Amazon exiles discussion
Don't Kill Snails with Salt ... Creme Eggs & Toasted Teacakes ... Biscuits & Bench Stories, Life, the Universe, & Everything!
Thanks for the recommendation, Tim ;o>I guess I was hoping more for just a simple recipe that was also a reasonable price as well as being a really good Lemonade but I think I will have to concede that I will need to pay a bit more for a decent mixer if I really want to get the most out of enjoying an occasional Port & Lemon and a few Snowballs at Christmas time.
The 7up Regular arrived from Amazon today and so I decided to give it a trial run this evening. The good news is that I would never know it had any Sweetener as an ingredient if I hadn't seen it listed and it is a pleasant enough tasting Lime fizz that is thankfully not all that sweet too.
I have mixed feelings though over it not being as full-flavoured and zingy as I was hoping it might be and, to my great surprise, it fizzed and foamed quite spectacularly when made into a Snowball ... and then immediately went completely flat when I tried drinking it! ... LOL! ;o>
As a defizzified Snowball taste-wise it was okay. I have never been a fan of fizzy drinks unless they are used as a mixer and blend together until they only have a soft bubble. But this time I was missing some fizz and was still thinking it needed a slice of Lemon or Lime for added flavour (neither of which I had) to create a more authentic Snowball.
I think the next buy is going to have to be Belvoir although the price for a small bottle still makes me wince. The Lemonade that I saw on Franklins & Sons website was this one, Tim ...
"1886 Original Lemonade ... Sun-drenched lemon flavours and sparkling water blend together to make this original recipe lemonade. Perfect for drinking neat, adding to a spirit or an ingredient in a cocktail. Available in 200ml bottles and 150ml cans. Ingredients ... Sparkling water, sugar, lemon juice from concentrate (3%), acidifier: citric acid, natural flavours, antioxidant: ascorbic acid. Gluten-free. Contains no artificial colours, flavours or sweeteners and no preservatives."
https://franklinandsons.co.uk/product...
Oooh, I just saw a great offer on San Pellegrino on Amazon?! ;o>I tried a couple of cans of the Regular version a few years ago and found them to be a tiny bit 'tinny' in taste and also a touch too much on the unsweet and sharp and raw side as a mixer in a Port & Lemon ... but still, I am feeling tempted to give them another go in a Snowball ... 12 x 330ml currently showing up as £6.68 for me ...
Hmmm? ... decisions, decisions ...
I think I may end up becoming an expert Lemonade taster by New Year ;o>
The first day of December ...
suzysunshine7 wrote: ";o> ... ;o> ... ;o> ..."
Good old Brian.
I have treated myself to this Advent calendar
https://angelaharding.co.uk/products/...
Definitely no chocolate involved.
Oooh that looks interesting, Sussex. I hope it lives up to all of your hopes and expectations ... xI took a brief look around at Advent Calendars a couple of weeks ago but was a bit stunned by the prices and decided it wasn't worth the expense for all of the ones that I was seeing. I may take another look though and see if any prices have dropped now that December is here.
I did buy one for my Mum though. She has only recently come to discover the "happy world of Haribo" and it is now one of her most favourite sweet treats. She actually let me have one of the tiny gummy bears today in return for a generous half share of my KitKat! ;o>
suzysunshine7 wrote: ";o> ... ;o> ... ;o> ..."
And it was the same bloody calendar every year, carefully stored away like some valuable family heirloom, so we got to know what picture was behind each window!
I used to love opening the door each morning when I was wee to see what picture was behind it. On saying that D got me a Cadbury chocolate advent calendar from Tesco and there is a picture once you take the chocolate out. So far there have been a gingerbread man and a Santa. Maybe not quite as detailed pictures as those of yesteryear though.
Helen The Melon wrote: "And it was the same bloody calendar every year, carefully stored away like some valuable family heirloom, so we got to know what picture was behind..."I remember a few early childhood Advent Calendars that had the exact same picture of something like a bell, only in a slightly different rather poorly printed colour, behind at least a quarter of the windows.
