Meanwhile, Big Nana's knee deep in persistant rain up in Lancaster and they have a hose-pipe ban in force. We don't have one down here where the subject invokes a torrent of abuse, albeit ironic that it involves an abuse of torrents. (That reminds me of Oz's most hilarious joke about the electric fan tipping over and landing on me - something about "the fan hitting the shit").
If you missed it, there was a programme on BBC4 on Monday called "The Great British Outdoors" featuring archive footage from the 1950's and 60's of the populace and their love affair with everything to do with outdoor life. A great deal of it seemed to involve making the outdoors as much like the indoors as possible, with wonderful scenes of families in sports jackets sitting around in caravans smoking and eating a full roast dinner.
My favourite spot came at around 29.30 mins where there was a demonstration of exotic picnic fare. One suggestion was carving cucumbers into little baskets with handles and filling them with salad cream and cream cheese. It was straight out of Abigail's Party and I can't wait to get a cucumber and try this out.
17 comments:
Hmmm...something to wow your guests at a dinner party!
I don't think I'd want to eat a full roast dinner after someone had smoked it.
Although Roses and I commented at exactly the same moment, I'd like to make it clear that we're not using a his and hers keyboard.
My mum had jars of coloured sugar crystals and tubes of salmon paste for her parties in the fifties. How are you supposed to eat that cucumber basket?
My friend's mum once not only cut the boiled eggs in half, but scooped out the yolk, mashed it up with Heinz salad cream and dolloped it back in. I thought this was terribly posh.
I love them! Not the stuff in them mind, not big on salad cream and cheese, but prawn cocktail type prawns or egg mayo would work - I'm going to make some the minute someone gives me a cucumber.
And some prawns.
Or an egg.
etc.
We were watching this last night - haven't quite finished. My favourite was the Monkey's Delight burnt dough.
I fear it's not going to end well for Peter Duncan.
Roses: They will fefo be on my list for the next fondue party!
Dave: Smoked Beef? In Puff Pastry?
Rosie: Mmm Salmon Paste! I'd rather eat empty cucumber baskets.
Tomorous: I remember that. Always seemed an awful lot of bother to get back to where you started. Like life really...
Zig: Glad you're impressed. I'm going to fill one with marzipan and send it up to Kaz.
Geoff: I was introduced to Berndt Dough in the cubs. He was a visiting Skipper from Hamburg.
I take it 'cubs' is a euphemism for '6-pack'? Or maybe a code-word for private 'Abigail' parties? I see there has been no mention of the dreaded cubes of cheddar and silverskin onions impaled on cocktail sticks stuck into half grapefruit covered in aluminium foil, always a prerequisite at Abigails.
Chris: Ah, those cheddar cubes on pointy sticks! Such simple pleasures, such simpler times....
Why do those cucumber baskets need a volume comtrol?
You forgot the ultimate in posh party food: the vol-au-vont.
Filled with prawn cocktail, or chicken mashed with mayo. Soggy, flakey and with a lovely cardboard texture.
I think they'd be a welcome addition to any modern dinner party. Really, I do. Except your invite in the post. Or carved into a radish.
Whilst whittling your next supper party, why not carve out a few zig zag tomato vol au vonts and some carrot "roses"??
Although in the words of the immortal Adrian Henri "You can't taste shapes"
Z: That's a very good question! They must be a bit loud.
Roses: vol-au-vent means "stealing the wind" doesn't it? Most appropriate.
Madame: RSVP via Gherkin.
Macy: I remember almost losing a finger trying to do those tomato gear shapes.
I'm over-run with courgettes - I may actually stoop to making them into baskets
Hello broken Biro! Is that your pen name?
Cougettes turn into cucumbers behind your back... They grow up so fast!
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