Nice people thread part 4 - sugar and spice and all things

vivatifosi

Morning all, another member of the don't like mushrooms club here. I don't mind them chopped up in mushroom pasta or pulverised in soup, but mushrooms themselves I just don't like the texture or the earthiness. I am allergic to shellfish so don't eat that either (I'm a veggie now anyway). I stopped eating fish as a child when I returned from Australia as it just didn't taste as good. Going to Gen's point earlier about the fruit being much better in Australia, the fish is way better also, well it is when you live in an inland town here as opposed to by a trawler port where you can buy off the quay. Aussie fish though - I may cease being a veggie if I moved back. Mmmm flake...

SingleSue

We have been having absolutely glorious weather, much better than on last years holiday. It has been swimming pool days ever since we got here...no idea how long the weather will last but we are enjoying while we can!

I had a bit of a shock this morning while checking my bank account, my carefully budgeted finances have taken a hit by an auto renewal of our anti virus coming out early, it wasn't due to do so until Monday and the end result is we have £19 left to last us until Monday...eeek! But we have managed on less and I am sure we will get through.

lostinrates

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

OH is an aethist Orthodox Jew. But because he was brought up being told pork and seafood is dirty, he doesn't fancy it at all.

its funny how those things stick isn't it?

Neither of dh's parents were observant either, nor maternal grandparents. BUT paternal side was quite active in ''the Jewish community'' and while things were eaten it wasn't seen as something to boast about. I think that I still see this in dh's father today, and to adegree in dh and his siblings ...in a different way though. One of dh's si blings pretends she is not of jewish descent...in an exaggerated way. Its not any ones business what she is, but she feels a sort of paranoia and I noticed she always orders something porky or shellfishy if people outside the family are at a restaurant with us....to sort of throw them off the trail.

Viva, it must be hard not liking mushrooms as a vegetarian....lots of ''alternative'' menus feature the wonderful mushroom.. I shall try and remember not to make mushroom tart for you if you ever visit me!


I'm with you on fish. Even humble fish 'n' chips is better in new zealand.

lostinrates

Generali wrote: »

I hated pineapple and mango until I came to Aus. Tropical fruit in the UK is terrible except for the alfonso mangos you get from really crappy Asian grocers in South London. Those are great, I assume because they are picked ripe by relatives in India and flown directly over to the UK rather than picked when they still taste like rocks.

Sometimes you get a good piece of pineapple etc here. Not often though. That said, its hard to get decent other stuff too. Rock hard stone fruit seems to be a big feature in supermarkets, and wrinkly ones in green gorcers. The peppers and my local green grocer are pretty much always wrinkly, but they do good eat that day ripe fruit, and I'd give one of their pineapples a whirl too. I had the best avocado I have eaten in the UK from the grocers a couple of weeks ago. I almost wept at its gorgeousness.


edit: persimmons available here are my gripe: horrid. There is some one out side the tube station for finchley road, just near the finchley road/swiss cottage waitrose who has excellent ones in season. We used to buy a box ful and eat little else for a weekend. The ones elsewhere are not ripe and never go ripe, straight to mouldy, and are clear and solid not fragile little bags of translucent fruity ambrosia.

lostinrates

and something else I miss that you can't get out here are those insanely wonderful little blushing muscat grapes, so sweet and juicy, pickable where Gen gets his mangos (which are also really good, but occasionally we find then in green grocers out here).

And this time of year, the huge watermelons they only sell a slice of, or that you go and get in the car, while people shake their heads at the size of melon you buy, then meet with friends on Hamsptead heath and eat with the juice running down your arms, and with bread, feta and black olives

neverdespairgirl

Davesnave wrote: »

There's a good railway connection to other places on the South Coast, and Dawlish Warren has a good beach & nature reserve, though it is a bit 'downmarket' close to the car parks with lots of holiday flats, funfair etc.

Good base for Dartmoor/South Devon Coast.

Thanks Dave

As it's so hot, I've decided to escape from London next week from Wednesday to Sunday, with Isaac, my best mate, and her 2 year old daughter. we'll go by train to Dawlish, and can pick mate and DD up in Reading on the way, and save all that infant whinging in cars nonsense.

I can live with beaches, nature reserves and fun fairs for a bit!

Mate's a bit fed up - it's summer holidays (she's a teacher) and her husband's been send off to Rome, then USA, and next week he's in China. So a few days in Devon will be good for us all.

OH will come if he can - at the moment he's supposed to be in Hull, doing a trial, but he thinks there's a good chance it'll settle.

neverdespairgirl

SingleSue wrote: »

We have been having absolutely glorious weather, much better than on last years holiday. It has been swimming pool days ever since we got here...no idea how long the weather will last but we are enjoying while we can!

You and the three lads? Where have you gone?

neverdespairgirl

lostinrates wrote: »

its funny how those things stick isn't it?

Neither of dh's parents were observant either, nor maternal grandparents. BUT paternal side was quite active in ''the Jewish community'' and while things were eaten it wasn't seen as something to boast about. I think that I still see this in dh's father today, and to adegree in dh and his siblings ...in a different way though. One of dh's si blings pretends she is not of jewish descent...in an exaggerated way.

OH spent quite a lot of his youth in Israel, and there you have to make a special effort not to keep Kosher, so pork / seafood etc are usually "Orf".

I just don't like either much anyway, so it's all the same to me. OH doesn't mind other people eating it, keeping it in a fridge he uses, or saucepans etc, he just doesn't fancy noshing it.

OH's grandparents brought plastic knives and forks and paper plates when they came to stay with OH and his parents and brother, though!

Generali

lostinrates wrote: »

edit: persimmons available here are my gripe: horrid. There is some one out side the tube station for finchley road, just near the finchley road/swiss cottage waitrose who has excellent ones in season. We used to buy a box ful and eat little else for a weekend. The ones elsewhere are not ripe and never go ripe, straight to mouldy, and are clear and solid not fragile little bags of translucent fruity ambrosia.

Oh, I had my first persimmon a few weeks ago; amazing. A little sweet for my taste TBH but I'll have it again in fruit salad mixing it up with something a little more acid or sour.

Now I need to summon up the courage to give dorian fruit a go.

Wheezy_2

As a counterweight to the anti-mushroom brigade on here:

MUSHROOMS , :iloveyou:


- fried
- baked
- sauteed
- grilled
- dried
- baked
- raw (I always gobble a couple of raw ones while Mrs. Wheezy is cooking:))