One year my Grandad said to my Nanna ... "I bet you a £ it's another bloody bell!". Unfortunately my baby brother overheard him and then took great delight in repeating it to my Mum every time we opened another window ... !
Grandad was in Nanna's bad books for some weeks afterwards ... and my brother? ... well, let's just say it was a good job he was so small and could run really fast so my Mum could never manage to catch up with him! ... Happy Days! ... LOL!!! ;o>
Collette wrote: "I used to love opening the door each morning when I was wee to see what picture was behind it. On saying that D got me a Cadbury chocolate advent calendar from Tesco and there is a picture once you..."I think the retro style of many of the Advent Calendars that I am seeing now are much more artistic and far better printed than the ones that I remember from my 1970s childhood, Collette.
Sometimes it was quite hard to guess exactly what the picture was or why it was being used to represent themes of Christmas ;o>
Amazingly I found a few for sale on eBay ... here's one for £7 + £2.94 p&p ...
I LOVE this! ;o> There was a tiny tabby cat called Bea who once lived at the Catnap Cafe in Christchurch in New Zealand until she was happily adopted into her forever home where she still lives today. Bea became SO completely obsessed with the Blueberry Muffins on the menu that the Cafe had to put up a warning disclaimer for all their customers so they would know exactly what to expect if they ever dared to order one! ...
I am starting to get a bit nervous about the future of our Christmas Tree now ;o> ...
Thanks Val.Treacle doesn't go near the tree at all.
x x x ! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANITA ! x x x ...
Telstra is our largest telecommunications network in Australia. They do some great ads. This is their Christmas one - guaranteed to bring a smile to your faces.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaJOv...
Happy belated Birthday to you, Anita!
Val wrote: "Telstra is our largest telecommunications network in Australia. They do some great ads. This is their Christmas one - guaranteed to bring a smile to your faces.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaJ..."
Awww, I love anything that features a Donkey ;o>
Val wrote: "Telstra is our largest telecommunications network in Australia. They do some great ads. This is their Christmas one - guaranteed to bring a smile to your faces.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaJ..."
Thanks, Val. 😊
The current Christmas countdown here in the UK ...13 days ... 12 hours ... 45 minutes ... and 7 seconds
;o>
I swear I can still hear Lez Lee somewhere out there in the ether shouting ..."SUZY!!! ... NOT THE 'C' WORD!!!"
Ohhh Lez, if only you knew just how deeply missed you will always be by us all on here ... x x x
suzysunshine7 wrote: "I swear I can still hear Lez Lee somewhere out there in the ether shouting ..."SUZY!!! ... NOT THE 'C' WORD!!!"
Ohhh Lez, if only you knew just how deeply missed you will always be by us all on..."
I think of her every time I look at the apod. Thanks, Lez! ✨
Every year, when I sit down to eat our Christmas meal, it always suddenly comes to my mind that Lez Lee will still be somewhere enjoying her takeaway King Prawn Curry ;o>I don't envy the poor Delivery Driver's incredibly long and complicated journey to drop it off now! ...
"It says here ... up above you, take a left turn at the third cloud on the right and then follow that star?!?!?"
;o>
I soon gave up on the idea of wanting to buy any more of the 7up Regular Lemon & Lime. It's hard to explain why but I couldn't shake off the memory that the aftertaste reminded me of the smell of a Washing Up Liquid that we used to use many years ago. I think it was probably the artificial aftertaste of the Lime that kept triggering the connection to soapy suds. It isn't a bad memory at all, just not one that I want to always be foremost in my Mind every time I enjoy a special treat of a Snowball ;o>
I am currently using up a really cheap Lemonade from Iceland ... Kingsley Lemonade 2 Litre ... and I really didn't have much of an expectation that it would be all that good as it only cost 80p. It is very highly rated on it's reviews and I would agree that the Sweetener blend is certainly one that also seems to suit my own tastebuds (Sucralose and Acesulfame K) and you can even just about get a vague taste of Lemon when drinking it neat too.
