quotes

Monthly Quotes

Here we are again with the month’s collection of interesting, thought-provoking or just amusing quotes. And we have a big selection this month.

[Medieval belief was that] the sexual pleasure that women experienced as a result of their openness was not simply one that came from a desire to fill a void, however. Instead, women were also seen as unhealthily interested in having sex, and more specifically the sort of sex which would result in men ejaculating inside of them. This is because they were drawn to the masculine qualities that were inherent in semen. Women, from a humoral standpoint, were to be understood as cold and wet, whereas men were hot and dry. Being hot and dry was necessarily a better state of being because being masculine was necessarily better, and women were sort of like lizards, but for jizz instead of the sun.
[Eleanor Janega; https://going-medieval.com/2022/03/24/on-women-pleasure-and-semen/]

Combining reason with empathy is a powerful force for good. It’s both logical and morally right to see all humans as equal, regardless of sex, gender, race, religion, or worldview.
[Prof. Alice Roberts, President, Humanists UK]

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don’t. Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You’ll miss them when they’re gone. Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else’s. Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don’t be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own. Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room. Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them. Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly. Get to know your parents. You never know when they’ll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They’re your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.
[unknown]

Mothering Sunday – an expression so cloyingly Edwardian, a tinted daguerreotype of an Angel in the House caressing the rosy cheek of a sturdy sort in frilly bloomers, it makes my teeth ache.
[Emma Beddington; https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/mar/27/mapping-out-my-life-in-mothers-days-emma-beddington]

The internet has taken over the role of the village elder, dispensing easy-to-share, not-quite-right information written in Pinterest-friendly fonts to ever insular echo chambers.
[Alex Krotoski; Science Focus; March 2022]

Human beings make life so interesting. Do you know, that in a universe so full of wonders, they have managed to invent boredom.
[Terry Pratchett, Hogfather]

Bergstrom sees social media … through an evolutionary lens. The popular platforms exploit humanity’s need for social validation and constant chatter, a product of our evolution … He compares it to our craving for sugar, which was beneficial in an environment where sweetness was rare and signalled nutritious food, but can make us sick in a world where sugar is everywhere. Facebook exploits humans’ thirst for contact … allowing people to connect with others in larger numbers during a single day than they might have over a lifetime in humanity’s past.
[Kai Kupferschmidt; quoted by Derek Lowe at https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/misinformation-and-its-spread]

I believe that the thing above all which ruined Pompey was the shame he felt to think that in having elevated Caesar the way he did, that he had lacked foresight. He accustomed himself to the idea as late as possible; he neglected his defence in order not to avow that he had put himself in danger; he maintained to the Senate that Caesar would never dare to make war; and because he had said it so often, he went on saying it always … Whether or not Montesquieu was right about Pompey … he was right about you and me. Once we invest our opinion, we hang on to the investment; so the more we have at stake the more we risk, even by doing nothing. And the more powerful we are the more likely we are to stick to our rusty guns: because it was firmness of purpose that made us powerful.
[Clive James; quoted by Derek Lowe at https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/misinformation-and-its-spread]

The human mind does not run on logic any more than a horse runs on petrol.
[Rory Sutherland]

People often don’t think what they feel, don’t say what they think, and don’t do what they say.
[https://www.londonreconnections.com/2022/nudging-public-transport-transport-for-humans-book-review/]

No. They have a right to be ignorant. Knowledge only means complicity in guilt; ignorance has a certain dignity.
[@YesSirHumphrey on Twitter]

Never argue with the ignorant. They are correct as per their intellect. Let them have their satisfaction. Never challenge or oppose them.
[Nisargadatta Maharaj

If there had been investigations, which there haven’t, or not necessarily, or I’m not at liberty to say whether there have, there would have been a project team which, had it existed, on which I cannot comment, would now have been disbanded, if it had existed.
[@YesSirHumphrey; https://twitter.com/YesSirHumphrey/status/1511318058127740934]

Delivering the speech is just a formality you’ve to go through in order to get the press release into the papers. We can’t worry about entertaining people. We’re not script writers for a comedian. Well, not a professional one anyway.
[@YesSirHumphrey; https://twitter.com/YesSirHumphrey/status/1512526014370435074]

When a regime has been in power too long, when it has fatally exhausted the patience of the people, and when oblivion finally beckons – I am afraid that across the world you can rely on the leaders of that regime to act solely in the interests of self-preservation, and not in the interests of the electorate.
[Boris Johnson; Daily Telegraph; February 2011]

