Honey Roast Parsnips and Carrots with Quinoa and Rocket

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This should have taken an hour and 10 – it for some reason took me just under 2 hours. That’s even with somehow putting the temperature 50° too high. I then only put in part of the water because, from how I’d done it, I’d have drowned the contents. Sometimes I just cannot explain what’s taking so long. I added a little feta in at the end that I had left over from the last recipe; that seemed to bring a bit of substance to it. A few chicken pieces that needed using made it more filling. I bunged them in the oven on a tray a rack below. 

Not one of my favourite recipes from Rukmini Iyer’s The Roasting Tin, tbh, but glad I ate it.  

Come to Cloud 23 with Manchester Nightlife group

Fancy seeing Manchester from a different angle? How about from 23 stories up? 

Cloud 23 is Manchester’s longest-running observatory bar, having opened in Beetham Tower in January 2013. The views and cocktails are incredible, even after dusk. Saturday night, Manchester Nightlife Meetup group are headed there, meeting first in Atlas bar at the corner of Deansgate and Whitworth St. We’ll then head to the Beetham lobby and get the lift up. There might be a queue, but the views and atmos will be well worth it. 

At the time of writing there’s already 6 attendees signed up. 

On the blog, over the next few weeks, I may also have an investigation into party drugs, a recipe review and a piece on brain injuries and MRI scans.

Kitsch Overload at the Simmons Bar Meetup

Manchester Nightlife Meetup group headed to new 80s bar Simmons on Deansgate last night. 

 

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Gaudy, live music, brash. It’s new, so I wanted to run a meetup there. I doubt I’d be back. We then headed into Spinningfields, to Oast House and to the new – and presumably temporary – Miracle on the Avenue, a Christmas-themed bar with cheesy pop and a huge toilet queue. Spinningfields needs something a little more low-key just to balance it all out; sadly Miracle’s drinks prices are competitive, as are, I expect, their overheads. 

So yeah. My Meetup groups are growing. Another similar Manchester Meetup group closed today as the owner stepped down and no one took it over. I didn’t because it was too similar to Manc Mates, a group I took over a few months ago (and have kinda neglected). 

More Meetup ideas in the pipeline.

Bengali Popcorn Shrimp

Tried this protein snack from Rukmini Iyer’s India Express book. 

Prep time was listed as 20 mins, I did it in 21. Getting faster at first attempts. After a 1-hour marinade time, I set up a workflow with prawns, flour, egg and breadcrumbs. Then I dipped and fried a batch. The first lot needed a little longer than the 3 mins to properly crisp up, possibly due to pan / hob size. I dunno. 

Enjoyed it though!

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Try the new Simmons Bar

Wednesday night: Manchester Psychology Social Group are back in Hinterland for their weekly chat on all things psychology. 

Saturday night: Manchester Nightlife are going to Simmons bar, the new venue on Deansgate in the old Botanist unit. Very 80s themed. Neon and chrome. It’s worth a look. Get involved!

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Northern Quarter Antics with Manchester Nightlife Meetup Group

Off work for a big chunk of this week. Not much exciting. Got 2 porn stars to respond to Popbitch’s Baboon vs Badger conundrum. Here’s Helena Locke:

Helena Locke answering Popbitch's baboon Vs badger conundrum pic.twitter.com/fUghn6Vgi9

— Matt Tuckey 🇬🇧 (@matthewtuckey) November 7, 2024

and here’s Leigh Darby:

Leigh Darby answering Popbitch's baboon Vs badger conundrum pic.twitter.com/9fTGx13rd4

— Matt Tuckey 🇬🇧 (@matthewtuckey) November 7, 2024

Ran a meetup with Manchester Nightlife to Salmon of Knowledge, a new Irish bar in Stevenson Square, in the site of the old Ply unit. Not a massive Irish bar fan, but I liked the first public night. Big, spacious, tidy. A group member mentioned that someone was in the bar, someone who had come to the group and ‘was an arsehole.’ I couldn’t place who he’d mean for a few minutes until I looked across the bar. Turned out it was this particular arsehole, who kicked off because we wanted to stay in Raft and he didn’t. So, back to Salmon: he didn’t see us, as far as I know, but the team wanted to move on, so we hit Flok, Lost in Tokyo and ended in Guilty by Association, where I bumped into some old friends and had a dance off with a lesbian and won. 

A good night and furthermore a good week.

Manchester Psychology Social Group has found a home

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Manchester Psychology Social Group is growing steadily. We had our third meeting on Wednesday and our second in Hinterland, vegan cafe, with food by Wholesome Junkies. 

Good chat. Conversation just rolled, so it was only towards the end of the meeting that I properly brought up what we want to do with the group. I showed them my ideas: helping people with sticking points, psychology themed book signings, potentially getting in guest speakers etc. I really want the group to be able to help people, without it being an actual support group – more an interest group. I’ve got people adding book recommendations on the discussions page, and ideas for discussion. Everyone I’ve met so far have been good people. 

This, for the foreseeable, will be the Wednesday night thing. We had 12 people sign up last week: 6 showed, which is a good number. There are at present 4 signed up for this Wednesday. Fancy making it 5?