October - A Month in Review

13 Recommendations 

The Return has arrived, but I've managed to avoid it so far. We are watching The Blacklist, is anyone else? It's excellent

13 Recipes:

I'm getting back into the swing of things, so this will come next month.

13 Meals Out:

Another for the list. Not a great experience though!

13 Random Acts of kindness:

Another good month, but I'm fast running out of ideas.

13 Letters:

I've a cunning plan. They are going out in Christmas cards! Clever eh?

13 Blogs per month:

10 months done.

13 Family days out:

2 done, 2 future ones booked and a possible for this weekend.

13 New Foods:

It's too soon to talk about it.

£13 for Charity per month:

12 donations done, so one more in the next 2 months and this will be sorted

13/30 Autographs:

Challenge Completed!

13 (minimum) Postcrossing:

Challenge Completed! 

13 (minimum) Geocaches:

Fuck

13 @Replies or Retweets from famous people:

Challenge completed!

Trying something for the first time - Chocolate Bacon Soda

I like chocolate.

I enjoy bacon.

I love fizzy drinks.

Bringing all these things together should be the perfect drink, right?

Turns out, in actual fact, something being fizzy and tasting of chocolate is possibly the worst thing in human creation. Even Ethan wouldn't drink it, and his favourite drink is Apple and Mint! 0/10

Trying things for the first time - Strawberry Fanta from Thailand

I have had this for a while but I've been putting it off, largely because I was expecting it to be disgustingly sickly. Surprisingly, it wasn't that sweet at all.

It was very red, like Tizer used to be in the 80's before they took out all those tasty chemicals. And is smelt like medicine that had a fake strawberry flavour added to stop kids spitting it out in doctors faces.

But to taste, it wasn't bad. It tasted of strawberry flavour rather than strawberries but that is hardly a surprise. I finish the whole glass and while I probably wouldn't have it again, it wasn't unpleasant.  6/10

Tomorrow I'll be drinking Bacon Soda. I can only hope that goes half as well...

Family Trip Out - Tranmere Rovers vs Bristol City

We never made it to Tranmere vs Swindon earlier this year due to the snow, so Ethan and I will be going to this bottom of the table clash between Bristol and the Super White Army.

Also joining us with Katie (watching her first ever match), birthday boy Harry, Sarah and Michael. Should be a decent match.

Family Trip Out - Beauty and The Beast

Despite last years less than impressive 'Knights of the Round Table' pantomime, we have decided to once again give the Port Sunlight Players a chance with this years effort. It's not very festive, but at least Ethan will know the story this time!

http://www.gladstonetheatre.org.uk/jswhatson.shtml

Random Act of Kindness - Becoming a bone marrow doner

I thought the next natural step from giving blood would be becoming a bone marrow doner.

So I went to http://www.anthonynolan.org/What-you-can-do/save-a-life/Online-application.aspx and filled it all in and... I'm too old. Which was a bit of a kick in the chaps.

I can still join the register, but need to do it at the same time as giving blood.

For more information, look here - http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/bone-marrow-donation/Pages/Introduction.aspx

Random Act of Kindness - Giving Blood

I used to give blood but haven't done it for years. So I'm going to again.

I went to http://www.blood.co.uk/ and found my local blood letters are 0.3 miles away and the next session is Saturday 9th November. So I signed myself and Katie up for it.

You should sign up too, you never know when you might need a bit of the red stuff back.

Random Act of Kindness - Reserve a place for a homeless person at Crisis at Christmas

I am a huge fan of Christmas, anyone who knows me will already know that. I get excited far too early, I start shopping far too early and I let Ethan listen to Christmas songs in the car after December 1st (there have to be rules!)

Illness aside, Homelessness is pretty much the worst thing that I can imagine happening to someone. And if the last few years have taught us anything, we are all only a few missed payday's away from being on our arses. So I have paid for a random homeless person to have a place at Crisis at Christmas

One place at Crisis at Christmas provides...

• welcoming support from people who really care

• three nutritious, hot meals including Christmas dinner

• the chance to shower and change clothes, have a haircut and get a health check

• expert advice on life-changing issues like housing and employment

• an introduction to Crisis year-round services for training and support for the future

It’s a gift that always changes lives, and often saves them

If you want to learn more, please go to - http://community.crisis.org.uk/reserve

Charity Donation - Cancer Research UK

As mentioned in this earlier post, Stu Blackburn, 'the other end of Dobbin' is also running the London Marathon next year, raising money for 

For my insults in Stu's direction, see John's post.

