A rebel without a clue.

2nd year of the Jones' Halloween was a good affair judging from all the many photos that have appeared on Facebook since last night. I thought it was a very Americanised product when I was a teenager and never ever had anything to do with it then. But now it gives free rein to self expression with a box of pastels and an afternoon. I went to the party as a green bloody mouthed Zombie ate loads of very good Stilton and Broccoli quiche and drank a fair quantity of cider. I crashed out around there and got back for about 10am this morning. I do hope this is a routine event, but Sarah and Dan both want it to elsewhere next year as it's not nice clearing up the day after a party. Today I've thrown away a load of Cassette tapes that were just getting dusty in the box they've been in the last dozen or so years. Couldn't quite throw all the original ones just the copied(dubbed) ones. I wonder if they get melted down or recycled? Recycle This Free Cycle I've also g...

I've had this feeling in the last year that my life is going full circle. I'm filling all the gaps from the past. I guess Facebook makes this very possible. But I has made me think I may only have another 16 years left if I keep filling all the past gaps in. How do I explain this simply? I had a job trial and I chopped parsley and peeled potatoes: which i last did on that scale in 1989 at the Linton Springs I hooked up with an girl I knew in Newcastle and haven't seen since 1995 who is in Canada now: Victoia Jolley . I went to Harrogate today looking for work and found the place very autumnal and most of the town had a power outage, but got a Job trial at the Old Swan ; I was very very drunk here in 1995 (I woke up in a room in the hotel without a clue where I was and remember the old radiators in the room were so so baking). I got so drunk with Richard Smith from ROCOM that night! Was a good laugh really. ROCOM had some fun times, apart from David Swinnerton being a TWAT...

I think media relies on new products to flog any old rubbish the latest fads are HD, 3D and bluray. Wow it's 3d. What next hologram projectors? Sometimes it's all about who you like and who you don't. How trivial to have these empty thoughts in your teens, through your twenties just to see it become nonexistent hatred from then or even more xenophobic turned against entire groups. Or who has stayed at the better holiday cottage. Girls stop this bollocks. I've been going to Leeds on the bus since it was a 799 or 798 at Deighton Bar in around 1984. My first bus journey out without mum I think was with John Naylor to the brand new Ridings in Wakefield. I bought a picture disc of the Reflex by Duran Duran ;12 inch.Pin It had a version of Make Me Smile (come up and see me some time) on the B-side. Jody. Bella Italia, possibly. Oracle, possibly. Print of your CV! Info@pinheads.co.uk attention Jon Tite. 1pm at Pin and Addlestones makes me feel warm and lo...

I picked up some Polenta ( Farina di mais cotta ) while in Leeds from Harvey Nichols: they also sell Nero Venere black rice, but its far too expensive at 5.95 for 500g, and both Sumac and Wild Rue from a market stall in Leeds that specialises in Middle eastern and Indian spices. I got back to home and ground up luxury dried fruit, caraway, juniper berries, walnuts, linseeds, nutmeg, sumac and rue and added the same quantity of cornmeal (polenta) with a little icing sugar. I boiled the kettle and made a brew of Jasmine scented green tea and made a dough which I then baked in a 180C oven for 20 minutes. I think that they could be baked like a wafer and presented with or in a cheese cake?

Today for total satisfaction I made both Pitta bread and Yorkshire pudding. In a preheated oven (220'C) I baked 4 pittas - strong flour, warm water and salt - until the steam inflated the core of the breads and produced the pockets that all really good pitta should have. Once they were out of the oven I then did some Yorkshire pudding. The best method for a successful YP is equal quantities of eggs, flour and milk (in this case 3 eggs ratio) and a very hot oven and a preheated tray with a high burning temperature oil in each section. These can be made well in advance and simply reheated again under a grill (watch they don't burn) I have also started to bake off the Pork joint. I scored the skin and rubbed salt into it, then I chopped some smallish onions into quarters and sat the joint on the onions. I put the seasoned meat (seasoned with sage, salt, pepper and a small amount of Jerk) into a preheated oven (120'C) for an hour to slowly cook the joint. I think the Pi...

So this morning I've checked the liquor I left at 10pm last night to see whether the fermentation had begun. It is nicely producing CO2 and I can clearly smell the pears in the brew. I simply don't want to throw away all of the vacuum packed hops that my Mum inadvertently left out after she chucked the faulty fridge. I've soaked the packet, simmered gently and then syphoned off the liquor to reduce in a pressure cooker. Maybe this is a pointless task, but I'd like to see. I'm easily confused these days - I realise the hops are Northdown with an alpha acid of 8.5% and thet're currently being reduced under pressure. I have tasted the reduction and its so so bitter! But hey that's concentrate! I want to increase the volume to put in to the demijohns so I'm going to get hold of some sweet apples from somewhere or get a nice organic apple juice from  Carey Organic , but this might increase the cost too much. I need to be on the look out for more windfal...

I've had enough malts left over to do a 5 gallon batch of ale since the last brew I made in the Spring and its was probably just at the end of its shelf life so it seemed a perfect day to get it used. Mum had returned from a dog walk with 3 or 4 russet like pears which having tried were very sweet if very small. So small they reminded me of the apple varieties used by the cider makers down at Broome Farm near Ross-on Wye in Herfordshire. I should ask if they're a variety used to make perry? Today we took a couple of carrier bags to collect the pears down on Scorebank. On the way down the Old Railway we came across some small cox like apples and purloined a few kilos of them. We continues on to the pear tree and eventually returned with about 5 kilos of fruit. I washed the fruit very quickly in cold water and used the Kenwood juicer I've got to extract the juice from both fruit. I've made a video: I hope this is a more fun and personal video than the very silent ...