a nice cuppa, a sit down and a chat

[James Blast]

Hey Butthead, he said Baps! hnnnner hhhh hrrrr huhhhhhh

[EvilBastard]

Hey Butthead, he said Baps! hnnnner hhhh hrrrr huhhhhhh

There's always one who has to lower the tone, isn't there...

[boudicca]

Well this IS Heartland

[James Blast]

well I think we've got the purvey sorted, so how about the chat?

it were all Fields of the Nephilim round here in my day...

[EvilBastard]

well I think we've got the purvey sorted, so how about the chat?

it were all Fields of the Nephilim round here in my day...

You young whippersnapper - I remember when it were all flat fields and silent hedges.

[James Blast]

aye, tr00, them were the days <sigh> I had hair and a waistline then, the music was better and the yard went on forever

BTW your avatar's marvelous dah'ling

[timsinister]

...almond slices (there used to be a bakery on the corner of Cardigan Road and one of the Ashvilles, just down from the Co-Op, that did the best almond slices, loaded with jam, not to mention incredibly cheap ham-salad baps. Anyone know if it's still there? On the right hand side as you're going down the hill, pass the co-op and the dodgy video shop on the corner)...

Still there, indeed, I live in close proximity. Called Manstons, or Mantons, or something.

Got a sossie roll from there once. Not bad.

[EvilBastard]

Still there, indeed, I live in close proximity. Called Manstons, or Mantons, or something.

Sounds about right - flippin' top bakery, that.

[James Blast]

from elsewhere

I beg to differ:
Blaast!ipedia offers this explanation-
'Mahnscheeruns' were much sought after in the 50s and 60s before trade routes between the developed world and the Hindu Kush were open. Travellers (cf, Eric Newby) would return from their expeditions (having gone 'native') clothed in garments made from goat wool that was weaved into trousers, shirts, scarfs etc. The goat wool was known as 'mahnscheerun', so anything made from this grey/brown fabric was known as a 'mahnscheerun'. By the time the adventurers made it back to 'civilisation' the only items left were the scarfs - the trousers were much sought after and revered, given the sacred name 'Q'hannts' so upon leaving the Kush these had to be surrendered. The shirts were used as barter for food and victuals but the scarfs (the only items to survive the trek), the 'mahnscheeruns' as they became known in the West were considerd de' rigeur and worn by ladies of high fashion and rakish gentlemen.

[EvilBastard]

the trousers were much sought after and revered, given the sacred name 'Q'hannts' so upon leaving the Kush these had to be surrendered...

I was given to understand that "Q'hannts" was the term used to describe the people who had travelled to the Kush, gone native in the manner of public-schoolboys, and returned to Blighty talking the kind of utter "q'rap" associated with their ilk. It was not uncommon to hear travellers refered to thusly:
"Have you seen Tarquin recently?"
"Yes, but since he came back from India he's turned into a complete q'hannt."

[James Blast]

Bogus!

and get back to the 'mahnsheerun' question, we can deal with these 'Q'haants' later

[Big Si]

Bovril is evil

I've never had real Bovril but I have recently discovered the pleasure of an Oxo cube dissolved in a mug of hot water with a liberal (and I do mean liberal) dash of Tabasco Sauce. Mmmm-mmmm!

Really, try it, it's laaaaarvely

Sounds like my fave "tea with brown sauce"

[LouLou]

attention hungry heartlanders!

on today's menu is banoffee pie. yum!

and please don't try to sabotage it with marmite or brown sauce

[EvilBastard]

attention hungry heartlanders!
on today's menu is banoffee pie. yum!

Given that today's weather is pretty dreadful over here, I should like to put in a request for something hot, perhaps a crumble, with custard.

