Thread 15 - TalkLair: “I Can't Lie To You About Your Chances, But... You Have My Sympathies.”

[Kucinghitam]

(Previous thread 14).

Autumn seems to have gone straight into winter. It's cold, wet and windy. In the TalkLair, the hearth is glowing, the walls covered in dubious artwork, books by non-approved authors line the shelves, rugs are down on the floors (and assorted pets curled up on them). The denizens of the lair are a welcoming bunch though, always eager for general chit-chat on all manner of topics.

We just won’t mention the gnawed bones of our prey over there in the corner of the cave…

Are you a Quaker, @GrowAndGreen ? Me too in theory but not always in practice.

I perhaps should add that it doesn't really taste 'of' parsnips; I doubt you'd be able to guess the ingredients from tasting. Anyway, enough of that, and thanks for the interest! I'll look out some suitable boxes. It used to be, at one time, that Pringles tubes were absolutely perfect for bottle postage. Then, one day, capitalism did what capitalism does, and Pringles decided to make the tube just that bit smaller... 🙁

I'd love to try some duc. You're very kind.

I have an aunt who lives In The Country. She opened a bottle of turnip wine she'd had from a friend once, and it was gorgeous. We only drank half, and when we started on the rest the next day it tasted of turnip, not wine.

I've found three boxes, so I think I can accommodate artant's bro, Bint, and PSBR.

I don't really like beer of any sort these days but that does look nice, @duc748. Hope everyone loves it.

Yay! I’ll DM you later.

I am not going to offer you any of my cheesy celeriac, leek and rosemary gratin, but will post a link to the recipe. This was inspired by a neighbour making celeriac soup and bringing over enough for lunch for two. I made it last night and took her a generous dinner portion, with new potatoes, this evening. I had forgotten just how good celeriac is. I went mad and used gruyère, which didn't overpower the veg.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/cheesy-celeriac-leek-rosemary-gratin

Thank you Duc! I've sent you a message (several actually thanks to MN software)

Oh wow Gonners - that looks amazing! Celeriac can be hard to find over here but I think that would work well with parsnips. I am catering Christmas lunch for about 15 of us this year and that says it can be prepared a day early and reheated so I may well put that on the menu.

I've also made that celeriac gratin recipe a few times and I can confirm it is absolutely, totally delicious. It's also incredibly rich.

That gratin looks delicious. I’m not crazy about celeriac but should probably try it again.

This evening I made a beetroot and black bean gratin (which also contained leek, carrot and assorted other stuff). No actual recipe but beetroot and black beans are a similar colour and I like alliteration so it seemed like a good idea. It’s possible my approach to cooking is a bit more casual than it might be.

That sounds like just the kind of thing I'd like, @Gonners , and certainly a contender for Xmas. Thanks!

Thanks to you @GrowAndGreen I've also joined the PPL.

A friend I haven't seen for a couple of months popped around for a quick visit this afternoon. We had to make it quick so I could go for immunotherapy. I'm a halfwit though, because I forgot you can't have treatment if you have an infection and I was suspicious of a chest infection that was confirmed by bloods, stethoscope and an x-ray. I'm quite short of breath but otherwise feel okay just knackered and itchy. A break from the treatment might ease those. Fingers crossed!

@duc748 I have had some alcohol. A small glass of prosecco. I didn't enjoy it much and I'm happy to stay off alcohol for the foreseeable. Oh! I forgot. I had half a shandy a couple of weeks ago. I enjoyed that more.

@MouseMinge I bought a bottle of Prosecco on Friday after not drinking for six weeks or so. I didn’t enjoy it much so there’s still half a bottle in the fridge, almost certainly undrinkable now! I felt quite disappointed as it was always a way for me to relax and get out of my head, but it’s probably for the best. I think Tai Chi has become my new Drinking.

I’m sorry to hear you have a chest infection, I hope the shortness of breath improves soon.

I'm sure it will. I'll pick up antibiotics tomorrow and I'll be grand in a day or two.

I tried Tai Chi a lot of years ago and wasn't convinced but I think that had a lot to do with the teacher. I'm keen to try it again.

That recipe looks delicious, Gonners, something you could eat a bowl of on its own.

Hope the antibiotics kick in soon, Mouse.

Someone shared this with me the other day. I'd forgotten about it for years but it's really good and apparently "the numbers are within one or two significant figures. A few statements are only approximately correct or have liberties with definitions, likely to fit within the meter of the song."

I'm not a Python fan generally but love that song and often quote (or even sing if there's no-one except cats to distress) the closing - hope? aspiration? statement.

DDs learned to sing that when they were tiny, albeit we taught them to sing "none at all" instead of the actual lyrics

Re that film. One of my classmates did Irish dancing. One of the younger students mother was boasting to anyone who would stand still long enough to listen that her daughter was singing and dancing in the film. I'd love to have seen her horrified face when she found out what she was singing and dancing to. The Sperm Song.

Lucky kids! In one of the comments on YouTube someone says their dad used to sing it as a lullaby and they still know all the words.

I've got an earworm now and don't care because it's so sane and grounding and so wonderfully surreal.

The Sperm Song.

That's really funny!

Brilliant! LOL

Just back from town. No celeriac in Lidl but I drove home via the main street and nipped into the greengrocers, and now have celeriac, leeks and a bag of Cox's orange pippins. That's Friday's dinner sorted.

Gonners · Yesterday 20:34

I don't want to seem ungrateful, but celeriac is one of the few things I actively dislike! Apart from that, it sounds great. Coincidentally, my daughter asked me to name a vegetable on Saturday, she thought I'd made it up!