So another action packed weekend has drawn to a close. Lots of fun was had but today I'm shattered, absolutely pooped. However I am looking forward to the week ahead, not that I have much on.
Saturday the girls and myself packed up a yummy picnic and headed into Henley to soak up a bit of regatta atmosphere. We stay right out the way of the main event because it just gets too busy and it's darn expensive too.
It's a great place to people watch. Of course you get your Hooray henrys and your Ra Ra Rachels but the best ones are the common folks who dress up in their best Primani and actually look the part until they open their mouths.
We sat by a boat which had some girls quaffing champers on the bow and their lads at the stern drinking cans of lager. The girls we're laughing with extra energy and the guys we're probably just talking about bricklaying or football.
At one point the girls all stood up to sing Happy Birthday to one of the guys and it was at that point you realised that it probably wasn't their boat! This rendition had no "H" in happy and birthday was spelt with an "F"..............
"Appy burfday to you, appy burfday day to you, appy burfday dear Daaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrreeeeenn, appy burfday to yooooooooouuuu"
Another lady (I'm being polite) disembarked from the boat with the jazz band, immediately lit a cigarette then proceeded to stand with loads young kids at a kiosk and then ordered a hot dog, still puffing away. Really classy.
Still we had a good time and Emily got to work on her cricket bowling which I have to say is coming on well, she's getting her arm straight and showing signs of good accuracy....which is quite amazing seeing as it's me giving the tuition.
Saturday afternoon and evening was a musical affair. Firstly a quick warm up and a few beers at my buddies house followed by DJ'ing at Bar Mango in Reading. It was great fun being out in the garden with like minded people. I think we all did well musically and created a really nice party atmosphere which was almost like it used to be.
I'm not sure how or when I got home, I think it was about 6am via a little after party at a friends house (sorry neighbours). Getting in at that time isn't unusual for me but then playing cricket for the whole day after doing so is normally not my idea of fun.
For some reason I thought the game was starting at around 2pm but I upon arrival at 12:30pm I soon realised that I was wrong....by 2 hours. Worse still was that I was informed that my chat to the journalist during the week had made it to the paper and lets just say the teachers at the club gave me some stick for it.
I stand by the comments I made although I'm pretty sure they changed a few words and I'm definitely not 36 years old. I won't go into to much detail on the article but it was concerning the teachers strike and as someone who pays quite a lot of tax I think I'm entitled to an opinion on how the public sector workers behave.
My friend wrote an excellent blog on the situation here and it echoes my thoughts exactly. I'd much rather people read this than what was in the paper as I do feel a little empathy (but not a great deal) for some of the strikers which doesn't really come across in the newspaper article.
Anyway they'll get over it :-) I do enjoy the banter though.
Once cricket was finished I went straight home to the sofa and some good old fashioned sleepy TV. First off it was the Goodwood festival of speed coverage on Sky which gave me a few nod off moments then Top Gear which is just so boring and predictable one can't help but feel sleepy. Coast followed that and I absolutely love that program but it always sends me to sleep, I find myself having to catch up on all the bits I've missed on the iPlayer.
I didn't actually get off the sofa until 1am. I blame Robson Green and his extreme fishing for that one.
I had a craving for a hot and spicy lamb curry yesterday but my laziness mean't I had to settle for cold pizza. It even had Pineapple on it !!! Pineapple on pizzas is just so wrong, I feel dirty for eating it! Best satisfy the curry craving tonight although I'm going make it myself rather that get one from uncle Raj.
Toodlepip xx.....
Showing posts with label sonning cc. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sonning cc. Show all posts
Monday, 4 July 2011
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Freddie rocks up......
I'm still a bit dumbfounded about yesterdays antics. Did I really spend a whole day knocking about on a cricket field with my ultimate sporting hero?
Was the weather so nice that I'm current sat here trying not to change any facial expressions due to the pinkness of my sun scorched head?
Also just how big are world class international (ex) cricketers?
