AARON PIE

I DID IT!!!!!!

I managed to survive my blog-fast for over 6 months!  AMAZING!

Well, ok, I wasn't fasting, I was being lazy.  "Ah the old Aaron is back then." I hear you say.  Look I'm going to be honest, I'm not really very disciplined when it comes to keeping up with this so you're just gonna have to bear with me in future.

So what's happened since my last post on May 7th 2007?  Well I finished working at HSBC and started at Barclays.  This actually happened at the end of April, I just forgot to blog about it.  My boss at HSBC who I was PA to got poached by Barclays and asked me to join him, so I did.  I'm not a temp now as I was in HSBC, I am a "permie" - I've got a salary and everything!  Haven't had a salary since 1999!

I'm also still singing.  The group I'm in, "SAPP" (no we still haven't chosen a proper name), are still together and its awesome when we sing together.  We have done a couple of weddings recently and I think we have another performance on Saturday in Reading.  Can't wait!

Sorry about this post being really bitty, the posts will get more structured in future.

SAPP New Name Competition

Everyone, this is SAPP – Samantha, Aaron, Phebe and Paul – although in the picture from left to right its Aaron, Samantha, Phebe and Paul.

We are a new group and we are currently looking for a new name. SAPP is just temporary (thankfully, you say!).

I would like as many people as possible to offer some serious name suggestions. Nothing Biblical or obviously Christian, even though we sing gospel, we also sing secular songs. A name that will look good in a logo and also sound good when being announced etc.

Get your thinking caps on! The prize is backstage passes when we play at Wembley Stadium in 2028.

A scarily accurate colour test

Hi all, I know its been ages – I'll let you know why in my next post. But in the meantime, take this rather accurate (well for me anyway) colour quiz.

Chitterlings are the shit!

...or "Chitlins", as they are pronounced colloquially, is a food that is mainly eaten in the African American culture.  I am about to tell you how they are made, you may wish to read this before eating your lunch/dinner.

As Chitterlings are basically pigs' large intestines, they must be thoroughly cleaned before cooking and consumption.  They are usually bought pre-cleaned but still require boiling for 5 minutes to rid of any remaining germs.  They are then cleaned by hand in cold water to remove any flecks of piggy poop that may be clinging on for dear life.  After the cleaning process, the kitchen must be cleaned as anything that the chitlins may have touched before being boiled and cleaned may have dangerous bacteria such as salmonella on it.

The Chitlins are then cut into small pieces, put in a pot and covered with water and vinegar.  Bay leaves, onions, potatoes, green/red pepper, garlic, salt and pepper are also added (recipes do vary).  Bring to boil and then simmer for 2.5 to 3 hours or until chitlins are tender.  Remove from heat and drain well.  Enjoy with hot pepper sauce.

Chitlins are also sometimes battered and fried.

There is even a song:

There's a quiet and peaceful county in the state of Tennessee
You will find it in the book they call geography
Not famous for its farming, its mines, or its stills
But they know there's chitlin cookin' in them Cheatham County hills
When it's chitlin cookin' time in Cheatham County I'll be courtin' in them Cheatham County hills
And I'll pick a Cheatham County chitlin cooker
I've a longin' that the chitlins will fill

Something for your spare time...

I was using the "Stumble" button on Mozilla Firefox and came across this rather addictive and eerily mesmerising game - http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/g3/bells.htm

My highest score so far is 55000 - see how you go - have fun!

There's No Business when its Snow Business...

We had snow yesterday.  Quite a bit (for London).  I woke up at 6.30am and looked out the window to see if the 5am snowfall rumour was true and it most certainly was.  I knew that it would be difficult getting to work but I didn't know how difficult.

My usual route to work takes me one stop on the tube from Finsbury Park to Highbury & Islington and then I get the bus 277 from there which takes me all the way to Canary Wharf and drops me right outside the HSBC building.  I can usually do the route in under an hour on a good day.  I imagined that the roads would be very slushy causing the bus journey to be slow and so I opted for an all-tube journey.

I got on at Finsbury Park, 2 stops to Kings Cross.  At Kings Cross, went down to the Northern Line which was packed solid (the platform as well as the trains).  So I went up to the Piccadilly Line and took it 2 stops to Holborn where I thought I could either take a bus to Bank Station and get the Docklands Light Rail to Canary Wharf, or get a bus to Waterloo and take the Jubilee Line to Canary Wharf from there.  I opted for the latter only to find when I reached Waterloo that the Jubilee Line was closed due to overcrowding.

I then looked at a bus map.  I'm starting to get a little fed up by now.  I just want to be at work in the warmth.  I took bus number 188 to Canada Water (25 mins).  Canada Water is one stop away from Canary Wharf on the Jubilee Line but is also across the river from it.  I went down to get on the tube but couldn't, it was packed solid.  I went back up to the bus depot to see what else I could do.  I knew there was a ferry nearby so I got on bus number C1 which dropped me at the Hilton Hotel Nelson Dock which operates one of the ferry stops.  I purchased my ticket and boarded the ferry for the 5 minute chug over to Canary Wharf.

All in all this journey took me 2 hours and 20 minutes.  Its amazing how different southern England handles this type of weather to the north of the country.

Ready, Steady, Pavlova

Hi and may I first begin by saying a huge warm welcome to my all-new blog, and my first post.

A few days ago I made a pavlova for dessert.  I had loads of eggs which were not being used so I decided to put them to good use.  A Pavlova, I'll have you know, is extremely good use!  Here is the finished product:-

It is basically two meringue rounds sandwiched together with cream (half double, half vanilla chantilly) and blueberries, then topped with strawberries and blueberries.  When in the bowl, maple syrup was drizzled over the slice, like this:

I love desserts, and pavlovas are definitely near the top of the list.  I will surely be making another one soon.  Speaking of desserts, Jason T never did tell us how the Gits Gulab Jamun tasted.  I'm still waiting for that one as my boss is Indian and he wanted to know how you liked them!