So Monday didn't really get off to the best of starts.
I did have something to do with that having not prised myself off the sofa until 1am because I just had to get my team ready for the new season on football manager. 3 promotions in 4 seasons and this time going up would mean making it to the football league.......As any hopelessly addicted football manager fan will understand this is a big season.
That I was in control of and take full responsibility for however next doors little one wailing at the top of it's voice for the next 5 hours was not something I could have planned for.
So my self inflicted late night twinned with devil child crying and a 06:45 alarm setting made me just a bit dreary today but it's most definitely picked up.
I have spoken to the regional manager of the pub company that we will be dealing with regarding the lease, unfortunately he was driving at the time but he's keen for a meet up to go over things.
I'm now of the opinion that it will be better for us if we can renegotiate a new lease and have it looked over with a fine toothed comb from a legal perspective so that we all know exactly where we stand and exactly how we can build the business going forward. It's a very positive move I think and the ball which had kind of stopped rolling will be getting back in motion.
Also had an idea about how my current work and the pub can work together for the benefit of both parties which I'm hoping, should the pub go ahead, will offer some security for us and a firm showing of commitment to my current employers.
Also looking ahead I have my first cookery demo coming up this Thursday (as previously blogged) and I'm actually feeling quite calm about it although there is some inevitable nervous excitement.
I'll be taking the advice of an experienced demo'ing foodie I know who informed me that I must just keep talking at all times to keep the audience otherwise they will drift........I'm not sure I've ever talked for an hour in my life but I do have a clear idea of what I'm going to be making, how I'm going to make it and I'll be thinking about timings etc etc so perhaps I'll have plenty in the memory banks to waffle on about.
Following that will be the demo at Reading Farmers market. Certainly going to be doing the proper Ready, Steady, Cook thing and getting the market go'ers to choose the ingredients but you know how us English have this reluctance to get involved in such theatre in public so I'll make sure I have something of my own in mind.
Had great fun over the weekend involving lots of champagne, oysters, music and buddies. Topping it off with a 7 hour DJ set at a private party was just the icing, such a great time with such a lovely and receptive crowd made me fall in love with it all again just a little bit :-)
Monday, 27 September 2010
Saturday, 25 September 2010
Saturday
If your slightly hungover like me then I promise you that turning the volume up and banging this out IS the way forward......
Sven Vath – Essential Mix Live Cocoon Amnesia Ibiza 02.08.2010 found on Minimal
The world is a better place with Sven :-)
Sven Vath – Essential Mix Live Cocoon Amnesia Ibiza 02.08.2010 found on Minimal
The world is a better place with Sven :-)
Thursday, 23 September 2010
FB...
Facebook is down........OH MY GOD !!!
I just checked to see if the world was still spinning on it's axis and I think it is or did Twitter just make the clouds move ?!?!
Experimented some more on the Curry Spiced Pork, Pumkpin & Pea Pasties this evening and I think they are pretty bloomin sensational, just the soup to perfect next and then we are all go for the demo on Thursday.
For anybody wanting to come along and watch the demo or just to see what the Food4Families concept is all about it's being held at the Geoffrey Field Junior School
View Larger Map
The event will be kicking off at around 3:30pm and I'll be demo'ing for about an hour.
Right I'm off to bed. 10pm seems like an early night to me especially as I'm engrossed in a game of Football Manager 2010 but seeing that I'm 14 points clear at the top of the Blue Square North Division and performing well in the F.A. Trophy I think that Rainworth Miners Welfare FC can do without me for now.
I just checked to see if the world was still spinning on it's axis and I think it is or did Twitter just make the clouds move ?!?!
Experimented some more on the Curry Spiced Pork, Pumkpin & Pea Pasties this evening and I think they are pretty bloomin sensational, just the soup to perfect next and then we are all go for the demo on Thursday.
For anybody wanting to come along and watch the demo or just to see what the Food4Families concept is all about it's being held at the Geoffrey Field Junior School
View Larger Map
The event will be kicking off at around 3:30pm and I'll be demo'ing for about an hour.
Right I'm off to bed. 10pm seems like an early night to me especially as I'm engrossed in a game of Football Manager 2010 but seeing that I'm 14 points clear at the top of the Blue Square North Division and performing well in the F.A. Trophy I think that Rainworth Miners Welfare FC can do without me for now.
Yikes....
I didn't blog yesterday! Oh the shock of it. Twas a good day too with a couple of things planned for the not too distant future.
First up is another cookery demonstration this time being held at a farmers market to promote the Living Reading campaign which were the organisation responsible for organising the Reading, Steady, Cook! competition.
It'll be an early start and initially I was asked to decide what I was going to cook beforehand but I've just suggested to the organiser that we should let the people at the market decide at the time and I'll then make something out of whatever they choose.
Bearing in mind that I'll only have a two ring camping stove to cook on that could be fun !!
