Those Coastal Animals

Druridge Bay on the Northumberland coastline might sound like a sewer works but it's a good place to visit for a long walk along the sand dunes and beach. We went there at the weekend and got to see horses galloping along the beach and some rather suspicious voyeurism-like activity going on in the little pockets of the sand dunes. I know people take their dogs for walks along there but I'm sure it's not called dogging. Staying with the beach, blue skies and sunshine the next day at Tynemouth we didn't see horses, dogs or rotund bald men with binoculars but did see a lilly-white girl rubbing baby oil on her stomach only to find herself later looking like she'd been dipped in red-raw paint stripper. I laughed while I stuck a sausage in my mouth from our little BBQ. Doggers would've loved that. I wonder if doggers are bloggers, best not find out, but I like the rhyme?

Chefs don't always get burns from pans

A top day all round for me on Saturday. A full day cooking and learning with David Hall, Masterchef Finalist and recent award winner (he'll love me for reminding him about that). We'd already agreed on a menu and he got to work showing me techniques, talking about food, other things and getting to try out the dishes before I let the girlfriend sample them for dinner that night.

We started with dressed crab fresh from the North Sea, learning how to get at all that lovely meat and making our own mayonnaise. Truly delicious, well worth the wait after he had texted me 'I've got crabs' the previous day. There was also a seafood salad with razor clams, a pea and leek tart (girlfriends favourite of favourites), herb crusted rack of lamb with vegetables and fondant potatoes and the superb award winning pudding of David's;spiced pumpkin bread pudding. What a treat to cook with him, then cook and eat the food for my girlfriend, I'm such a romantic. She adored the food (and me of course, millions of brownie points).

I stuck a nice dollop of home made ice-cream on the pudding just to end the evening on a cool note. Hope David didn't have too many scratches from his day - nothing to do with the cooking; he locked himself out his house later that day after I went round to fetch the main course lamb he'd inadvertently left my house with. Sometimes you have to go back to your childhood to scale a garage roof, even if you're approaching 40...

T in the street

I had to look twice the other day watching an episode of Coronation Street. Mr. T appears to be walking along the cobbles in the background. He hates flying so he's not on his way to the airport but he could be on route to the hair-port (Audrey's). Coronation Street has been an institution in my family since I was a tiny lad, it's such a great comedy. Listen up fool...