However it immediately becomes a really tasteless watery fizz that soon goes almost completely flat when used as a mixer and added to Advocaat.
I am still waiting on the Belvoir. After seeing quite a few reviews mentioning leakage and smashed glass bottles on Amazon I decided instead to order it through our local weekly Grocery Home Delivery and it has unfortunately been out of stock and unavailable so far.
The Snails are taking their own sweet time to decorate in here this year ... 
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Battery-Oper...
I finally got up into Attic and successfully got down the ladder again with the outdoor Fairy Lights we use to cover some of the bushes and hedges outside the front and the back of the house ;o>I still haven't fully committed to the idea of setting up the indoor Christmas Tree yet but at least we can share our lovely little Lights with all the neighbours.
It seems everyone here in our little side road has waited until this week to put their own Lights up. Yesterday there was nothing to look at but today I can see what will become a beautiful Winter wonderland of Lights being assembled in several of the front gardens.
I can hardly wait for it to get dark now so that I can look out and see how they all come together to illuminate our road. One neighbour who lives almost opposite us, Anna, has spent over two hours now on her driveway assembling her gorgeous three small Reindeers that pull a tiny Sleigh ... a favourite seasonal sight that always makes the spirit of my inner child rejoice every year ;o>
The brilliance of Brian Bilston again ... ;o> ...
https://brianbilston.com/events/
https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/...
I was out for lunch on Monday with four good friends and my younger daughter (a blow-in). We go to the same (historic Melbourne landmark) hotel every year and usually have the daily lunch & pre-theatre set menu (£20.00)available 12.00-2.30pm and 5.30-6.30pm (scroll down to the bottom of Page 2)
https://alh-res.cloudinary.com/image/...
The fresh bread and olive oil is to die for!
In recent years we've thought the set menu was a bit disappointing so three of us went a la carte. I had the asparagus risotto and very nice it was too, but the three who did opt for the set menu said how really good it was this year. Add in wine and a couple of desserts, tea and coffee, we wound up splitting the bill and we each paid £25.00.
I've converted all my family to Brian Bilston via gifts of his books and CR is currently re-reading his Christmas book with a poem a day. She sent me this one after lunch:
Last Christmas (Office Christmas Lunch Remix)
(Chorus)
Last Christmas, I ate a la carte
But the very next day I was ill straightaway
This year, to save me from tears,
I’m picking from one of the specials (specials)
Once bitten, spiced pie
Broke my resistance, the microbes multiplied
Filo pastry, do you recognise me?
It’s been a year since I have looked at a cranberry
Happy Christmas, I chewed you up and ate you
Then in the toilet, I quickly learnt to hate you
Yes, I know, such a squalid scene
And if I ate you once more, I know you’d floor me again
(Repeat Chorus)
A crowded restaurant, menu coming at me
My wine glass empty, I need a drink so badly
Asked a question but I don’t wanna talk more
I’m too busy looking for the chalk board
The waiter’s back, a decision to make
He’s recommending the mushroom lentil bake
I order swede soup, got no plans for a main
Don’t want last year to ever happen again
And no, none of us suffered any after effects.
It sounds a joyfully memorable lunch with the best of company that also turned out to be great value for money as well, Val ;o>I have a genuine question though if you don't mind me asking? ... as I am always really interested in food ... (no surprise there! ;o>) ... but I've never been able to understand the reason why so many people greatly enjoy eating bread dipped in any kind of oil?
I'm always left wondering whenever I come across it featured as part of a food programme on TV ... what exactly is the huge appeal of eating pieces of bread like this intentionally saturated in either a flavoured or unflavoured liquid fat?
