Meenzer

Also I assume you'll have the car with you, but if not, while obviously the trains are decent enough, this is worth knowing about: https://www.gwynedd.llyw.cymru/en/Residents/Parking-roads-and-travel/Travel-passes/1bws-Ticket.aspx

Day trip to Llandudno sounds good to me if the weather is with you. Have a walk up and around the Great Orme headland, which is really nice. The North Shore beach and promenade are full-on old-school seaside town (complete with pleasure pier), while the West Shore beach is more rustic and has a decent enough café. Then pop to Conwy while you're in the neighbourhood - an hour is enough to walk on the town walls a bit, mooch around the waterfront, look at the castle, and stock up on sweet and savoury stodge at the Popty Conwy Bakery (if you can get past the daft name).

SleazyJet do it from Newcastle. The environment is overrated anyway.

Wales is a good call generally I'd say. The Pembrokeshire coast is gorgeous (St Davids as Fish says, or Tenby as a more touristy base but one that should have plenty of holiday lets), or if you want somewhere easier to get to, there's some nice spots along the north coast (Anglesey is very nice, Llandudno is old-fashioned in a good way and a good jumping-off point for exploring the region), though there's some absolute tat around there too. I've heard horror stories about Devon and Cornwall ever since the Covid staycation boom, but I suppose it'll be all right in February as long as it's not half-term?

Smashing, thank you!

CT right now:

Yes please

When feeding the masses, I always make this from Ottolenghi which is spot on. I stir the rocket through rather than "dotting" it, mainly because I serve it in a bowl rather than "on a large platter" because I'm normal. Also this from Ottolenghi - the onion-frying is a bit of a faff but it's what makes it. Both are 💯💯💯, as the kids say, and (here's the real win) can both be made well ahead of time; the former is served at room temperature anyway and the latter is absolutely fine just lukewarm or even at room temperature, as the recipe says - would probably be fine being kept warm in one of your slow/rice cookers too. If you do want to try your hand at something Sri Lankan, this is a go-to chez Meenz - needs a bit of ingredient prep but then (as the video shows) you chuck them in one by one and it all comes together really quickly. Bulk it out with meat of your choice ( ) if preferred, but it'd be a good one for the veggies if not. I don't see why you couldn't make it in advance and then just reheat it when the time comes (a couple of minutes in a wok should be enough; microwave ought to be fine too but might make the parotta go soggy, I suppose?). Also from Ottolenghi (just buy his Jerusalem book, it's great ) , these are basically just posh meatballs, which means they can be made in advance and popped in the oven when you're ready. (Don't bother with the tahini sauce part, it's more faff than you need during the Merryneum.) In the past I've also made them with the pine nuts roughly crushed and the parsley chopped and stirred through the meatball mix itself, rather than sprinkled over the top - also works nicely and makes them a bit different to your average ball o' meat. I can get you some less shoddily scanned images if required.

It's all Greek to me.

We'll keep this thread for now, on the fairly safe assumption that Gloomy will not be staying on as thread-starter after Haaland's lunchtime bareback session with our back four on Saturday. That said, I hope to get the chance to hit "Delete".

It's been shifted to SJP! Next Tuesday (1st).

The idea of the Fish willingly walking away from a football-related argument is adorable.

When I said "centre parting" I didn't mean down the middle of the actual stadium

I'll let you have it. (The thread, not the sausage.)

👀

That'd be jinxing this one. We'll have to wait and see whether it's needed first.

Keep going...

And, of course, LITTLE JEFF.

Decent club nights and a frozen chicken burger and chips from the hatch in the wall at midnight, what more could you want from a venue.

Stowed away in your wheel wells?

The path to "most unexpected turnaround in poster belovedness since CT" is a rocky one, but it might yet happen

I saw her for a coffee recently (checks notes - nearly three months ago apparently, the passing of time can do one ) and while I wouldn't wish to speak for her, she's doing all right Congratulations on the new kitten, but you're going to have to train it not to sit on your keyboard.

I don't see why it wouldn't be true tbh. They're still selling pieces of it on the Berlin tourist trap trail now, and while they might be fake too, there was nearly 100 miles of it so it's probably legit - it just might be from a boring suburb rather than one of the exciting Checkpoint Charlie bits