An inside view: Backgardens, Greystones, Sheffield

Posted on September 17, 2013 by geofoodie

Back gardens of terraced houses in Sheffield, 2013

Despite being bombed in World War 2 (what some refer to as the Sheffield Blitz), Sheffield has retained large areas that are built up with terraced housing built around and prior to 1900. From street view, these houses look like long rows of anonymous and identical dwellings. And indeed, if you have been in one, you pretty much know what the layout of every other house on the street will be. Every couple of houses has a passage that runs between into the back garden space. Because of this, the internal spaces, those behind the street view, are, or historically were, visible to all, making a kind of private community space, which forms a stage upon which everday life is played out for neighbors to see. Continue reading →

(Not) a middle class point of view: Bloke’s Pasta.

Posted on September 7, 2013 by geofoodie

Tonight, for dinner, I made a family favorite: a modified version of “Proper blokes’ sausage fusilli”. My version is an adaptation of a recipe in Jamie Oliver’s “Cook with Jamie“, which he wrote to help people “learn to cook properly and enjoy it (back cover).” I originally purchased the book (cost $16.99–though I think I might have gotten it for less at Cosco) to give to my son so he could feel confident in a kitchen. This dish is the one thing he has ventured from the book, though I have made many other things from it with good results. The book was written about the time that Jamie Oliver was beginning to try to have a food revolution in the UK, certainly before he really started talking to people who might consider themselves “ordinary folk”. As a result, the food, despite the ordinary and everyday language of the book and the best intentions of the author, is really not sympathetic to the economic needs of those “ordinary folk”. Continue reading →

Link

This is a link to: From Farm to Fork with recipes

The entry is brief and highlights a recent purchase of half a lamb that had been two days before walking in a field. Yesterday, it was butchered into food and today became a meal. It was yummy. Continue reading →

Carefree in Stanley

Posted on August 18, 2013 by geofoodie

Belgian Beer and a view of Murray House

One of the things I like best to do on a sunny day in Hong Kong is go to Stanley. This small and rather upscale village on the far side of Hong Kong Island takes some energy and effort to get to, but here you can sit behind a Belgian beer and watch the ships on the horizon go by on their way to distant ports. The combination of journey, beer, and view provide a sense of holiday for the few hours one spends in this place. But Stanley was not always such a carefree place, and indeed for some it is a place where although cared for, the circumstance is not free.

Continue reading →