Recipe Pork Spare Ribs

Yummy, and very sticky, rib recipe. These went down a treat initially, then when we repeated the recipe at my mums a couple of weeks later.

Highly recommended.

The recipe can be found here

Volunteer: Fire Training at Gatehouse

As a volunteer at the Gatehouse you need to have a yearly fire drill. Tonight we spend a few hours taking turns at being evacuated from different seats, and then evacutating people from different fire situations. Surprisingly interesting evening.

Recipe: Raspberry Jam

For the last few months I've been collecting jars in anticipation of making some strawberry jam however in a recent trip to the Coop I spotted raspberries discounted from £2 to 50p a box. In a flash the plan was changed to raspberry jam.

The recipe is so simple I wont even document it here beyond saying that you need equal quantities of fruit and sugar, melted in a pot with some lemon juice. Boil until it firms up then stick it in steril jars. Done.

From 800g of fruit and sugar I got three and a half jars of yummy jam. I'll leave to mature a week or two then get tucked in. Can't wait.

Event: Enter 50 Competitions

After 10 months of filling out 50 competitions, I can report that I I’ve so far won nothing! Well, actually that’s not quite true.

Amongst the many forms I filled out, I included 3 technology surveys. These were collating information about my company’s corporate technologies, and while I design computer systems, I have nothing to do with the operation of our corporate systems. Of course that didn’t stop me filling out lots of nonsense in order to get the sure-win £10 Amazon voucher. Of course, three surveys means £30. Already spend £20. Nice.

As for the rest, many of the competitions are easy to fill out and it often took more time to blog my entry rather than doing the entry itself. On a couple of occasions, I’ve had phone calls (one from a funeral insurance company!) following up on my entry. Both said I had opted in for more information but of course I was very careful never to do such a thing.

I think my competition days are now over. I can honestly say that I’ve got many better things to do with my life that wishful dreaming of winning that elusive holiday.

Competition: Trip to Morocoo

Win: 8 night tour of Morocco, including Casablanca and Marrakesh

Competition here

Film Review: Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Men Tell No Tales

More swashbuckling craziness from Jack Sparrow and the team. Almost every scene could have come from one of the previous film, but the action is so well executed that we have to give credit. Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Javier Bardem Dir: Joachim Rønning, Espen Sandberg Genre: Action

Film Review: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Long Haul

As expected, a kids movie which is full of cliches. Not necessarily a bad film and probably quite enjoyable (and worth a higher score) if you're 10 years old. Jason Drucker, Alicia Silverstone, Tom Everett Scott Dir: David Bowers "A Wimp will rise" Genre: Kids, Comedy

Event: Try Paddle Boarding

It was a warm Saturday morning, and we had just dropped Heather off for her Duke Of Edinburgh Silver practice expedition, and didn’t want to waste the day. Luckily Tittesworth Water was just around the corner and it offered a variety of watersports. Scanning the list I spotted paddleboating, and as I had never tried before, this was the obvious opportunity.

Adam and myself grabbed a board and headed for the water. Although the weather was fine, on the water the breeze was quite powerful and we had to fight hard to move upwind. Poor Adam spend the first 20 minutes stuck at the edge, and couldn’t quite get his technique well enough to push against the wind. Eventually he got the hang if it, and we crossed to the other side where the water was far more protected from the gusts.

Ultimately I found paddleboating okay, but the weather needs to be on your side. Similar watersports, canoeing and surfboarding, are far less affected by the wind. If you try it, pick your days.

Volunteer: Joel Dommett

As I dont watch I'm A Celebrity, the noise around Joel had passed me by. It was thus a wonderfully surprised to see the quality of his show. He welcomes going on tangents but he never felt lost.

Competiton: £10 for filling out a Survey

Survey to obtain: £10 Amazon voucher

Survey here

Volunteer: Rich Halls

Rich Halls was on form tonight. His relaxed style and improv were sometimes a little broken however its was always funny. Quite a lot of swearing but it never seemed offensive coming from him.

