Archers thread #146: They did fall apart. Can they put themselves together again? Discuss 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, and of course we are always delighted to welcome back former or occasional listeners/posters. We don't all agree on all points, although we do mostly try to be civil about it. Most of us are posting tongue in cheek a lot of the time, so don't worry about revealing that you'd like to donate your time as a guide at Lower Loxley to save the Pargetters paying someone else a living wage, or other unusual 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/4636789-the-archers-spoilers-thread-7-cant-wait-for-702pm-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.)

Thanks to @Impostersyndrome for the thread title suggestion Buses and trains are sorely lacking, canals might be nearby, but all roads lead to Ambridge, picking up on transport discussions in the last thread. In the end I didn't use it, having in mind the character limit. @TottersBlankly contributed an early draft title Wreathes, wrath, writhing (Jennifer, Lilian, Ruairi). Both good starting points for the new thread, which I hope will last till Jennifer's funeral, surely not too far off now. So, over to you - whither the Aldridges? Also, does anyone care if Lee goes to the US? Is anyone even slightly interested in the Brookfield B&B venture?

Scrambled egg may be easy, but good scrambled egg is not, and in my experience is not often found in boughten breakfasts. I'd be more likely to opt for boiled from a kitchen at a B&B: there is less that can be done to those to make them nasty.

Eggs aren't easy to cook without care and attention. I would risk fried when out, or something made with hard-boiled eggs, but soft-boiled, poached and scrambled are all likely to be disappointing. A recent thread on here about restaurants using ready meals taught me that poached eggs are often bought in from a wholesaler in plastic pouches ready for reheating.

My scrambled egg isn't worth bothering with, but I like it if staying in a B&B.
I make poached egg just the way I like it and it's so easy.

I don't want sourdough anything - the clue is in the name

I remember getting a carton of (Burger King or McDonald's?) scrambled egg mixture during the great Shielding Box episode of lockdown.

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g , What?!
All you need is a pan of boiling water and an egg. Switch off heat. Leave a few minutes, then remove cooked egg from the pan.
Maybe my cookery is more Cordon 'dOff than Cordon Bleu

Yes, I know that, and my poached eggs are pretty good. Unfortunately it seems restaurants and cafes don't have the time or money to cook them to order.

Oh good, @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g , I never knew if I was making them properly. I hated poached egg as a child - it was sort of rubbery and the yolk solid. I eat mine with the white still slightly runny. Yum, all that runny yolk.

Yes, runny yolk is key! I like scrambled eggs to be very creamy and only just cooked. My mum's were very solid and led me to believe I didn't like scrambled eggs until I was old enough to cook them myself.

I've found my people!

Microwaved poached egg? Microwaved ... poached egg?

I could ask in Food/Recipes, but if I found pancake mix BBE 05/2019, should I bin it? It's still sealed.
I inadvertently bought a four-pack of alcohol-free G&T. That was a very sad evening, I can tell you. A bottle of tonic would have been far less disappointing.
Could I give the remaining 3 tins to a food bank? It has no alcoholic content at all but the packaging looks like the regular one apart from it says alcohol-free.
Maybe Alice might like tolerate it.

I think ‘imitation’ alcoholic drinks are generally frowned upon by food banks - certainly our local doesn’t like them as they simulate the taste of alcohol so can stimulate a craving. That’s what the vicar said anyway.

Id usually ask my street WhatsApp if anyone wanted them!

Runny yolk essential in poached egg. I miss them during pregnancy. But a hard rubbery poached egg - no thank you.

Dillydallydilly
Runny yolk essential in poached egg. I miss them during pregnancy. But a hard rubbery poached egg - no thank you.

Because of more than one poached egg disaster (don't ask; you are happier not knowing and worrying lest it is catching) I discovered that eggs cooked in the microwave are not bad at all if you fill a ramekin with frozen shredded spinach, put that in the microwave and cook for a couple of minutes, drain it a bit, make a hole in it and break in an egg, then cook the whole lot at low until the egg is cooked enough to suit you. I think there's fancy French word for "with spinach", but I can't remember it. Anyway, at the moment that is how I like my eggs. Safer than poaching in vinegar and water.

takes notes

My mum's were very solid and led me to believe I didn't like scrambled eggs until I was old enough to cook them myself.

I’m afraid that I imagine Ben’s scrambled egg overcooking to be overcooked and solid like your Mum’s @gasp!

I doubt the Brookfield fridge would have had fresh chives or smoked salmon in there. It would almost certainly have stocked Cheddar, though, which melted into the eggs, would have pleased me - though probably not Innes. Eggs are really not my favourite thing - though I have no problems worrying down an omelette if it has enough cheese, ham and avocado in it.

Sorry- overcooking

Hardly! Think of the fuel costs! There’s a reason why so many of our tomatoes are imported

Chives, smoked salmon, Cheddar?

[falls back onto fainting couch, carefully protecting broken finger]
[comes round]

I make scrambled eggs by meltingplenty of butter in a pan over very low heat, then adding beaten egg and occasionally stirring. When cooked to the creamy soft consistency I like, which takes several minutes, I spoon onto freshly made buttered toast, season liberally with sea salt and black pepper, eat immediately.

My mum made them by putting beaten egg. probably polluted with milk, into a very hot pan and cooking until extremely solid.

I read somewhere that even hotels doing their own poached eggs do them the night before, then slide them into boiling water long enough to warm them.

but if I found pancake mix BBE 05/2019, should I bin it? It's still sealed. It’s best before not eat before, so no need to bin. I read a pancake mix packet once “just add milk and an egg”. I struggled to think what was in it apart from flour.

I think there's fancy French word for "with spinach", but I can't remember it. “Florentine” is on a spinach base with a Mornay sauce. See Eggs Florentine.

I tend to see BBE dates as a challenge, so I'd almost certainly use it. I hope one of the Aldridges is going through Jennifer's cupboards and freezer. I can't see Brian using all her spices, herbs, unusual pulses, grains and so on.

Brian does seem to be using stuff she put into the freezer, because the Beef Wellington had been made by her and then frozen. I hope she used some system of noting the dates when she had cooked things and put them in there, though; it would be a shame if things she'd cooked spoiled through being frozen for too long.

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime "I hope she used some system of noting the dates when she had cooked things and put them in there, though... "

This is Jennifer we're talking about - of course she did! Not only that, but she kept a notebook listing everything, with dates, where exactly it was and providing reheating/cooking instructions, and made sure Brian understood how the system worked. She seems to have failed to tell him the oven needs to be warmed up, though.

regarding bbe - would that go against food safety in a commercial enterprise?

I expect so.

Re knowing oven needs to pre-heat, my husband, a paragon in most respects, but a non-cook, has probably failed to retain this information. He would be flummoxed by the contents of our freezer, mostly unlabelled, but fortunately our daughter wouldn't.

Love eggs anyway they are cooked except snotty. I also love linda shes great.

Florentine? I use the almost same method for microwave poached egg on spinach but I put the white in the dent and give it a short burst before adding the yolk otherwise I find the yolk over does for me. its not entirely the same as doing them in the pan but its pretty good.

I have tried another method which takes 45 seconds for an egg in a glass with half a cup of water and that works surprisingly well but I still prefer them from the pan.

Florentine. Thank you!

You can buy microwave egg poachers, but they involve rather a lot of cleaning and don't seem to me to be any less faff than a pan would be. I was given one once, but I have no idea what happened to it.