Sunday, 28 August 2022
Tim Farron Gossip in Popbitch
Good week. Good weather, food, exercise and time spent with friends playing Twister and Giant Jenga.
Also, I asked former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron the immortal baboon vs badger question, the response to which made it into the weekly celeb gossip Popbitch email.
Saturday, 27 August 2022
Five-Spice Pork Chops
Next up in Rukmini Iyer’s The Roasting Tin: Five-Spice Pork Chops with Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Ginger and Garlic.
The purchase of the star anise spice has now led to my spice rack being completely full. It’s only taken since November 2011. It might be time to concoct some bizarre curry to polish off the nearly-empty pots clogging up my rack. Stay tuned for that.
My spice rack is now full. Which is your favourite? pic.twitter.com/OiPFZNa4d2
— Matt Tuckey 🇬🇧 (@matthewtuckey) August 27, 2022
Overall time should have been 50 mins. Took me 75. Not too bad, considering. Instructions were, as per, simple and straightforward. My pork steak pack had 4 in, so I threw in all 4 and ate 2 with each dish. No-one could stop me!
Friday, 26 August 2022
Gooey Cafe Launch in Northern Quarter
Great news for those with a sweet tooth: cookie and donut outlet Gooey have expanded their operations. Starting in a kiosk in The Ducie Street Warehouse, Gooey have been serving up freshly made donuts and cookies for around 2 years.
As of today the team have expanded, opening the Gooey Cafe on High St Northern Quarter, in the site of the old Cat Cafe. As well as their famous cookies and donuts, this branch also serve up hot and cold drinks, hot and cold sandwiches and a couple of healthy salads. A quick scan of a QR code brings up the PDF menu to your smartphone, after which you can order at the till.
A clean venue, tasty main course and one of their now-famous cookies for dessert. Win.
Saturday, 20 August 2022
Why I Tidy for Only 10 Minutes
We all have good days and bad days. On a bad day, we might not feel like attacking the household chores, or doing much of anything depending on our mood. Other days, maybe we can do a little more of the things that keep order – the laundry, taking out the rubbish, filing away important mail, etc. Other times, we might feel like tidying is the only thing we can do – if we’re putting off another important task, for example.
Either way, there’s a system that helps bring balance and order to your home, even when you’re stuck in the depths of a depressive episode. I call it the 10-minute tidy.
Pretty self-explanatory: I used the timer on my phone, set to 10 minutes. Whichever room I’m in, that’s where I start. I pick something up, take it to where it’s supposed to be, and there – whichever room it is – I’ll look for something else. Straighten the bedsheets. File some paperwork. Shove clothes in the wash basket. Take a bin out. Whatever’s needed. Then, when the timer goes, I stop. Everything else, that’s tomorrow’s job.
On good days, you might not find that much to do. On bad days, you always have the relief that it’s just 10 minutes. It might not look much different after one attempt, but a few days of 10-minute bursts can make a lot of difference. These days, my home is pretty tidy, for a bloke living on his own, and it's down to this technique. I’m planning on keeping it that way.
Sunday, 14 August 2022
In Cold Blood
Truman Capote’s 1965 account of the real life Clutter murders- a family brutally murdered in rural Kansas in 1959- is as raw and as eloquently emotive as any other crime book of its ilk published today.
This semi-fictionalised novel, compiled at the time of the events, starts slow as we’re introduced to this upper class farming family, and told of the parents’ roots and coming together. But before long, their deaths at the hands of two gunmen are discovered, and the soon-introduced murderers are already on the run.
There have been countless murders just like this one over the years, and there are no clever twists or narrative tricks. There’s no need when the original story – told with a decent amount of accuracy – is as tense and as devastating as this one. Brilliantly researched, the book takes in the perspectives of neighbours, law enforcement, judiciary and other folk who crossed paths with the Clutter family, and the murderers.
Chris Sullivan at (folded) lads’ mag Loaded says, ‘this book has not dated one iota.’ He’s right.
Sunday, 7 August 2022
Indoor Skydiving / Teppenyaki
Birthday celebrations continue. I had a few ideas for memorable experiences to mark my 40th, one of which was indoor skydiving, a virtual experience (not descending through a gutted skyscraper or anything). As a gift, the family got me a slot at iFly in Trafford Park.
Instructor Kenny had sent me a video guide beforehand explaining how it all works, and what we’d need to do (posture, hand signals, etc.). On arrival a group of perhaps 10 of us were welcomed in, given more instructions, handed blue overalls and taken into the waiting room.
Next to this was a narrow room with a high roof and a huge underfloor fan, and one at a time Kenny took us in, over the mesh flooring, and we were blasted upwards. The second rotation, we all chose to go high, so the operator blasted the fans and Kenny guided us by the cuffs and hems and we were blown skyward into the chamber. A great experience!
Before the evening meal, we took a look around a few city centre bars:
For the evening meal: Sapporo Teppenyaki, Castlefield, for Japanese cuisine cooked at the table. The seats form a square shape around four cooking stations, one of which was dedicated to my booking.
Scroll through this one for the videos. That’s the first time I’ve been serenaded by Japanese chefs in a restaurant! It’s also the first time I’ve had potato croquettes basketball-shotted into my mouth. A range of meats, veg, oriental spices and sauces, and raw heat from a fiery grill, all combine to make a unique restaurant experience. Great fun and great-tasting. With a little time to spare, we strolled down Deansgate and into Spinningfields, to the new Japanese-Brazilian fusion bar and restaurant, Sakku Samba.
I must come back here peak time. The restaurant has taken over the old Artisan unit after it being redundant for a few years, and has been done up exceptionally. A new celeb haunt rises.
Saturday, 6 August 2022
Filipino Style Garlic Pork Pot Roast
A very long, slow roast, this should have been commenced earlier in the day than I did. It’s worth the wait, though.
The instructions in Rukmini Iyer’s Roasting Tin asks us to ‘sear’ the joint for 3 minutes each side. I put the joint in and ovened it for the 6 minutes in total, turning half way through. I didn’t know you could sear in an oven. I think of that as a frying word. But, presumably, I did it right.
My roasting tin may be a little small, but I couldn’t fit in all the required pak choi. The recipe actually asks for ‘baby pak choi,’ which Tesco didn’t seem to have, which explains how 6 full size of these veg wouldn’t nestle in among the pork. I still need to bang the rest in a smoothie and neck them. No point them going to waste!
Rice was added to the dish in the last 55 minutes, but my rice was still crunchy when I took it out. The meat wasn’t done either, so I moved the dish up a shelf and gave it another 20 mins. This worked, and the end result was tasty and made a change to chicken recipes.
Recipe time was 2 hrs 50, I took 3 hrs 30. Is the delay there with my memory or my oven (that is new and I’m still learning to use?) Both, maybe?
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