A good relationship has a pattern like a dance and is built on some of the same rules. The partners do not need to hold on tightly, because they move confidently in the same pattern, intricate but gay and swift and free, like a country dance of Mozart’s. To touch heavily would be to arrest the pattern and freeze the movement, to check the endlessly changing beauty of its unfolding. There is no place here for the possessive clutch, the clinging arm, the heavy hand, only the barest touch in passing. Now arm in arm, now face to face, now back to back – it does not matter which because they know they are partners moving to the same rhythm, creating a pattern together, and being invisibly nourished by it.
The joy of such a pattern is … the joy of living in the moment. Lightness of touch and living in the moment are intertwined. One cannot dance well unless one is completely in time with the music, not leaning back to the last step or pressing forward to the next one, but poised directly on the present step as it comes … But how does one learn this technique of the dance? Why is it so difficult? What makes us hesitate and stumble? It is fear, I think, that makes one cling nostalgically to the last moment or clutch greedily toward the next. [And fear] can only be exorcised by its opposite: love.
[Ann Morrow Lindbergh; A Gift from the Sea]

Our lives disconnect and reconnect, we move on, and later we may again touch one another, again bounce away. This is the felt shape of a human life, neither simply linear nor wholly disjunctive nor endlessly bifurcating, but rather this bouncy-castle sequence of bumpings-into and tumblings-apart.
[Salman Rushdie]

food+drink

Culinary Adventures with Crab

We’re on a food theme at the moment. Actually this is fairly normal for us over Easter; it seems to be a time for experimenting weith good gfood.

Waitrose’s Food magazine a while back had a recipe of Herby Crab & Tomato Spaghetti. I thought it looked worth trying if one wanted to push the boat out a bit and buy crab – although to be honest it isn’t that expensive.

As Waitrose don’t seem to put all their recipes online, here first is the original recipe.

Herby Crab & Tomato Spaghetti

Serves 2
Prepare 10 minutes
Cook 15 minutes

Ingredients
2 tbsp dried breadcrumbs
2 tbsp olive oil
180g dried spaghetti
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
12 cherry vine tomatoes, quartered
100g “Seafood & Eat It” Fifty Fifty Crab
¼x 20g pack tarragon, leaves only, roughly chopped
1 lemon, zest and juice

Method
1. Toast the breadcrumbs in 1 tbsp oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat until golden brown (about 3-4 minutes). Transfer to a plate. Bring a large pan of salted water to a rolling boil, then cook the spaghetti according to pack instructions.
2. Meanwhile, put the remaining 1 tbsp oil in the frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the garlic and chilli; cook for 2 minutes until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Scoop the brown crabmeat into the pan. Transfer the pasta and 2 ladles of its cooking water to the pan. Toss vigorously for 1-2 minutes, until well coated. Add the white crab, tarragon, lemon juice and ½ the zest. Season, mix, then divide between warm plates. Top with the remaining zest and the breadcrumbs.

Well OK. That didn’t quite work for us so, as usual, I adapted it! This is what I did …

Linguine with Crab, Tomato & Herbs

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
165g dried linguine
2 large shallots, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
½ tsp dried chilli flakes
16 cherry tomatoes, left whole
2 tbsp tomato paste
2x 100g tubs white crabmeat
¼x 20g pack tarragon, leaves only, left whole
juice & zest of a lemon
black pepper

Method

  1. Cook the linguine according to pack instructions.
  2. Sweat the onion, garlic and chilli in a pan with the olive oil until going translucent (about 2-3 minutes).
  3. Add the tomatoes and cook for another couple of minutes.
  4. Add the crabmeat, followed by the drained pasta and 2 ladles of its cooking water. Toss/mix vigorously for a minute or so, until well coated.
  5. Now add the tomato paste, tarragon and lemon. Season with black pepper, mix well and warm through for another 1-2 minutes.
  6. Divide between two plates and enjoy with a glass of robust white wine.

Notes

  • I can’t be doing with faffing around with breadcrumbs – not just for the two of us anyway.
  • We used linguine, as it was to hand; I actually prefer it to spaghetti.
  • Before this version, we’d tried using 50/50 brown & white crabmeat, but it didn’t quite work for us.
  • 200g crabmeat is probably a bit too much, but 100g feels a bit too little as a single course (or the first of just two).
  • Chilli flakes are fine; you want only a hint of chilli in the background. Our alternative would have been to excavate a Scotch Bonnet from the freezer and even a small one may have been too much.
  • If you quarter the cherry tomatoes and cook them for 5 minutes they’ll just go to mush. We prefer them whole and not falling apart.
  • In our view this needed some onion; and no shortage of garlic.

