I have mentioned my friend Stuart Ashton, the Boston farmer/butcher/entrepreneur/dinnerlady here before. He is not impressed by my blogging. One of his customers asked him this week what "blog" stands for. He said it is an abbreviation of "a sad loser with too much time on his hands."
Occasionally a petty rivalry flares up between us...
We currently have an unspoken contest going to see which of us can keep our rubbish German estate car the longest. It's a bit like a game of chicken, neither of us will buy a new car until the other one has.
This week Alison, Stuart's wife, drove gently into a wall with his Mercedes and he was quietly delighted that it made his look more decrepit than mine. I think that I have overtaken him again although this time unintentionally. I tried to polish my car yesterday using a professional "mop" which I borrowed. This is like an angle grinder with a huge sponge on the end. Naturally I managed to grind off some of the paint on the front wing. I occasionally have a vision of us as old men driving around in our respective rustbuckets like something out of Mad Max. If you like stories about trivial rivalries between stubborn and stuffy country folk you should read the wonderful PG Wodehouse short story Buried Treasure.
Anyway. Last week I bid (and won) the lot at a charity auction which Stuart had donated. The do, which was on this boat, was organised by Stuart's cousin, John Grant, who is cycling from Cairo to Luxor for the British Heart Foundation. Click here to sponsor him. The lot that I bid for is to have 250 sausages made to my own design. Your suggestions for flavours would be welcome - something with delphiniums in would be good publicity. So far Beluga Caviar and Krug Champagne flavour is looking good. I think Stuart is hoping that I go with something more traditional (and economical) like the traditional Lincolnshire sausage - sage, sawdust, lip, eyelid and anus in a tasty plastic condom.
Free sausages for the imaginary reader with the best suggestion.
Ahhh - I know that recipe well. It takes me back to the tinned brine-soaked ones my grandma used to serve me and my sister when we were kids. It's really no wonder my sister's now a vegetarian and I didn’t eat sausages for ten years.
Luckily I’ve been tempted back to them and can heartily recommend pork, rhubarb and ginger. It’s an odd-sounding combination, but delicious. Parmesan and pancetta is another favourite…
Caroline
Asda have started doing a pork and mango sausage as part of their "Extra Special" range. There are some in my freezer. Considered eating one of these frozen like a lollipop when I ran out of Magnums. It would be like a Solero for meatlovers.
Matt
I have 23 down calving heifers stuck on movement restictions in your little county, hows your hand milking skills? Will trade three legged milking stool action for lovely fresh organic milk twice daily ( or once daily if you read my nuffield report!)
Yo Tom. I didn't know that you could read
I love making sausages - the most fun you can have with your clothes on and your friends in the same room. So I suggest a hilarity mix. Pork from a goodly Berkshire pig(lamb makes for a poor sausage, and I rear sheep), seasoning, and any alcohol you have to hand - calvados, beer, whatever.