Spirulina Pizza

Trying to use up the spirulina,  I have added some to my pizza dough.

With all the toppings,  you barely notice it.   This maybe the best way to use them up!

Time Rich Resource Poor Painting

I am painting the spare room but refusing to use a roller, as I consider rollers waste too much paint and splash too much.  Since I have time in hand, I don't mind.  If I have a whole house to do, then I would use a roller.  Some of my colleagues laughed at me for refusing to use a roller, "are you painting with a 1" brush?"

Milk Con

I picked up a little milk to work from the butcher.   There was an open milk so I didn't break open the new milk. 

When we came to open it,  the milk's expiry date was the date I bought it and it was only 500mL, not even a pint.

What a con!  I am never buying milk from a butcher again.

Animal Crossing

Nitendo has this game called Animal Crossing.  On the cover, it is so cute and so harmless, but People's Republic of China has decided to ban it.

I always wonder what is it, then one of the Youtube talk show has featured it, so I am happy to have a look.

The reason why PRC banned it, because the users can interact with each others, and some islanders/users has decorated their islands with pro Hong Kong and pro Taiwan slogans, and apparently that is enough for PRC to ban it.  And unlike other games, PRC probably realise they cannot deploy sufficient 50 cents army to the game, so it was easier for them to just ban it.

Lancashire Farm

Neither Sarah nor I have heard about Lancashire Farm.  For I don't eat yogurt and Sarah sticks with the supermarket own brand.  Tesco was doing Lancashire farm 1kg tub on offer, so I picked one up.  It turns out to be very nice.  Apparently the catering team also uses Lancashire Farm.  Maybe their catering supply chain getting fewer orders and they are taking this opportunity to break into the domestic markets.

First Barbecue of 2020

As normal, my old charcoal took a lot of wafting before it will start burning.  That's my exercise for the day.  I am tempted to setup the fan next one.

The Cauldron falafel burger was better than expected.

Hilly Wike

I always cut thorough to A61 via Wike, I know it was hilly, but you really feel it on the bicycle.  So we were both knackered for two nights.

Extreme Engineer Notre Dame

BBC has the programme on rebuilding Notra Dame one year from the fire.  It is interesting, it is like Extreme Engineering but in our lifetime.

Homemade Hummus

We always know how to make hummus, but it always turns out weird.  This time is no exception.  Was it the tomato flavouring?  Was it too much lemon juice?  Was it too much garlic?

Glutinous Rice Dumplings

I cannot bring myself to buy bamboo leaves, so I devised a plan, use sausage skins, artificial "collagen" sausage skin.

So technically I was making glutinous rice sausages with the wrong ingredients.  Not only I underestimated how much the rice expands, the sausage skins also shrinks.  Some of them turned out okay, but much improvement required.

Baking Cupboard Clear Out

I was going to bake a coffee cake, but my "value" instant coffee was not suitable for use, so I had to throw it.  

I used another less out of date instant coffee instead.  And I actually get to the bottom of the two bags of sugars.  Getting to a bottom of a bag, what an accomplishment.

Covid DIY

Like most people, I also have some DIY lined up during lockdown.  I changed two sockets and replaced a hinge.  Boring, but necessary.

Brompton Review

I finally had a proper go on Sarah's Brompton.  It is as it said on the tin, the best fold up bike.

The best fold up bike that is adequate for city riding.

In short, I will take a normal bike anyday.

Yellow Labels Surplus

The supermarket is not getting enough footfall,  resulting in a lot of unsold stock on their last day.   A few weeks ago,  I saw a woman with a full trolley of yellow labels in middle of day in M&S.

We scooped up loads of salmon this week on our weekly shop.  I am definitely getting all my omega 3 this week.  If I wasn't actively avoiding supermarket.  I would be scooping them up everyday!

Nutmeg

Nutmeg has got a good reputation and a lot of recommendation.  So whilst the market is down, it is the time to invest, let's hope Nutmeg will go a good job for me.

Leeds Bread Coop

Just when I thought this is the perfect time to try out Leeds Bread Coop, they are shut.  I think they have missed a trick, they could have marketed home delivery and they may go well.  Anyway, let's hope they have a regime keeping the mother dough alive.