I do really love a crispy crunchy bit of crackling on a joint and a small amount of fried fat on my bacon rashers but, apart from that, I have an aversion to putting anything 'greasy' in my mouth which is the reason why I don't like cream cakes because I can't bear the taste or texture of eating mouthfuls of double/whipped or single cream. It always has be delicious creme pat or a simple yummy custard for me when it comes to choosing those kinds of special treats.
suzysunshine7 wrote: "It sounds a joyfully memorable lunch with the best of company that also turned out to be great value for money as well, Val ;o>I have a genuine question though if you don't mind me asking? ... as..."
Suzy, I think it might be an in-built thing, like the love/hate with sprouts. Some people have a gene variant (?), I think I saw somewhere, that makes sprouts taste unpleasant. I love butter, cream etc and have to be strict with myself when they're around. On the other hand, although I like the flavour of chocolate, there's something about the texture that really puts me off. I always want to go and brush my teeth after eating any. We have a friend who dislikes butter, cream, oil, in the way you do but he'll eat any amount of chocolate. I was reading an introduction that Agatha Christie wrote to a collection of short stories and she said she and her friend would go to a local café and order half a pint of cream each and drink it. I imagine it was single cream but even so! That's my possible explanation, anyway. I've got such a thing for butter that I buy different kinds to try and I have my favourites. My brother and sister all have/had the same characteristic but Helen was like you and disliked cream in any form. G can take or leave cream etc and chocolate. I quite enjoy bread dipped in olive oil but it has to have balsamic as well. Maybe Val is like me for that?
I find it utterly fascinating just how similar and yet also how very different and individually unique we all are ;o>I did, on the extremely rare occasions that I once used to go out to eat, enjoy having a full Breakfast occasionally accompanied by a yummy crunchy crispy slice of Fried Bread ... just so long as it wasn't ever soggily undercooked and oozing with fat ... (*shudder*)
And I do, perversely, enjoy having a little spoonful of cream on the top of a Scone so long as there is also an equal dollop of a tangy fruit Jam to go with it ... but something like a Chocolate Eclair type of pastry filled with lots of cream is the very last kind of cake I would ever willingly choose to eat.
And yes, I also enjoy eating (salted but never unsalted) Butter, and Chocolate too, although it is most definitely my Mum who is the insatiable chocoholic in our house ;o>
We mostly tend to drink Tea at home so, if we ever go out, we tend to opt instead for a delicious fresh roast Coffee as a part of the treat. This makes it very easy and straightforward if I ever get an unrequested and unexpected addition of being served single or whipped/squirty cream on my dessert/cake as I just pour or spoon it into my Mum's Coffee cup or on top of her dessert/cake ;o>
EUWWWWWWW! ... I always liked Agatha Christie until now! ... LOL!!!
OHHH NOOOOOOO!!! ... I just had to go and read more about it, didn't I?!! ..."As the literary food blog Paper and Salt describes, Christie didn't just like a little bit of Half and Half in her tea; she would down whole cups of rich cream, and she ate Devonshire clotted cream, a dairy product closer to butter than whipping cream, with a spoon.
According to her grandson, "She used to drink cream from a huge cup with 'Don't be greedy' written on the side, an injunction she never showed any sign of obeying." Writing your own never-obeyed signs about self-control is definitely one of the signs of a true addict."
... I am sat here actually retching at the very thought of what it must have been like to have Afternoon Tea with Agatha Christie now!!! ;oO
suzysunshine7 wrote: "I'm always left wondering whenever I come across it featured as part of a food programme on TV ... what exactly is the huge appeal of eating pieces of bread like this intentionally saturated in either a flavoured or unflavoured liquid fat? ..."In my opinion, good olive oil definitely has a taste and it's more aligned to olives than just to fat. Plus it is always mixed with balsamic vinegar and somehow the combination of really good sourdough bread dipped in the olive oil/balsamic mix just works!
