To make it worse, I think I meant kilner jar…

What goes best with chilli though…..?

Depends!

For me depends on weather, hunger and mood.

1. Decent plain corn chips (no Doritos nonsense), homemade refried bean dip, some cheese dip, home-made proper guacamole. (Sometimes will make cheesy nachos for ultimate scoffage)

or

2. Cheesy jacket spud and creme fresh.

or

3. Garlic bread and bowl of side salad with the chili in it’s own bowl.

or

4.  Steamed Basmati rice (since finding a microwave rice cooker this happens more often)

Drinks?

Chilled lager or a glass or three of bold red to match the strong flavours of the chili.

@Cougar

Yes, masonry jars make everything better!  I’m always scanning marketplace and charity shops for more.  Nothing beats having not to fish out disintegrating/splitting plastic bags of long-gone-tasteless ingredients.  Cooking a curry used to make our kitchen and selves look like the Holi festival!

“Pass the turmeric?

(digs into tub for packet) Here!…(splitPOF!)”

”gargh!”

“mustard seeds?”

”Here…oh.  (spaf!) Now rolling under the fridge, wait… 😗”

RE chili non/con carne recipes, I found refried pinto beans make a great thickener if required. Gran Luchito (sp?) bags of it are handy.  Use a tablespoon or two to thicken, then turn the rest of the bag into a great refried bean dip using garlic powder, cumin powder, salt and soured cream or creme fraiche. Mix into tub and heat in microwave.

I forgot to make clear, in the US, chili powder is a blend of spices, not one specific dried and ground chile.

So in order to make the chilli seasoning mix that I posted above, first make the chili powder that goes into that chili seasoning mix!  For the gods’ sake don’t be using tablespoons of extra hot powdered chiles! When making your own chili powder simply adjust the amount of cayenne (or  whatever dried hot pepper you use (I use bags of Asian supermarket ‘Rajah’ brand extra hot red chilli)  for heat/taste.  Authentic Tex Mex chili powder additionally calls for preparing your own from dried ancho chiles (and optional guajillo, chipotle etc)  but you don’t need to go!to such lengths

There are lots of US chili powder recipes online.  Here’s a basic one:

2 tablespoons paprika
½ tablespoon cumin
½ tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon oregano
¾ teaspoon cayenne (or any dried hot pepper)

After decades of experimenting making my own (and a variety of Brit recipes and pseudo-Mexican chilis) I finally chanced upon what the Tex-Mex chef’s use! ie a good ready-made seasoning mix.  Flavour and depth has now improved tenfold! Wouldn’t do anything else.  You can’t (practically) purchase it in the UK  but you can easily make your own clone batch.  Here:

https://www.liveeatlearn.com/homemade-chili-seasoning-mix/

Some good reading there re the basics of a flavourful chili.  Lower down the page there is an (excellent) 10 min veggie chilli recipe (into which you can bung some meat if you must):

https://www.liveeatlearn.com/vegetarian-chili-recipe/

Thank me later!

PS, I can’t emphasise enough to use good quality ingredients when making the seasoning. Especially invest in quality smoked paprika.   I recommend El Avion brand and order it online.  Deep vivid red and smoky.  Nothing at all like basic supermarket rubbish.  Also use premium tin tomatoes (San Marzano etc)  or at least the Deluxe Lidl/Aldi ones. I most often also chuck in a few chopped fresh toms.

It may seem like a faff to get all the dried seasoning ingredients to make the mix, but once you’ve done it and stored in a masonry jar then a great and authentic chili/‘bowl o’ red’ is the easiest thing to have cooking on the stove in 10 minutes.

Grilled white fish, 2 veg and spuds.  20ish mins from opening the fridge to eating it

We steam all veg in microwave steamer now.  Same with rice.  Can’t afford to use the big cooker because of energy cost,  so just use that to brown things and then do the rest in microwave or slow cooker.

