In which the Festival ends

[gominokouhai]

This is the view from the Library at work:

The wind was heading straight towards me from the Castle and I could hear the music and smell the gunpowder. There was about a one-and-a-half second delay between the son and the lumière. Didn't get much work done for the last hour.

This is the view on my way home:

I love this city.

Also! Now I've worked out how to get photos off this dog-awful phone camera^[0] (I've only had it since 2008), a selection of other daguerrotypes are presented for your edification below the cut. Most of these were sent as text messages at some point.

The view from the same Library, but looking in the other direction.

Hogmanay last year

Amazing what you find in the gutter sometimes. Loved this. The oil was moving across the leaf and the patterns were changing all the time. Disappointed I didn't have a proper camera handy.

Vodka Martini constructed according to James Bond's exacting recipe, as specified in Casino Royale. It's pink. James Bond is, apparently, a big pansy.

(Or maybe I should be using Lillet Blanc, but Ian bloody Fleming never tells you that.)

Now this is more like it. The perfected sazerac.

I hate what the flash is doing to my hand here. I look like Lieutenant Commander Data.

I spotted the deliberate mistake in Tescos. The staff were less than gruntled, and wouldn't tell me what I'd won.

Mull on Christmas day. My proper camera battery had died again, but this was one of those shots I just had to take.

Once I'd got the hang of the austerity drive, I went through a phase of showin' off my excellent dinners to stormsearch. Here we have Hoad in the Tole and... carrots, for some reason. In the background there appears to be another batch of Yorkshire pudding batter. Perhaps I was experimenting.

Lamb and fennel dumplings (guo zie, I think) with egg fried rice

A ‘making of’ shot. Dumplings being steamed, egg fried rice being egg-fried, and two different types of experimental bread (Bovril and Marmite, as I recall). Also at the back left you can see how far I got into that bottle of Kina Lillet before giving up.

Steaaak, homemade chips and mushrooms. All from the vegbox except the steak, which was on Tescos' reduced shelf. Austerity drives: not all that bad.

Hoad in the Tole with roast mixed vegetables. I must still be experimenting with the batter recipe. This one's a bit puffy. Tasted good, though.

Sunset from work—the opposite side of the building to that which the fireworks come from.

Tattie scones

Tattie scones in their natural habitat. Look at those eggs.

Hungry now.

--

[0] Plug in the cable thingy, and penelope instantly pops up with a window telling me I've plugged in a medium with digital photos, and offers me a selection of various free photo-manipulation software packages I didn't know I had. Huh. That was straightforward. I love Ubuntu.

Comments

[spudtater]

Mmm. I also is hungry nao.

Were the dumplings homemade or shop-bought? Am intrigued by them, and would like to know what manner of cuisine they spring from.

[gominokouhai]

Bought from the Thai supermarket near the Old Place, which sells a variety of generic Asian cuisine. I believe them to be Chinese. They're strongly reminiscent of the ones you get at Chop Chop.

You're supposed to boil them and boil the water off so that they fry towards the end---bugger that. I steam them and then dump them in the frying pan for a minute to get some Maillard reactions going.

[spudtater]

> They're strongly reminiscent of the ones you get at Chop Chop.

Which is North Chinese, which makes sense. Dumplings are a very northern thing (woo carbs), and lamb/mutton is quite Northern as well — as opposed to your typical Chinese "banquet" cuisine, which tends to favour pork, duck and seafood.

I was thrown by the fennel, though, as I associate that more with Central Asia. West Chinese cuisine is also very noodle-oriented, and incorporates more lamb and even beef. So I was wondering whether this these dumplings could be from the west.

Wikipedia tells me, though, that fennel is one of the chinese five spices, so I may be mistaken about its rarity!

Agree that boiling dumplings dry seems like quite a lot of bother. Whatever works for you, I guess.

Where is this Thai supermarket? Closest Chinese supermarket I've found is in Tollcross, which is rather inconvenient for me. I miss living five minutes from the huge Chinese supermarket on Leith Walk.   8^(

[gominokouhai]

Bruntsfield Place. Difficult to miss: it's pink. Not as huge as the one on Leith Walk, but has a damn good selection (and wasabi peanuts).

> Tollcross, which is rather inconvenient for me

You're welcome round at my new place any time.

[spudtater]

Thank you kindly.

Will you be celebrating your change of address at any point in the near future?

[gominokouhai]

I am already celebrating. That's what the case of Wychwood ales was for. What, I'm supposed to invite other people? They can move their own flat.

In other words: not officially, no. But every day is a party at Apocalypse Laboratories.

[brucec]

Which is North Chinese, which makes sense.

They're cheap too, which is important when you're a Mongolian peasant.

[gominokouhai]

Important when you're a British peasant, too. I love me a giant bag of cheap dumplings.

[spudtater]

Oh, the word you were looking for was guo tie, I think. (Literally, "pot stickers". For obvious reasons. Non-stick coating is your friend.)

Wikipedia endorses your alternative cooking method, btw.

[gominokouhai]

I spelled it like that first, then went back and changed it because it looked wrong. Must have got the Z from jiao zi.

[spudtater]

Pronounced approximately "g'war t'yeah", if you're wondering.

[gominokouhai]

G'war! Uh-huh! T'yeah! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing! Good god, y'all.

Now with added G

[gominokouhai]

Guerre! Oh-hoh! Ouais! Quel est-il bon? Absolument rien! Dites-le encore, y'all.

Re: Now with added G

[gominokouhai]

Next time I go to Chop Chop, I can complain by telling them C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guo tie.

Or, with relevance to a later post

[gominokouhai]

Küche-kämpfe! Uh-huh! Ja! Was ist es gut? Sprichen Sie es noch einmal.

[(Anonymous)]

Ah THAT word! I've always mentally spelt it as "goitier" a la francaise cos that's how they pronounce it to my ears, at least in beijing.. so no not a lot rhyming with la guerre I'm afraid..

ps paul are you free Nov 27th??

[gominokouhai]

That's a billion years away, I have no idea.