My version worked very well indeed. It was truly delicious. The tarragon and lemon came through nicely without being overpowering and there was just a hint of chilli. We accompanied it with a bottle of robust Italian Falanghina.

Oh, and no picture – you all know what a bowl of pasta looks like!

food+drink

Ennismore Terrine, 2022 Variation

Over the years I’ve written a number of times about our exploits making terrine – most notably what we’ve dubbed Ennismore Terrine. That post is some 8 years old, but our first rendition of the recipe goes back more like 35 years.

Not the latest creation, but one I made almost 10 years ago which
will give you the overall impression of the result.

While it takes a bit of time to put together, it is very forgiving and can be varied almost infinitely to suit. Just to show the versatility here’s what we did a couple of days ago.

Ennismore Terrine, 2022 Variation
This makes enough to fill a large oval Le Creuset casserole (as above).

Ingredients
200g smoked bacon lardons
400g pork mince
800g chicken livers
400g plain pork sausages, skinned
300g bread without crusts
1 large leek, finely chopped
3 small red onions, finely chopped
7 large mushrooms, finely chopped
6 cloves of garlic, peeled
Generous wineglass of brandy
Half a glass of white wine
2 tablespoons garlic purée
4 tablespoons tomato paste
Large bunch of tarragon, leaves only
1 large egg
Pinch of salt and a generous grind of black pepper
2 tablespoon Worcs. sauce
Olive oil
Knob of butter

Method

  1. Put the bread, tarragon, salt and pepper, garlic cloves in a food processor and whizz to a crumb. Transfer to a very large mixing bowl (actually we used a roasting tin!)
  2. Add the sausage meat, half a glass of the brandy, Worcs. sauce and the egg to the food processor and whizz again to a smooth paste. Transfer this to a large mixing bowl.
  3. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a frying pan and sweat the leek until going translucent. Add to the mix along with the mushrooms.
  4. With a bit more olive oil fry the onion until translucent. Tip this out into the food processor with the garlic purée and tomato paste.
  5. With a little more oil if needed fry the bacon until the outside is seared and browning but still undercooked inside. Add this to the food processor and whizz lightly; do not purée. Add this to the mix.
  6. Now fry the chicken livers for a few minutes again until the outside is beginning to brown but not cooked through. (As the livers aren’t fully cooked don’t go tasting the mix!) Add this to the food processor and whizz; it will make a slurry. Add this to the meat mix.
  7. Finally fry the pork mince until lightly browned but also not cooked through, and put this in the food processor.
  8. Deglaze the pan with the rest of the brandy and the white wine. Add this to the food processor and whizz to a rough paste; don’t worry if it looks grainy. Add this to the meat mix.
  9. Mix everything together thoroughly; don’t be afraid to use your hands.
  10. Butter the casserole generously.
  11. Pour the meat mix into the casserole and firm it down well. Cover with foil and if possible a tight fitting lid. It is wise to put this on a baking sheet as a full casserole may bubble juices over the edge – as in the above photo!
  12. Cook in the oven at 170°C/fan 160°C/ gas 3 for 1½-2 hours. It is done when a knife stuck in the terrine for a few seconds comes out very hot (or a meat thermometer at 80°C).
  13. Remove from the oven and if possible weight the terrine to press it (something flat with tins of beans or a brick on it works; heavier is better).
  14. Allow to cool for a couple of hours and transfer to the fridge overnight, still with the weights.
  15. Serve with crusty bread and a glass of robust red wine.

This variation turned out quite liver-y; if this isn’t to your taste adjust the proportions of pork and liver. The leek and mushroom made a nice background, and the tarragon came through well. All round it is extremely more-ish, and has the seal of approval from the Rosie cat.

current affairs

Elections

Many parts of the UK have local council elections in a month’s time. Don’t think it matters? Well here’s a quick reminder why it does matter and why you should vote at every given opportunity.

If you fail to vote undesirables (what ever your value of “undesirable”) are more likely to get elected … and of course your voice can’t be heard.

food+drink

Cheese, Ham & Veggie Tart Thing

Here’s another variation on the flat tart theme – alternatively it’s a variation on pizza as it uses a base of tomato sauce and cheese.