Film Review: Whisky Galore

Weak remake where the characters are more pathetic sterotypes rather than loveable rogues. Eddie Izzard is simply awful. Stick with the original. Gregor Fisher, Eddie Izzard, Naomi Battrick Dir: Gillies MacKinnon Genre: Comedy

Film Review: The Levelling

Somewhat bleak story of Clover coming to terms with her brother's death while coping with failure of the family's farm. Story tries to bury Clover under every possible problem including death, suicide, bad father, lost mother, debt, foot and mouth, illegal farm techniques, and shooting a new born calf. All set on a miserable farm where all hope is lost at the farm gate. Ellie Kendrick, David Troughton, Jack Holden Dir: Hope Dickson Leach Genre: Drama

Album Review: Paramore/After Laughter

3 Years ago I was bullied into taking my teenage daughter, Heather, to Leeds Festival, and as I was a little out of touch with the headliners, she gave me a list of bands she wanted to watch. As a diligent dad, I listened to the 8 bands on the list and rated them as ‘good’, ‘ok’, ‘rubbish’ and ‘too rude don’t watch!’. Of course, even the last rating made no difference and I was coerced into watching them all. Paramore was one I had rated ‘good’ but after a turbulent few years, could Haley Williams pull the band back with a decent album. Let’s see.

Hard Times Rose-Colored Boy Told You So Forgiveness Fake Happy 26 Pool Grudges Caught In The Middle Idle Worship No Friend Tell Me How

Hard Times and Told You So are just simple youth pop while with Rose Colored Boy has more of it and in concert, expect to hear thousands of girls shouting the tagline “Low Key, no pressure, just hang with me and my weather”. Forgiveness is a much more measured track although still pop. Fake Happy reflects on how Haley felt after the collapse of the band in 2015. Grudges with its “why did we waste so much time?” and “why did it take so long?” reflects on the band reforming. Idle Worship has some emotional vocals rejecting their sometimes over jealousy fans. No Friend is somewhat experimental with distorted male vocals reading poetry hidden behind an instrumental. The album starts off midstream teenage pop but matures as it reflects on the bands past woos. It is a very personal album and it kind of feels like the bank are trying to explain to their fans what has gone on behind the scenes. Some of the later tracks rescue the album from a ‘move along nothing interesting here’ to ‘worth the occasional listen’ especially if you start at track four. Unless of course you’re 13 years old then feel free to start at the beginning.

Recipe: Chocolate Profiteroles

My first attempt at choux pastry and I found it fairly easy with good results.

Based on other profiterole recipes, I addded a couple of tablespoons of brandy however it didn't mix well with the chocolate. Probably need lemon juice or something to help it mix.

Finally, I used a dark chocolate and although I liked it, the family would have preferred a milk variety. No pleasing everyone.

The recipe can be found here.

Film Review: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

Far from the normal King Arthur story, Guy Ritchie has given it his brand of style. If you liked what he did with his other work then I'm sure you'll enjoy this. Charlie Hunnam, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Jude Law Dir: Guy Ritchie "Raised on the streets. Born to be king." Genre: Action

Film Review: Snatched

Heavily contrived comedy which has a few giggles but isn't really worth your time. Amy Schumer, Goldie Hawn, Kim Caramele Dir: Jonathan Levine "This is the closest they've been in years." Genre: Adventure

Album Review: Harry Styles/Harry Styles

After years at One Direction, and their ultimate separation, has Harry Styles got the ability to deliver his own success? His first studio album has been well received in the UK with a debut at the top of the charts but is he living on past fan credit or is it genuinely good? Let’s find out.

Meet Me in the Hallway Sign of the Times Carolina Two Ghosts Sweet Creature Only Angel Kiwi Ever Since New York Woman From the Dining Table

Meet Me In The Hallway opens the album with a slightly haunting and reminiscent of the 60s flower power era. Sign Of The Times is slow paced against a heavy drum with pleasantly distorted backing vocals and Harry building to a crescendo at the end. Caroline sees another change in style to more Gorillaz-eque. Two Ghosts sees us slow again with a more rock Country ‘n Western feel. Sweet Creature's acoustic harmonies bounce along quite pleasantly even though the harsh “Sweet Creature” phrase gets a little repetitive. Only Angel and Kiwi sees another shift to loud rock where electric guitar and drums are king. Ever Since New York falls back to his ballad form. Closing the album we have From The Dining Table which is primarily Harry and an acoustic guitar singing in hush with just a single burst of volume. Harry has pulled together a range of tracks from a wide genre background. One moment we visualise Manchester, then cowboy Texas, then 60s California then rock concert. This hopping means the album feels more like a compilation rather than a unified musical vision. This is not necessarily a bad thing since every track works in its own right and ultimately results in a respectable pop album.