Am looking into microwave pressure cooker.  Small freezer was the best investment  as it’s easier to cook a meal for 8 and then freeze them.  4 meals for two sorted in about an hour,

Cheap and easy food tends to be rubbish

I think that this is key.  The word ‘easy’, especially.  Take a look at the statistics by age-range of how often we cook from scratch.  https://www.statista.com/statistics/1140383/frequency-of-cooking-from-scratch-by-age-group-uk/

Midday – Lunch<br style=”box-sizing: border-box; –tw-translate-x: 0; –tw-translate-y: 0; –tw-rotate: 0; –tw-skew-x: 0; –tw-skew-y: 0; –tw-scale-x: 1; –tw-scale-y: 1; –tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; –tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; –tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; –tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); –tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; –tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; –tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; –tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; caret-color: #ffffff; color: #ffffff; font-family: Roboto, ‘Helvetica Neue’, Arial, ‘Noto Sans’, sans-serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ‘Segoe UI’, ‘Apple Color Emoji’, ‘Segoe UI Emoji’, ‘Segoe UI Symbol’, ‘Noto Color Emoji’; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;” />Evening – Tea<br style=”box-sizing: border-box; –tw-translate-x: 0; –tw-translate-y: 0; –tw-rotate: 0; –tw-skew-x: 0; –tw-skew-y: 0; –tw-scale-x: 1; –tw-scale-y: 1; –tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; –tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; –tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; –tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); –tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; –tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; –tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; –tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; caret-color: #ffffff; color: #ffffff; font-family: Roboto, ‘Helvetica Neue’, Arial, ‘Noto Sans’, sans-serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ‘Segoe UI’, ‘Apple Color Emoji’, ‘Segoe UI Emoji’, ‘Segoe UI Symbol’, ‘Noto Color Emoji’; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;” />Supper – something people who think they’re posh have

Our neck of the woods (increasingly outdated) as a kid was

Midday – Dinner

5:30pm – Tea

Fish and Chips – ‘supper’

The word ’lunch’ was only used for ‘lunch box’ (in which was kept ‘me dinner’)

I’ve had a few trailers over the years – notably kids buggy-type, the (large) Carry Freedom and recently a TW Bents/Edinburgh Cycles single-wheeler (B.O.B Yak copy except folds flat)

I didn’t use the kids trailer for much more than carrying wood, and it felt horrible, heavy and lurchy. CarrY Freedom two-wheeler on the other hand was ‘good enough’ once I installed the new ‘lollipop’ elastomer hitch. Strapped a cage/puppy crate on top of it and chucked anything in there. It carried some mad weights, up to my hill-climbing limit. I didn’t get along with the (again tuggy) feeling of it and always hankered after a single-wheeler. The Yak copy is a different ball game. Tracks wonderfully, and carry camping gear or groceries happily and doesn’t overbalance or bother in any way while riding. I’ve had a full-sized upright vacuum cleaner laid out in there and some shopping. Almost perfect. Sadly it’s for 26 MTB or 700c road max, and I really wanted it for my 29er (gravel/touring) but the yoke is too short for that. Have since hankered after a COHO XC, but I do like the simplicity of the folding YAK copy. It needs a central kickstand really, I tried a single side-stand but it’s not ideal. Wish I could find a folding side-stand for the right hand side! I plan to put some kind of lengthways split plastic piping on the bottom side of the frame as a skidrail/guard so I can just jackknife the whole thing and it can hold itself up without scratching. Am saving up for a COHO XC anyway. For now this will do fine on my old tourer for groceries, chores, camping etc. In action:

It has to be Fairytale of New York or if in festive upbeat mood then Bruce is comin’…
… To TOoWAAOOWGHNGHN!

A great loss. Great thanks from me, Mr Ali. RIP.

Like a cat with a slice of buttered toast strapped to its back, one suspects they were hung there in suspended animation, in a perpetual 69 of mutual aggrandisement

👏👏

I don’t seem to understand musical snobbery for any reasons as it spoils the fun and enjoyment of music.

