Christmas lights switch on in Stafford

I was reminded by Dave in the office that last year that we some how turned the innocent festive event of the christmas lights switch on into an all day drinking session (I suspect because Pete needed a drink to recover from dealing with festive shoppers turning Starbucks into a creche due to the Santa parade)

Last years switch on lights was odd (they lights were switched on by people dressed as Bart & Homer Simpson and the inevitable fireworks were set to Jeff Wayne's War Of The Worlds)

This year just as odd, Stafford born PC David Rathband who lost his eyesight in the Raoul Moat shoot out in July, someone dressed as Shaun the Sheep, the Mayor and the Town Crier (and music leading up to this provided from the band from this years Panto playing 70's soul tracks - not very festive)

(Pete looking a bit cold and slightly unimpressed at the rendition of a Blues Brothers track)

Anyway, the lights switched on (or the bloke on the top of the guild hall connected the extension lead at the correct time) this years fireworks were very pretty - and a much more appropriate soundtrack of 90's pop and Katy Perry's Firework - probably the most played pop tune in November.

Then we proceeded to carry on drinking fine ales in Joxers - much more festive.

2 Years in a row makes it a tradition right?? See you all in the Back to the Future square next year ;)

The Fish Graveyard

I suppose I should update you on the fish - we've currently got 3 Isambard*, Nietzsche , Vince - they seem fine. The extreme cold did a few in and they probably need some proper TLC. Anyway - Pete and I were trying to recall other fish we'd had over the years so I started scanning the blog for fish related posts and I came across the fish graveyard from an old bit of my website that still floating around the tubes of the internet... So here it is - in memory of of the valiant pets of old. And for the ones that don't have little grave markers (or dates) Darnell Bertrand Pushkin Heisenburg I should possibly make a marker for the tomb of the unknown goldfish because I'm sure we've forgotten one... .. time for some more fish? Any ideas for names?? *We were slightly uncertain for a while if it was Heisenburg or Isambard that had survived

Tofu Recipe Round Up

More for my own benefit then anything else I'm going to round up my favourite go-to weeknight tofu recipes. This is different from my pinterest board which is full of things I haven't necessarily tried yet but look yummy. Vegan Tofu Taco Crumbles Vietnamese Fried Tofu w/ Tomato Sauce – Dau Sot Ca Chua (I airfry the tofu for this one) I also like to slather it in BBQ sauce and bake it for about 40 mins with peppers and onions before adding it to wraps with some salad. I've also found it's a great substitute for paneer in things - it's not quite there but it's close oh, and if I do need to press it, and I haven't got time (which is almost always) I used the microwave method from this chirpy little video

The Pretty, The Easy and the things on Sticks #2

I've spoken before about Pinterest, and how pretty everything is on there, but there's another side, a very definite, and I can only guess american trend - the easy fix. Easy cheats, how to make things without the effort, how to cheat, how to make restaurant specials at home, so you end up with a massive jug of frappachino mix or a dressing not too dissimilar from the amazing blue cheese dressing at Pizza Hut (this is our holy grail - we've gone to PH just to eat the Blue Cheese dressing) and it shows an interesting side of people, and if you look at the ingredients they use, and most of these tips and tricks would be impossible to remake outside of the states. Source: therebelchick.com via Rebecca E. on Pinterest This isn't a new thing - Top Secret Recipes was one of the first websites I remember checking back and linking too - even if I was looking at recipes I had no idea what the original tasted like, but it's impressive so much effort is given over to ma...

Worm's World

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