If You Eat Standing Up There Are No Calories - Top 10 Things at a Buffet

After a poll on the facebook page, several tweets and posts, you - the people - have voted. And that was for me to list my top 10 favourite things at a buffet tonight! This was as opposed to the alternative option of my Top 10 Rock Gods. Which I will blog at some point - possibly next week - after being inspired by a show on VIVA entitled `Journey's American Classics`. Which is also why I didn't leave the house until 6pm yesterday.

Anyway I know you're waiting impatiently to see what made the shortlist for my ultimate buffet nosh. I assume that the word buffet is er, universally known, but if not a definition is `Noun: A meal consisting of several dishes from which guests serve themselves.`

In the UK they are associated with most parties, weddings, funerals - anywhere in which people are gathering and will eat but without the faff of a full sit down meal. The reason to dedicate a whole top 10 to a buffet is mainly because they are an opportunity to consume as much deep-fried fattening food as possible! So here's the list - be warned folks, it may not be fat free but it certainly ain't fun free :P

1) Prawn Ring
Got to be done - this is literally a dish comprised of a ring of peeled, cooked king prawns prawns, in the centre of which there is usually marie-rose sauce or mayo to deep your peeled prawn in. I do love a good prawn. Especially a kingsize one

2) Mini Onion Bhajis
Sliced onions with garam masala in batter and deep fried. Dear god they are amazing and if I am at a buffet with these it's fair to say no one else will get a look in.

3) Mini Sausage Rolls
I love a good sausage roll anyway - always a good hangover cure - but there's something about the mini ones that make them utterly addictive. If you're looking for the crack form of a buffet it's this. Seriously, try not eating more than 2 at a time. It's not possible.

4) Mini Sausages on Sticks (preferably honey glazed)
Just.So.Yummy. I can't explain why - the meaty taste, the sweet tang of honey. The bite-size ness - implying that they really can't possibly have many calories at all. Plus when you've had a couple of glasses of wine they just really hit the spot goddammit mmmmmm

Two have Fun in Dorset - A Top List *and* a Photo Essay

So this post has been a little bit delayed due to the sad news I had on Friday, and then yesterday just being crazy-ass busy (mainly playing with a puppy + going to a house party I hasten to add). Anyway as you know, after the Easter weekend husbando and I went down to Dorset for a week of rock climbing, hiking (him) and sleeping and eating (me). We managed to combine both without having a huge amount of rows which I consider a huge achievement given that I believe that the definition of compromise means "when neither of you are happy".  


Here beginneth the list....


1) LOCATION
For those of you who don't know where Dorset is, it's in South West England. Go past London, Surrey and Hampshire. If you get to Devon you've gone too far. You could just look it up on Google maps. We went to a little island called Portland. It's not technically an island as it's connected to the mainland (Weymouth) by a famous spit of land called Chesil beach which is part of the Jurassic coast *and* a world heritage site. You can see some nerdy interesting info about it here. Anyway Portland is basically a gigantic bit of limestone that rises out of the sea and hence is quite good for rock climbing. Here are some photos of the view....

2) ACCOMODATION
There are, surprisingly, for such a titchy place, lots of places to stay on Portland. However at the recommendation of husbando's friend we stayed a very incredibly wonderfully lovely B+B called Queen Anne House. I cannot recommend it highly enough. 
The house is GORGEOUS. The garden is GORGEOUS. The rooms are GORGEOUS. The food is DELISH (full cooked english every morning with perfect poached eggs). The baths are huge and lovely (I'm tall, this is important). Oh and it's very romantic too. And they have cats which are not allowed in the rooms but you can play with in the garden, they are very talkative and purr-y and cuddly. 
Finally Margaret, who owns the place is absolutely the hostess with the mostess. Nothing was too much trouble plus she was uber-cool and stylish. We will be going back for sure. I watched the Royal Wedding with Margaret too :) And here is a picture of the place...

(copyright © 2010, Designed by: Daniel Longhurst Design queen anne house)

Fun with Food - A silly photo essay

Right, I'd like to apologise for the state of this photo essay in advance. I had planned to take a photo of *everything* i ate in one week - a sort of visual food diary - in order to make myself stop eating so much crap. Unfortunately hunger appeared to come before art and by the time I remember to take a picture of the food, I'd er....eaten it . So in order not to appear too much like a weird human form of The Very Hungry Caterpillar I took some pictures of food but also pictures of condiments I like and also some pictures of the pancake day part I went to.


I then had a go at mutilating said pictures with Picasa. Here are the results. All a bit odd, but it was fun eating the food and playing with picasa. Please tune in on saturday when normal photo essay service will be resumed by someone who can actually take photos!

So there you go - if you want a guide to the pics, here it is:
1) Muesli (Dorset Cereal Fruity stuff)
2) Calzone from La Casita
3) Chocolate/jam/syrupy loveliness for pancakes
4) Pancakes!
5) Sugar + Lemon + bowl of cream
6) My favourite condiments: ketchup, mustard, maple syrup, soy sauce + chocklit sauce mmmmm
7) My fruit bowl with bananas and plums in
8) Squirty cream! Or FSC as some people know it (@aliamck am looking at you)
9) Er, somewhere in there is my wine glass, husbando's beer bottle and beer in a glass
10) Yummy New Covent Garden Soup (flavour of the month, `Goa Carnival', it's delish)


That's all for now, I'll be back tomorrow with WoTW which is `Identity` and an interview on friday, a guest photo essay on saturday and my Top 10 Eighties Choons on sunday. Have a good one y'all


Thank you and good night,


Stupidgirl has left the building