Christmas leftovers and the dangerous man pan!

Via Flickr

At this time of year we’re all looking for food ideas, especially the period after Christmas day. The time when all the excess provisions are screaming at you from the refrigerator, “for feck sake cook me or throw me out,” there really is a need for some inspiration…

Being something of a foodie (see here), I usually get stuff to cook (or cook with) at Christmas time and this year was no different. I missed out on the usual cook books (thankfully), I already have a comprehensive collection of titles from noteworthy chefs such as Jamie Oliver, James Martin, Rick Stein, Gordon Ramsay and The Hairy Bikers. That’s before I even consider all the Indian, Italian, Spanish, Turkish, Far Eastern and even American cookery tomes that make up my culinary library. A veritable cosmopolitan collection of world cooking information and guidance, if I say it myself.

As dinner on Christmas Day was courtesy of friends this year, there were actually very few leftovers, excepting the vegetables that is. A large box of organic veg from http://www.riverford.co.uk/ had also found its way into the collection of gifts and, short of turning vegetarian until well into 2011 some thought was required to utilise it all. Time to turn into a Soup Kitchen proprietor me thinks…

• Leek & Potato soup (an old standard favourite)
• Carrot & Leek soup garnished with crispy Chorizo & Parmesan shavings
• Broccoli & Stilton soup garnished with herb croutons
• Curried Parsnip soup garnished with miniature onion bhaji
• Celeriac & Pancetta soup drizzled with basil pesto and a garnish of toasted pine nuts
• Cream of Country Vegetable soup garnished with caramelized onions

Finally (thanks to soups), the vegetables came to an  end and, as most recipes these days aren’t totally original, I expect similar ones will be really available via google. Failing that you could always try Recipes for ’500 Soups’.

MAN with PAN

Another unusual but interesting and useful gift was the Man with Pan Recipe cards, humourous but also practical… 50 idiot-proof recipe cards for men with great intentions but a knack for burning the trifle; boiling the gazpacho or over-egging their puddings!

Purchase Recipe Cards

Related Articles

• Italian Seafood Soup (notecook.com)
• Spiced prawn soup (independent.co.uk)
• Light bites after the culinary feast of Christmas Day (telegraph.co.uk)
• Recipe: Curried Apple Celery Soup (courtneyoutloud.wordpress.com)

Gettysburg Address to get UK postcode?

Image via Wikipedia

This week the BBC reported: “A plan to allow popular online petitions to be debated in Parliament within a year has been given the go ahead by the government” (read more).

On reading the article I had to wonder; is this a move towards our politicians actually listening to the electorate for a change? A British version of American style political dream or, is it just another political gimmick? One that is designed to placate the untrusting and disinterested voting public and curry popularity?

Are we suddenly searching for the ideology of the Gettysburg Address whereby we have ‘government of the people, for the people and by the people’ ? I expect many UK residents have absolutely no bloody idea where Gettysburg is, never mind the sociopolitical significance it holds to the American population. In recent times our commercial, social and to a certain extent political evolution, has appeared to mirror that of the good ol’ USA, so I suppose it’s a possibility?

The idea is that; petitions receiving the most support – probably 100,000 signatures – would be debated, with some possibly becoming bills. However, despite the government ‘go-ahead’, my suspicion is that it is a gimmick. The petition process has been and could be a useful tool for the future however, when you hear some of the critical comments or the statistics behind the news, the process appears unlikely to achieve any of the desired results.

Apparently, the Labour party are worried ”crazy ideas” would eat up valuable time in parliament. That’s rich coming from a party that put all sorts of crap on the table during their tenure and, the petition process was originally introduced by them in the first place! One of their MPs admitted it was possibly an “attractive idea to those who haven’t seen how useless this has been in other parts of the world when it’s tried”…

“The blogosphere is not an area that is open to sensible debate; it is dominated by the obsessed and the fanatical and we will get crazy ideas coming forward.” (Paul Flynn MP)

How bloody pompous from a man who is supposedly a representative of the people, but one who also utilises the ‘power’ of blogosphere himself, to further his own personal beliefs and ideology. More evidence to support the fact; very few MPs are actually interested in what the electorate have to say about anything. At least not once they’ve been enthroned into their ivory tower at Westminster.

There are obviously opposing views about the ‘value’ of the online petition thing and I suppose that is to be expected. Especially when you consider the limited tangible output from the original process. That said, isn’t any conduit for an effective information flow between the electorate and our representatives a worthwhile process?

The original process apparently threw up suggestions such as ’Jeremy Clarkeson for Primeminister’. A factor that evidences the somewhat frivolous nature of our electorate however, given some of the previous incumbents of the post, perhaps it wasn’t such a stupid idea after all?

Can imagination equal reality?

Thinking?

Turning imagination into reality often takes an inordinate amount of time. Remember the… “I have a dream” speech which in many respects, still awaits substance. History is littered with ‘dreamers’ who never actually lived long enough to witness the substance of their vision!

So, can the ideas and concepts we desire or create in our imagination actually become reality? I suppose it often depends upon how realistic the notion is in the first place. One thing is for sure; it’s better to actually have an idea than, no bloody idea at all and, many people in our society (and leadership) fall squarely into that category.

The possibility of any real substance coming to fruition from a desire or dream often involves so many variables. Planning, materials, construction, finances and intelligence are all components of any resulting reality equation and, the greatest non constant of these is people. There are so many variables in the human race that, if/when the idea is totally reliant upon people, any imagined concept is probably almost certainly destined to failure. Crashed and burned as soon as it emerges from the drawing board of your mind.

The problem that we face is this; we rarely have the ability to physically control the actions or thought processes of others. In the main that’s probably a good thing, I for one wouldn’t want to live in a world full of clones, would you? Far better that our society be made up of individuals with a range of different ideas, or in modern (politically correct) parlance, the very fabric and structure of society grows when, we fully embrace and value our diversity!

But where do Good Ideas Come From?

The age-old adage “where there is a will there is a way” often rings true thankfully however, that ‘will’ also relies entirely on the people variable again. Another part of the equation that is impacted upon by the constant of a generally apathetic society. Until our leaders, politicians, managers and ‘ordinary’ people develop a greater level of social understanding and community interest, as opposed to self-interest, the sea change we require in our politics, government and society as a whole is also destined to failure.

Imagination rarely equals reality but it does shape it, unfortunately not often enough!