tekobo

Chocolate from these folk is truly delicious:https://pumpstreetchocolate.com I found them because of their sourdough and sea salt chocolate but have also enjoyed the rye crumb (tastes like a posh Crunchie) and The Husband loves the Eccles (a posh dairy milk with raisins in). I am not a fan of chocolate bars but I love these. One for the stocking perhaps?

Errr, and your point is? Worcestershire sauce is essential for devilled lambs kidneys (only Fergus Henderson's recipe will do) and Chinese black vinegar is essential for dumplings.

So. This might be a lousy idea but I am putting it out there for your thoughts. My KKs may be "devanned" on Tuesday next week and may be delivered to me on Thursday. I have a camera on a tripod and I could rig it up to share the unboxing with you, my KK friends. Time zones could be a problem as could getting the internet connection to work reliably outdoors but I thought maybe a zoom meeting that you could dial in to to see the new arrivals could be nice for those of you waiting for a KK and others who just want to be nosy. I don't want to post a public link on the forum but do direct message me if you are interested and I will update you when I know more about timing and feasibility.

I used to buy different guides unitl I worked out which I most liked the recommendations from. Pre-tripadvisor I used to rely on the Time Out guides. I don't know if they still produce paper copies but my Time Out Sydney guide from 1997 remains one of my prize possessions. It guided me for food, shops and a place to live when I spent a year working in Sydney. We mostly rely on local knowledge and tripadvisor now. The latter is good because you can also get a sense of the reviewer as well as the review. We have gone to some places on the basis that a reviewer we didn't like picked out a feature that they hated and we knew we would love. As for sofas, be careful @RokDok. All the second hand Mah Jong sofas we have seen on eBay look awful. Someone was left unsupervised to pick what they wanted at will and their lack of taste shines through. The set you picked out above looks like fun. We went for the kenzo takada range to tone things down for our setting.

As a wife, this made me laugh. The Husband and I have long wanted a sofa from the Roche Bobois Mah Jong range. The key feature of this range is that you mix and match different patterns. It is the definition of the absence of decision making. We got their app, picked out a load of fabrics and made up a sofa. When we looked at it in the cold light of day we realised how awful it would look and toned it all down to a range of finishes that we thought we could live with long term. So we made a decision. Sort of. We like the result.

Thanks Sovs. It's great to hear that you are in love with your KK. That is no excuse for not posting though. In fact, it should be the opposite. New peeps with new insights into KK magic are what keep us all going. Pics, pics and more pix please!

Yes! Dan is super reliable. He will likely be on crutches but he has promised help from Trusty Rusty and his brother. Tee hee. Yes, my ship has indeed come in. For others with deliveries to Southampton, I found this site to gave the most reliable information as the ship homed in on the port: http://www.southamptonvts.co.uk/Live_Information/Shipping_Movements_and_Cruise_Ship_Schedule/

I have had such a fun day. Well, I lie. Most of the day was spent negotiating a contract but that was bookended by fun experiences. It was nice to be by the sea first thing this morning. No ship sighting but I did get to see the fenced off part of Southsea Common, made so to protect migrating Brent Geese. How they know to stop off and rest in the fenced area I don't know but I spotted a few geese nestled into the grass on my way past. We had just finished dinner with wine this evening when I saw that my ship was on the move. I hopped on my bike and rode up to the sea front. What a contrast with this morning. Aside from the lights on ships and the harbour lights, the whole area was pitch black. The Husband coached me about what to look out for - white lights at either end of the vessel and a steady green light in the middle. Nothing to see here. I think the ship had gone past by the time I got there. Looking online I see it is making its way into Southampton dock now. What an adventure! I had hoped to be able to share photographs with you but I can only share my excitement at a)getting out of the house to see sights that I often miss and b) getting an understanding of what it takes to get our stuff delivered. I was fed up with waiting for my ship to dock. Imagine what it is like to work on a container ship, hanging around for days going nowhere and then finally being admitted to port. Will wait to hear about the path through customs and onto a truck and over to me. What fun, fun, fun. Yes, @alimac23 it is a great feeling. Dan the Man who helped to offload my first two KKs bust his Achilles heel about two months ago. He will be back with his crew to help get these three unloaded. He says he wouldn't miss it for the world. Neither would I.

Sooo. I was up super early and watched and waited for the ship to move on my online picture. At about 0715 I headed out because I thought the ship would have to get underway soon to make its 0800 berth at Southampton. I watched a beautiful sun rise out of medium thick fog but my ship didn't come by. In fact, 6 hours later it is still out at sea, where it has been for the last few days with its ETA still showing at 0800 this morning. Looking at the Southampton Docks list of arrivals, that record shows the MOL Treasure coming in at 2245 today. I won't be hanging around the sea front that late but I am hopeful that this means my KKs will make it to dry land today and over to me next week. Fingers crossed!

