WEST LONDON MEET-UP THREAD - AUGUST 2006 - EALING, ACTON, CHISWICK, KEW, RICHMOND, ISLEWORTH, KINGSTON ETC.

[MrsBigD]

I'm bored so here's a new thread to organise our August meet-up

Uwila suggested
10 August or
24 August

I can do 24th

I have been such a waster today - I have frittered away so much time on MN that I'm going to have to work like a slave tomorrow .

MrsBigD - you seem to have lots of spare time in work - can I email you over our accounts to reformat? [hopeful emoticon]

Yes very scary and teeth the size of a sabre-toothed tiger

You can spot me a mile off

think I've seen you in Waitrose CD - by the baby gazelle section

So, are you coming to the next one? 31 Aug. It's either at SueJonez's house in Kew or a restaurant. But haven't seen any restaurant suggestions flying around... so looks like Sue is entertaining. How big is your place, Sue???

Can you put a lot of garlic in the chili just in case?

can fit eight around the table without too much of a crush (though not much dancing room around the edges with the table extended). Or outside if the weather is still tropical.

Will order in extra garlic if necessary.

If we end up with 15 (seems unlikely) will do it all standing up and rotate people between the garden and the house (ooh, I could set up a ticketing system with 30 mins in garden then 30 mins in house)

right, after the last one, I'm afraid I'm not attending and outdoor get together. So, I'll expext a box office myself.

but it hardly EVER rains in the Uk in the summer - that week was so exceptional - couldn't possibly happen again

SJ bored stiff at work and Wednesday and Thursday boss is out so will have zilch to do LOL feel free to send some work my way.

Yummy garlic. Yes please!

What ho y'all. Hope everyone had a good weekend recovering from the insane Thurs rush hour commute. Dinner was excellent and it was great to see you. Except for my squirrelly tummy that evening (though a bit of good pizza finally settled it nicely), I got off easy with the rush hour thing. Instead of stewing in a train/bus/car for 2 hrs or whatever, instead I had to wade through a dozen yards of puddle, up past the ankles, of (hopefully well-diluted by that point) drunkard's piss. (thru a popular passage with a deep dip and a blocked drain)

But anyways, I unfortunately can't make it Aug 31 thanks to a long-overdue and delayed trip to take ds to visit relatives. Which I'm looking forward to (but can't think about yet with all the bustle about moving to a new flat next week), but @#$%!, I'm sorry to miss a fun chili piss-up at SJ's house with you all...

Don't forget misc. chili essentials:
Mounds of:
*sour cream
*chopped onions
*cheddar cheese
*real cornbread with lots of butter
*gallons of cold lager

Yuk, leave the sour cream and cheese off for me. Actually, I love the cheese, but my arse is quite large enough.

Hey, we could have a chili cook off... (oh sorry, my Texan past is emerging... forget I said that)

a cook off sounds fun... what is it? Everybody working together or having a race who's done first with the most potent mixture?

And I'll have all the essentials to go with the chili bar the heaps of butter and lager

Uwila you're fishing again... your bum isn't all that big you know ;)

Sorry, I have a weakness for sour cream...since I actually do not very often eat anything to put it on, on the rare occasions that I do, I feel free to heap it on...
e.g. I hardly ever eat jacket potatoes but a few times a year, actually, which I know is weird, but maybe it's because I really don't enjoy them as much until they're buried under a pint of butter and sour cream. Having that for lunch every day would probably be a Bad Idea.

Also a little confused by the cook-off logistics - new olympic sport?

Was only planning to serve sour cream (on the side of course) as a garnish not half the contents of Sainsburys! And you can whistle if you're expecting cornbread! Maybe a nice baguette?

o.k. I'll bring the cheese and tortilla chips

I think cook-offs are usually more like comparing different recipes to see which tastes best. But with chili it often seems to just be about whose is hottest. (Chili being kind of a yank version of vindaloo. Hence the lager. And sour cream for raita, and corn muffins instead of naan.) But then that's probably because most of the people in the county-fair cook-offs seem to be men, and of course they're always focused on Whose Is Bigger. Style not counting for anything.

(although there are always the perennial debates between Schools Of Thought, for instance using chunky cubes of beef as opposed to mince, and whether beans are allowed to be involved or not)

But Uwila would be the best expert here, since she's at least lived in Texas.

Hmmm... well I don't actually know the criteria for the best chili, but I don't think it is judges on heat alone. At least that wouldn't be my criteria... well not all of it.

Tortilla chips? hmmm... if you like.

Beans are deffo involved. Prefer black myself. And lots of tomatoe and onion. yummmm....

Should we do a BYOB thing so that Sue doesn't have to carry too much of the cost of this shindig?

I think we've probably scared CD off with the chili talk. A bit too AMerican / common for her I expect.

hi sorry to intrude but a good friend is thinking of moving to kingston..any hints best bit etc ? thanks all xx

Can you give me a bit more information? Like does she travel to the city? Kids in school?

Don't worry Uwila - I had intended a "bring the following" list. I'll do the things which are tricky to carry or can't be bought off the shelf to make things easier.

I only do red beans in chili (only used black inChinese, what are they like in Chili?)

They are yummy. Frijoles negro! Yummy. And, I believe they are more nutritious as well.

You can get them at Sainsbury's.

shall i bring some green lemons - for the tequila

Hey, did you know that lemons in mexico ARE green? Taste like lemons, look like limes. Go figure.

But, gin is still not brown as far as I know. Maybe you have tequilla and tonic the other night? Or I still think she may have just peed in the glass.

if she had she needs to see a doctor that was not a healthy colour for wee!