Fish 'n' Quips

I had so many plans for this post, I was so determined to prove to any doubters that English food is not a joke but I've failed. My plan was to show you a day of English food starting with a fry up breakfast, followed by lunch, afternoon tea with scones and cream and rock cakes, followed by a fish dinner (not quite fish and chips) and finally ending up with spotted dick.

Of course I wasn't going to eat all this food in one day. I think I would pop. No, I was going to prepare these meals over the last month or so, take the photographs then post an amazing spread. Herein lies my problem. I did make each of the meals I have outlined above but my photography skills are a joke and delicious as my fry up and fresh Dover sole, served with organic new potatoes and fresh peas were the photos I took were...well...think of the brown stuff on that fan and you'll get the picture.

I also made a spotted dick, Dillon had been wanting to try it and this gave me the ooomph to go ahead. Three hours of steaming later and a disgusting blob was revealed when I tore away the paper covering my bowl.

As for the scones and rock cakes, I just ran out of time.

The only photo I deem good enough to share, and it's not that good, is of my ploughman's lunch. Wikipdia describes the typical ploughman's lunch as follows:

The authentic ploughman's lunch consisted of stale bread or a crusty loaf, and an English Cheddar or Stilton, and some variety of pickle. An apple would be included with the lunch to take away the spicy taste of the pickle and to provide a sweet finish, perhaps to be complemented by cider. Ideally, the apple would be of the same variety as that the cider was made from.

I didn't fancy stale bread so I made some no-knead bread and accompanied it with cheddar cheese, spicy apple and tomatoe chutney (made by my friend Beverley), a green salad, apples and tomatoes. I didn't add pickled onions because I do not like them but the great thing about this meal is that you can adapt it easily to suit your taste. It must be 20 years since I have last eaten a ploughman's lunch and I really enjoyed it. It was also quick and easy to prepare which is always a bonus for me.

So what do you think? Is English food a joke?

Food Glorious Food

Reading the comments on Mum's site gave me the idea for today's post. Pamela wrote:

"such a pleasure making new friends. I have 104 feed on my bloglines. When certain ones light up - I get excited and can't wait to get home from work to read. Thanks for reading my place. Wish we could all get together for tea and coffee. (Beccy can bring the flapjacks!! Hey the hubby made them last night and wow'd our friends. Everybody wanted the recipe)"

To which Mum replied:

"Pamela and I thought I had a lot links! A bloggers convention would be nice. I always eat far too many goodies when I'm visiting Beccy and would you believe it- this is the girl who hated cooking as a teenager".

This got me thinking about when I first started to enjoy cooking. I don't think I ever hated cooking as a teenager it was just that Sam loved it and was so good and creative that I let her do it all (I think I was also quite lazy). During the holidays when Mum and Dad were at work Sam would blackmail me by saying she'd make lunch and I had to do all the other chores such as clean the bathroom, change the bedding, walk the dog, go to the shops and vacuum. I agreed because Sam would make the most delicious combinations, if I was left to my own devices I would make a bowl of Smash and top it with baked beans and a fried egg (I would then eat it out of the bowl with a spoon).

I remember making Victoria sandwiches and fairy cakes as a child and on one occasion preparing and cooking a Sunday roast complete with homemade menu and seat placings but I'm sure Mum must have helped me with the meal. Also this was back in the days before dishwashers so whatever was used for cooking had to be washed, dried and put away by the chef, that was a big reason not to cook (did I mention I was lazy).

Then there are the disasters. The first time was when I boiled a pan of potatoes. I was quite worried and Sam told me what to do. I peeled the potatoes, salted the water and watched them until they started to boil. I turned down the heat and ran off upstairs to finish the game of monopoly with Sam. What seemed like only a few minutes later (but was obviously longer) Sam commented on the strange odour. We rushed downstairs to find that I had increased the heat when I thought I had turned it down, all the water had boiled away and the potatoes were mush stuck to the bottom of the pan. I then had to confess to Mum when she got home from work! (It was a long time before I was asked to boil potatoes again).

Another time Sam made pancakes, during her making of them we got into an argument (as sisters do) and I (being the stubborn minx I am) refused to eat them so she put them in the oven on the melamine plate to keep warm until I stopped sulking. Suffice to say the plate exploded and it was time for another confession.

In my defence I think these incidents and the fact that Sam was so good put me off cooking for a long time. Instead I became chief peeler of vegetables and washer upper and vowed never to cook again. I told Mum I would live off cheese sandwiches and cold baked beans eaten from a tin (no washing up) when I went to university. Then I gave up eating meat (Sam had left home by now) and Mum agreed as long as I cooked an alternative for myself and slowly my love affair with cooking started. While away at university I discovered the joys of entertaining and hosting dinner parties (even if half the budget was spent on booze)! Now I have a family I love preparing dinner from scratch and us all sitting down together at the end of the day to eat and share our news.

Stephanie has written a lovely post kind of about my family so pop over here to read it. In her post she makes references to the English not being the greatest of cooks. Now I could retaliate with...but I'm not instead I'll tell you about the great Fish 'n' Quips event that Sam has organised. It is a celebration of English food in the run up to St. Georges Day and is open to anyone who would like to play along. Read all about it here and if you think it sounds like fun sign up for it, I have.

As we're on the subject of food here is my Fridays feast:

Appetizer

When you travel, which mode of transportation do you prefer?

Private helicopter/plane would be my transport of choice. By boat is by far my least favourite along with coaches when you're stuck in the seat by the toilets (which smell) and are five months pregnant.

Soup

Have you ever met a blogging friend in person?

No, I'm fairly new to this bogging lark and have only met (virtually) two bloggers from Ireland, the rest of you live too far away. There's many I would love to meet so why don't y'all hop over to Ireland?

Salad

When was the last time you were really, really tired?

Last night. I got a virus back in 1992 and it wiped me out, ever since I get really tired and ill if I don't take good care of myself. I need lots of sleep and can sleep anywhere much to the amazement (and annoyance) of my family.

Main Course

If you could have dinner with any one fictional character from a book or movie, who would it be?

Oooh, that's tricky. My shallowness comes out here as I think of my eye candy (Mika) but I guess it would have to be Johnny Depp and no, he can't bring Vanessa! Ah I'm rereading the question and the character has to be fictional so how about Johhny Depp playing Captain Jack Sparrow? No, not allowed, OK how about Mr Darcy or another of Jane Austen's characters as long as we got to dine out in the Austen era and dance after.

Dessert
Fill in the blank: One day, I hope to see the snow topped mountains as I whoosh down the slopes on my skis along with my family.