While You Are Waiting...

My laziness knows no bounds. I haven't done  a Foodie Pen Pals parcel for a few months, hardly done any baking, but I have done a book of wordsearch puzzles, Pinterest, opened a Twitter account for my dog, and a trip to the vets.

So while I think of something amusing, yet witty, encompassing educational and social needs, here is a nice picture, while you wait. 

For those of you who are not familiar with this, this is the test card for the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, or if you are Terry Wogan, 'Aunty Beeb'. In the days before 24 hour television, this is what you saw when the programming had finished for the day. It also had a use for the person that fix your TV, to play with 'tuning it in', so you could watch wrestling and 'Pebble Mill at One' in some sort of colour. 

I was also jealous of the girl that got to pose for the picture.

Links

Test Card F

Terry Wogan

Pebble Mill at One

Foodie Pen Pals

The Second Month


I will break the bad news now.


 There will be no amusing photos of Westie or Miss Thomas this month, as they have better things to do, now that the weather has decided to feel summery. My Westie spends most of his time either asleep on his duvet, or chasing cats and birds out of our front and back gardens, now that the muddy puddles have gone. Miss Thomas has a Summer project; she is busy printing and laminating members of the WSPU (The Women's Social and Political Union); she then puts them in a box and shows them to her friends, as you would a sticker collection, or 'Top Trumps' cards.

If you are old enough to remember, the 1970's/1980's essential viewing for a Saturday night, 'The Generation Game', with our very own  Larry Grayson and Bruce Forsyth, you will know the high light of the show was the 'Conveyor Belt' game, where the contestants had remember what passed them on the, er, conveyor belt; if they remembered the item, they won it. Of course, they always got the cuddly toy.

Brucie in 1958, on a beach
Image: BBC

Larry and the Lovely Isla St. Clair

So first on the conveyor belt (remember, you are not going to win anything! I just want the prize for the Most Humourous Foodie Pen Pal Blog Post...) is a bar of Sainsbury's 'Taste the Difference' White Chocolate. Miss Thomas doesn't like white chocolate, so she can't steal it, so Mr Thomas and I will have it instead.

Hoping the mountain is made of white chocolate too...

The next item on the conveyor belt is a Union Flag tea towel, in bright colours. Rule Britannia, I say...

May she dry many dishes...

Concentrate very carefully, as we have a few items together coming up next...

Three is the magic number

Yes, three items, which are a tub of Fairtrade cocoa (oh, I see many giant chocolate muffins and chocolate cookies in the near future..), cranberries, though not the pop combo(which according to a quick search on the web, have just made a new album), but the fruit, and will be used for Polenta and Cranberry biscuits, from a book that claims that it is the "only biscuit book you will need!". Along with the other twenty biscuit cook books that I have...Finally, in this threesome, some Afternoon Tea, in a box with a picture of an old 'Routemaster' London bus. I would like very much to be on that bus, drinking Afternoon Tea, just like Cliff Richard, Melvyn Hayes and Una Stubbs.

Fill with cake

Coming up on the left is muffin and cupcake cases. Miss Thomas really, really wants the posh muffin cases, for holding sweets, crisps, any other small food, pens, and other rubbish she owns, but she cannot. Sounding really mean, I told her to buy her own, as she gets enough pocket money to do so. Cupcake cases in pretty colours, for the Domestic Goddess that I am.


All this (imaginary) conveyor belt of loveliness came from Amy at cookingcakesandchildren. Thank you very much for the lovely things that you sent!


If you want to join in the Foodie Pen Pal Fun, please go to Carol Ann at thisisrocksalt.com.

And Finally ...The Cuddly Toy!

Some Clips from 'The Generation Game' via 'YouTube'


Larry Grayson Easter 1981
Bruce Forsyth November 1972

   

Foodie Pen Pals

The Foodie Pen Pal Parcel minus the sweets

The First Month

I live on the outer orbit (way, way out, in the very unfashionable part)of the foodie world, generally keeping my culinary views to myself and Twitter, but I do make a point of reading Soup Tuesday's blog, run by Mr and Mrs Soup (he does the soup,white water rafting and savoury; she does the cake); this is where I first found out about the Foodie Pen Pals, run by Carol Anne of This is Rock Salt. Carol Anne runs the UK and Europe side, and has links to the United States side of things. 


After about two seconds thought on this, I found myself clicking and typing away, applying to join. Why not? What is not better than sending and receiving a parcel full of nice things? A cheque from the pools, but I don't do them anymore.

My first parcel came from Rachel, who writes Come Dine With Rach and thirty beckons. The mistake I made was not to be in when the parcel came, as I was collecting Miss Thomas from school, though I'm sure the post person waited in their van until I turned the corner. I then had to wait forty eight whole hours before I sent Mr Thomas to collect it, as I didn't want to get wet again. 



As you can see from the photos, everyone got excited about a parcel containing food - 

My Westie had his hooter in first

Jamie Oliver would be horrified:
Miss Thomas and her share 

Here's what I received:

Minibags of Haribo 'Starmix'. Unbeknown to Mr Thomas and myself, Miss Thomas had all of them. Found the empty packets in her room. Just don't tell Jamie Oliver...

A pack of yellow cupcake cases, in which the Spiced Ginger Cake recipe that Rachel sent would look good in these.

A packet of Yorkshire Pea, Apple and Mint soup. I have promised Mr Thomas this, as he is the soup person in the house.

A jar of Yorkshire Mixed Fruit Pickle. This is mine, for my cheese sandwiches.

A measuring jug with measuring spoons in. Like diamonds, a girl can never have too many kitchen knick- knacks. 

'Come Dine With Me' Place Card and Guest Badge Set. I have worn the 'Deluded Chef' badge; Mr Thomas the 'Tactical Voter' one, and Miss Thomas needs to wear (but refuses) the 'Food Snob' badge. If my Westie could wear one, it would be 'Meat and Veg Man'.

Recipes for Spiced Ginger Cake, Smoked Haddock and Leek Risotto and Budget Salmon Fishcakes.

Thank you very much Rachel for the lovely things that you sent me; I really appreciate the thought that went into the parcel!