To sponsor Stu go to http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/stubee 
or Text STUB52 £(amount) to 70070
For more on what Cancer Research do go to http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/home/

Night Out - The Dixie Dean Story

Katie and I went to see The Dixie Dean Story on Thursday. Clearly this is something that had far more appeal to me than her, but I will try to do both side justice.

I enjoyed it. It was just a fella on stage being Dixie and a narrator. 'Dixie' was pretty good, told the story well and had very impressive 'keepie uppie' skills. The narrator was okay, but a lot of it was very dry dates and stats making it hard to follow the timeline. I don't think they did enough of emphasise quite how big the feat of 60 goals in a season was (and is) and they skipped over the fact that Dean hated the name Dixie.

Katie didn't totally hate the story, enjoyed her interval Bacardi and was confused why there was booing when it was announced that Ian St John was in the crowd.

I wonder why NME don't do couples reviews?

Trying New Food - Shredded Beef Quesadilla

While at the Chronicle, I decided to try Shredded Beef Quesadillas for the first time. I'm not really a fan of Mexican food on the whole, but as the old saying goes, when in Bebington....

They arrived, and they were a little but underwhelming. They literally were just pulled beef in the soft shell and nothing else. I'm not a fan of extra stuff for the sake of it in food, but these looked very plain. There were bloody tasty though, enough for me to want to go back for them again on Saturday (It was a disappointing return though).

I googled for images though, to see what it was I was missing, and while as a rule they look pretty simple, I do think they would be improved with a nice cheese.

Maybe I will try cooking them at home!

 

Family Trip Out - Revisting our first date

As always, Ethan was away for half term, but rather than getting distracted by other things like we usually do, Katie and I made a point to actually go out and do things together.

Firstly, we decided to go back to the place where we had our first date, The Chronicle. The benefit of this being a night out as part of a long term relationship rather than a first date meant that my lack of nerves lead to being able to both eat AND drink this time. Score!

I had a very nice pint of Bombardier while Katie took advantage of the 2 for 1 cocktails.

The food was very nice, but as I tried something new, that is for another blog. However, I will end on a word of warning...

We went on a Tuesday, had a lovely night and really enjoyed the food. So we decided to meet our friends on Saturday night for something to eat....it was a mistake. I had a pulled beef burger that was as tough as old boots, and unfortunately, the meal that night wasn't the last I saw of it. And that was definitely the fault of the food, rather than all the alcohol I washed the taste away with.

Charity Donation - Macmillan Cancer Support

Years ago, I had the displeasure of working for the Child Support Agency for nearly 5 years. I worked that for that because a) I was too stupid to know better and b) some of the people there were brilliant.

I'm still in a prawn cracker syndicate (with a sideline in losing football bets) with 3 of those brilliant people, one of which has just signed on to run the London Marathon for the first time next year.

This is remarkable because John, when we first met, could not be described as a natural athlete. However years of running has caused his waistline to recede as rapidly as mine has expanded.

And despite having knees that those with the proper medical training would describe as 'fucked', I am fully behind him in this. Not literally. I'll be miles away at home not watching it on telly. Unless he and Stu do it as Dobbin from Rent-a-Ghost. I'd watch that.

And if you are lucky enough not to know what Macmillan do, here is some info

So please, if you know John or hate cancer, please help him reach his lofty target. If he exceeds it, he will totally run it dressed as a horse*

*Come on John, it's for a good cause! Plus it's 4x the good luck built in!

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/hughesy3006

September - A Month in Review

13 Recommendations 

The Return is coming. I am not looking forward to it.

13 Recipes:

I've not been well, leave me alone.

13 Meals Out:

Did I mention that I've not been well.

13 Random Acts of kindness:

I managed 2 this month. Not doing anything brings out the best in me.

13 Letters:

I'll box them off in one go. It's fine, it's fine.

13 Blogs per month:

9 months done.

13 Family days out:

1 done, 2 booked for October. Not bad.

13 New Foods:

I already have the dread for next month

£13 for Charity per month:

10 donations done, so one a month and this will be challenge completed.

13/30 Autographs:

Challenge Completed!

13 (minimum) Postcrossing:

Challenge Completed! 

13 (minimum) Geocaches:

Give me a break, I left the house today for the first time in a week. (This really is looking like it will be the one to trip me up)

13 @Replies or Retweets from famous people:

Challenge completed!

Trying something new - and this one is disgusting.

I bought this online yesterday. This is going to happen

Cooking from scratch - Rice Pudding

This is more of an excuse than anything really.

I had big plans for the end of this month. I had an operation on the 23rd of this month, and I was going to get so many of these challenges sorted when I was recovering. I had nothing to do but rest, it was the perfect plan.

What I completely underestimated was how long it would take me to recover. I was expecting, at least initially, to be in the worst pain I've ever known (as this was my first operation ever), but to be fair, that didn't really happen. A bit of discomfort, but nothing that was really worse than the pain I was in before the operation. However, I wasn't prepared for just how knackered I was going to be.

It took them hours to get me to come round after the operation. Nothing sinister, the just kept waking me up and asking if I was okay, I'd tell them I was tired and would go back to sleep. (Sadly that isn't as light hearted as it seems because I wasn't aware at the time that while I was sleeping, nobody had let Katie know that I was okay. So she and my parents, hours after I should have been back, were worried sick that something had happened)

And I was basically knackered for days. My big plan of getting back to work on Tuesday turned into Thursday, and I spent most of the time before that sleeping.

Basically, what this is building to is that I didn't make rice pudding. But I bought in the ingredients, so I'll be making it in October. Using this recipe:

Ingredients

• 40g/1½oz butter
• 100g/3½fl oz pudding rice (or Spanish paella rice)
• 75g/2½oz caster sugar
• 1 litre/1¾pints full-fat milk
• 150ml/5fl oz double cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or ½ vanilla pod, split lengthways
• pinch salt
• plenty freshly grated nutmeg

Preparation method

1. Preheat the oven to 140C/285F/Gas 1.
2. Melt the butter in a heavy-based casserole dish over a medium heat. Add the rice and stir to coat. Add the sugar, stirring until dissolved. Continue stirring until the rice swells and becomes sticky with sugar.
3. Pour in the milk and keep stirring until no lumps remain. Add the cream and vanilla and bring the mixture to a simmer. Once this is reached, give the mixture a final stir and grate at least a third of a nutmeg over the surface. Bake for 1-1½ hours and cover with foil if the surfaces browns too quickly.
4. Once there is a thin, tarpaulin-like skin on the surface, and the pudding only just wobbles in the centre, it is ready.
5. Serve at room temperature.

Postcrossing - Challenge completed!

Another Challenge completed! I have received 13 (actually 15) postcards from strangers around the world!

Night out - Paul Sinha

Tea time telly watchers might know Paul Sinha as the bloke in an awful suit on The Chase

But in real life he is also a stand up comedian. I've only seen bits of his stuff, but he is a funny bloke and we are going to see him in Liverpool next month.

So if you love comedy, like The Chase or just hate trick or treaters, why not come along?

http://www.laughterhousecomedy.com/events/2013-03-20-slaughter-house-liverpool

Charity Donation - London Marathon for Ndui Ndui School

A few days ago, an old friend of my brothers invited me to a Facebook page (This one) which is detailing his daughters fundraising attempts including her running the London Marathon for Ndui Ndui School. It's the ideal cause to donate to really, because it combines something I would never want to do, with raising money for an excellent cause.

I don't know Katie really, I met a few times when she was very young. My main memory is one time on a works night out ten pin bowling, John brought Katie and her brother along, and she was the only one of the 3 that remembered to get her own shoes back before going home. Classic.

Anyway, like the page and why not give her a bit of money too? You are nice like that.

Adding the JustGiving link, because I am a forgetful idiot - http://www.justgiving.com/katie16b

A good deed that I don't really remember

Because I am an idiot....

I'm going to post this on Facebook so my friend Hazel can fill in the details, but basically if you click on this link https://communityfund.lloydsbank.com/voting/cf_org_vote_profile.asp?cfr=98A08A
And vote for the scout and guide group to get some money from the bank to help repair damage from a fire.

A good cause, I'm sure you will agree. So vote, you handsome swines!

Recommendation - Getting Katie involved!

Well, I finally managed to get Katie slightly interested in the challenges.

Apart from enjoying the general idea of it, especially the family time parts, I'm pretty sure she just thinks of it as a bit of a stupid boy project. Which is kinda is.

She doesn't even read this blog, so I can say anything I like about her. I'm not stupid though, because I know her sister reads it and would definitely tell her. Hello dear!

Anyway, she has recommended that I watch The Returned with her. Partly because she knows I don't want to, and partly because it means I'd need to buy her the DVD to do so. She is an evil genius, but frankly she would need to be.

So I have bought it, and shall be watching it quite soon I imagine.

If you haven't heard of it, and missed it's weird Frenchness on Channel 4 earlier this year, you can buy your own copy here: - http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Returned-Series-1-DVD/dp/B00D90UW42/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380568731&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Returned

Post Crossing - Sent items update

Well, ByPost seems to be an excellent app - http://13challengesfor2013.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/postcrossing-with-new-twist.html

Of the 10 Postcards mentioned in that original post, 5 of them have already arrived. 2 to Germany, 2 to Russia and 1 to USA in an impressive 17 days (which includes the time to print the postcard)

5 postcards are still outstanding, to Japan, China, USA and Russia (x2), but I'm confident they could arrive any day now. Well worth £1 a postcard, if you fancy giving Postcrossing a try.

Random act of Kindness.... helping a stranger complain

Not much of an interesting story on this one, but it all counts.

Someone got an official charger from apple and basically, it caused a fire. They took the charger to the shop to complain, and they were told they would be charged for a replacement because the wires were showing. As the wires were showing, they were at fault. Incredible logic.

People were giving all kinds of helpful advice like 'you should kick off' or 'they are only £1 to replace on ebay', but I found the e-mail address of the CEO of Apple UK and told her to complain to the boss.

It's a very successful tactic that I have used several times. If I am unhappy with customer service, I complain. If I'm unhappy with how the complaint it dealt with, I go straight to the CEO. And I advise you to do the same, it really gets things done.

This is an excellent website for finding contact details - http://www.ceoemail.com/

Daniel Kitson. Tim Key. Tree

I've gone on about Kitson enough. Here is a proper review

When Daniel Kitson gave the Latitude Festival audience a tantalising glimpse of his new show this summer it was still very much a sapling. Two months later and Tree has put on branches and leaves, emerging into the gloom of a drizzly autumnal Manchester night as a mighty oak.

Although not quite the anticipated sell out – the Royal Exchange was pockmarked by a surprising number of empty seats - this new piece from the man regarded as Britain’s leading comic storyteller has commanded considerable excitement.

You do not have to be Kenneth Tynan to spot the immediate parallels with Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot: two men, a tree and a long conversation about not very much which seems to touch on just about everything.  Alan Partridge sidekick Tim Key plays Vladimir to Kitson’s Estragon and the two spend the 90 minutes on stage probing and testing each other with great skill.

Kitson is up the eponymous tree for the duration whilst Key paces anxiously and with not a little menace below as he prepares for his picnic date with the elusive Sarah. Whilst in many ways the entire show is a slow build-up to a single – and very funny - punchline, the joy of the performance comes in the carefully paced journey towards it. It is a loving and playful exploration of language and the way we use it to temper the absurdities and mini-dramas of our lives. Humour and poetry is readily gleaned from the everyday: chatting up girls on crowded buses, dog shit in the autumn leaves, pain-in-the arse neighbours. In the spirit of Beckett there are much bigger questions, too - about beginnings and endings; trust and belief; commitment and delusion, which continue to turn over pleasingly in the mind as you make your way home.

Kitson, a 2002 Perrier winner, has built a reputation as the JD Salinger of modern comedy – largely due to the fact that his only major TV appearance was in Phoenix Nights (which he later denounced) and because he doesn’t give newspaper interviews. Critics, whom he doesn’t furnish with review tickets, love him nonetheless. Fellow comedians, such as Stewart Lee, regard him as the leader of the pack. He clearly takes his art seriously and his audience treats him with similar reverence. Tree is a perfectly-formed piece of writing and a beautifully realised performance by two outstanding artists. Well worth enduring a spot of neck ache for.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/reviews/comedy-review-daniel-kitson-tree-royal-exchange-theatre-manchester-8811767.html

Cooking a Chili from scratch

I'll warn you now. My chili is not photogenic.

From the first picture to the last, it looks deeply unpleasant however it did smell nice (if you like chili) and tasted nice (if you chili) but I don't, so why would you take my word for it?

It's also worth noting that I had promised to cook this for tea without checking the recipe. I assumed we had everything in that I didn't but I was missing a few items. Like beef stock. And red wine. And half of the spices. And I only had one tin of tomatoes. And no chocolate!

But did I let that put me off? Nah, I wasn't the one eating it, so I felt now was a good time to experiment, have a bit of fun with it and see what happened.

I started by cooking the onions, mushrooms and peppers in a frying pan

When they had been cooking for 10 minutes, I stuck them on a plate and replaced them with a block of cow bits

I poked at this with a stick for a while until it fell apart and went from an unpleasant pick colour to an unpleasant grey colour

Then I put the veg back in, and added some spices

Then I wandered off and had something nicer to eat. Probably crisps of something. Then I came back to this:

I think we can agree it's looking as dry as arseholes. Lack of stock you see!! I was tempted to run it under the tap for a bit, but then I had an idea. Baked Beans! That is certainly something I'd heard people put it in chili. So I put some in, with the kidney beans

Then my mind turned to presentation. We have all seen cooking programs on telly and it's fairly safe to say, the first bite is taken with the eyes. So I googled to see what the professionals do, added my own twist and voilà

Nailed it.

It's fairly safe to say that this wasn't a 100% success. Katie ate it and claimed to enjoy it, but it was at the end of a 12 hour shift without a dinner break, so that must be taken into account. She also politely said that she probably wouldn't have added baked beans herself.

I guess I'm just a cooking maverick that refuses to follow your so called recipes. Unless I'm eating it too.

Postcrossing - with a new twist

I've not received any postcards in a few months, so to give it a little push to the finishing line, I decided to send another 6 postcards this morning. But I did it in a slightly different way.

A few months ago I used an iPhone app to send Ethan a birthday card from his favourite Christmas present from last year, a little cuddly mouse (that has since sadly gone missing, RIP Mousey). I did it, it arrived nicely and pretty much forgot about it until a few days ago when they sent me an e-mail reminding me that I had some credits left on my account. I looked into it a bit more, and found out that you can send postcards internationally as well.

In my opinion, this makes it the perfect partner for Postcrossing. It costs £1 per postcard, which might sound a lot, but the price of an international stamp is 88p, so this is a much cheaper option. Plus, you can use any picture you like from your phone and (my favourite part), you can do the who process without getting out of bed.

So this morning, I requested 6 new addresses (after getting Russia 3 times in a row, I changed my settings so I can only send to each country one at a time).

Some bloody big distances in there, so will be interesting to see how long they take to arrive. 

And if you have read about Postcrossing from me before and thought it was a good idea, but just couldn't be arsed with all the faff, now is your chance to give it a go!!

August - A Month In Review

13 Recommendations 

Nothing new done this month, but could be perfect of 'recovery time'.

13 Recipes:

2 in the pipeline, with a few more when I get the right ingredients 

13 Meals Out:

No progress, as everywhere we went we had been to before. Where is nice, but not too fancy? (We are simple folk).

13 Random Acts of kindness:

Another once added to the list, and proper research into ideas.

13 Letters:

Absolutely no progress. Bring on the crippling pain so I can get stuff done

13 Blogs per month:

8 months done.

13 Family days out:

A lovely day in Llandudno. Kitson coming up in September, and I'm going to take Ethan to the football at some point.

13 New Foods:

I don't think there was anything this month. I need some ideas

£13 for Charity per month:

9 donations done, so one a month and this will be challenge completed.

13/30 Autographs:

Challenge Completed!

13 (minimum) Postcrossing:

10 sent and 11 received. 3 sat upstairs waiting to be posted. I'm my own worst enemy. (For the 2nd month running)

13 (minimum) Geocaches:

Well, this is a tricky one. We were out and about and I decided to try and find a local Geocache and I couldn't make head nor tail of the app. I need to sort that out sharpish (For the 2nd month running!!)

13 @Replies or Retweets from famous people:

Challenge completed!

Cooking from scratch - Chilli

Tomorrow I have promised that I will cook a chilli. I've never cooked one before (and don't really like chilli) so I'll be using the following recipe (and taking pictures as I go)

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 large onion
• 1 red pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 heaped tsp hot chilli powder (or 1 level tbsp if you only have mild)
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 500g lean minced beef
• 1 beef stock cube
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• ½ tsp dried marjoram
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 410g can red kidney beans
• plain boiled long grain rice, to serve
• soured cream, to serve

  Method

  1. Prepare your vegetables. Chop 1 large onion into small dice, about 5mm square. The easiest way to do this is to cut the onion in half from root to tip, peel it and slice each half into thick matchsticks lengthways, not quite cutting all the way to the root end so they are still held together. Slice across the matchsticks into neat dice. Cut 1 red pepper in half lengthways, remove stalk and wash the seeds away, then chop. Peel and finely chop 2 garlic cloves.
  2. Start cooking. Put your pan on the hob over a medium heat. Add the oil and leave it for 1-2 minutes until hot (a little longer for an electric hob). Add the onions and cook, stirring fairly frequently, for about 5 minutes, or until the onions are soft, squidgy and slightly translucent. Tip in the garlic, red pepper, 1 heaped tsp hot chilli powder or 1 level tbsp mild chilli powder, 1 tsp paprika and 1 tsp ground cumin. Give it a good stir, then leave it to cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  3. Brown the 500g lean minced beef. Turn the heat up a bit, add the meat to the pan and break it up with your spoon or spatula. The mix should sizzle a bit when you add the mince. Keep stirring and prodding for at least 5 minutes, until all the mince is in uniform, mince-sized lumps and there are no more pink bits. Make sure you keep the heat hot enough for the meat to fry and become brown, rather than just stew.
  4. Making the sauce. Crumble 1 beef stock cube into 300ml hot water. Pour this into the pan with the mince mixture. Open 1 can of chopped tomatoes (400g can) and add these as well. Tip in ½ tsp dried marjoram and 1 tsp sugar, if using (see tip at the bottom), and add a good shake of salt and pepper. Squirt in about 2 tbsp tomato purée and stir the sauce well.
  5. Simmer it gently. Bring the whole thing to the boil, give it a good stir and put a lid on the pan. Turn down the heat until it is gently bubbling and leave it for 20 minutes. You should check on the pan occasionally to stir it and make sure the sauce doesn’t catch on the bottom of the pan or isn’t drying out. If it is, add a couple of tablespoons of water and make sure that the heat really is low enough. After simmering gently, the saucy mince mixture should look thick, moist and juicy.
  6. Bring on the beans. Drain and rinse 1 can of red kidney beans (410g can) in a sieve and stir them into the chilli pot. Bring to the boil again, and gently bubble without the lid for another 10 minutes, adding a little more water if it looks too dry. Taste a bit of the chilli and season. It will probably take a lot more seasoning than you think. Now replace the lid, turn off the heat and leave your chilli to stand for 10 minutes before serving, and relax. Leaving your chilli to stand is really important as it allows the flavours to mingle and the meat.
  7. Serve with soured cream and plain boiled long grain rice.
  Recipe from Good Food magazine, May 2002

Letters - Last months plan

Last month my plan was to write letters while Ethan was away and Katie was at work, which hasn't happened thanks to the kitten. All free time was spent making sure she didn't damage herself doing something stupid or letting her chew my arm to pieces.

So my new plan is this. On September 23rd, I'm having an operation. Pretty minor, but there will be bed rest for a little while afterwards. Perfect letter writing time. So that is the new plan!

Possibly act of kindness - Bookcrossing.

I've already put this on Facebook, but I didn't get too many responses, so I'll pop it on here to see if someone different spots it:

I'd like some opinions on something please. As part of my random acts of kindness thing, I was thinking off giving books away, and I've always liked the idea of Bookcrossing (http://www.bookcrossing.com/about for those who haven't heard of it).

But lets be honest, if you were to find a book lying around, in a park or on the bus, particularly in and around Birkenhead, would you pick it up and take it home, or ignore it? Thanks!

Random Acts of Kindness - Join Me

I've been falling behind on my random acts of kindness, and my desperation led me back to what originally gave me the idea for doing these random acts as a challenge in the first place. Join Me.

To find out more about Join Me read this - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Join_Me
To read the actual book, click this
To have Danny read the book to you, try this

Unfortunately, my search thus far has come up with ideas that just aren't workable for me. I can't teach kids to swim (Ethan is a stronger swimmer than I am) nor can I run a sports team (I am rubbish at all sports).

There were other suggestions that surprised me as well. Holding the door open for people for example. To me, that isn't an act of kindness, it's an act of common courtesy.

The hunt continues

Charity Donation - Male Cancer Awareness Campaign

Male Cancer Awareness Campaign is all about raising awareness. It is not about research. Using live awareness, we travel nationwide to educate men, every last one. We teach them the importance of early detection and try to reduce the embarrassment issues associated with male cancer. Male Cancer Awareness Campaign - achieving lasting change in the fight against cancer.

This month was slightly different in that I didn't make a donation due to fund raising by a friend, instead I donated to MCAC due to fund raising by Chris O'Dowd (IT Crowd, Moone Boy).

If you donate £10 (or in my case £13, obviously), you get a code to join Chris' fantasy football team, with the winner getting a prize of some kind. I've done with for the past few years and never troubled the leaders. And as I'm currently placed at 56 out of 73, I'm not one of the favourites this year either.

https://www.justgiving.com/chris-o-dowd1

http://fantasy.premierleague.com/my-leagues/301938/standings/?ls-page=1

An actual act of kindness, and my gorgeous reward

Earlier this month, we opened our front door to be greeted by our newest (and heavily pregnant) neighbour trying and failing to catch her cat who had escaped and was happily exploring her new road.

Katie volunteered me as an expert cat catcher and sent me out on a rescue mission. While I was mildly successful in turning her around and getting her back towards her own house, Katie was talking to her friend Charlie about someone she knew that was selling kittens.

And Bob's your uncle, she was convinced. And this is my beautiful girl

Her name is Treacle and she is a gorgeous little monster. She will be 11 weeks old on September 1st

 

Kitson update (with added Tim Key)

Tim Key and Daniel Kitson    in    Tree.      A show for two people Written and Directed by Daniel Kitson.      It’s early evening. it’s mid autumn. It’s starting to get dark. And on a quiet residential street somewhere in England, a man with a picnic basket, arrives at a tree.      A new show about dissent, commitment, two people and a tree.

So there's that one. I'm pretty excited about this now that i have the idea and its starting to take shape. I said at the start of the year, i wanted to try increasingly different things with my shows, and writing for someone else is a new thing for me, it opens up things with dialogue, that i couldn't do in a one man story show, but also has its own restrictions and its slightly intimidating when the other person you're writing for, is themselves, really fucking good. Still, give it a crack eh? Tim is, i think, really bloody great, if you've not seen his own stuff, you absolutely should. So, its bloody exciting he's agreed to be in this. Especially kind considering when i asked him i had less than no details about the show. It's a relatively long run, outside of a festival environment, i suppose. But there are currently no plans to tour this or do it ever again. That may change, but also, it may well not,  quite a lot of tickets sold already based on nothing more than my powerful reputation as a hitmaker and dreamweaver. So, if you like the sound of it now i know what it is, you may want to buy tickets with reasonable haste.

From Scratch - Chicken Tikka Masala

Making your own curry paste

In a small food processor, whizz together 5 garlic cloves, 1 large knob of fresh root ginger, roughly chopped, 1 red chilli, deseeded and roughly chopped, 2 tsp each ground cumin and coriander, 1 tsp each turmeric, paprika and garam masala, and the seeds from 4 cardamom pods. Add a little water or vegetable oil to bring the paste together. Can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 1 

Freezing tips

To safely freeze, cool the curry as quickly as possible, then freeze as soon as it’s completely cooled. Divide into freezer-proof containers, or use takeaway containers. To avoid freezer burn, make sure all chicken pieces are well covered with sauce. This curry will freeze well for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge. Once thoroughly defrosted, reheat gently to prevent yogurt from splitting. Make sure it's piping hot all the way through before serving.

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp vegetable oil
• 25g butter
• 4 onions, roughly chopped
• 6 tbsp chicken tikka masala paste (use shop-bought or make your own - see recipe, below)
• 2 red peppers, deseeded and cut into chunks
• 8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2½ cm cubes
• 2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
• 4 tbsp tomato purée
• 2-3 tbsp mango chutney
• 150ml double cream
• 150ml natural yogurt
• chopped coriander leaves, to serve

  Method

  1. Heat the oil and butter in a large, lidded casserole on the hob, then add the onions and a pinch of salt. Cook for 15-20 mins until soft and golden. Add the paste and peppers, then cook for 5 mins more to cook out the rawness of the spices.
  2. Add the chicken and stir well to coat in the paste. Cook for 2 mins, then tip in the tomatoes, purée and 200ml water. Cover with a lid and gently simmer for 15 mins, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through.
  3. Remove the lid, stir through the mango chutney, cream and yogurt, then gently warm through. Season, then set aside whatever you want to freeze (see tips, below). Scatter the rest with coriander leaves and serve with basmati rice and naan bread.
  Recipe from Good Food magazine, October 2009