Food & Drink #7 We like texture, babe, texture

[Marj24]

Just posting to add a positive review from the likes of Jay Raynor has such an impact on a restaurant. From trip advisor I saw that some people came many, many miles to sample the delights of Koconut Grove.

Not that you need an excuse to come to Chester. When my boys were small, we couldnt afford an expensive holiday but at least once a year we did Chester as tourists. We did the bus tour, the river cruise, we walked around the walls. We finished of with an afternoon tea somewhere good but affordable (pricy doesn't always mean better).

We have always been members of Chester Zoo, with a picnic that was also a cheap day out!

 

[Veronicaaa]

It’s absolutely beautiful. ‘No crocus is carved more gently than the way her dying shapes my mind.’

"Dying, she tells me
that bird dives from the sun, that fish
leaps into it."



I actually think if you're remotely interested in writing, it's a fascinating and super educational poem to study. The start of it - 'everywhere she dies. everywhere I GO she dies'. The addition of 3 letters, 2 words, says so much - the bereavement is always with you. Not 'she tells me' but 'DYING, she tells me'. Gah, For many reasons, I really hate ~deconstructing~ this poem to see why it 'works', but it's so sparse and yet emotional, MacCaig was a freaking genius with such a pure, pure heart, I love him so much.

 

[Begborrowsteal]

I love South Indian food. There is a decent one round the corner from me but I haven’t been there in ages. Edit to say I just checked their menu and a dosa is £9!

Dosa is so cheap to make, its insane what places charge

 

[Mustard]

Dosa is so cheap to make, its insane what places charge

I’m going to buy a mix in one of the local stores to try. Apparently lots of families do this. Just need to learn how to make the filling.

 

[Begborrowsteal]

I'm a MacCaig stan, as I said on the MT, and your post made me think of this, which is very special to me - but [CN] it's about the warring feelings you have about bereavement, the bitterness as well as the beauty you describe.

Memorial by Norman MacCaig - Scottish Poetry Library

Everywhere she dies. Everywhere I go she dies. / No sunrise, no city square, no lurking beautiful mountain / but has her death in...

www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk

Oh man

I’m going to buy a mix in one of the local stores to try. Apparently lots of families do this. Just need to learn how to make the filling.

When I make it, you end up with loads of batter. You can also make idlis with it too

 

[Mustard]

Oh man

When I make it, you end up with loads of batter. You can also make idlis with it too

Can you only use a small amount of the mix first?

 

[EddieBeds]

Death talk - "Do not stand at my grave and weep" by Mary Frye is a beautiful poem. I love the idea that even when we're gone, we can live on in a way through the most innocuous things, if only because the sight of them reminds someone of us

Definitely not the right interpretation of the poem but I always imagine it as a story, where the sights in the poem each spark a memory in a different loved one of the person who's passed away, and the spirit of that person is wanting them all to remember those happy times and be at peace , and go out and about in the world rather, rather than come and stand at their grave and focus on them being gone

I read this at my Nanny’s funeral and your interpretation is similar to mine and also how she would have wanted us to view her passing.

Spoiler: Death poetry

At my grandad’s funeral my cousins and I read this poem...again it seemed very fitting for him. While I still well up/cry when reading it, it isn’t necessarily from a place of sadness but from remembering him/his character. What’s sad but in its own way beautiful for me now is my Nanna, who has dementia has asked when my grandad is coming to get her - she doesn’t mean it in a macabre way, just that she’s ready to see him again. While it makes me sad as I selfishly don’t want to lose her it’s also beautiful that she views death as an embrace almost.

 

[GrunkaLunka]

Flirt? Avec moi? The word 'steppe' does get me going...how did you know?? Although you'll have to fight my beloved @GrunkaLunka for my affections.

It would be utterly selfish of me to keep @crystaleyesd to myself. @Spoonfulofjam please continue with the flirting, I understand.
Such passion, so desirable, concentrated into the most potent elixir of longing. The doctor has bewitched us.

I am absolutely dying at the mouthfeel blurs

Don't mean to be rude, I'm skimming over the food and emotional poetry as I can't deal with it tonight. But I love you all.

 

[Begborrowsteal]

Can you only use a small amount of the mix first?

It keeps for a couple of days in the fridge, though it never lasts that long in our house!

Though I will say, dosa batter is smelly!

 

[EddieBeds]

Dosa is so cheap to make, its insane what places charge

Morning Fraus! I can’t sleep and have finally admitted defeat an hour after waking.

