Out & About At Eateries

Dad: Hey Mike, it was nice to have you share our anniversary with your girlfriend, Becky.
Mum: Yes, it means a lot you can share this with us.
Mike: No problem. 
Becky: My folks never celebrate their wedding anniversary, so it's nice to do it with you both. 
Mike: So, how many years is it?
Dad: Err...Elbow in ribs.
Mum: 25. It only seems like yesterday. 
Dad: That's right, honey.

Trudy: It's two years since we tied the knot.
Sam: Yeah. I don't regret a minute. 

Trudy: Your mum felt I was a bit old for you. Is she over that now?
Sam: I think so. Regardless, we are happy together. 
Trudy: Will you still love me when I'm 64?
Sam: Sure I will. 
Trudy: You keep me young. 
Sam: I can't take the credit for that. Your genetics are the reason.
Trudy: Well, I'm giving some credit to you. 

Amanda: What do you mean, I have to economise?

Roger: It's just the credit card payments are getting a bit high.

Amanda: Don't you think I'm worth it?

Roger: Of course, you're worth it. It's just...we can't afford it.

Amanda: And you bring it up at a romantic dinner.
Roger: Good point. I should have mentioned it sooner. We can't really afford this. 
Amanda: Roger, this is just not good enough!

Mark: So are you shouting me, or am I paying?

Tabitha: How about the person who blinks first pays? 

Mark: You're on. And don't kick me in the shin.

Tabitha: I don't play dirty. 

Mark: You are always tricking me. 

Tabitha: You're so gullible. 

Mark: I'm trusting, that's all.

Tabitha: How about you pay and I'll shout you dinner?

Mark: You're on.

Tabitha: My place at 7pm. Macaroni cheese? 

Mark: You got me again.

Dark Chocolate

For those who have preferred milk chocolate but have converted to dark chocolate (which is best as 70% or more of cocoa), welcome to the dark side. For others, I encourage you to develop a taste for it. Once you know the benefits, that should me motivation enough. 

Overview:

1) It has high levels of antioxidants. In moderation (as always) it can lower blood pressure, improve cardiovascular health, reduce inflammation and even boost brain function. 

2) It is a source of fiber and essential minerals such as iron, magnesium and copper. 

Detail:

Improves the blood flow, lowers blood pressure and reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. Abundant flavanols protect cells from damage and oxidative damage. It can increase good HDL cholesterol while reducing bad LDL cholesterol. It improves blood flow to the brain, assisting cognitive function, memory, and our mood. Regarding nutrients, it contains fiber, iron, magnesium and copper. The fiber and nutrient density can help you feel full longer, reducing cravings. 

Caution:

High consumption can lead to weight gain. It contains caffeine which can have negative side effects for those with sensitivity to it. Even dark chocolate will still contain sugar and saturated fat, so moderation (as I said earlier) is important.

Recommendation: Enjoy.

What's For Dinner?

 

Making Bread

Making your own bread is the way to go. The ingredients are as natural as you want them to be and the freshness is the best. With a modern breadmaker such as the Panasonic one we have (the best IMO), the success rate is 100%. All the kneading is done for you. All you need to do is add the ingredients.

A good yeast is important. I use Tulip which may or may not be available where you live. Whatever you use, if it works for you, then fine. You can experiment with other ingredients but I would suggest do a basic loaf for a while at first. Once that is successful, then add one new ingredient at a time. That way, you can tell if things don't work out well, what the problem was.

Thought For The Day

Chocolate reminds me of toilet paper.....







......it never breaks in the right place.

Things Difficult To Say When Drunk

As drunkenness makes one look foolish and often behave disgustingly, I put this on my blog to make that point. I do not wish to encourage excess drinking by making light of it.

Things hard to say

Innovative
Preliminary
Anesthetist
Cinnamon
Chrysanthemum

It is even harder to say Specificity

Rhipidistian-Amphibian Transition
Anti-constitutionalistically
Transubstantiate
Sphygmomanometer

Apparently it is impossible to say

Nope, no more booze for me.
Sorry, but you're not really my type.
Good evening, officer. Isn't it lovely out tonight?
Oh, I couldn't. No one wants to hear me sing karaoke.
I'm not interested in fighting you.
Thank you, but I won't make any attempt to dance, I'd hate to look like a fool.
Where is the nearest toilet? I refuse to throw up in the street.
I must be going home now as I have work in the morning.

