Futtocks

Bored waiting to cross the road? Play Traffic Light Pong!

Ladies and Gentlement, I give you the pinnacle of human achievement!

I've sometimes used crème fraiche, but I needed something more neutral in flavour.

Paragliders' photos over the Wyoming Red Desert - click on the picture for more images.

Seeing as the season for hearty food is upon us, I made a beef, chestnut and mushroom stew in the slow cooker, finished off by reducing the sauce and adding a spoonful of sour cream. Served with parmentier potatoes cooked in goose fat, and accompanied by a bottle or Sicilian Nero d'Avola. Life is good.

Your question... why use the word 'or'? You'd be doing such a spread a disservice without it, shirley?

Donald Fagen - Sunken Condos. Not listened to all of it, but it's sounding better than his previous album so far.

Ozric Tentacles - Arborescence Livingstone Tayloy - Liv Max Webster - Universal Juveniles Dusty Springfield - From Dusty with Love The Triffids - The Peel Sessions Tangerine Dream - Tyger Kraftwerk - The Man-Machine Peggy Lee & George Shearing - Beauty and the Beat!

Oxide & Neutrino's Wikipedia page gets 'creatively' edited.

Just got a power supply upgrade for my DAC. It made quite a difference! Familiar music sounded more real, while unfamiliar details appeared in music I thought I knew pretty well. I foresee marathon listening sessions this weekend.

I used to have 'Wildflowers' but don't any more. It may have been mislaid during a move or I might have given/lent it to someone. What I would recommend (if you haven't got it already) is the DVD/CD set 'Runnin' down a Dream'. A 2-DVD documentary, directed by Peter Bogdanovich, a live concert DVD and a CD of miscellaneous tracks (mainly alternate takes). Superb stuff.

Good album, great band.

Bit of both - or maybe the availability creating the cultural tendency. I know when Waitrose have various gamebirds available in their meat section during the Winter, it sells well, so there's certainly some demand for non-standard meats. And the other day, I bought some ox cheeks off their butchers' counter. But in general, supermarkets are a bit tame when it comes to choice. If you're lucky enough to have a good local butcher, I envy you.

I'd cook goat more often if it was easier to find in the local shops.

Latest haul from the second-hand shop: Dr John - In the right Place ELO - Out of the Blue Grace Jones - Nightclubbing Paul Simon - Rhythm of the Saints Richie Havens - On Stage Only listened to the Grace Jones album so far. Amazing production, great playing, some good songs, some not so hot. 'Feel up' especially, belongs in the latter category.

The bhajis would flavour the oil more, I'd expect, so if you have a choice, do the doughnuts first.

Such variety. Look at the Food Network. They seem to have only two varieties of show. 1. People making cupcakes. 2. People going to diners and eating unreasonably large portions of junk food, while making fake gang signs with their fingers and overusing the word 'awesome'.

On a whim, I signed up to Real World records website, and one of the things they offered was a free download of the first 4 tracks of this album. I bought the whole thing pretty soon after! The pianist on this album, Samuel Yirga, got a solo deal from this collaboration, and he's pretty good too.

A real classic, now... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxpcZrQQM-4

Slow cookers are also good for spare ribs/back ribs. Start them off with a dry rub of spices and leave for an hour, then into the cooker for several hours. Finally, take 'em out, slather with barbecue sauce and finish in a regular oven (or on the BBQ) for about 20 minutes, just to get everything hot and sticky (ooh!). The meat just falls off the bones.

Something like Curry Goat would probably benefit from being cooked the day before, refrigerated and re-heated the next day. Got a slow cooker? Pretty cheap, as they are very simple things, but give superb results without needing regular attention. I did slow-roasted lamb with Moroccan spices on Sunday, and it was out of this world. You can, if you like, finish the meat on the barbecue to give it a bit of smoke. It was beef and black olives in Theakston's Old Peculier the previous time I used it, which was very intense and delicious.