h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Sheer unadulterated H*ll is one of life's more accessible pleasures.

[Amy P]

Deb

I agree Paul, but these days I can only afford the adulterated version.

Reddit

Day 19

Usually when we make stuffed peppers in this family we use mince and rice to stuff the peppers, pack a saucepan with grated carrot, add water and boil it. Sour cream to serve. The kids hate it (peppers), but the Russians are happy, it being their recipe.

The other week I tried a lentil and rice mix, and a carrot and tomato 'sauce'. I liked it. The kids cried. My husband sufffered his way through one portion.

Today I mixed the mince with lentils instead of rice. Personally I think it needs tomatoes too, and I liked the fully veggie version better, but it was perfectly edible.

My son threw up half way through eating it.

There endeth the experimentation.

On the upside, the kharcho soup was lovely. I stripped out most of the additions this time, mainly because I didn't have them, so it was a beef stock, with tomatoes and prunes/ apricots ad lemon juice, with a couple of spoons of the hot paprika and the weird Georgian spice mix, and rice. I'd have put the walnuts in if B hadn't eaten them all and the coriander if I had it, but I think I might just stick to this. With a touch less lemon. I did add extra fenugeek, but I am not sure it's necessary. Same for the carrot.

[Amy P]

Does your son do restaurant reviews? His comment on the lentils was eloquent.

Deb

It is rare that some one else samples my cooking, so far no one has thrown up.

I once had guests arriving for the night, I said I would cook spaghetti bolognese, everything fresh, no tins, or packets, rather proud of it actually, and one friend said she couldn't do garlic or tomatoes.

That's a problem obviously. Nothing daunted I prepared the sauce WITHOUT garlic and tomatoes, but did an extra of, you guessed it, tomatoes and garlic.

So two of us mixed in the tomato and garlic with the bolognese sauce. It isn't the same but it is near enough. The third person, having finished the bolognese sauce decided to 'try' the tomato and garlic and finished that too.

Striking another blow for garlic!

I am firmly convinced that there is no such thing as too much garlic.

Day 20

I am being observed next week by my line manager. I quite like my line manager, and, to my utter surprise, the paperwork requirements for observations have been drastically reduced, if not practically done away with this year.

This never happens in state school teaching.

And, in fact, you could argue that it hasn't, because the paperwork requirements for the course as a whole have gone up. So that's alright then.

Anyway. I am contemplating a lesson on adjectives to describe food, including a tasting session on great British classics such as marmite, pork pies and cornish pasties, none of which half my students have ever heard of, apparently.

So, what I need are a) adjectives and b) great British foodstuffs I can take along to amuse the heck out of the foreigners with.

Go.

Tangy, soggy, crunchy, sour, sweet, spicy, creamy, filling, crisp. But hopefully not all in the same mouthful.
All the -y words.

Are your students mostly Russian? I don't know a lot about Russian food, but geography suggests Britain would use a lot more seafood. So how about jellied eels and whelks, samphire, and whatever oddities you'd find in a good fishmonger's? And haggis, and different British cheeses. Scotch eggs?

The one adjective I can think of, not already mentioned it 'savory', I'm not totally sure of the definition, maybe tasty, but not sweet?

As for foods you might include Bangers and Mash, Fish and Chips and maybe Bubbles and Squeaks (not one of my favourites ). After I got home I realized that I had not tried Scones with Clotted Cream. On a side note I do like Haggis, ordered one for last New Years (although they limit the ingredients over here).

F S

"I am firmly convinced that there is no such thing as too much garlic." [Solnushka]

I have a fairly high tolerance for garlic, higher than most of my relatives, so I usually tone it down a bit.

I brought home-made lentil soup with sausages to my father tonight. He ate it fast and kept whatever was left in the pot for a future meal, so I take it that he liked it.

{So, what I need are a) adjectives and b) great British foodstuffs I can take along to amuse the heck out of the foreigners with.}

A40572227 - HP Sauce
A64619247 - Fray Bentos pies
A70365530 - Angel Delight
A72311681 - Smash
A83344089 - Fagg0ts
A87784302 - Bovril
A87796453 - Pan Yan Pickle (Now defunct, take Branston)
A87798866 - Cheese Footballs

[Amy P]

As Marmite is so divisive, perhaps a choice of heavenly and yucky?

Deb

Ha! Great ideas all. I am totally stealing them! I have used h2g2 entries before in class, actually. Once I have enough lessons, I shall upload them somewhere on site. I think these might be too much for the class - low level students. From all over the EU mostly.

And! It occurred to me that we could watch a bit of I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, and follow it with a bush tucker trial, the UK edition.

I love my job.

Day 21

Have just been watching the Woody Allen movie Scoop. Here is my review: What an odd film. Good lord, is that Lovejoy? I think I have a crush on Scarlett Johansson. I am unclear why they had Hugh Jackman playing Colin Firth. Was the actual Colin Firth unavailable? What an odd film.

I think Hugh Jackman could more easily play Colin Firth than the other way around . perhaps Jackman is a better visual complement to Scarlett Johanson than Firth would be. Woody Allen is pretty shrewd about casting. Even when his screenplay is not up to par, he can redeem himself with his casting choices. In "Blue jasmine," for instance, his dialogue would not have sounded credible coming from anyone other than Cate Blanchett [or, arguably, Stockard Channing, whom he has also sometimes cast]. Fortunately, Blanchett was available, and she took home an Oscar.

[Amy P]