M Ward
April 7th, 2009M Ward is playing at Shepherds Bush Empire, 30th June, a bargain at £15/ticket (inc. fees).
Who is it?
March 30th, 2009
Anthony & the Johnsons
March 29th, 2009I quite liked this song, particularly the shika. They definitely need more shika though …
Love-love
March 27th, 2009
It’s our white duck / mallard couple. I wonder if they will have spotted ducklings?
Edit: N-sama said the male duck was ugly .. mooo
The RETURN of the LEAK!
March 26th, 2009
BBC4 Japan season: Fish! A Japanese obsession
March 25th, 2009Fish! A Japanese obsession (UK only).
Piggy sandwiches
March 23rd, 2009
BBC4 Japan season: Japan in Colour
March 22nd, 2009BBC Four Japan season: Japan in Colour: The Wonderful World of Albert Kahn.
A documentary about Japan in 1900-1920.
To those who know what comes after, looking at these photographs gives terrible premonition of what is to come.
And they are reshowing the Secret Wilderness show:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00jhxhf/Secret_Wilderness_Japan_Episode_1/
Mmmm pork
March 22nd, 2009
This worked out rather well. Cooking time was 14 hours at 100C (according to the oven, but the real temperature would have been lower). The noodles were an excellent complement to the pork. Crackling didn’t crackle much, even though I tried cooking it separately. Altogether, a success.
Pear tart
March 22nd, 2009
Recipe from here. It was better the next day after it had congealed slightly in the fridge.
Pork shoulder for tomorrow
March 21st, 2009
I’m cooking it for 16 hours overnight … Previous attempt …
Mosquito aircraft museum
March 15th, 2009Today to the Mosquito Aircraft Museum / De Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre in Hertfordshire.
Chipmunk, similar to the ones I used to fly in AEF:
Comet 4 interior:
De Havilland Gyron engine:
Vampire trainer jet (one of two at the museum which are both very well preserved):
Mosquito, built and used during World War II:
Top gun … is it Tom Cruise?
Cakes
March 15th, 2009
Japanese word of the day on BBC Four
March 12th, 2009Japanese snow monkey documentary on the BBC
March 11th, 2009We love this documentary on Japanese snow monkeys on BBC iPlayer (until April, UK only):
Dr. Takayo Soma studying monkeys:
This is #13 in the series. #14 in the series about sustainable farming/gardening is also well worth watching.
Teeth of wisdom
March 11th, 2009Owwww. I went to the dentist today and I’m going to have them out on April 6th …
BBC Four are having a Japan season soon, starting on Sat 14th March. However good luck finding anything about this on their website which is basically useless. Andrew Graham Dixon’s programme on Samurai looks interesting.
Update
Here is the URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/japan/
Mushroom plugs
March 7th, 2009Shiitake mushroom plugs:
I need to find some recently cut logs. The logs need to be less than 3 weeks old, so the log I had in mind for this won’t work. There’s actually some blokes on the other side of the canal with chainsaws cutting back the trees at the moment, but to get to them I’d have to cross two canals which is a bit difficult carrying a large log. I have until December to find a log though. In the meantime, the mushroom spores are kept in my fridge.
Lamb shoulder in red wine and cauliflower cheese
March 3rd, 2009Couldn’t quite get this into one photo …
Duck à l’orange
March 2nd, 2009
I basically made this up. The sauce is cooking sake, oranges, sugar, a little cream, salt and pepper. It’s rather tasty!