Second up will be a roadtrip to Amsterdam with my good buddy James. Plan is to drive from Reading down to Dover where we'll catch the ferry to Calais then drive up to Amsterdam, through France and Belgium, stopping for lunch in Bruges then onwards to catch Sven Vath at the Cocoon event being held during the ADE (Amsterdam Dance Event)
All exciting fun stuff I think you'll agree......perhaps ?!?!
Weekend is now looming large and I'm starting my preparations for DJ'ing at a private party this Saturday. I'm really looking forward to it too because it'll be good music and good people :-)
First up is another cookery demonstration this time being held at a farmers market to promote the Living Reading campaign which were the organisation responsible for organising the Reading, Steady, Cook! competition.
It'll be an early start and initially I was asked to decide what I was going to cook beforehand but I've just suggested to the organiser that we should let the people at the market decide at the time and I'll then make something out of whatever they choose.
Bearing in mind that I'll only have a two ring camping stove to cook on that could be fun !!
Second up will be a roadtrip to Amsterdam with my good buddy James. Plan is to drive from Reading down to Dover where we'll catch the ferry to Calais then drive up to Amsterdam, through France and Belgium, stopping for lunch in Bruges then onwards to catch Sven Vath at the Cocoon event being held during the ADE (Amsterdam Dance Event)
All exciting fun stuff I think you'll agree......perhaps ?!?!
Weekend is now looming large and I'm starting my preparations for DJ'ing at a private party this Saturday. I'm really looking forward to it too because it'll be good music and good people :-)
Tuesday, 21 September 2010
Mecca.........
I've found a new shopping paradise in the heart of Reading, Berkshire......Who'd have thunk it?
Sitting at work yesterday...as I do, I was thinking about what to have to eat in the evening.....as I do. After contemplating nipping to The Mission for a tasty Burrito I began to think about Dim Sum. I'm not sure how I managed to link those two but seeing as Dim Sum seems to be my latest culinary craving I thought I'd have a go at making it myself.
To be able to to this I needed to find a specialist Asian supermarket in order to get the right tools for the job and the right ingredients.
Knowing that Reading has a thriving Asian community I was pretty sure that I'd be able to find something on Google and that I did.
The place I found is called "See Woo" and it's more of a cash and carry than a standard supermarket but anybody can walk in and buy stuff, there is no signing up to do and you don't have to be in the catering trade or anything like that.
They have got absolutely everything from my necessary Dim Sum ingredients to Fresh Vegetables to meat to sweets to beers to wines and even some Frogs Legs and Chickens Feet. It's just amazing !!!
Best of all for me were the banks and banks of freezers containing every Dim Sum item you can imagine, all ready prepared (handmade) and just in need of steaming (which is done from frozen............Bonus)
They also have all the raw ingredients you need to make them yourself which I will definitely do one day however making home made Dim Sum just for two people would be pretty expensive and pretty wasteful given the amount of ingredients you'd need to buy.
Of course to go with this I needed Chilli Oil, Soy Sauce, Chopsticks, Sauce bowls, and some Bamboo Steamer sections and I got the whole lot, including 6 different Dim Sum for £30.00 which I think is an absolute steal.
There is absolutely no doubt that I will go there again if not just for the smell as you walk in !!
It's located in the industrial area between the Madjeski Stadium and Basingstoke Road and opens until 6pm each day so get down there and see what my fuss is all about.
Sitting at work yesterday...as I do, I was thinking about what to have to eat in the evening.....as I do. After contemplating nipping to The Mission for a tasty Burrito I began to think about Dim Sum. I'm not sure how I managed to link those two but seeing as Dim Sum seems to be my latest culinary craving I thought I'd have a go at making it myself.
To be able to to this I needed to find a specialist Asian supermarket in order to get the right tools for the job and the right ingredients.
Knowing that Reading has a thriving Asian community I was pretty sure that I'd be able to find something on Google and that I did.
The place I found is called "See Woo" and it's more of a cash and carry than a standard supermarket but anybody can walk in and buy stuff, there is no signing up to do and you don't have to be in the catering trade or anything like that.
They have got absolutely everything from my necessary Dim Sum ingredients to Fresh Vegetables to meat to sweets to beers to wines and even some Frogs Legs and Chickens Feet. It's just amazing !!!
Best of all for me were the banks and banks of freezers containing every Dim Sum item you can imagine, all ready prepared (handmade) and just in need of steaming (which is done from frozen............Bonus)
They also have all the raw ingredients you need to make them yourself which I will definitely do one day however making home made Dim Sum just for two people would be pretty expensive and pretty wasteful given the amount of ingredients you'd need to buy.
Of course to go with this I needed Chilli Oil, Soy Sauce, Chopsticks, Sauce bowls, and some Bamboo Steamer sections and I got the whole lot, including 6 different Dim Sum for £30.00 which I think is an absolute steal.
There is absolutely no doubt that I will go there again if not just for the smell as you walk in !!
