Fringe Food & Drink

. There's a scene in League of Gentlemen, at the job centre work club when the only career prospects are bramble pickers and baby sitters. The former I'd now qualify for failure. Out on the meadows yesterday, cycling about, thought why not take some wild blackberries home. Warm day, t-shirt not a good idea. Hit by nettles and thorns I returned home. Cut a leaf of the aloe vera plant, well qualified to grow these, if you want any tips just write in. Didn't really help but the jelly inside the leaf is soothing to look at. This is why people use supermarkets, get packet meals and watch celebrity chefs. It's an effort, maybe rewarding but not without difficulties to collect your own produce before getting in the kitchen. So I'll look forward to the new Nigella Lawson series this week on Thursday official site for the domestic goddess from Channel 4 with a take away.

Down at the Sedge Lynne (is that how you spell it, anyway it's the big Weatherspoon's pub) in Chorlton. Straight from work, no tea, three pins of Taylor's Landlord and the talk never stopped, bubbling on until it was time to dash home for Phoenix Nights (Peter Kaye, Channel 4, 2200h, comedy). If I'd been home earlier I'd have looked into Rick Stein's Food Heroes (new series, BBC2, 2000h) but oh well it'll be repeated. Scan the TV listings looking for the immediate repeat, the digital channels, the midday programmes for the following week and nothing. All this blather that more TV channels will give you want when you want it. I want it all and I want it now, 7 by 24, widescreen. It's just empty propaganda, you'll be getting yet another chance to see Dad's Army or the Only Fools And Horses xmas special as per usual.

the awards that chorlton fringe food & drink will be making will be announced next week, and appear on the awards page possibly this time next week. the last quiet week before the schools re-open, the traffic fills the streets again, and leeks and parsnips fill the greengrocers...

meanwhile as it's still summer look at Flower Recipes...Nasturtiums and Borage petals are very fashionable in salads at the moment, and when some colour magazine supplement does a feature it'll be even more fashionable...you won't be able to buy a ciabatta sandwich without them stuck on top of the roasted med veg with balsamic safflower oil dressing..

for some it's a rest day, for others the grind of work continues relentless in its pursuit of long hours...
one day we'll be able to write this web page on the streets of town. Noticed this new type of web phone box perhaps it could work from here...Oxford Street, Manchester, 20 pence instant publishing

The new logo arrive in the emails tonight, the artwork for the postcard flyers is almost done - it's all coming together now. However there will be little money available from the Manchester Food & Drink Festival because they won't have much money either. Well it all went on the Commonwealth Games.

Myself and a few others went on that train that runs to Edale every other week with a folk band on board (Piccadilly platform 1 1842 stopping train to Sheffield), have a few bevvies in pub gardens, listen to the live music, get the 2107 back to Piccadilly. Great concept though the seasoned regulars have it all sussed out, we had to sit in the other carriage, there are only two, with no band. We had better sandwiches and the scenery is great. This reminds me of Slow Food train event that ran in Italy. Everytime the train stopped you got off to sample some of the local village specialities lined up on the platform. Never work in England, everybody is too keen to get to the pub to check the delights of Reddish North, Chinley, or New Mills (home of the Love Hearts sweets)....

Though it won't make it to the printed programme there will possibly be a couple of wine tasting evenings. Buy a ticket, try a few glasses, remember to hold the stems and not the top of the glass, swill it round the mouth...mmmm,nice...make some notes which you then mislay in the pub afterwards because now you've got a taste for more alcohol...that's just me, i've tried to be civilised but i'm a northern european and i like to drink. Venues will probably be Unicorn - possibly organic Italian selection, probably Carringtons - well they are good at this sort of thing.

Don't know if anybody is out there reading this but i wouldn't mind getting some response to keep me encouraged to carry on and get this site finished in time. Drop an email to office@chorltonfringe.com. Please no spam or other adverts... loads to do and i've got all these other hobbies like drinking, watching football, cooking inovative dishes, smoking, gardening, the allotment, gossiping, writing my electronic history book, photography and a full time job, plus watching the telly.

Friday was a great day to not work. Late breakfast at Diamond Dogs on Beech Road, sat outside with the sun beating down - not the sort of thing I'd do abroad but hot sunny days are such a rarity in England that you have milk them for every second. Also it was a day to celebrate Elvis Presley which was done later with some CD's playing and hot banana & peanut butter sandwiches. The king used to have these fried in lard but we went for the slightly healthier version - Warburton's white slice bread from the Co-op, Suma organic peanut butter (no sugar or additives - just real ingredients) & organic bananas from Unicorn done in the Brevel machine. Check # posted by basta pasta @ 22:11