Tuesday 25 March 2008

How it all turned out...

Well as predicted, the weekend did not turn out quite as planned, mainly due to the weather (very cold with the constant threat of snow). Another problem was that I had hooked our laptop up to Number 1 Son's PC, allowing the boys to play Empire Earth together...

Anyway, shopping on Thursday was a bit of a hoot - impending Easter holiday with most shops actually closing for a whole day on Sunday was clearly too much for some people. I got run over 3 times and also had to sidestep "Nasty Nick" from Eastenders as he pushed his way though the heaving masses.



On Friday no one wanted to go anywhere so I started work on some new scenery for my toy soldiers.

On Saturday we went to visit my mom and I woke up her cat, Bacon, for a photo shoot.



On Sunday the snow arrived.


This picture was taken at the height of the storm - look at all that snow! I bet you are thanking your lucky stars that this lot did not come down where YOU are! Luckily us Brits are tough and can take anything that the weather can throw at us. No need to panic on our behalf!
I also cooked Pork in Coke. It was wonderful, the best piece of pork I have ever done, maga tasty and juicy, although I am not sure where the Coke went to, it seemed to vanish into the juices from the pork. We had this with roast potatoes, yorkshire pudding and sweet and sour cabbage and carrots. Yum!
Of course, we all ate far too much chocolate over the weekend and I was a bit worried that I would run out of steam today, but I should not have feared! On my desk was a parcel from The Princess of the Universe which contained some amazing Canadian Maple Caramels. Mmmmmm! Thanks Princess!

13 comments:

Princess of the Universe said...

You're welcome!! Enjoy!

terri said...

How in the world did you weather that snowstorm? Whew! I'm glad everyone came through it ok! ;)

Your pork dinner sounds delicious. I've seen recipes where Coke is used (and tried a sample at Sam's Club where they used Dr. Pepper) but have never tried it myself. Sounds like an excellent recipe to cook in the crock pot.Also... sweet & sour cabbage is one of my families Thanksgiving traditions. Anyone I've ever mentioned it to thinks we're weird. Good to know there's someone else who appreciates it!

Jahooni said...

the cat looks to darn cute! and bacon what a cool name for a cat!

Glad you had a nice Easter.

Jen said...

Bacon still looks a wee bit sleepy.

The pork in Coke sounds delish (& yorkshire pudding)! Mmm - tasty!

Princess is precious, isn't she?!

Kiki said...

Rock Chef, It sounds like you still had a wonderful time despite the provebial wrench in the plans...poor Bacon does look a little offended at being woken up so unceremoniously! I love the soldiers, do you re-create battles as they actually occurred??? Please explain how that works, I'm fascinated!!! I don't eat ham (its bouncy), but cooked in coke sounds yummy, might try it for Ken!!!

Ali said...

I can't believe you made it through that storm - and lived to blog about it! My hero! :)

Rock Chef said...

Princess - I am enjoying them and trying to make them last is not easy, I just want to stuff the lot!

Terri - It was a bit dicey for a while but we are tough over here! You do sweet and sour cabbage too? Cool. I don't see the problem, it's just a variation on saurkraut in my mind.

Jahooni - I don't really like cats but I am rather fond of Bacon. He is a stray that moved in with my mom a few years ago. At first she called him Smokey, then Smokey Bacon and finally Bacon. Yes, she is nuts...

Jen - The camera flash soon woke him up :-) Yes, Princess is totally precious!

Kiki - The scenary I am making is to recreate the Battle of Poitiers, 1356, featuring local hero The Black Prince against the French. It all happens of a table that is laid out to look loke the battlefield and the armies are represented by model soldiers. In this case, the English army of around 7000 is represented by around 200 toy soldiers. The soldiers are placed where they were at the start of the battle and the game is then played using a set of rules that determine how far each group of soldiers can move in a turn, how far they can shoot arrows, the chances of this shooting having an effect on the enemy, etc (dice are used to find out if there is an effect or not). When they get into contact with each other there are rules for deciding who wins the hand to hand fighting, taking into account number of men on each side, their armour, weapons, level of training, bravery, etc, with dice providing a random element to cover the various unpredictable things that happen in war and to keep it interesting as a game. Soldiers are removed to represent dead, wounded and those seeking a safer place in the world. This continues until the rules dictate that one army has had enough and runs away or surrenders. Very nurdy, but great fun if you like that sort of thing.

Ali - Ah, I always wanted to be someone's hero!

m said...

Bacon is adorable, and looks a little pissed.

Also, be careful with those gifts from Canadians - you never really know...

:-)

Rock Chef said...

Mindy - you could be right. I think there is something in them! I keep saying "eh" and thinking how good it would be to join a hockey team. :-)

Rachael Rae Diaries said...

Hey Rock Chef! Wow it sounds like you had quite the weekend. my question who is "Nasty Nick"?

Bacon looks a little Pissed. You know I have never put coke on food before how does that work out? It sounds extremely interesting. I always love your pics! Thanks for sharing.

Kiki said...

Rock Chef, Thank you so much for explaining that to me, I love it, so amazing how it all works!!! I am amazed that you set up each war especially....I'm really impressed, did I say that enough??

Rock Chef said...

Rachael - There is a soap over here called Eastenders (I think it used to be shown in the USA but you are probably too young to remember it). He was, years ago when I used to watch it, the local scumbag criminal/druggy/thug. The Coke seemed to work out really well - the pork was great but you would never guess that it was cooked in Coke.

Kiki - Watch out for pictures of how the game turns out. After this we are going to recreate the Battle on the Ice, as shown in the old Russian movie Alexander Nevsky, which should be great fun.

Claire said...

Thanks for talking about yorkshire pudding - my mother-in-law was from Canada and my father-in-law was from Scotland - and she would make wonderful Yorkshire Pudding - and Trifle and another dish called "Mince" - hamburger meat cooked really fine and browned and had curry I think in it - served over rice? Have you heard of it - I wish I could remember how to make it - it was really good comfort food!!