It's located in the industrial area between the Madjeski Stadium and Basingstoke Road and opens until 6pm each day so get down there and see what my fuss is all about.
Monday, 20 September 2010
Catch Up....
Fairly busy day ahead I reckon. Bit of catching up to do after leaving early on Friday but nothing too out of hand.
Should find out about the pub lease situation tomorrow. Unfortunately we found that the copy we had was indeed the latest one as held by the current tenants solicitor which begs the question "How come his solicitor didn't spot all the mistakes that mine did?"
It's going to make the whole process longer because we absolutely need to find where we stand before we can even contemplate the business plan as the lease, it's contents and it's conditions are the basis on which it all stands.
Sales figures are irrelevant at this time because we have no idea what our goings will be each month because for instance if the lease is full maintaining i.e. we are responsible for any repairs then the insurances will be much higher.
If there is or isn't a loophole that says the brewery can take it back at any time given the right amount of notice even if the conditions have not been broken is certainly a bit ambiguous.
Anyway that's out of our hands for now.
Made a start on my Pumpkin experiments yesterday, that was until I realised we'd run out of sugar so I couldn't go much further than basic preparation for the cheesecake. I must say I was expecting pumpkin to be a bit sweeter than I found it, more like Butternut Squash but in fact they are quite non de-script just on their own.
Tried to few things in an attempt to bring the flavour out more and found that Ginger and Nutmeg really do a good job of that. The Purée I made out of the pumpkin has been mixed with a pinch of each and left over night in the fridge to infuse a bit more. The base is done and is also chilling in the fridge, the Lime zest I've put in this is really giving off a good aroma, on to a winner there I think.
Spicy Pork and Pumpkin Pasties tonight along with a big of hearty Soup.
Should find out about the pub lease situation tomorrow. Unfortunately we found that the copy we had was indeed the latest one as held by the current tenants solicitor which begs the question "How come his solicitor didn't spot all the mistakes that mine did?"
It's going to make the whole process longer because we absolutely need to find where we stand before we can even contemplate the business plan as the lease, it's contents and it's conditions are the basis on which it all stands.
Sales figures are irrelevant at this time because we have no idea what our goings will be each month because for instance if the lease is full maintaining i.e. we are responsible for any repairs then the insurances will be much higher.
If there is or isn't a loophole that says the brewery can take it back at any time given the right amount of notice even if the conditions have not been broken is certainly a bit ambiguous.
Anyway that's out of our hands for now.
Made a start on my Pumpkin experiments yesterday, that was until I realised we'd run out of sugar so I couldn't go much further than basic preparation for the cheesecake. I must say I was expecting pumpkin to be a bit sweeter than I found it, more like Butternut Squash but in fact they are quite non de-script just on their own.
Tried to few things in an attempt to bring the flavour out more and found that Ginger and Nutmeg really do a good job of that. The Purée I made out of the pumpkin has been mixed with a pinch of each and left over night in the fridge to infuse a bit more. The base is done and is also chilling in the fridge, the Lime zest I've put in this is really giving off a good aroma, on to a winner there I think.
Spicy Pork and Pumpkin Pasties tonight along with a big of hearty Soup.
Saturday, 18 September 2010
Isle of Eels..
Woken up this morning to a wonderfully sunny day in the lovely city of Ely up in Cambridgeshire and I'm just waiting for the better half to make her way up before we head off to see my nephew in hospital.
He says he wants to come home because it's too noisy there. I think there were a few restless kiddies on his ward that kept him awake, all that however is very good because it means he's more alert.
They've moved him from the Intentive Care unit down to a High Dependency ward and they are already thinking that he's well enough to be moved to a normal ward so all good there.
We thought it'd be a good idea to keep all his buddies updated via his Facebook page which has worked well and I'm so happy he has such brilliant friends. They seem like the kind of people that are going to be his friends for the rest of his life.
At his age (14) his friends are definitely the biggest influence in his life and judging by these guys he and they are going to have a very bright future together.
Thats it for now. Will do another update later. Not sure how the visiting hours work now that he's moved ward but I'm thinking that maybe we'll nip off for a bit and do some shopping in Cambridge, maybe get him something to cheer him up.
He says he wants to come home because it's too noisy there. I think there were a few restless kiddies on his ward that kept him awake, all that however is very good because it means he's more alert.
They've moved him from the Intentive Care unit down to a High Dependency ward and they are already thinking that he's well enough to be moved to a normal ward so all good there.
We thought it'd be a good idea to keep all his buddies updated via his Facebook page which has worked well and I'm so happy he has such brilliant friends. They seem like the kind of people that are going to be his friends for the rest of his life.
At his age (14) his friends are definitely the biggest influence in his life and judging by these guys he and they are going to have a very bright future together.
Thats it for now. Will do another update later. Not sure how the visiting hours work now that he's moved ward but I'm thinking that maybe we'll nip off for a bit and do some shopping in Cambridge, maybe get him something to cheer him up.
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