The Chopping Board - Yuck

We went to a motel in New Zealand and I think they gave us a room that hadn't been used for a while. How did we know? Well when we lifted out the chopping board it was covered in quite think mold. The picture doesn't do justice to it.

We took it across to the motelier who was very apologetic and gave us a nice quality, new replacement. it's one of those things as the rest of the motel room was clean and nicely presented.

The Best Wine

What is the best wine? Is it based on the price you paid? When you buy a consumer product such as an appliance or item of apparel the phrase 'You get what you pay for' is so often true. Is that how it works for wine?

I spoke to a person in the wine industry and he said the price you pay is often dependent on the amount available. How much you like it may not be relevant to the cost, unless your brain convinces you it must be good at that price.

That was confirmed recently when we had some guests around for dinner. They brought a bottle of red wine which was not a cheap drop. I supplemented that with some of my own. I estimate what I had was about a third of the price of theirs, but I buy it because I really like it.

During the evening the guest wanted to see the label of my wine because they really liked it too. I sensed surprise when they recognised it as part of a relatively basic range. Their generosity was appreciated, but their wine was nothing special to the palate.

So when you find a nice wine, run with it. If it's not expensive all the better. It seems to me that while you usually get what you pay for, in the case of wine, it isn't always so.

Feijoa

The feijoa is a shrub originating in Latin America that produces a fruit that has become very popular in New Zealand. They grow easily so most people obtain the oval shaped delight from private sources rather than shops. The fruit they produces is both sweet and aromatic.

We halve them, scoop out the flesh into a large bowl and add a spoon of honey. The bowl is then put in the fridge and the honey reacts, making it appear that they have been stewed. A potion is then taken each morning for breakfast.

In the picture, the one on the left is normal but the other on the right is the equivalent of a double-yoker egg. I have scooped out thousands of them but this is the first I recall ever seeing. For those who don't know the fruit, they may both seem normal, but it is an exception.

So if you toss about at night unable to sleep because you have pondered whether a feijoa fruit can be a double version, you can now rest easy. It's happens.

The XXL Restaurant Waldgeist

This is about a restaurant in Germany where the portions can be large, very large. For some reason, this is considered to be a challenge that needs conquering. The truth is, we are designed to eat little and often. Over-sized portions are not good for us. Repeatedly overeating is very bad for our health.

It is an XXL restaurant in the Frankfurt area. Steaks can be over a kilo, as can chip portions. Apple wine up to 1.7 litres, beer up to 2 litres and Bacardi Cola up to 8 litres according to the website. If I drank that much, I wouldn't have room for anything to eat. Of course, normal portions are available and that is what I would be choosing.

So where's the salad?

Only big mouths need order

An interesting presentation

LocaL Butcher's Promotion Evening

I recently went to an evening at the local butchery. They had nibbles and drinks available.

It was called 'Meat & Greet'.

The Osage Orange

Near where we live is a grove of trees that are prolific producers of balls that are slightly larger than a tennis ball. I wondered what they were and found out they are Osage Oranges, named after the Osage Indian tribe.

The seeds inside can be eaten but that is all. If you have squirrels, they love them and make a mess ripping them open for the seeds. We don't have any squirrels in New Zealand so these eventually decomposed. I grabbed a couple before they all went and photographed them as seen here.

I haven't tried the seeds but may do now that I know they are edible. If you never see another blog article at Light 'N Funny, then you know something went terribly wrong and the advice about eating them is not to be followed.

Cooking Show Parody Video

Whether you have watched this show or not (and I have), I'm sure the humour will be appreciated.

Fun Food

Food doesn't have to be bring, especially at a party. Children love food that looks fun too and it's nice to see the effort that people put into it. Here are a few examples at a party my better half went to (the cheese cake was another recent occasion) . All the items were made by - or in the case of the ark project contributed to - by a very talented friend of ours.

A cheese cake with a difference. That's mango on top with kiwi fruit.
It tasted delicious!

How about a watermelon with fruit salad inside!

Noah's Ark was a sweet idea too

No, not ladybirds but half cherry tomato, black olive & basil leaf.
Underneath is cheese, pesto and crusty bread. 

Taste Bud Alert!

We have been enjoying cherries and apricots, two products that are grown locally in reasonable abundance. We particularly enjoy tree ripened cherries and you can go to orchards and do 'pick your own'. Yum.