Funnily enough/apropos of thread have had quite a fix of my teenage kicks throughout the last week or so

– Killing Joke ‘What’s This For’ and also some early live The Tube footage courtesy of YouTube (tubes thru time!)
– Black Sabbath ‘Sabotage’ and ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’
– The Damned ‘Strawberries’
– Television ‘Adventure’
– Steel Pulse ‘Earth Crisis’


@doris5000 I remember going to see Clawfinger live! Was ace. Unfortunately I still have the broken nose to remind me of mosh 🤕 (JB’s)

+1 Aldi PB
+1 Samosas (Waitrose Plant Kitchen are delicious, but veggie samosas win hands down if from a proper Asian shop if you’re in a city)
Ginsters Moroccan chickpea pasties are ace
Frys Curry Pies too. OMGZZZ I’m putting one in the oven tonight and will be with eaten with mash and peas and a helping of Bisto southern-style instant gravy. It’s dead exciting – but they (Frys curry pies) are great as a snack on their own. Think I’ve paid 99p from farm foods for a pack of two

Those small Chicago town pizzas. Not microwaved of course, but still terrible.

That’s no way to talk about the food highlight of my week!* Deep-filled tomatoeycheesy hot awesomeness.

* Actually not true – I tried a smoked salmon thingumny the other day for the first time ever and it was every kind of epic. Can’t remember it was cool but it was filled with some kind of chewy fishy mousse. Oh my godzzzz

Does low alcohol count? Been drinking tins of Adnam’s Ghost Ship 0.5% like water this week. (That wasn’y a set up for some wag, btw 🙂)

Also tried a Guinness 0.0 recently – was pleasantly surprised after the second one hit the palate (the first seemed too sweet). By far the most full bodied zero alcohol drink I’ve ever tried. As far as ales go the Bristol Beer Factory low alcohol offering (Clear Head) has been the best by far IMO/E

At home? Murk-Life Balance hazy IPA (Magic Rock)

From pump? HPA (Wye Valley)

*edit ^ Purple Moose Elderflower is a fine ale. Recently tried their Plum Porter because Elderflower not on. Ended up having 3 porters before personal besting (single-speed) the Mawddach Trail 😊 Amazing stuff and surprisingly moreish.

#gofasterbeer

(hey my picture fell over )

1990s mountain bikes (since improved)
Cadburys Cream Eggs (since wrecked)
Baked potatoes (since mysteriously less potatoey)

(apologies for dictation errors – still can’t seem to get inside the 15 minute edit window there’s always something else to do!)

^ Yeah I’ve tried a few 100% dark chocolates (including Montezumas) but not really liked any as much – maybe that’s a step too soon! The 85% one I have has emulsifier/d in it but then so do most milk chocolate bars (along with palm oil)

Co-op Irresistible Fairtrade Single Origin Dark 57% Orange (that’s a mouthful) is also v tasty for anyone with a sweet-tooth.

Inused to love Terrys chocolate oranges until they went shite, and have long been looking for some kind of vegan-friendly alternative with the same taste preferably as the old Terrys chocolate oranges. It turned up in the most unexpected place

– Lidl Alesto Cacao and Orange Bar

Someone video reviewed here

Almost too good to be true there any something like 40p they really do taste like the old fashioned chocolate orange (except with no rubbish in it£

For me, i struggle with vegan chocolate

Depends what kind of ‘chocolate’ you’re accustomed to.

I used to demolish family size bars of that sugar, palm fat and milk-powder £1 stuff (cacao) seemingly optional. Tried a few quality dark chocolate bars and finally settled on Lidl’s 85% fair trade stuff. It really is incredibly tasty but very different than the not-chocolate chocolate bars. Once accustomed I found one square can be chewed for a hell of a long time almost like chewing gum. It’s while chewing for a long time that you get the extra complex flavours. Thought I’d tasted most everything by 55 yrs old, but I’d obviously not really tasted chocolate. So now of an evening where once I may have demolished a bar of sugar and palm oil – I’ll instead nibble and chew at a big square 85% dark choc, preferably with a snifter of my favourite single malt.

