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Wednesday 26 September 2012

Foodie Firsts

I have another two entries for my Book of Firsts. They're like the first one, food related. I blame it on the fact that they are the easiest to do. More ambitious firsts, require a little planning. However, here is the entry from Saturday...




Manchester has just begun it's annual Food & Drink Festival and with nothing else planned for the day, Nick & I took an excursion out to see what was on offer.  Plenty of beer, wine & cider bars seemed to be the answer. However they did have a tent with an assembly of small stall holders, where we purchased some smoked garlic and two sinfully sweet meringues. There were also a few stalls, serving up take away foods, one in particular specialising in exotic meats such as ostrich, elk, boar and venison.

The menu item which grabbed my attention was the Kangaroo burger, chiefly because I've never eaten any meat from this antipodean marsupial before. It tasted just like an ordinary burger, with no distinctive flavour but it was quite dense in texture.

And for all you vegetarians out there, my second entry should be a bit more palatable and to your liking...




There are an array of exotic vegetables on display in our local supermarket, plenty, I'm surprised to find, that I haven't tried before. So a bounty of more "easy" entries for my book in the future. The one I picked out on this occasion was called a Chayote. It belongs to the same family as courgettes and gourds and is as watery and tasteless as it's cousins. It is packed with nutrients mind, so I sliced and diced it before adding it to a salsa.

Okay, I'll try and make my next entry, one which is not related to food if possible, for variety.

And behind the scenes, I'm still drawing and adding to my art journal. I've even been playing around, painting up colourful backgrounds. But there's nothing that's blogworthy yet. My clean desk space is certainly evidence of the lack in crafting at this moment in time. Hoping to visit a couple of events in the next few weeks, so that may spur me on to make something.

Until then. Hope you're all having a much messier play in your craft rooms than me this week. Pxx

9 comments:

Neet said...

Hi Paul

Sounds like fun at Manchester F&D Festival. Love the photograph you have used (the one of you, not the choyote). Nice to see someone trying out these different veggies and reporting on them. Now I will be able to make a more informed decision when on the market which is full of things I have never seen before.
Lovely pages and fab post.

Hugs, Neet xx

alexa said...

So it doesn't look as if I'd have enjoyed either of your 'firsts'! But I do like your pages, Paul - lovely clean design with a nice 'aged' feel. :)

JoZart Designs said...

It will be great to share your FIRSTS then maybe some of them can become firsts for me! I found the expression on the choyote so funny that I half expected a wry comment from you about it. You really should have added eyes!
Hopefully see you Saturday... love Jo x

Kory K said...

Luckily, you are such a classy guy that I'm able to look past the creepiness of eating a kangaroo-

However, I love how you say the next thing would be more palatable- and it's some kind of gourd that looks like ET's ass.

lol

you know I love you, Mr. Paul!
And I'm not a vegetarian- I just don't believe in eating 'cute' animals. Chickens are ugly- no problem for me, there...

-kory

Paul B said...

Haha - Kory, love ya back, that's a lovely philosophy, eating only ugly critters lol. I used to be vegetarian and these days I'm still mostly piscenarian. But I will try anything once. Unless it's endangered :) Pxx

Sharli Schaitberger said...

It's fine by me if your entries are still about food - I enjoy everything you post! Love your style.

Hugs!

Jeanne J. said...

Paul, I just read your last 3 entries, and every time I am struck by your love of life, the beauty of the world that surrounds you, and your witty dialog. Your blog is always a delight - THANK YOU!

Jodie Lee Studio said...

Ok, I know you know I'll have to comment here :) .... kangaroo is a GREAT meat!! Very lean, and good for you. And that exotic fruit you are talking about is called a 'choko' in Australia. That's what we call them. Yes, they belong to the squash family I think, and every Australian Nana and Pop have one growing over the back fence! You aren't aussie unless you have a choko vine growing over the back fence. You're right, they are tasteless, so we usually smother them in lots of butter and salt!

Jodie Lee Studio said...

Kangaroo is the like the equivalent of the American deer by the way, slightly gamey taste, but not creepy at all to eat Kory ... unless of course you just killed the mother and you're having her for soup ... and you've the baby sitting in your lap. That's exactly what happened to me the first time I ate 'roo'. My dad and uncle went out and shot it, Aunty cooked it. Mum wouldn't tell me what I was eating, and when I asked where the mother kangaroo was, they all looked down at the soup and I must admit I did feel a bit squeamish :) ... but it tasted great. Poor baby roo. Mum got so guilty she raised her, then we gave her away to the 'Kangaroo Lady' down the road after she started to get so big and hop around the house. We figured she needed to be with some other roos.