In Praise Of Technology - Pizza Delivery GPS Apps

Some people feel technology is taking over. However, I think it time I redressed the balance and spoke out in favour of how much technological advances, and even enhance our lives. Take the new and exciting pizza delivery GPS app. There are benefits to the pizza company with this, but I will focus on the benefits to the end consumer.

When you order a pizza, the estimated delivery time is given. However, it is only an estimate so you wait anxiously. Not only are there hunger pangs to deal with, it's also the anticipation. A car door slams outside and you run to the front door only to find it was the neighbour arriving home late. Dejected, you slump back into the easy chair, your carefully honed stomach fat rippling on impact and exacerbating the feeling of emptiness in the stomach.

Hang on, help is on its way, I'll be there as fast as I can

How things have changed! Now all you have to do is activate the app and watch the impending arrival of that gastronomic delight, following the route the driver takes to get to your home in real-time. If a car door slams outside, you are not fooled. The stress level remains muted and under control, because you know the pizza is a full two blocks away.

When the car pulls up, you are already heading for the door, wiping away anticipatory saliva from the sides of your mouth with the money secure in your clenched fist. Dinner delivered, you sit down and savour each delectably tasting morsel, the nostrils full of aromas and the serviette dealing to greasy lips and fingers.

How much better we are for technology that let's us know not only where our gourmet pizza is but also when it will arrive. There is enough stress in this world as it is, so anything that reduces that has got to be a good thing, right? Now I wonder if technology could be used to help feed everyone in the world. Now that would be quite a feat....

Consumer Watch

What do you think when something unexpected happens with a product you consume?


I don't expect to decanter everyday wine but this one we got the other day certainly needed to be. We both ended up with a mouthful of sediment. Pictured is one glass with what wasn't swallowed can be seen. Not nice on the palette.


The wine is Five Flax Merlot Cabernet 2014, owned by a company named Pernod Ricard.

To the left is a chocolate chip we bought the other day from a New Zealand firm, Sun Valley Foods. As it says, dark chocolate chips...er no. When the packet was opened they looked like milk chocolate at best.

We checked the ingredients list: Sugar, vegetable fat, coca powder (12%), emulisfier (soya lecithin), flavouring.

I don't how 12% cocoa is in anyway a dark chocolate. My wife sent an email to say she was disappointed but they didn't bother replying. Sun Valley foods, a big thumbs down.

Healthy Banana (fruit) Dessert

Healthy food is what we want and I am all for promoting anything that is good for you, dear reader. We have recently bought a Yonanas Dessert Maker, where you put frozen fruits such as banana, mango, pineapple and berries through it. Take a few frozen bananas and feed them through and out comes a delightful dessert with a texture of ice cream. It really does work.

The thing is salad bananas are what you need to use, that is very ripe ones. Take off the skin and freeze, then process as desired. However, Australian readers may want to turn away as the remainder of the blog article could induce unwell feelings, even nausea. We went to the local supermarket and asked if they had salad bananas out the back. They came through with a box we later weighed and found to be 9kg net. A mixture of Dole and Bonita brands for NZ$2.99 in total.

That gets rid of bananas the store cannot sell for the regular price and is much appreciated by a loyal customer. It also makes an inexpensive dessert that is good for you. I can absolutely recommend the machine, unless you live in Australia. Bananas are too expensive over there, despite the fact that they grow them. For elsewhere, enjoy.

Below are the necessary ingredients.

Clever Kitchen Ideas

A way to slice cherry tomatoes quickly and conveniently

How to do cheese toasties

Holding up capsicums for filling, then cooking

An apple with potatos to stop them sprouting

Salt and lemon to effectively clean your chopping board 

Two rubber bands can help to open a glass container

White vinegar lightly applied to the chopping board
to stop tears when dicing onions

Keep your drinks free of unwanted objects

Summer Tip For Cold Drinks

Who doesn't like drinking a cold, refreshing drink on a hot day? However, while the icy beverage is refreshing, the feeling at your fingertips may be unpleasant. The solution? Crochet cup holders. I would not have thought of it, but here they are. These are homemade and would be popular with the feminine gender in particular. There probably needs to be a styling reappraisal to get masculine types to use them.

My sister-in-law made them and did a fine of it too I hasten to add.