Volunteer: Reginald D Hunter

Reg has a very relaxed style and seems to often lose his way with his jokes. Or he was drunk.

Recipe: Yellow Rice

This rice is relatively easy and taster than normal boiled rice. Recommended.

The recipe can be found here.

Recipe: Bobotie

I misread the recipe when making this South African favorite, and added the egg mixture about 35 minutes too early. Separating eggs and mince is near impossible!!

To work around the problem I added the egg mixture twice i.e. 4 eggs. Even then I found the final dish had barely enough eggs. So don't worry about adding some extra eggs if you want a reasonable crust.

The recipe can be found here.

Volunteer: Relatively Speaking

Stafford Players presentation to full house. Moderately funny.

Album Review: Kasabian/For Crying Out Loud

I first became aware of Kasabian about 4 years ago when my brother asked for their latest album for Christmas. The problem was he told his wife, who told my wife, so by the time it was ordered from Amazon he ended up with the latest from Caspian! Kasabian have now released 6 studio albums, so again this was a band that was overdue a proper look at.

Ill Ray (The King) You're in Love with a Psycho Twentyfourseven Good Fight Wasted Comeback Kid The Party Never Ends Are You Looking for Action? All Through the Night Sixteen Blocks Bless This Acid House Put Your Life on It

The album opens with the thumping III Ray (The King) with it’s audience rousing chorus “King for A Day”, followed by, the first single and lyrically strong, You’re Love With A Psycho again with a powerful chorus. Twentyfourseven follows the same heavy drum and guitar lineage, with some big drops to stir up the beat. Wasted is again strong, Comeback Kid steps up the drums just when you thought Ian Matthews had already given it all. Are You Looking For Action? is more pop and moves smoothly between different sounds over its extended play. Calm is provided by All Through The Night with drums absent and replaced with acoustic guitar. Bless The Acid House sees the drum and anthems back. Kasabian have absolutely tuned this album to get the festival faithful bouncing. Everything about the beat, lyrics, chorus and drops will no doubt fire up the masses. Even the short length of each song (except the longer Are You Looking For Action?) ensures nobody gets tired before we move onto the next beat and anthem. I’m so pleased they have confirmed for Reading/Leeds Festival this August. Bring it on.

Film Review: Miss Sloane

More twists and turns than a worm on a hot plate. Some twists maybe a little improbable however the reveals are worth it. Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong, Gugu Mbatha-Raw Dir: John Madden "Make sure you surprise them" Genre: Drama

Film Review: Their Finest

Great mix of laughs, cries, joys and sadness, in this well crafted story presented by a talented team. Gemma Arterton, Sam Claflin, Bill Nighy Dir: Lone Scherfig "In the fight for freedom everyone played a part" Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Film Review: Love Off The Cuff

Japanese love story which, despite the sub-titles, had me frequently laughing-out-loud. Miriam Chin Wah Yeung, Shawn Yue, Ho-Cheung Pang Dir: Ho-Cheung Pang Genre: Romance

Film Review: Sleepless

Lots of corrupt cops in Las Vegas work for powerful drug criminals. Watchable but very much take-or-leave it. Scene with top-boss torturing brother-in-law made no sense in film's context Jamie Foxx, Michelle Monaghan, Dermot Mulroney Dir: Baran bo Odar "Don't judge a cop by his cover." Genre: Thriller

Film Review: Alien: Covenant

Lots of brutal violence but a bit disappointing since less scary, high tension horror than original alien and aliens. Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup Dir: Ridley Scott "The path to paradise begins in hell." Genre: Horror, Sci-fi

Recipe: Spiced Lamb Pilaf

This recipe is a good way to use up left-over lamb, however since we hadn't recently had lamb I bought half a shoulder and cooked that first.

Recipe was easy enough but the outcome was a bit boring. While it tasted strongly of lamb, almost gamy, the spices were far too weak for my liking.

Suggest that you also pre-wash the rice to reduce the starchiness.

The recipe can be found here.