Great news re your KKs. I did not realise you were actually in the middle of moving house. Good luck and I hope everything goes smoothly.

Super exciting. If all goes to plan, my ship will come in tomorrow. It has spent the last few days pootling around in the sea, waiting for a berth at port. This is the plot for the last 24 hours: Here is its path into port at Southampton: And if I get up early enough to catch it at the right point in its journey, the point on the map named "Southsea" is about ten minutes's walk from my house and I can watch to see my ship go by. Exciting.

Hey there @Paul. Still super keen to see more of your house. I hope you managed to build in some things that you've always wanted and that you are enjoying the ease of being back in a place of your own.

Thanks for all the information and great advice @Troble. My thinking is that if we cross the border to Mexico we might travel around a bit more and then fly back home from Mexico rather than attempt a return border crossing. I worry about places closing down too. The good news for us in the UK is that restaurants and bars have received some support through these bad times. The most cheering thing for me is the woman who has taken over a shop across the road from my house. She worked really hard to set things up during our second lockdown and opened up her new pastry shop just last week. There were queues of customers from the first day of opening and disappointed people walking by on Sunday when they found out she had taken the day off. A ballsy move to open up in these times. I hope she succeeds. @RokDok, we love botanical gardens and seek them out in every city that we visit. Looking forward to travelling again. We had thought of doing a "travel light" version of Vietnam and Cambodia and may yet manage it. Not enough time in each year and we are currently still wedded to building up our friendships in and enjoyment of Padova in Italy.

Tee hee. Poor @Troble. The English (and a British Nigerian) are coming! Hey RokDok. It feels like some elements of our lives intersect. I have not been backpacking but The Husband spent a couple of years working in South America and I got to visit Chile, Brazil and Argentina as a result. Actually, that is a bit of a stretch, those countries are not much like Ecuador and Mexico. I guess the first challenge is getting out of this tier system and making a connection in Ye Olde England. Using @Braai-Q's nomenclature, we are still in a pints-with-chips tier. Hopeful that we can soon move into the pints without food tier so that friends visit indoors. Baby steps, and a vaccine, will get us across the Atlantic ocean eventually.

That sounds great Troble, i will call on you for that. It is lovely to have something to dream about. When I was a kid we lived in Palo Alto. We have stayed in touch over the years and have a few family friends to visit in the Bay area. We might manage to stop in Carmel on the way down and one of my husband's ex-Royal Navy friends is based in San Diego so we will definitely make it to your town. Valle de Guadalupe sounds like a great place to end our journey. Just waiting for The Husband to wake up so that I can persuade him that this is a great idea.

What an inspiration. I can feel a Californian road trip coming on when all of this COVID stuff is over.

Ha. New sofa arrived from Italy on Thursday so that has kept us occupied and distracted me from waiting for KK angst. The ship has been hanging around at sea, not far from the port for days and was predicted to dock at 9am tomorrow morning. This morning the ETA at dock suddenly changed to 8 December. Oh well, the KKs almost certainly won't make it through customs and to me this coming week. Fingers crossed for the week after. COVID, Christmas and Customs. What could go wrong???

Thanks @Troble. I genuinely haven't thought much about my first cook. Having had KKs before, it doesn't feel like a "first" cook either. I think bread followed by pizzas on the 32 is going to be the first big test of whether I made the right choice in moving up a size. Being able to get three loaves on at once with steam will be great and I can a) crank it up a little for the pizzas and b) use that cook as a test of Dennis' factory burn in. All good.

Wow, that looks very tasty!

I took a look at the links that you sent, @tony b and @Sir Bill and my heart was still with the Lodge. That was until I looked around on the Netherton Foundry site where Sir Bill found the grid. Wow. What a lot of fun outdoor cooking stuff! The good news for my wallet is that it made me realise that I pretty much have most things that I need. That said, I can see me commissioning a nice paella pan in the new year when they get past their Christmas rush. Cool.

I love Lodge products and they are usually way over priced in the UK so I wait and buy them when I visit the US. That said, I have found this grill topper on the amazon.co.uk site and it looks well priced. It is on my waiting to be added to cart list. Allows me to pretend that I am exercising restraint!

Liking the Raymond Blanc book. So far I have found his description of this Frenchman's Damascene conversion to steak, kidney and oyster pudding intriguing enough to want to try that soon. @Basher, I love cast iron and like the look of the grill pan with holes in. Can't find one in the UK so will wait for when I make it back to the US or even, maybe, back over to Australia.

Hilarious!

Now @Jon B. did you have this on order already or was it @ckreef's bad influence that has you lying to your family???

There is an ice cream recipe for apricot noyau which involves breaking out the kernel of the apricot, grinding it and infusing milk with the ground kernel. Not dead yet but I am sure that is because only small amounts are used in the ice cream and it is not my main diet!