Cheese, Ham & Veggie Tart Thing

Serves: 4 as a main course, or 6-8 as a starter or finger food

For Quick Tomato Sauce
100g Double Concentrate Tomato Paste
2tbs Garlic Puree
1tbsp Worcs Sauce
1tbsp Olive Oil
½tsp Porcini Powder
Black Pepper

For the Topping
lots of grated Cheddar Cheese
4 or 5 Tomatoes, thickly sliced
1 large Shallot, or a small Red Onion, finely sliced
80g Ham, sliced into 1cm pieces
Vegetable topping of your choice**
bunch Fresh Herbs of your choice (optional)
freshly ground Black Pepper

For the Base
500g pack Puff Pastry
Milk to glaze

** I used a few spears of purple sprouting broccoli (‘cos that’s what I had to hand) but you could use asparagus, sliced pepper, mushrooms or whatever you choose. And then add olives, anchovies, capers if such is your predilection. If you want a veggie option, leave out the ham.

This is What You Do

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/Gas 7.
  2. In a small bowl, mix together all the tomato sauce ingredients until well blended.
  3. Prepare a 30cm square baking sheet (or similar). I always line the baking sheet with a piece of baking parchment, stuck down with 4 or 5 tiny dabs of butter: the butter stops the parchment sliding around, makes removing the tart easier, and the baking sheet easier to wash.
  4. Roll out the pastry to a size slightly larger than the baking sheet.
  5. Put the pastry on the baking sheet, dampen the edges with milk and roll them over to make an edge.
  6. Spread the tomato sauce over the pastry, followed by a layer of cheese.
  7. Then the onion, ham and herbs; followed by more cheese, the tomatoes and the veg.
  8. Season with black pepper and brush the edges of the tart with milk to glaze.
  9. Bake, covered with foil for about 20 minutes. Remove the foil and give it another 10 minutes or so until cooked and golden brown – you want the pastry and veg cooked.
  10. Serve hot or warm as a starter, main course, or supper with a glass of red wine. Or cold for a buffet. Any leftovers make a tasty lunch (or breakfast).

Sorry, no photo because we ate it!

memes, words

Ten Things: April

This year our Ten Things each month are words with particular endings. Clearly this won’t be all the words with the nominated ending, but a selection of the more interesting and/or unusual.

Ten Words ending with -z

  1. frizz
  2. pizzaz
  3. blitz
  4. razzamatazz
  5. megahertz
  6. kibbutz
  7. quartz
  8. chintz
  9. waltz
  10. whizz

Your challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to write a story in at most three sentences using all these words correctly. Post your attempt in the comments before the end of the month and there’s an e-drink for anyone who I consider succeeds.

food+drink

Red Bananas

Yes, red bananas. They do seem to be a thing. Although I think I’d heard of them they recently came to my consciousness as our local supermarket was stocking them. In the interests of experimentation, I tried them so you don’t have to.

So what are they like?

Well, the clue is in the name. They are bananas, and they’re a red/brown colour: not really properly red, more a dark maroon. The flesh is pale on the outside, but once bitten into is noticeably darker yellow inside.

The ones I got were rather too ripe for my particular taste (I like fruit on the under ripe side) and as a result they were soft with a floury texture, a bit like … well … a ripe banana.

The taste was slightly odd. Clearly banana but with a much more pronounced banana flavour – basically from isoamyl acetate – compared with normal yellow bananas. But also somewhat more fruity.

Overall, for me, this gave a rather unpleasant mouthfeel. They may be better if under ripe, but I won’t be hurrying to repeat the experiment.

Overall Verdict: ★☆☆☆☆ Meh. Don’t bother.

amusements, science

April Quiz Questions

This year we’re beginning each month with five pub quiz style questions, with a different subject each month. They’re not difficult, but it is unlikely everyone will know all the answers, so hopefully you’ll learn something new, as well as have a bit of fun.

April Quiz Questions: Physical Science

  1. How much water is there on Earth per human being?
  2. What was the name of the first, Russian, man-made satellite?
  3. How many internal reflections of light take place in the formation of a primary rainbow?
  4. Roughly how long does it take for the sun’s light to reach Earth?
  5. Which Russian chemist published the first widely recognised Periodic Table?

