Around the hearth, shopping and eating

I January 2015

And so we start a new year with a dull and windy day and we are pleased that have made no plans to go today at all. Jan is now busy sowing a pair of new curtains for the living so I sat and watched a programme I recorded two days ago. Scared Wonders of Britain is a repeat showing from 2013 but it’s just the sort of show I like. But a thought came to me while I was watching it, and I actually made a note of it for once. Neil Oliver was looking at stone circles houses in the Orkneys and made the comment that there is a central stone hearth in the houses where the whole family used to gather and sit.

Well, in most houses these days there is no central hearth is there? Central heating fed from a wall mounted boiler has replaced the hearth. The fire place was still the family centre right up to fairly recent times. I well remember sitting around our Trueburn stove in the kitchen as a kid while dad toasted pikelets (or crumpets if you must), in front of the open door of the fire box itself. Mam would smother them in butter and pile them up on a plate. We would wait until they were all done and then share them out, taking turns in having the bottom one, the one that had all the butter on it from where it melted through from those at the top.

The other time when we gathered around as a family were Saturday tea time and Sunday dinner. Most days dad was at work so Dave and me had our dinners early and dad had his when he got in. We all looked forward to Saturday though. Off we would go into Dorktown on the bus to do the shopping. Us kids put up with that bit cos we would get a bottle of Vimto in the back yard of the Castle pub in Market Place. Then the bus ride home and sit and wait while mam cooked tea, and oh boy, what a tea it was too.

The cooking was punctuated by shouts of, ‘Oh you spiteful bugger,’ from mam as fired the bacon and sausage. Then we would sit down to it. Fried bread, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, eggs, tomatoes and baked beans with loads of bread and butter and for most of us, mugs of tea. Dave didn’t like tea and I can’t remember what he had. Now that sort of meal is known as a full English breakfast, or as I now call it, a fried mountain. But oh dear; I’m getting hungry just thinking about it. It’s been ages since I had one, and I’ve never had one that came anywhere near as nice as the ones mam cooked.

Now I’m more likely to eat this sort of thing …

And still on the foodie line … today’s funny …

 Sarah, Rosemary, and Anne went to a restaurant together to celebrate old times. “I’ll take some Tom Yum soup” said Sarah to the waiter. “Nah” said the waiter waving his hand “you probably won’t like it, it’s way too spicy! Why don’t you try the Garden Vegetable Soup? “Alright,” said Sarah. “You know better than me, after all you are the waiter!” “And how about you Ma’am?” said the waiter turning to Rosemary. “I think I’ll take the poached fish,” said Rosemary, after carefully examining the menu. “I don’t really think you’ll like it,” said the waiter, “it’s very bland. Why don’t you try the Rib Steak with Garlic Marinade? “OK, I’ll take that instead,” said Rosemary. “And how about you?” said the waiter turning to Anne. “I don’t know, I can’t decide,” said Anne looking up from the menu, “what do you recommend?” “Recommend?” said the waiter with a surprised look on his face, “who has time to recommend stuff smack in the middle of dinner hour!”