The answer to the first two questions is "Yes" and the the third is "Huuuuuuuuuuuuuge"
Freddie was down at Sonning CC quite out of the blue to film a documentary for the BBC on the effects of weather on sport. He was a really nice guy and had no quarms about signing autographs for the kids when they came over once school had finished.
Having dropped him in the deep early on I was singled out for catching practise, pretty unsuccessfully I might add. My hands today are aching.....that lad can get some height on those cricket balls I tell you !!!
Ultimately though "safe hands" Zagorski proved too good for the young upstart and he had to make the lonely walk back to the pavilion (or maybe it was just the end of filming that segment.....you decide)
All in all a really good and wholly unexpected experience. We only knew about the shoot the day before. I'm guessing they keep the schedule tight so that there isn't enough time to get the word around and have hundreds of people turn up making background noise and harrasing the celebrities.
We were told that our club was chosen for the film shoot because of recommendations from other clubs for our reputation as a hospitable and picturesque venue. Personally I think it was all down to the hanging baskets and flowerbeds :-)
Back to normality today and a busy day ahead it is too. I have a few technical bits I need to tidy up at work then at 2:30pm I have to head off to the Royal Berks Hospital to have a small operation on my hand......nothing to do with Freddie and the dropped catches I might add although the local anaesthetic might be a welcome relief.
After that I have my very good buddy Razer coming over for dinner. I take Razer's opinion on food very seriously, he's a bit of an aficionado so I'm keen to make a excellent spread. The menu is -
Starter - Hot smoked mackerel pate with pickled fennel and gooseberry purée.
Main - Rack of Lamb with summer vegetables and a minted Lamb broth.
Dessert - Crème Caramel with tempered dark chocolate.
I've tweaked the starter even more from my previous efforts this time using hot smoked mackerel rather than fresh and added some horseradish. I've combined a bit more spice and seasoning with the pickled fennel and I've retained more sourness in the gooseberry purée rather than have it too sweet.
I've never tried the main course before, it's something that just popped into my head and I think it's really going to work well.
The dessert again is something I've not really tried. I did have a trial run a couple of days ago and since then I've given it a bit more of a tweak especially with a bit more vanilla in the custard and less caramel. I've never tried to temper chocolate but I think a small sliver of bitterness will be a nice contrast to the sweetness of the caramel.
As a menu it's really rather a good one to use for a dinner party because the starter and dessert can be done a day or two in advance and the only really cooking on the day is for the main course which really shouldn't be difficult at all. It's seasonal, has lots of good flavours and is well balanced.
I'll let y'all know how it goes....toodlepip xxx
Was the weather so nice that I'm current sat here trying not to change any facial expressions due to the pinkness of my sun scorched head?
Also just how big are world class international (ex) cricketers?
The answer to the first two questions is "Yes" and the the third is "Huuuuuuuuuuuuuge"
Freddie was down at Sonning CC quite out of the blue to film a documentary for the BBC on the effects of weather on sport. He was a really nice guy and had no quarms about signing autographs for the kids when they came over once school had finished.
Having dropped him in the deep early on I was singled out for catching practise, pretty unsuccessfully I might add. My hands today are aching.....that lad can get some height on those cricket balls I tell you !!!
Ultimately though "safe hands" Zagorski proved too good for the young upstart and he had to make the lonely walk back to the pavilion (or maybe it was just the end of filming that segment.....you decide)
All in all a really good and wholly unexpected experience. We only knew about the shoot the day before. I'm guessing they keep the schedule tight so that there isn't enough time to get the word around and have hundreds of people turn up making background noise and harrasing the celebrities.
We were told that our club was chosen for the film shoot because of recommendations from other clubs for our reputation as a hospitable and picturesque venue. Personally I think it was all down to the hanging baskets and flowerbeds :-)
Back to normality today and a busy day ahead it is too. I have a few technical bits I need to tidy up at work then at 2:30pm I have to head off to the Royal Berks Hospital to have a small operation on my hand......nothing to do with Freddie and the dropped catches I might add although the local anaesthetic might be a welcome relief.
