MrBen

Big...HUGE...Cup final on Saturday - the first all Edinburgh derby in 116 years. It clashes with the West Ham v Blackpool playoff so anyone know of any local pubs showing it?

Darn - I thought a courgette was carbs?! Oh well... Some good stuff thus far although I made one of the above on Sunday and must have missed something as it didn't taste good. It's always in the fine detail...BUT that doesn't mean complex. Annette's anchovy / capers combo is a classic that I'll try (look at you with your "fresh wet garlic" but it's perhaps a little elaborate? When it comes to pasta I personally like simplicity and speed. If you can make it without having to go to the shops specially it's a plus.

Yeah man. Pasta. There was a time when a Saturday night meant splashing on the Hugo Boss , ironing a shirt and heading down the Lane. But tonight, after taking 3 weeks to recover from a drinking session with a certain Scottish forumite, I've decided to listen to Freddie King and make pasta instead. I'm not sure where I got this from but it's "the best" and you only need: - 2-3 large courgettes (grated with a cheese grater) - 1 chilli (more if you like it) - 2 cloves garlic - Packet of parma ham or proscuitto crudo - Penne pasta - 3 tb spoons olive oil Gently fry garlic and chilli in olive oil in a large frying pan to infuse. Add grated courgette. Add salt and decent amount of pepper. Fry for 10-12 minutes. Add torn up parma ham. Drain penne and tip into frying pan...toss with courgette mixture. Empty into a warm bowl. Fresh parmesan on top + glass of Italian red = deeply satisfying. So come on....what's yours?

I think it either works perfectly or it doesn't. I've had no problems with them and moved house twice fairly seamlessly. The Tivo recording fucntions are good but overall the user interface is clunky, not always intuitive and at times has a horrible latency as it waits to catch up with the button you've pressed. A recent s/w update (sent over the wire) made it slightly better. I've not actually watched telly for about 4 months though!

> Yet to find anything nearly as good locally - they > are all far too overcooked. Anyone tried one from > the Drafthouse yet? Aye...me. And it was 6.5/10 to be exact. Thick and pink in the middle but lacking a bit of flavour and a little dry. The beer in there is excellent and made up for it though.

Annette Curtain Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > You let it go for a measly ?1,500 > > Oh dear, what a dope. > > (but you know that don't you:() Yep. But back then I had less than nothing. I bought my flat with a 10k deposit cobbled together from a credit card and a bank loan. I remember getting the keys, opening the front door and realising I couldn't afford any furniture. I slept on a blow up mattress for 3 months and washed my clothes at Underhill Road laundrette. Great feeling though managing to buy your first place...

Otta Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Four thirtysomething blokes including myself and > another regular EDFer, writing some tunes, Mike CG on slap bass? :)

We missed a trick back in 2002 when we all bought the 3 flats together and the small time developer offered to sell us it for ?5k. We tried to knock him down to ?3.5 to offset some snags that needed correcting from the purchase. He replied he was doing us a favour and stuck it in at Auction....which we went along to and watched it go for ?11k. A valuable lesson learned - always know the true value of an asset before you start haggling over it. We didn't know it was a bargain versus its true market value. I reckon it would cost us about ?15k to buy it back (inc legals) and save us ?500 per year each so we'd have to hold for 10 years to get a return....unless it actually does add a premium on sale. I'm not convinced about that. They have 120 year leases so I don't think freehold versus long leasehold makes much difference to a buyer?

Good freehold management has a place to play given this countries rather ancient leasehold / freehold system but for me most freehold companies are right up there with credit card companies, loan pushers and bookies as an evil but legal form of cash extraction. I let out a flat which I own on leasehold and we've always paid our bills (ground rent, buildings insurance etc) on time to the freeholder. But in the past few years I've seen an increase in all kinds of charge: an unnecessary asbestos search report, fire extinguisher installation (in an ED terrace!) and today...best of all...?132 and five people to change a communal light bulb (I kid not). When I lived there I just used to change the tube myself ?10 from Plough DIY..... Yes there is the old Leaseholders Advice line you can call but.... all of the scenarios above were deemed legally "fair and reasonable". It seems I'm not allowed to change a light bulb on the communal staircase between two flats unless I'm a qualified sparky and have full public liability insurance and kicking up a fuss just gets me lawyers letters and penalty fines. If I took it to court I'd lose. It's evil and the blight of freehold management companies needs to be destroyed and removed from this fair country - when will the law change?

Found it! Four Seasons.... good reviews for Roast (not Peking) Duck but some very bad reviews for service! Anyone been?

What's the place nearby that is famous for Peking Duck.....so much so that visitors from Hong Kong have come to London just to try it? I've always wanted to go there......

Mental note to self: spend every Easter weekend at home in London. It's been total bliss. As every other Fucker fights on the M4 to Cornwall /Norfolk /Cotswolds / Chamonix, London has been empty. 20 minutes to west end on sat night in a cab. No queue at the bar. Tables free at almost any eatery you like. Lordship Lane empty. If it was like this all the time I might want to stay here forever.

....it was where Adventure Bar is now and was....

Curtain, El Pibe - both picked stainless steel - is that the current choice of finish for the hipsters of ED? I'm thinking "hard to clean finger prints" DB - I like that Falcon but quite like having a window into the ovens for some reason. Which? rate the Rangemaster 90 but also say that you're never exactly sure what temp the oven is at with it's dial and that would bother me. It also has a tray for the roast which attaches to the door so you can check it without lifting out of the oven = neat.

Annette - the 90 com width (1.5 standard unit size) rules out the beasts above. I'm looking at up to ?3k but not sure I'll be able to tell the difference between one at 1.5k or that price point if I'm honest. I too quite like a decent NEFF style 5 burner hob and oven. But an extra WARMING OVEN on most range cookers is luring me in. Warm plates. Warm food. It's right up there with an ice crusher and dedicated wine coolers in the non-essential kitchen-wank stakes...but like GG will I actually use it?

Interesting rock n roll thread this one. I'm buying my first cooker and have 90cm width to fill. I'm looking at range cookers and currently dual fuel (gas hob, electric oven). Given these pages are full of home chefs can anyone point me in the right direction / let me know any recommendations? Ta.

From what would you miss about London to Paedophiles in two pages... Classic EDF.

woodrot Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Clapham => East Dulwich => Royal Tunbridge Wells > => Death This is pure brilliance.

womanofdulwich Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I would miss the variety of people. I get a bit > unsettled when everyone has a fleece and wears > beige. Together with cotton traders clothes. This could also be Dulwich Village.

Gowlett Pizza's...great call.

I agree with Woodrot. Nothing worse than halfway house "countryside" a la Sevenoaks, parts of suburban Surrey etc. Shopping at petrol stations, golf jumpers and the Daily Express. And so very, very boring.

*stands on chair* Well I'm standing on a corner, in Winslow Arizona, And such a fine site to see, it's a girl, my lord, In a flatbed Ford, Slowin' down to take a look at me.

That's a beautiful thing Sue. The only one I can do is "Take it Easy" by the Eagles - any chance for next time?

*Bob* Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > A pub full of overweight men, sweating gently in > man-made fibres whilst goggling at a giant screen > in-between hurried, inaccurate urinations - puts > me off. > > But there is room for everyone. One love. Always best is first-night-that-an-old-boozer-opens-after-gastrofication. You get the man made fibres sweating gently next to the 20 something hipsters as everyone tries to work out which way it will go.

Seconded. No power on Underhill again this am.