Interesting, Val. I obviously have some negative issues with the texture and sensation of having liquid fat in my mouth and I cannot distinguish any kind of pleasurable flavour on doing so either. I have also never liked Olives because of their texture and taste so I am guessing that is also in the back of my Mind whenever I think about dipping anything in Olive Oil.
I've always wondered? ... is there a huge difference in taste between Green and Black Olives? I know of a couple of people who love Olives but one will only buy and eat Green ones and for the other it has to be Black ones.
I wouldn't call myself an olive devotee but I do like them on pizza and in a Greek salad. My preference is for black Kalimata olives and I don't like stuffed olives. The suburb where we live is in the heart of a vibrant Greek community and I admire the way those who may be even third generation now preserve and support their culture whether it's by all speaking fluent Greek, shopping at their specialist fresh fish, delis, record shops(!) and even nut shops (we have two that just sell nuts). Oakleigh Mall is full of open air cafés with Greek music ringing out and Greek voices socialising - could be downtown Athens!
It sounds a wonderful area to wander around and do some foodie shopping, Val ;o>Two shops that just sell Nuts?! ... WOW!!! ... they must be extremely popular and do a roaring trade to still exist in times like these when so many Shops are having to continually diversify in stock to make a profit and stay in business.
Another Brian Bilston for Christmas Eve? ;o> ... 
Oooh, can anyone else on this Forum hear the jingle of Sleigh Bells? ;o>
Wishing everyone a gentle and a kind day filled with love, light and peace ... x x x ...
Merry Christmas to all - wherever and however you choose to spend your day, I hope it satisfies you and most of all, you are able to relax. Our Christmas was a bit simpler this year and the family did much of the heavy lifting. It's 5.30pm now and a sultry 33 degrees C. Everyone has repaired to my son's house and I am happy to put my feet up with a cup of tea and a piece of homemade shortbread. Bliss!
It sounds like a great day was had by the whole family, Val ... x x xAs you know, we are not really doing Christmas as we usually would here.
However Pixie is nonstop zooming all over the house with her new Turkey Drumstick Toy and Mum and me decided a couple of hours ago that we would go ahead and cook the Turkey Joint and have a special meal together this afternoon ;o>
The Turkey Drumstick Toy for Pixie has been a huge success all day long! ;o>It's been carried everywhere, repeatedly dropped on my foot or in my lap no matter which room I've been in, and she has tried so many times to ram it underneath my Bed that I've lost count now! ;o>
I never thought she would love it SO much that she wouldn't be parted from it?! ... LOL!!!
I hope you both had a lovely Christmas it sounds like you did .Pixie will be shattered,I take it she's asleep now.As Suzy said I. My. believe a shopj just sells nuts.
Pixie finally crashed out and face-planted the carpet around 4pm, Anita ;o>I picked her up and put her in her Radiator Hammock Bed and she slept right through until 10pm and then I carried into the Kitchen and put her in her overnight bed. I've left her a bowl of her favourite Whiskas and some Cat Treats and I'll check on her and make sure she is still okay at 1am before I finally get to go to bed.
I don't allow her to have any Toys overnight for safety reasons so I am keeping guard of her Turkey Drumstick on the chair in my room. In the lowlight of my bedside lamp it's decidedly demented looking grin is rather disturbing to look at! ... LOL!!! ;o> ...
A belated Merry Christmas everyone, and hope you're all enjoying Boxing Day. 
Amazon exiles
Books mentioned in this topic
Ten Poems about Snow (other topics)And So This is Christmas: 51 Seasonally Adjusted Poems (other topics)
The Tiger Who Came to Tea (other topics)
The Quangle Wangle's Hat (other topics)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Christina Rossetti (other topics)John Keats (other topics)
Joan Aiken (other topics)
Mum sometimes has Belvoir elderflower cordial, which she has enjoyed. Their lemonade apparently contains only three ingredients; spring water, lemon juice and 9% sugar, so would seem what you're after. Looking at Franklin's website they don't appear to do a straight lemonade.