After that I have my very good buddy Razer coming over for dinner. I take Razer's opinion on food very seriously, he's a bit of an aficionado so I'm keen to make a excellent spread. The menu is -
Starter - Hot smoked mackerel pate with pickled fennel and gooseberry purée.
Main - Rack of Lamb with summer vegetables and a minted Lamb broth.
Dessert - Crème Caramel with tempered dark chocolate.
I've tweaked the starter even more from my previous efforts this time using hot smoked mackerel rather than fresh and added some horseradish. I've combined a bit more spice and seasoning with the pickled fennel and I've retained more sourness in the gooseberry purée rather than have it too sweet.
I've never tried the main course before, it's something that just popped into my head and I think it's really going to work well.
The dessert again is something I've not really tried. I did have a trial run a couple of days ago and since then I've given it a bit more of a tweak especially with a bit more vanilla in the custard and less caramel. I've never tried to temper chocolate but I think a small sliver of bitterness will be a nice contrast to the sweetness of the caramel.
As a menu it's really rather a good one to use for a dinner party because the starter and dessert can be done a day or two in advance and the only really cooking on the day is for the main course which really shouldn't be difficult at all. It's seasonal, has lots of good flavours and is well balanced.
I'll let y'all know how it goes....toodlepip xxx
Sunday, 29 May 2011
Winning draw......
Well what a day it was on the cricket field yesterday. Not down at Cardiff with that boring international cricket I mean over at Reading Blue Coat school where we (Sonning 3rds) took on the might of Mortimer West End. It was an overcast day which mean't that there was a lot of movement with the ball but we still managed to score an impressive 256 off our 45 overs.........my contribution......5 not out.
That has boosted my seasons average right up now to .....................erm........5
Mortimer batted through their 45 overs with just one wicket to spare. They could only score 165 because our bowling and fielding was superb so under the league rules that means we had a winning draw which gave us 15 points but we also got bonus points for restricting their total to less than 75% of ours and we got 9 wickets. So in the end we got 24 points which is very good for us. Cricket is certainly a confusing game even at the best of times.
Of course next weekend I shall be unavailable because of my commitments to Eat Reading Live and I'll pick up there with a little write up about the people I'll be introducing on the Town Hall Stage at 13:30 on Saturday 4th June.
Vintage Roots are an organic wine merchants based in Hook. They are a home delivery service and although their speciality is in wine they also sell beers, spirits and champagnes, all of which are organic. Just looking at their website I can see that they stock at least 700 wines and you can even search for vegetarian, vegan and biodynamic variations.
I'm quite a big fan of organic wines, especially organic reds because they contain very little or no sulphates and it's those sulphates that contribute greatly to the red wine headache the following day. Try it and see for yourself........by the way drink responsibly, always use a big glass with a large base so you don't spill any!
I'm really interested to see what they are going to demo but at the same time I'm a bit scared because I could be parting with a few quid too.
Plans for today are to finish this blog, catch up with Two Greedy Italians on the iPlayer, complete a few missions on Assassins Creed Brotherhood then I'll pop up to the cricket club to watch the Sunday 2nds and have a few beers.
So so so looking forward to meeting Gennaro on Saturday !! Mum if you are reading we'll try and get another signed book for you.
Tomorrow of course is a national holiday in the UK and it's also the championship play off final at Wembley between Reading and Swansea. Should Reading win then the town will be buzzing and with that in mind we're having a little party at The Penta Hotel. They'll have a big screen (and when I say big I mean mahoooooosive) showing the game itself then afterwards I'll be reuniting with the rest of the original House Party DJ team and turning up the tunes to have a good old fashioned party. All are welcome.....except if you're a k**bhead. We don't like them at our parties :-)
There will be some old Reading players coming along so if your a fan and couldn't get to Wembley then this surely has to be the next best thing.