When I was a nipper my grandma used to make damson crumble which was always always always refered to as "Desert Victory". To my young brain this made perfect sense - after all, plenty of dishes were named after battles or generals, like Beef Wellington, and the tiny mind's gears went to work: crumble is a golden colour, and the custard is yellow, representing the desert sand. The damsons represent the blood of slain soldiers oozing out over the sand. And so for many years I bumbled along, happy in the knowledge that I knew what desert victory was.
A couple of years ago I asked my mum if she had the recipe for Desert Victory. She looked at me askance. Recipe for what? You know, the crumble that grandma used to make.
When she'd done laughing she explained that it was only called Desert Victory in our house because during the war my grandfather was serving in the desert and my grandmother was living with her parents-in-law. There were food shortages and her mother-in-law had managed to get hold of some fresh fruit from a local farm, in this case damsons, so had made crumble with it. It happened that as she was making the crumble the news came over the wireless that Monty had been victorious as El Alamein, hence "Desert Victory".

Years of blissful ignorance wiped out at a stroke!

[James Blast]

oh I dunno, I think both explanations are perfectly acceptable, reminds me of the food us students used to struggle by on in the 70s, anyone remember Birds Eye individual chicken and mushroom pies, the little round ones with the shortcrust pastry?
well I was round at student friends one night (3 of them shared a flat) and they asked me if I'd like to have my tea there, I enquired what was on the menu to be met with a chorus of "Scoot Pie" and then a little ditty to the strains of Pete n' Dud's Goodbye-e, it got it's name because the juices the gloop in the pie exuded looked a bit like jism or "scoot" if you will

[silentNate]

I not only remember Birds Eyes delicious chicken & mushroom pies but also Findus Crispy Pancakes...

For ages I tried to hunt them down and when I did they were terribly disappointing

[James Blast]

you can never go back

I've heard Vesta have released a line of 'retro' scran and my staple diet for 4 years (with the odd 'scoot' pie) was their beef risotto, I don't want to be disillusioned yet again

[EvilBastard]

I not only remember Birds Eyes delicious chicken & mushroom pies but also Findus Crispy Pancakes...

Mmmmmmmmm...Findus Crispy Pancakes Anyone remember the ad for them - the one where the mother is in hospital spawning another water-headed childhood obesity case and dad and Type II Diabetes Jnr. are at home eating Crispy Pancakes? The kid is writing in his diary and pinning the pancake boxes to the wall. That sort of thing would lead to child abuse lawsuits these days...
Ah, the things of childhood - Birds Eye SuperMousse, Bernard Manning's Turkey Drummers, those pink marshmallow biscuits that you only got at friends' houses, Iced Gems...brings a tear to your eye when you recall the endless list of E-numbers on the packets, dunnit?

[Moakahontas]

I not only remember Birds Eyes delicious chicken & mushroom pies but also Findus Crispy Pancakes...

Mmmmmmmmm...Findus Crispy Pancakes Anyone remember the ad for them - the one where the mother is in hospital spawning another water-headed childhood obesity case and dad and Type II Diabetes Jnr. are at home eating Crispy Pancakes? The kid is writing in his diary and pinning the pancake boxes to the wall. That sort of thing would lead to child abuse lawsuits these days...
Ah, the things of childhood - Birds Eye SuperMousse, Bernard Manning's Turkey Drummers, those pink marshmallow biscuits that you only got at friends' houses, Iced Gems...brings a tear to your eye when you recall the endless list of E-numbers on the packets, dunnit?

[abridged]

Ye Old Oake Hotdog Sausages in Huddersfield. Shudder! Had repressed that...

[EvilBastard]

Stop talking crepe!

[silentNate]

That looks f*cking gorgeous!

[Debaser]

you can never go back

I've heard Vesta have released a line of 'retro' scran and my staple diet for 4 years (with the odd 'scoot' pie) was their beef risotto, I don't want to be disillusioned yet again

I always have a Vesta Paella and a Chow Mein in the cupboard.

[Debaser]

OH GAWD....look what you made me do, James

[James Blast]

you love it, Bitch!

BTW, how do the RetroVestas taste?