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Debate House Prices
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Nice People 13: Nice Save
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PasturesNew wrote: »I'd say that any completely new food/method can take 3 goes to get right. If it's something you've no experience of, then the first time you do it it's all new and you've no idea what'll happen. So the first go is just to get to the end - once you've got to the end you realise that you should have done things a bit different. So the 2nd time you make those changes and it should be 95% "there". The 3rd attempt brings in the experience of the last two times, plus your own tweaks and it's perfect
Second time I cut corners/change things which usually isn't an improvement and so the third time never happens. I get bored easily..0 -
For that matter, I'm always puzzleded how the shape of pasta affects the quality of the meal. Lasagne's totally different to (and much better than) spaghetti even when the sauce is similar. Penne take the heat and flavour out of everyuthing- makes the meal taste like it's made from just six ice cubes and a pound of air.
I do think that part of the problems with pasta is that the Italians consider what they want from a meal and select the appropriate sauce/pasta combination. They would not put the same sauce with a spaghetti as they would with a penne or a tagliatelli, unless of course they were flogging it to us Brits, as here you can get anything. So spaghetti is fine, but with the right sauce, same with penne. A good guide here:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/perfect-pairings-how-match-pasta-shapes-sauces
I tend to eat wholewheat pasta as it is less bloaty, but that leads to a whole different discussion as to what goes.Please stay safe in the sun and learn the A-E of melanoma: A = asymmetry, B = irregular borders, C= different colours, D= diameter, larger than 6mm, E = evolving, is your mole changing? Most moles are not cancerous, any doubts, please check next time you visit your GP.
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I agree - no idea why this is true - perhaps it needs a PHD study?
Location of taste receptors on tongue meaning shapes hit right receptors sooner on first entry in mouth( or avoid wrong ones? )
Or size / age, of carrot lending itself better to a particular shape.
I'm a rounder of carrots, more because its easer......on the slant though, for some implied effort.0 -
PasturesNew wrote: »I think, the bottom line is that I grew up in a household of control freaks, who'd use strops and threats to walk out as a way to win their argument. I pretty much got used to expressing my wishes, then being told it'd be their way or no way, even if an easy compromise was obvious (e.g. cut half the carrots one way, half the other). You can only take so many years before you give up if everybody around you is stronger/louder/more willing to threaten to walk out and wreck the day.
Mum spent many Xmas days in tears. I just wanted a quiet life.
It is difficult, balancing doing it a special way to meet a current desire and wanting your kids to understand that life isn't just about what they want.I think....0 -
vivatifosi wrote: »I do think that part of the problems with pasta is that the Italians consider what they want from a meal and select the appropriate sauce/pasta combination. They would not put the same sauce with a spaghetti as they would with a penne or a tagliatelli, unless of course they were flogging it to us Brits, as here you can get anything. So spaghetti is fine, but with the right sauce, same with penne. A good guide here:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/perfect-pairings-how-match-pasta-shapes-sauces
I tend to eat wholewheat pasta as it is less bloaty, but that leads to a whole different discussion as to what goes.
Yes, its about what picks up what sauce mainly...but also regionally loved shapes.
I really adore the one that's like a macaroni that missed being cut up...bacatini......but its famous even in Italy for being hard to eat neatly. You can sometimes find a skinny version here, but not seen the wide one. I also like papadelle and tripolini I guess I like fat paste!
On the other hand I also really like very fine angels hair pasta....but it seems really hard to get now...I think it was easier to get in uk many years ago.
Its funny how much a shape can impact on enjoyment. Personally I'm not terribly fond of fusilli. Not enough to refuse it if its the dish that sounds best on a menu or something. The 'ribs' make it catch lots of sauce, but its just not my favourite texture of pasta.0 -
HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »F.A.B....:)
And yes, it really does, doesn't it?
All you need to add is a giant swimming pool (purely for firefighting purposes, of course, not as a personal extravagance) and it'd be pretty close to perfect.
I'd quite like a house that's a bit different like that, it's probably prohibitively expensive, but they really do look interesting.
Well insulated too. Mse on that front.0 -
Is NDG OK?I'm a Forum Ambassador on the housing, mortgages & student money saving boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Forum Ambassadors are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an illegal or inappropriate post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Any views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com.0
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PasturesNew wrote: »I've quite often made macaroni cheese with "the pasta I've got in the cupboard" as they're all the same and there's no point having many shapes in the cupboard, I try to limit it to 3-4. But, macaroni cheese with spirals isn't as good, even if you try to meticulously coat along each spiral with cheesy goodness.
I've seen some lovely coloured pastas in shops and interesting shapes - but I still walk out with the cheapo bags of regular stuff because it's all just pasta
Macaroni is one of those I see less often, I commented on that a couple of years ago when I saw some on special offer and bought some, ( maybe its on special offer because they hide it on a low shelf or something:o)
I'd try penne as an alternative rather than spirals, or fusilli. The spirals are going to make the cheese sauce hard to move over them, as they are designed to pick up and hold sauces in those grooves....so cheese sauce which is quite gloopy doesn't need that help.0 -
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Worth knowing - I'm with DL and usually get them to reduce the quote to about what I paid last year, but they're not as keen as they used to be to drop the quote to a new customer's level.
I do have house insurance with them too, and therefore get extra discounts for having both - so it would need to be a decently lower quote to compensate. £50 is worth looking into definitely :T
An advantage of being married, OH's car insurance is with DL, so that will keep the discount on house insurance going.HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »Mate of mine died yesterday, relatively fit, didn't smoke, played sports, had a sudden and fatal heart attack in his late 40's.
The first of my friend group to die of 'natural' causes.
Been a few passed away in car/bike/plane incidents, in dodgy parts of the world from work related issues, or from various other misadventures of the recreational variety, but that's the first from just getting older.
Bit of a shocker really. I'd have laid good odds he'd have outlived me, despite being a good few years older.
A reminder of our mortality.
Sorry to here this.
DS1 lost a housemate at uni, we know of a friend's spouse and a different friend's sister who died young, but we didn't know either of them ourselves.I'm sorry, Hamish. Friends of ours lost their son, in his 20s. He just dropped dead, and they never discovered the cause. Whilst feeling gloomy I will mention that a friend has just been diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease, which seems to be progressing quite fast.
Also a disease where treatment does not seem to have improved in recent years. Everyone thinks of Stephen Hawkings and expects victims to go on for years, in fact the time left after diagnosis averages about 2 years. I lost a close relative to this just 2 months after diagnosis, we had all barely got used to the idea that he was going to decline, when he wentI'm a Forum Ambassador on the housing, mortgages & student money saving boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Forum Ambassadors are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an illegal or inappropriate post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Any views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com.0
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