Being flexible I can’t say that the Freddo frog doesn’t make an occasional appearance when I’m gagging for a Dairy Milk fix. Mrs P OTOH is good to her word and has the salted almond (?) Cadburys Plant Bar. I too can recommend that. Also any vegan choco by Booja Booja. That is top notch.

Other snacks? I don’t really have to think that hard about it but regular vegan-friendly snacks I enjoy are:

– Ten Acre Crisps (cheese and onion or hickory smoked)
– Those King’s plant jerky strips upthread, really tasty with a small kick of spice)
– All manner/flavours of fried peanuts rxp chilli nuts (I make my own spice blend but Lidls own are good)
– Smorgasbord – ie olives, Violife white block cheese squares, crackers, houmous
– Fresh fruit or handful of fruit and nuts
– Eat Real Chilli & Lemon Lentil Chips (Only problem is that even a big bag will disappear very quickly
– Hippeas Cheesy (like wotsits)

Leaving the EU and then shipping refugees to Rwanda*

Optional tossing of virtual sausage rolls in the general direction of France**

*Box-ticking exercise
**Via a tabloid/social-media app to raise funds for fighting ‘woke’.

Róisín Murphy

David Byrne

Grace Jones (A.K.A ‘Grandma’s got an emu’s arse on her head, a whole beaub out, is hula-hooping on stage while singing – yet still manages to be cool’)

I managed last month to get my, er, paws on an original (green) Tiger Paws tent (an as-new example) yet the main pole snapped at a join (Suppose they are about 20yrs old now?) and I’m now on my last set of spares. So next year it’s time to bite the bullet and buy something more well-made, maybe half to a kilo lighter and hopefully also uses trekking poles.

Shortlisted:

Vango Heddon
Lanshan…

…and a latecomer which I just noticed today – a Durston Gear X-Mid 1 Solid

Which looks like it makes a lot of sense – I’m really impressed by the design, specs and reviews that I’ve seen. However, they seem to sell out v quickly (instantly) and also demand another hundred quid on my existing budget. Plus taxes/shipping. Gah.

I used to know a man who’s regular party-piece was to rattle off about 50 fish-themed puns.

Poor bastard.

To be honest I’d flounder just to find one decent punch-line.

“Come hell or high water”

Yes and it’s a modern irony that global warming is (increasingly) causing extreme weather events such as fires and floods.

“Hold on, weren’t the global elite marxist lizardrat medias ‘informing’ us that the planet was supposed to be on fire??? You watch – there will be ‘flood’ warnings next week! 🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑 better make your minds up – because until then I don’t believe a word of it. Don’t read the news or go on social media and it will all go away🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑”. /satire

@RustySpanner

I quite like those.
How wide are they?

They’re in classifieds ;). offers invited. Wide-fit (G1/2) which is perfect for me but the length a little too big – I usually take a 9.5 but these are more like a ‘roomy’ 10. I may actually take them back to the shop and hope they exchange for the size down if complain about the initial fitting service.

@thepurist

don’t overthink it

thnks ;)

On a vaguely related note I went to an American diner today by accident. Don’t normally drink dairy but was kindly bought a giant ice-cold strawberry milkshake which to be fair tasted amazing. Unfortunately the girls also had a milkshake apiece yet turned out they would not drink – so I ended up drinking the best part of three giant milkshakes. On top of a bowl of chilli. I don’t know what I was thinking! I think it was one of those moments when I didn’t want to overthink it!

Thankfully managed to get home before unwittingly giving That Picolax Thread a run(s)for it’s money.