Had an idea for a breakfast today that turned out brilliantly and once perfected I shall add some photos and a recipe but for now that's it and I bid you adieu.......toodlepip xx
That has boosted my seasons average right up now to .....................erm........5
Mortimer batted through their 45 overs with just one wicket to spare. They could only score 165 because our bowling and fielding was superb so under the league rules that means we had a winning draw which gave us 15 points but we also got bonus points for restricting their total to less than 75% of ours and we got 9 wickets. So in the end we got 24 points which is very good for us. Cricket is certainly a confusing game even at the best of times.
Of course next weekend I shall be unavailable because of my commitments to Eat Reading Live and I'll pick up there with a little write up about the people I'll be introducing on the Town Hall Stage at 13:30 on Saturday 4th June.
Vintage Roots are an organic wine merchants based in Hook. They are a home delivery service and although their speciality is in wine they also sell beers, spirits and champagnes, all of which are organic. Just looking at their website I can see that they stock at least 700 wines and you can even search for vegetarian, vegan and biodynamic variations.
I'm quite a big fan of organic wines, especially organic reds because they contain very little or no sulphates and it's those sulphates that contribute greatly to the red wine headache the following day. Try it and see for yourself........by the way drink responsibly, always use a big glass with a large base so you don't spill any!
I'm really interested to see what they are going to demo but at the same time I'm a bit scared because I could be parting with a few quid too.
Plans for today are to finish this blog, catch up with Two Greedy Italians on the iPlayer, complete a few missions on Assassins Creed Brotherhood then I'll pop up to the cricket club to watch the Sunday 2nds and have a few beers.
So so so looking forward to meeting Gennaro on Saturday !! Mum if you are reading we'll try and get another signed book for you.
Tomorrow of course is a national holiday in the UK and it's also the championship play off final at Wembley between Reading and Swansea. Should Reading win then the town will be buzzing and with that in mind we're having a little party at The Penta Hotel. They'll have a big screen (and when I say big I mean mahoooooosive) showing the game itself then afterwards I'll be reuniting with the rest of the original House Party DJ team and turning up the tunes to have a good old fashioned party. All are welcome.....except if you're a k**bhead. We don't like them at our parties :-)
There will be some old Reading players coming along so if your a fan and couldn't get to Wembley then this surely has to be the next best thing.
Had an idea for a breakfast today that turned out brilliantly and once perfected I shall add some photos and a recipe but for now that's it and I bid you adieu.......toodlepip xx
Monday, 7 March 2011
Blog off.........
So it's been a while and I've suffered from another attack of lazyblogitis. I've been a bit busier at work in the last few weeks which is fantastic but it's left little time to think of bloggy stuff.
I was asked about my lack of blogging activity last Wednesday by a buddy and only yesterday by central Twyford's most wonderous, charming and welcoming pub landlady (Is that enough sucking up Karen?)
Good food, fine Ales and a warm welcome to all right here at the Duke of Wellington.
So a quick update about what's coming up in my world......
Musicwise I've been a little quiet on the DJ'ing front which has actually been quite welcome. I'm getting far too old to be doing it regularly as even though I love it there are other things in my life that require awareness on weekend mornings and the two never really have gone together all that well.
Saturday just gone I was spinning some tunes..........not playing..........don't you just hate it when DJ's say they are "playing" some tunes? I hardly think sticking on other peoples records and getting paid for it is "playing". Strumming a guitar, tinkling the ivories or bashing some drums is "playing".......sorry off on a tangent there !!! Where was I?........Oh I was spinning some tunes for the folks at my more regular haunt downstairs at Sakura. Was a very good night actually thanks to some rather nice tunes that'll shortly be busted out on the beaches at the Miami winter music conference.
The only other booking I have at the moment is at Bar Mango (the place I call home) in April (or is it May) alongside my DJ hero Brandon Block.....more info to follow on that....
