🦈 Archers thread #137: See left - have they jumped it? Discuss The Caseys - sorry, The Archers - here.

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

Thank you, @PseudoBadger, for kicking off this long, long series of Archers threads.

All views on The Archers welcome here! New blood welcomed. We don't all agree on all points and most of us are posting tongue in cheek a lot of the time, so don't worry about revealing that you think Steph Casey is a wonderful addition to the programme, or similar odd views.

Spoilers: not on this thread, please. We don't wait for the omnibus to discuss the weeknight episodes, but we do try our best to avoid cross-contamination from www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/4197199--The-Archers-spoilers-thread-6-Cant-wait-for-7-02pm-Join-us-here, where spoilers are positively welcomed!

For newer listeners, lurkers or those who just have no idea what we're talking about, @DadDadDad has created this useful thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/3557323-For-Archers-fans-a-guide-to-acronyms-on-the-long-running-discussion-threads-and-any-other-meta-thread-questions-you-may-have - BOOP point for him! (See thread for explanation.)

Too dispirited to add much else. Have we reached a new low?

I suppose the Archer twins will be born before we need a new thread. 👶👶
Any thoughts on names? Patrick and Antonia were suggested before - inspired! Peggy has to be a strong contender.

Over to you!

I am vegetarian who doesn't mind goats cheese, I don't love it and forever associate work Christmas meals with goats cheese tart. I am not overly fond of mushrooms and hate wild mushrooms and for years they plagued vegetarian menus. Coming back to vegetables on pizza I love artichoke hearts and recently had a rather fancy pizza with cauliflower and pomegranate molasses which was very nice, albeit rather sweet.

Honey on fresh cheese is, of course, delicious and very common in Russia and Georgia, for instance, but I think the combination would be unappetising alongside a tomato-based sauce and overcooked, as well as, burnt asparagus. The whole experience would be made worse if the pizza was served up by a hot and bothered Adam who has had his head in the oven for too long….

I don’t like sweet things on pizzas (or fish actually though that’s irrelevant) but obviously many many people do (eg pineapple)…

I'm not vegetarian, but I often take the vegetarian option when I eat out because it's nicer and I try to cut down on meat consumption. I love goats cheese and mushrooms but am allergic to nuts. I do wish a higher percentage of vegetarian restaurant meals were nut free.

It could be a white pizza, which would at least cut out the tomato-honey combo.

I hope the intern is making notes to feed back to Ian. White pizza base is a good shout.

I'm bored of the whole pizza business already and they don't even have a van! If Ian creates a lot of niche "toppings" he'll have too much wastage (maybe that's why Grey Gables was in the state it was in!).

I'm hoping that Natasha turns out to be "Gina Ford on steroids" (or whatever the latest baby rearing book is these days).

Ok back to non pizza stories. I reckon Natasha is going to go on a spending frenzy with her credit cards on getting high end nonsense for Tat and Pony.

Asparagus is wasted on pizza.

As long as a pizza has capers, I’m happy. Olives and anchovies too and I’m in heaven. Which is one reason I’m not a veggie.

It sounds almost as if they’ve been doing a slow build on George with the understated church theft story. But he is such a horror that his upbringing alone can’t explain, not just the bullying but his transactional view of human relations - others are a resource for him to plunder, and if you don’t take advantage of someone more vulnerable, you’re not being decent, you’re being stupid.

I could almost imagine the hayfield. I don't know why I listen any more.

I can just remember, back when I was a tiny child, there were sheaves (stooks?) of wheat drying in the fields and haystacks and haywagons.

Then I lived overseas for a few years, when I came back in the '60s it had all gone .

Isn't sausage, mash and broccoli a suitable meal for an active 4 year old?

I still dream of a white pizza with bacon, goats cheese, walnuts, sliced potato and a drizzle of honey from a place in the French village my parents live in. That restaurant has changed hands and they don’t make pizzas any more. This makes me sad.

On a related note, the idea that a poncey artisan pizza truck would be in competition with the WI refreshments tent is absolutely laughable. Completely different offerings.

I don't see why not. It's all about the portion size.

'It sounds almost as if they’ve been doing a slow build on George with the understated church theft story. But he is such a horror that his upbringing alone can’t explain, not just the bullying but his transactional view of human relations - others are a resource for him to plunder, and if you don’t take advantage of someone more vulnerable, you’re not being decent, you’re being stupid.'*
*
Thats the worst part of Eddie though without any of his decency (which generally prevails). Like a distorted version really. So I wonder if if is possible to see how he's arrived at this.

Bit late to the asparagus pizza party, but my main complaint would be that Ian and Adam are touting themselves as using ' high-quality local ingredients' and the English asparagus season is now over. Maybe in May this would be a goer, although I'm not convinced by the combination. I certainly wouldn't be eating it with the Peruvian or Mexican asparagus in the shops now. We eat asparagus embarrassingly regularly while it's local, and then none until next spring <sob>

Not sure what's happening to Chelsea. I'm torn between it being believable that she's fiercely loyal to her mum (although not loyal enough to cook the tea apparently ) and just finding her sniping at Brad really unpleasant.

Pleased to see it wasn't just me working out the Horrobin family tree and relationships.

Clarrie brought an interesting long-term view to parenting last night. The confidence that 'it'll be alright in the end', which is probably what Pip wanted to hear although not necessarily what Rosie needs. I'm enjoying the ambiguity of having a 'fat' child on the radio - we don't actually know her stats (although we now know the NHS website agrees she's overweight) and so it's interesting to see how it's portrayed and interpreted by different people. I wonder if Pip will come round to the 'it's okay really' viewpoint and then be hit by a letter once Rosie is weighed and measured at school...

Sausage is UPF, high in fat and salt. Mash is high-GI with lots of butter, broccoli is ok.
Unless it was a tiny sausage, a tiny amount of mash and a big pile of broccoli then no.

They've turned panto villain up to 11 on George.

I'm so fed up of the "Oliver sacked me" angle.

As someone with a physically demanding job, perhaps Pip is inclined to larger portions.

(Speaking of which, I once went on a team building course where we did rock climbing, orienteering etc and, oh the bliss, we were told to eat about 4,000 calories a day.)

I have always imagined Pip as being on the sturdy side, a bit like Zara Tindall.

Oh gosh, Bore, sturdy is an euphimism for fat. ZT is hardly fat. I can imagine Pip being athletic-looking though. I imagine Ruth as small and fairly slight, Pip maybe medium height and a bit more like David.

I'd be happy if I looked like ZT - she looks terrific

No, no Whopping, not fat at all! I'd also be very happy to look like ZT but she's never been fashionably sylph-like, and I've always 'seen' Pip as having a similar build.

What are 4 year olds fed on nowadays?

Words like curvy have been hijacked a bit. I'd think of someone who was curvy to have a typical hourglass figure but know some women who describe themselves as curvy when they are several kg overweight.

@MereDintofPandiculation , I'd give a child the same as I eat myself but in smaller portions but I don't eat sausages or mash. I don't normally add salt to food.
I had no idea that people added butter to mash until about 5 years ago. I wondered why people raved about bangers and mash.

Some of us also add cream

I gave my two children good-quality sausage, mash and broccoli for their main meal from time to time. In appropriate portion sizes. They ran around a lot and in the winter they needed the calories. Both were slim—possibly thin by todays standards.

Snacks and soft drinks are likely to be more of a problem.