Answers will be posted in 3 weeks time.

amusements, personal

Unblogged March

Tue 1 It’s daffy-dilly day – and no surprise they are in this wet weather! Next up will be the sham-rocks followed by the bleeding-roses. Three in close succession like London buses.
Wed 2 We’ve had so much rain in the last few days that today there was standing water in the garden – despite the affected area having been raised about 3 inches a couple of years ago.
Thu 3 Dizzy, dizzy, dizzy. Definitely very unstable in the head, with headache and general flu-y feeling. Negative LFT. Retired back to bed and slept.
Fri 4 Definitely not well, but less dizzy than yesterday. LFT still negative.
Sat 5 Much as yesterday, but slowly improving. LFT still negative. Feeling better enough to try to do the crossword.
Sun 6 Rinse and repeat – but managed to stay upright most of the day.
Mon 7 It’s that time of year when you start sorting household finances and it goes on, and on and on … because you realise you need to set up next year’s tax files, get upsides of billing & payments which change in April …
Tue 8 What a lovely sunny day, although chilly in the breeze. Lots of small daffodils now out in the garden, and the deeper mauve crocuses are still going strong. The magenta hellebore is almost finished as are the snowdrops.
Wed 9 Tied to my desk all day becase of another of those “It’s that time of year” jobs: subscription reminders for the AP Soc. Even so I didn’t manage to finish it as everything always needs rewriting.
Thu 10 Awoken at 06:00 by 5kg of cat landing on the solar plexus. So up at 07:00 and a huge amount of work shifted before my meeting at 10:00. In fact large amounts shifted right through to 19:00.
Fri 11 Nice delivery of half a case of Champagne. Two are a retirement present for a friend.
Sat 12 Was intending to (re)frame some pictures this afternoon, but not a chance. Spent the time instead cooking fruit and then duck and pepper stir-fry with noodles for dinner.
Sun 13 Why is it that some days everything conspires to get in the way: not serious buggeration but just enough awkward to make everything more difficult. Still I did manage to cook steak & chips for dinner, washed down with bottle of Champagne. Remember Hester Browne’s words: Always keep a bottle of Champagne in the fridge for special occasions. Sometimes the special occasion is that you’ve got a bottle of Champagne in the fridge.
Mon 14 For once, a day of doing almost nothing apart from fiddling about. It wasn’t really “play” more like wasting time.
Tue 15 This morning there were some lovely mackerel cirrus clouds – photographed badly through the window.
Wed 16 A really strange yellowy/peachy light in late morning, dissipating by the end of lunch (possibly with the rain). Seems like it was Saharan dust dragged northwards by a storm over Spain.
Thu 17 It’s been very quiet round here for Sham-Rock Day!
Fri 18 Gorgeous silvery full moon, especially enchanting seen through the trees this evening.
Sat 19 Last night’s moon turned into an equally lovely moon set around dawn, followed by a warm(er) sunny Spring day.
Sun 20 Why is sex at 6am always such a failure? To compensate the afternoon was spent photographing vases of daffodils and tulips.
Mon 21 Afternoon spent trying to untangle another knot in my family history, back in mid-18th century … and failing. Either there are lots of records missing from some Kent parishes, people are telling porkies, or they really do parachute in from nowhere.
Tue 22 A rare treat: home cooked curry eaten in front of the TV. So decadent.
Wed 23 Another literary society talk hosted on Zoom. We’re getting good audiences; over 50 again tonight.
Thu 24 The first queen wasp of the season let itself in the study window this afternoon; and was eventually ushered out again.
Disappointed I didn’t catch it and ID it. I was beginning to think there were none this year as they had a poor year last summer.
Fri 25 Why is it that by the time we get to Friday lunchtime I’m convinced it’s Saturday? And continue to think it’s Saturday all day however much I remind myself it isn’t.
Sat 26 Up betimes so lots done before hosting a lunchtime Zoom call, only to undo the good work by falling asleep for a large chunk of the afternoon. Well it is Sunday, isn’t it?!
Sun 27 Horrible day! (1) Bloody changing the clocks again, for no useful reason. (2) The general nausea of Mother’s Day. (3) Banks getting in the way of business for no reason apart from their profit. (4) A borked literary society website. “Life. Don’t talk to me about life!”
Mon 28 Used the Royal Mail facility to come and collect your parcel to go – for a small fee (48p to me). Haven’t used this before, but on this one showing it seems a good scheme. And I managed to fix the borked website.
Tue 29 What happened at the coalface today? I have no clue!
Wed 30 How many times does one get woken at some uncivilised hour by 5kg of cat landing unannounced on the solar plexus? And then they snuggle down and look cute. But try shutting them out the bedroom and there’s a riot.
Thu 31 It snowed. This morning. Big healthy lumps of snow. For 2 minutes. Long interlude. Repeat Scene 1 at teatime. Fin.