Foodiewise I'm excited and honoured to have been asked to be a judge in this years Reading, Steady, Cook! competition. There are several heats leading up to the semi-finals and final which will be held in Reading town centre on the 4th and 5th of June 2011 as part of the Eat Reading Live programme. I had such fun being a contestant last year and it's just so nice to be part of it again this year and I'll also be doing a demo all of my own on one of the kitchen stages on the finals weekend.
Sportwise the cricket season is gearing up to kick off and net sessions down at my club (Sonning CC) have started. I have a small sub committee role at the club looking after all things related to the pavilion so I still have plenty of projects to get under way there before the season starts and in particular for our confirmed match against the MCC. Once the season gets going why not come along and spend a lazy day watching a match, we have plenty for the kids to do, a stocked bar and every now and then the BBQ gets a blasting.
In the professional game I think that the ICC world cup so far has been tremendous, perhaps a little drawn out with all the associate nations involved but I think it's right that they are there and as Ireland showed against England they can compete with the best now and again and they should be given that chance on the world stage, perhaps that result will encourage cricket Ireland to spend more money developing a team that can soon catch up with the test playing nations, they certainly have the talent there.
Travelwise...............not much going on.........
Oh except for that small 3 week trip to Melbourne I'll be taking in a few days time :-)
I'll be keeping you all up to date on that so don't you worry.
Toodlepip for now :-)
xxx
I was asked about my lack of blogging activity last Wednesday by a buddy and only yesterday by central Twyford's most wonderous, charming and welcoming pub landlady (Is that enough sucking up Karen?)
Good food, fine Ales and a warm welcome to all right here at the Duke of Wellington.
So a quick update about what's coming up in my world......
Musicwise I've been a little quiet on the DJ'ing front which has actually been quite welcome. I'm getting far too old to be doing it regularly as even though I love it there are other things in my life that require awareness on weekend mornings and the two never really have gone together all that well.
Saturday just gone I was spinning some tunes..........not playing..........don't you just hate it when DJ's say they are "playing" some tunes? I hardly think sticking on other peoples records and getting paid for it is "playing". Strumming a guitar, tinkling the ivories or bashing some drums is "playing".......sorry off on a tangent there !!! Where was I?........Oh I was spinning some tunes for the folks at my more regular haunt downstairs at Sakura. Was a very good night actually thanks to some rather nice tunes that'll shortly be busted out on the beaches at the Miami winter music conference.
The only other booking I have at the moment is at Bar Mango (the place I call home) in April (or is it May) alongside my DJ hero Brandon Block.....more info to follow on that....
Foodiewise I'm excited and honoured to have been asked to be a judge in this years Reading, Steady, Cook! competition. There are several heats leading up to the semi-finals and final which will be held in Reading town centre on the 4th and 5th of June 2011 as part of the Eat Reading Live programme. I had such fun being a contestant last year and it's just so nice to be part of it again this year and I'll also be doing a demo all of my own on one of the kitchen stages on the finals weekend.
Sportwise the cricket season is gearing up to kick off and net sessions down at my club (Sonning CC) have started. I have a small sub committee role at the club looking after all things related to the pavilion so I still have plenty of projects to get under way there before the season starts and in particular for our confirmed match against the MCC. Once the season gets going why not come along and spend a lazy day watching a match, we have plenty for the kids to do, a stocked bar and every now and then the BBQ gets a blasting.
In the professional game I think that the ICC world cup so far has been tremendous, perhaps a little drawn out with all the associate nations involved but I think it's right that they are there and as Ireland showed against England they can compete with the best now and again and they should be given that chance on the world stage, perhaps that result will encourage cricket Ireland to spend more money developing a team that can soon catch up with the test playing nations, they certainly have the talent there.
Travelwise...............not much going on.........
Oh except for that small 3 week trip to Melbourne I'll be taking in a few days time :-)
I'll be keeping you all up to date on that so don't you worry.
Toodlepip for now :-)
xxx
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