last year, so there was a lot to catch up on. It was a really nice relaxing afternoon!

They've got the latest in nail technology. I've previously had gel finger nails done there, and Marina had hers done there for her wedding, but I've never seen these things before - called Minx nails, apparently they're the latest thing.

Anyway, look at how cool my toes are...they do so many designs - next time I'm having this pink and brown 'pringle' design!!!

Dan and Archie

Dan and Archie spend a bit of quality time together...

Aren't they lovely???

Happy New Year Archie!

We saw in the new year this year with baby Archie (party animal) and his mum and dad, Marina and Matt!

Archie was completely un-phased by staying up after midnight.

"Don't know what the big deal is" he said, "I do it all the time".

He was a very good boy and went to bed at 2am, and only woke at 7, and we all had some lovely quality time with him - as you can see from the pics!

I even perfected the art of holding a baby in one arm and a champagne flute in the other. See...I do have a maternal instinct after all!!!!

He was given a baby bouncer for Christmas by his Connor grandparents and so we had him boinging in the doorway for a while too. Marina also dressed him up as a gangsta bee with his new little babygro hoodie outfit, and we took loads of pics and laughed at him a lot! Poor wee thing!

 

Parishes in & around Morley

Over the years, I've been to quite a few of the churches in and around Morley - here are the details of the nearest ones!!


==============================================================

St. Francis Of Assisi

Location: Corporation Street, Morley
Sunday Mass Time: 6:30pm (Vigil) 11:15am
Holy Day Mass Time: 7:30pm (Vigil) 12 Noon

Contact:
The Presbytery,
Westfield Road
Morley
LS27 9NF
Deanery: Leeds South
Tel: 0113 253 4881
Notes: Serves Our Lady Of The Nativity, West Ardsley

==============================================================

St Brigid

Location: Elland Road, Churwell, Leeds
Sunday Mass Time: 9:30am, 6pm
Holy Day Mass Time: 9:30am, 7:30pm

Contact:
The Presbytery,
Elland Road,
Churwell
Leeds
LS27 7QR
Deanery: Leeds South
Tel: 0113 253 4894

==============================================================

Our Lady Of The Nativity

Location: Westerton Road, West Ardsley
Sunday Mass Time: 9:30am
Holy Day Mass Time: 7pm

Contact:
St. Francis Presbytery,
Westfield Road
Morley
LS27 9NF
Deanery: Leeds South
Tel: 0113 253 4881
Notes: Served From St. Francis, Morley

==============================================================


St Anthony Of Padua

Location: Old Lane, Beeston, Leeds
Sunday Mass Time: 6:30pm (Vigil) 9am, 11am
Holy Day Mass Time: 9:30am, 7:30pm

Contact:
The Presbytery,
19, Old Lane,
Beeston
Leeds
LS11 7AA
Deanery: Leeds South
Tel: 0113 271 6597
Email: 0113 277 4998