Early morning triangulation - if you’re ever near UCL on a Thursday for their Farmers Market they have/had (pre lockdown anyway) a stool that sells (filled/stuffed) dosas - highly recommend. They are *chefs kiss*. They had some good food stools there and are just a short walk from my office - though with Covid-19 and impending maternity leave I won’t be back anytime soon.

Also makes me chuckle as my uni would have a ‘food market’ overtake the union on a Tuesday - but it was mainly fruit and veg, dirt cheap but amazing as you could buy some bits by the bowl as opposed to weight and they had a really good range of produce. Never as artisan/gentrified as the farmers market!

 

[heretoreaditall2019]

I read this at my Nanny’s funeral and your interpretation is similar to mine and also how she would have wanted us to view her passing.

Spoiler: Death poetry

At my grandad’s funeral my cousins and I read this poem...again it seemed very fitting for him. While I still well up/cry when reading it, it isn’t necessarily from a place of sadness but from remembering him/his character. What’s sad but in its own way beautiful for me now is my Nanna, who has dementia has asked when my grandad is coming to get her - she doesn’t mean it in a macabre way, just that she’s ready to see him again. While it makes me sad as I selfishly don’t want to lose her it’s also beautiful that she views death as an embrace almost.

View attachment 226345

That poem is lovely and made me quite emotional this morning, weirdly it reminds me of a bench in Southend by the sea front that’s dedicated to a wife and it says something along the lines of I’ll wait for you here

Annoyingly looks like it’s already raining so no ~romantique walk in the park for us!

 

[EddieBeds]

That poem is lovely and made me quite emotional this morning, weirdly it reminds me of a bench in Southend by the sea front that’s dedicated to a wife and it says something along the lines of I’ll wait for you here

Annoyingly looks like it’s already raining so no ~romantique walk in the park for us!

That’s so lovely but heartbreaking. My grandad has a little plaque on a pier at a beach that was special to us as a family. As part of the renovation of the pier families could purchase plaques which then lined the pier near the railings - it’s quite bittersweet seeing all the messages.

Maybe a romantic indoors picnic instead? If you whip out the blender any Mackie inspired cuisine will be a possibility!

 

[IndigoStar]

Maybe a romantic indoors picnic instead?

Or a home spa treat if you are in the mood...candles, massage oils, home made afternoon tea, bottle of bubbles, etc..

 

[Breakdance Badass]

Ahh I love Norman MacCaig, his poem Assisi was one of the first poems I read at school that made me take notice. I’ve been to see Hollie McNish quite a few times and love her, this poem Embarrassing is the one I discovered her from

Oh and I only like avocado in guacamole

 

[Cookiecookie]

I quite like avocado, but not on toast. The kid likes it, but she's a post millenial hipster 10yr old, who lives in a world of sushi, boba tea, and goodness knows what else I'd never heard of at her age!

Went to lunch with an old friend. Nice, but awkward, although they'd gone too heavy on the fish sauce and my lunch tasted a bit like Whiskas . My kid decided she could only walk like some sort of hobgoblin, and his son was oddly clingy for a 13yr old, so doubtful it'll happen again, but I'd kind of like it if it did (although not at the same place!)

 

[MooBelle]

Ahh I love Norman MacCaig, his poem Assisi was one of the first poems I read at school that made me take notice. I’ve been to see Hollie McNish quite a few times and love her, this poem Embarrassing is the one I discovered her from

Oh and I only like avocado in guacamole

Just watched that video and now sobbing!!

 

[Breakdance Badass]

Just watched that video and now sobbing!!

It’s amazing isn’t it?

 

[Pocahontas]

I love this poem by Seamus Heaney. It’s on topic, as it’s about blackberry picking I love how he describes blackberries as a plate of eyes.

 

[crystaleyesd]

I love this poem by Seamus Heaney. It’s on topic, as it’s about blackberry picking I love how he describes blackberries as a plate of eyes.

I love Seamus Heaney! His bog poems are great - https://wordandsilence.com/2016/06/03/heaneys-bog-poems/

 

[blurstoftimes]

I am honoured to have the thread title but also now sat in bed with a coffee crying at all this beautiful poetry! I’ve never really actively read poetry so loving this, keep em coming!

Slightly triangulating but I am a hobby cellist so off to a 3 hour cello rehearsal today then going to mooch around all the second hand furniture shops to find a mirror for the bathroom. Pretty much my dream activity when my daughter is at her dad’s. I’m such an adult now.