mike[space] dot net

A little delayed, but did want to mention my Mum's visit last weekend, with her and Mick coming down to stay for Saturday night, before going to see the new Cirque du Soleil show at the Royal Albert Hall. The show (Varekai) was amazing ... with the usual mix of spectacular acrobatics combined with dramatic, atmospheric music that always makes a Cirque Du Soleil show so entertaining. The only downside to the whole show was that I had got us remarkably high seats that triggered Mum's vertigo. But other than that, it was a very successful celebration, and it was the first time that Mum had ever stayed over in my home, which definitely felt a little strange for both us. I guess it's another one of those firsts that make it ever harder for me to deny my ever advancing age ;-)

Speaking of firsts, today I cooked my first ever roast lamb. The usual issues with my oven kicked in as i fought with the temperature and the single shelf. In the end I wound up searing the joint for about 20 minutes at 230C, before dropping the temperature to 170 for 35 minutes (approx 15 mins per lb). The meat was on the bone still, which certainly presented a challenge in the carving, and I think I might have benefited from a slightly longer cooking time to counter its insulating properties. But overall it was pretty successful, and it was certainly good to get a bit of variety from the usual beef.

Before all of this roasting action, Claire and I had a very leisurely Sunday, with us surfacing late and me taking on the breakfast duties - bacon with poached eggs and toast. I've now got a pretty successful technique down for egg poaching, I have a fairly low level of water, heat it to just below simmering, and then lower the egg into the pan with a ladle. I hold it there for about 20 seconds, in the theory that it will cook slightly and help the egg bind. Once it's gained its shape and is partially cooked, I scoop the egg out with a spoon (with holes), and drop it in a bowl of iced water. Once i've got all the eggs I need done, I stick them back in to the water at a higher temperature, and cook them off properly (normally do this with however many eggs each person is getting). I still sometimes have issues with the white spreading out, but I think this is as much a symptom of the freshness of the eggs as it is anything wrong with my technique. It might be easier if i just got an egg poacher, but not quite so much fun ;-)

And then between kitchen adventures, Claire and I headed for the gym, where I watched Scotland lose to France whilst I ran another 5k. Frankly I am not sure that running and watching sport really combines all that well, I found myself moving around on the treadmill as I got involved in the game, so I think was actually a little dangerous, as well as not so easy to follow. The run wasn't quite as comfortable as earlier in the week ... I had a couple of heavy night's drinking which I am sure did not help, but I still got through it, which is the main thing.

And finally it appears that the Superbowl is on the bbc this evening, and I am currently enjoying the somewhat over the top pre-game presentation ... the beeb has gone all american in its presentation, with loud effects and animations going over the commentary, which is pretty weird to watch. I don't think I'll be watching though - apparently it's going to take 4 hours. And what's with the really weird kick off time as well? 18 minutes past the hour, is this a TV scheduling thing?