Dear gods. Never would’ve believed what I felt and witnessed today to be possible. Would never relate in detail as believe there is no company impolite enough to receive such towering tales of the ensuing porcelain-painting, flandemonium-filled and disastrous dirty-disco 😭

#iran
#underpressure
#whenthedovescry
#icantgoforthat
#poursomesugaronme
#hereigoagain
#smoothoperator
#pulluptothebumper
#pinkcadillac
#dontdreamitsover
#straightothetop
#levitateme
#foolifyouthinkitsover
#dothemochalotion
#expressyourself
#gonnamakeyousweat
#freefallin
#youshookmeallnightlong
#burningdownthehouse
#foolifyouthinkitsover
#showermewithyourlove
#nothingsgonnastopusnow
#eternalflame

Yep. Ergon GP3. I don’t use them for regular single track mountain biking where will normally use a 780mm flattish bar – yet do fit the bar-ends on installing a slightly narrower (and flatter) bar and longer stem for gravel-beasting and/or rough-stuff touring. Love ‘em to pieces. They give a nice rest-pos and most of all a great pistol-grip climbing position which (I believe) employs different/more effective muscle-groups, making a long climb dreamier not steamier :)

can anyone recommend some specific bags…probably closer to budget end than some of the really fancy stuff!

Somewhere between budget and pricey are the Blackburn Outpost range? I’ve got a large expanding frame (under-top tube) bag (like it) and I believe the handlebar roll w/dry bag are well-reviewed

what would the ethical stance be on using that for blood pudding, assuming the other ingredients were plant based.

Depends if anyone inquiry understood/recognised the current ethical considerations and whether any of those would still apply. Vegans don’t consume animal flesh or excretions and do not willingly fund exploitation of animals – so I’m not quite sure whose ‘ethical stance’ you’re referring to? I’m not quite sure that vegetarians drink animals blood either so again…

*edit: wait -I may not be effectively reading the room?

#introvertednerd

like these but all charcoal black

Have a look at the Rieker Antistress Shoe – It’s a shame you’re not a size 10 because I’ve got a pair for sale they’re too wide for me and I bought them brand-new in haste

Just about everything on my stock 1989 British Eagle tourer. The engine too is still going at 55 years, although tbf it’s making the sort of noises which generally indicate an imminent overhaul/rebuild.

#dadjoke
#sadjoke
#badjoke

@metalheart nice – thnks. That voice 🫠. Now off down another tune-tunnel! I learned that Eddie Stevens (electronic musician/collaborator with Róisín Murphy) was also in Freak Power

‘Tune in Turn On, Cop Out‘ was a riding playlist highlight back in the day, along my long way round to now 📼💿👴🏻)

I was nodding off this year watching Glastonbury and then someone named Róisín Murphy busked onto the stage with a quartet of talented troubadours and proceeded to blow my mind with disturbing ease. I’d only ever heard a couple of songs by her along the way so was entirely unprepared. (SUPERLATIVE CURSING) what a beautifully bonkers, energising, commanding, warm and fun/ny performance! Reminded me of a wide range of artists from David Byrne to David Bowie from Grace Jones to Grace Slick, from Kate Bush to Eartha Kitt, from Devo to Diana Ross. Hard to believe I bypassed Moloko and Murphy the first time round, yet now eagerly mining the back-catalogue.

Everyone knows better or thinks the rules don’t apply to them, we’re all guilty of it to a greater it lesser extent.

Yes that ‘principle’ applies with regards to current global warming and Holocene/Anthropocene extinction events – except these are on barely-imaginable levels of ‘hellish’, not to mention irreversible. And yet (for some reason) we don’t get so upset about that (and think the people who do get upset about it are crazy)

In no order:

1. My phone (dictating instructions) and
2. Random wildlife
3. Self (which seems to be increasingly old-man-ish)

During road transitions I tend to raise my voice at people in motorised vehicles who seem to be attempting to kill me. I fear one day that they may succeed

I’m a biffer yet no probs with Conti Race King Protection (tubed). (2.1/2.2?)

Good volume, fast as. Light and yet v few punctures.

@molgrips

Coombe Green (Worcs/Glos border)

yep looks like (how I imagine) California around here these days. Took this pic the other night, just about to go over there and watch the moon: