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

Autograph - Paul Rideout

Paul Rideout is a bloody legend. He scored the only goal in the FA Cup final of 1995, the last time Everton won a major trophy.

Not only that, but he has popped up and become and 13th autograph. Challenge completed!!

Autograph - Kathy Burke

Now, Kathy Burke is brilliant. Like most people my age I first became aware of her because of Harry Enfield and Chums, although personally I always enjoyed Waynetta Slob more than the very popular Kevin and Perry.

I even watched Gimme, Gimme, Gimme despite it not being very good

I was still surprised to get this though

Autograph - Emile Heskey

Believe it or not, that is the autograph from one of my least favourite footballers of all time. The 'legend' that is Emile Heskey.

In his Leicester City days, it was his fault Clint Hill was sent off for Tranmere in the League Cup final in 2000. Then he played for Liverpool, which is reason enough in itself to dislike someone. Then he started playing for England, being a bit shit.

Cheers for the autograph big man! 

Day Out - The Decision

Those of you that pay attention to these matters will remember that we ended July deciding where to spend a family day out.

After weighing up the pros and cons of places like Rufford Old Hall, Erddig and Formby, Katie told me we were going to Llandudno. So we went to Llandudno.

I haven't been to Llandudno myself in years, but Katie is a fan, so we took Ethan, Harry and Mollie. Katie subscribes to the logic that 'if you are looking after one kid, you might as well look after 3'. I don't get it myself, they are 3 lovely kids, but all of them together is hard work. Just keeping an eye on them and making sure they don't wander off is enough to get me stressed.

On the plus side, Mollie won me a Minion, we went to a fantastic chippy for tea (Fish Tram Chips) and we found a lovely old fashioned sweet shop, so I came home happy.

Llandudno!