… if bad humour offends you. A link on Londonist led me to Sikipedia. Nuff said.

Baking bread is totally incompatible with diets. This poor loaf only saw the light of day half an hour ago, and look at it now. And yes, the other crust is no longer there either.
Out of interest, am I the only one who thinks that flour these days is geared to breadmakers? Very strong, but not that great range of flavours. I picked up a bag from Anglesey Abbey, and it was lovely. Aside from that, from preference I use Waitrose basic strong flour. Any other suggestions?

My new camera has 6 pages of warnings in the front of its Advanced Operation Manual. I’d love to think that this was being done for fun, this is an extract from the start:

Before using the camera blah blah safety precautions.

• Do not look directly into the sun through the camera’s viewfinder. Doing so can damage your eyesight

Ok……. let’s see what we get next

• Store this equipment out of reach of children and infants. Accidental damage by a child could result in serious injury.
• Wrist strap: Placement of the strap around the child’s neck could result in asphyxiation

Right on! Gosh this is useful….

• Memory card: It may be swallowed accidently. If this occurs, contact a doctor immediately.

By this time, I’m thinking of those adverts in the Sunday papers…”Improve your memory”…..but the crowning glory:

• Stop operating the equipment immediately if it emits smoke or noxious fumes.

“Sweetheart… you know that camera you’re holding……it’s burst into flames”. “Oh, has it? Never mind, I’ll just take another picture of you and your darling mother in front of the castle… say cheese.”
Oh my my,

Google has all sorts ofthings tucked away. I’m glad this page exists, even if it is no use whatever…..

I’ve finally got to grips with my photo collection, which currently stands at around 10,000 images. Of course, I could always delete a lot, but that the number of times I’ve come back with fresh eyes to a photo that I had discarded suggests that might be counter productive.

There are any number of applications that want to manage my “on line” stuff, every camera maker ships you one, and they are all reasonable, but for me Picasa, free from the world domination freaks nice guys at Google at (www.picasa.com) is all I need. (I’m using 2.5 Beta, can send a link if required) It integrates a wealthof basic image management good enough for all but where you need Photoshop and has a few features that set it apart, and makes me recommend it:

• All edits are held apart from the image - you always have the original to revert
• Interface is fast and intuitive, very flexible
• Understands RAW files
• Understands a lot of things like eMail, blogging, printing

But this post isn’t about Picasa, because that is still an online management system and as your collectionbuilds it becomes as unmanageable as anything else. It doesn’t matter how large your storage is, sooner or later it gets overwhelmed.

Enter stage left Thumbs Plus Pro. Not free software (evaluation available) but it does one thing I haven’t found elsewhere: It keeps thumbnails of your offline CDs. It also has a built in webpage wizard that allows you to make up thumbnailed HTML pages. So here is how I do it now:

Let us assume the pictures I want to offline are in a directory C:\LotsOfPics\PiggyPics. I first create a temporary directory called C:\Empty. I use the web page wizard to create HTML pages, and putthe thumbnails in C:\Empty and the images in C:\Empty\Images, setting the option to no resize (image is then copied). This order is important. I then delete the images in PiggyPics, and move the contents of Empty into PiggyPics. This directory is then ready to offline. I then burn to CD and delete from disk. I give all my CDs a consecutive number, preceded by a letter. For example L0001 (for London pictures) would be followed by P0002 (for our piggy pictures). My CD now has several directories, such as PiggyPics. In ThumbsPlus, I then scan the directories and if necessary re-name the CD with an Alias - the CD number.

Job done. I now have a list of CDs (sorted by type) that I can quickly scan. When I find the one I want, it is in a single place.

However, there are those that object to the “not free” part of ThumbsPlus. For you I would offer the best (=most configurable) free HTML thumbnail software. YoPoW is very good, DMIN does some very powerful HTML coding and Easy Thumbnails is probably the most powerful thumbnailer (only), all free.

Do you do anything better? do let me know.

Listening to the latest outpouring of our legislature, which seems to be stuck in a terminal tailspin, I realised two things. The first was that it is only a matter of time before door knockers are banned becaue of the danger to unprotected digits. The second is that this law was MADE for Beachcomber’s twelve red bearded dwarves.

What,you haven’t heard of Beachcomber? Links to elucidate, and a treat - BBC listen again. Really worth litening to!!!

I have long thought that Tarragon is one of the most undervalued herbs in the UK. Commonly used in France, we just ignore it, or relegate it to poncy restaurant menus.

Bring it out! I say. Here are a couple of deceptively easy ways to use it, in each case you get results far and away disproportionate to the effort you have to put in.

1 - Fish - Salmon. Take a cutlet of salmon, place it on top of a slice of onion and a bay leaf pn a square of tinfoil. A dollop of creme fraiche and a good bit of tarragon, grind of pepper. Wrap up into a pyramid shape sealing the edges and bake in a hot oven for about 15 minutes. Serve the parcels on plates to be undone at the table.

2 - Meat - Chicken. Take a chicken breast per person, and cut into thin slices. Fry in a hot pan in a little butter with some chopped shallots, turning when needed, they should brown very slightly. When cooked (5 minutes), lob in a good dollop of creme fraiche and deglaze. If you want a bit more gravy - white wine to taste. Just before serving, lob in a good amount (tablespoon for two?) of well chopped tarragon and stir. Arrange the slices on a warmed plate and pour over the gravy. Serve with tagliatelli or rice.

So so easy, so so good. Enjoy.

Or in this pig’s case, camera, which is much more fun. It’s the Canon A640 high end 10Mp “point and shoot” with a swing out screen that makes it particularly suitable for macro photography, like for these rudbekia. Who knows, I might get into macro yet.

Only in America, only ….. would you find this. Read the testimonials.

Hello again! What it was, was a snout rebore. A while back I was talking about sleep apnoea, well it turns out that the main problem was I couldn’t breath through the old snout. Fixed.

This pig has a visit to the vet who may well be brandishing a knife (gulp). Back in a day or so.

It is not that long ago that this blog was started, with the thought of putting food on the map; somehow comestibles have been sidelined. I am about to put that right - possibly at too great length. In view of this, I was pleased to be tagged by Breadchick (hosted here), to list the five things everyone should eat before they die.

I will have to avoid the temptation to say “A slice of toast, prepared by my daughter followed with a slice of my 100^th Birthday Cake and washed down with a glass of good malt poured by my wife” because this gives me the opportunity to philosophise about food. This is something fairly close to this pig’s purpose in life.

It is also something I have had occasion to consider in the past, let me explain.

I collect food books and about twenty years ago I picked up a remaindered volume called “Last Suppers” in which 25 chefs and food writers described what they would choose for their last meal.

Central to all the meals in the book was the way that food and wine was combined; that holds true for me as well. There will always be new tastes to experience. As ingredients all foods rank fairly closely. It is when you start cooking and combining that the excitement rises and you achieve an experience. Imagine and hold in your mind images of cream, butter, sugar and cocoa powder, each is edible. Now think truffle. It is the same with a food and a meal. Even the most simple eating experience involves combinations of foods, creating the ultimate meal is almost an art form.

Unfortunately, a few years later, a close friend of my own age was dying, and having had this thought planted, I chose to make a meal for him in a similar vein. The menu I created then is here, and would certainly serve the purpose of this meme. Any of the courses, with their wines, would rank as food experiences that you must try before you die. I think it ranks as my attempt at the perfect meal. I’ll expand on each course:

Wild mushrooms, prepared simply in butter and garlic served with a ultra-reduced mushroom sauce (basically, concentrated consommé) with a pate feuillite cover. Served with a Samur, methode champagnoise, which has earthy overtones that complement the mushrooms.

A plate of seafood: Lobster, oysters, prawns, scallops prepared very simply and served with lemon and an ultra reduced fish stock. Wine is an Alsasce Gewürztraminer , which is far more aromatic than a lot of dry wines served with fish and stands up well against the strong flavours.

Flash fried fresh foie gras, served on home made toasted brioche with a grapefruit sauce, served with a 1er Cru Sauternes. I would have like to have gone for a Chateau Yqem, but I just couldnt afford it.

Partridge with pears. A robust dish, carrying through the overtones of sweetness. Served with a Cote Rotie.

A gateau made with a hazelnut biscuit pastry, and layered with pineapple and cream. Served with a Tokay for that extra flavour and sweetness hit above a sauternes.

That is five foods, but I suspect that I may strayed from the intention of the question. So here are the five dishes that you should eat and learn to appreciate before you die.

1. A truffle omelette. Made with the freshest of free range eggs combined with a little creamy milk with some finely chopped truffle and served with freshly baked wholemeal bread. I think I’d serve a gewürztraminer with it.
2. Bread and cheese. What better food is there? The bread should be a good sour dough, or maybe a fluffy, crusty white. The cheese? Oh, the cheese. An old mimolette? A hot Vacherin Mont d’or maybe a good cheddar or stilton. A good red wine.
3. Pasta and garlic. A plate of good pasta, cooked al dente, with top quality olive oil and parmesan, then with four cloves of fresh garlic chopped in. A strong red wine. You may have to die after this, because you will have no friends for a while.
4. Foie Gras on toast. Maybe as above, whatever way served with a sauternes.
5. Andouillette in a white wine sauce. Another acquired taste, but well worth the trouble. Wine would depend on mood, but a white Vouvray strikes me as eminently suitable. Did I mention they are an acquired taste…?

The Mass Lone Demonstration set out to highlight the stupidity of the SOCPA legislation and the serious threat it poses to our right to free speech and expression. This creeping erosion of civil liberties in the name of combatting crime and terrorism is going too far. I wish it was just the thin end of the wedge, but I fear we have got to a fairly thick bit already.

You may remember that this is the legislation that wsa intended to dispose of the nuisance of the peace protestor Brian Haw, something it has singularly failed to do. Now I may not agree with everything he says but I would defend to the end his right to do it. So scores of people turned up at a police station last week and handed in their completed forms notifying of their intention to demostrate today, I found out through Rachel’s Blog, too late to demonstrate myself, so I took photographs.

Now this is not normally a political blog, but I really think this matters - more than ID cards which is saying something. Ignor this at your peril. We may not change anything, but staying quiet is not an option.

Six O’clock was when it started - before the nominated time anyone waving their banner could have been arrested. People took an ideosynchratic approach to their demonstration, from the silly through creative to serious. My photographs are here.