Lucky Dip Supermarket Slot

As much as I love supermarket shopping, I am actively avoiding at the moment.  The other week, I was clicking randomly online and I secured a click and collect from Sainsbury.  Then the subsequent weeks I realised it was a very lucky dip!

Hayfever-induced Face Touching

As much as I refrain from touching my face, I could not stop running my eyes. Out of all places, rubbing eyes is one of the worst thing to do.

I have already been taking antihistamine, but the Spring has been sunny and dry, my hayfever is getting bad very fast.

Opening the window would actually make the house worse.  Another reason to love the rain.

Deli's Hot Cross Bun

We rode to Thorner to check out Post Box Deli.  Sarah had hot cross buns on her mind.   It happened again,  as soon as I walked in an empty shop, queue started forming, and I feel pressured to be quick.  I did not get to study the products in the fridge, neither were they well labelled.  I asked for some hot cross buns and pork pies and left, I didn't even get a receipt.

I don't eat hot cross buns, so I cannot tell if they were good.  Sarah tried to describe, but I would not understand, they were bigger, and prettier than the ones from Sainsbury's, but those from Sainsbury's looked worse than normal.  Only after I checked the bank statement and found out they cost £2, for 4 buns!  Compare with Sainsbury's and Tesco's 85p for 6, even the "Extra Special" supermarket ones are 4 for £1, so these "family bakery" ones better be good!

I looked up where Post Box Deli got their bread, I think they got them from Orton's "Family Bakers" in LS9, except Orton's is actually not Orton's anymore, as they sold up a couple years ago.  Strange times.

Extraordinarily Poor Customer Service

It is an extraordinary time, that all companies claim they cannot staff the customer service team.  As a result,  we get extraordinarily bad customer services.
When customer services are usually delivered on phone or electronically,  the only hinderance to home working is IT capability.  Let see if this will kick some companies into investing in their IT systems.

Spelt and Barley

We tried pearled spelt a few times.  We treated it similar to how we treat pearl barley.  I am not sure I can take the 150% difference in price.  Let's eat up the spelt and stick with the barley.

Paddy's Returns

Paddy has mostly be neglected, as we both prefer the laptops.  But with the new normal, we find Paddy's size fills a gap, after we have been on the laptop all day and the phone is too small for video calls or videos.  It is good to see Paddy getting its rightful place in the house.

Locked Down Flapjack

We are trying new recipe with what we have in hand.  We tried this BBC Goodfood peanut butter and jam flapjack.  Sarah complained it being too rich!

Quiche

Quiche is a French tart consisting of pastry crust filled with savoury custard and pieces of cheese, meat, seafood or vegetables. The best-known variant is quiche Lorraine, from Lorraine, France.

Loungewear Problems

Like everyone else, I am spending a lot of time in loungewear.  Only then, I realise I do not have "enough" loungewear, when I am in them most of the time.  Also I realise lounge footwear is really bad for anything else.  I tripped over in my slipper and I had to patch my pajama bottom.  I will add that to the shopping list this Christmas sale.

Cucumbers

We got a very weedy cucumber from Lidl.   As an experiment,  I bought a cucumber and a large cucumber from Sainsbury's.  So I think the Lidl one was shy of 12" for about 48p?   The Sainsbury's standard one was 12" and chunkier for 60p and Sainsbury's large was 15" chunkier but the two ends were quite long for 80p.

So the Lidl one was weedy,  but others may not worth the extra money.

Meanwood Valley

We had a little walk at Meanwood Valley,  but instead of the official trail,  we went a but off piste,  it was very "urban" as Sarah called it.

Jenga House

Some old buildings in Hong Kong are held up by few load bearing beams and they are in bad order.  One building collapsed in 2010, and I only looked up the court recordings about how it happened.  Someone worked on a load bearing beam and the whole thing collapsed, JENGA! Luckily most of everyone ran out, only 4 didn't manage. 

Season of Cancellation

WTA has finally decided to cancel Nature Valley Eastbourne, despite still 3 months away.  That is the nail in the coffin for our trip.  I started cancelling everything.  There are some free cancellation, but I am bound to lose money.  I cannot wait to see the money back in the bank.

Don't Look at the Market

I knew the market is bad, and I made a mistake clicking onto my monthly statement.  Oh my god it was bad.