Tere

Same here with crumble, which isn't a dissimilar recipe.

I see Aspall on the shelf. Their stuff is nice I think.

It looks like the UK is part of Aldi Sud, which also runs the Aldi branded stores in the US. Aldi Nord is the Aldi that runs Trader Joe's. According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldi anyway. So not a different brother. A lot of their stuff in store is also own branded in the UK. Although they would offer a well known brand for the basics. So you might have Aldi ketchup and Heinz, but probably only those two and one bottle size to keep down stocking.

It does sound like quite a different experience you guys are having! I'd describe the layout of my local Aldi as basic but clean. I wouldn't want to do my regular shop there as there is a lot less variety but there are some things I find it good for. I generally do a biggish shop at Christmas for specific items and then occasionally pop my head in when passing the rest of the year. It's good for continental stuff which I guess is no surprise. The fresh produce has looked OK when passing through but in the main I am interested in packaged goods and the frozen section. The frozen section is good for posh shellfish at Christmas (I bought whole crab and lobster there last year) and also for game, I've bought partridge and quail there relatively regularly. They have some venison meatballs which are also tasty. They have a small Polish section which occasionally carries interesting stuff, the last thing I bought there was some raspberry and cherry syrups. Sometimes they have interesting oils and vinegars. Their Parmesan is good and cheap. At Christmas I bought pate which comes in a mini Kilner jar (in part for the jar but it is tasty), anchovies in oil, stollen, panettone, salamis, turron and whatever that Spanish fig cake thing that goes with cheese is called. My crackers came from there too! Sometimes their wine section has good deals, I got 5 puttanyos Tokaji there last year. It just depends on what they have. They are also quite good on plants - we have a decent apple tree from there courtesy of my father in law, and my bay in a pot came either from there or Lidl. I think of them and Lidl as very interchangeable, but I go to Aldi more as it's more convenient.

So, do you think of your enormous outdoor market as a farmer's market? Or is that actually more flexible than that? Amazed at some of the prices of the fruit.

I am cheering TropiBurger on. The most miserable meal I have ever eaten I think was just outside Ueno in Northern Tokyo, back when I couldn't read Japanese and I missed lunch service (and there are some good joints there). And I ended up with a Teriyaki McBurger because I was that starving. Saddest meal I have ever eaten for sure. Hypoglycemia and desperation in a bun.

That looks yummy. The plum crumble is already in dependable processed sugary form though. Maybe at the end of summer?

It's not that boozy. 3.5%? Easy mistake to make http://www.homebargains.co.uk/products/10477-woodpecker-cider-2-litre-case-of-6-bottles.aspx

I am having slightly less fail now, and my hubby is home for a week and working from home post Easter, and eating dinner (apart from one night). I do have the mushroom ragout (backbone to posh pasta perhaps?) and chili and cornbread as failsafe fallbacks (also already have pasta dough in the freezer). But I have decided to be more experimental. So I will away to Ludlow in the week to scrounge some sourdough starter and possibly some rye starter from Price's http://www.pricesthebakers.co.uk/index.php?Pid1=1&PLv=1 (I am told I can but I might phone first :D). Then possibly an Estonian rye and a classic sourdough. And possibly a sodabread since the LesPetitsGris chef shared his excellent recipe and I want to try it. I see making 3 loaves and freezing in my future. Of course my person doing me a quarter hogget and wanting to transfer it over from their freezer has appeared but I think there's still room. C'est la vie. Hubby's requests are "Toad in the Hole" (easy to do with a quick trip to the Food Centre on the way back), "something fishy" and "puddings please" - so I am going to make a plum crumble and a panettone bread and butter pudding on the pudding front. Not sure about the fish yet I also need a light but posh pesci lunch for the Sunday after Easter, since I am entertaining Mum and stepdad and she is pesci no fat please. Other than that, one traditional roast and then I think Thai, Indian and Lebanese (Thai being a riff on local Massaman with all the jars to use up, Indian might be a decadent chicken because yum leftovers, and I have a gigantic Lebanese cookbook to explore. Or a tagine before it gets too hot (if I can get the spoons to translate out of French , and I might have amazing hogget to do it with ). And maybe Nigella's lacquered quail as it's so light and delicious.... Any gut responses / reactions most welcomed as I am going to have to order tomorrow

I laughed. I'm so sorry. Ish It isn't THAT strong, and understanding that cider means something different in the US sometimes, an easy mistake to make

Heh. The darkside sounds tasty

You see, I wouldn't have even suggested Woodpecker cider. It's the cider of broke misery can't afford a bottle of wine for the roast from my childhood. And it's very bland and horribly sweet I think

Also this is the chutney to which you refer?

So the green pancakes are clearly horrible then

Of the ones I see in rotuts' selection, I recognise Strongbow (the cider of my youth, and often the cider found on tap as a baseline in the UK), Magners (Irish IIRC, has been heavily promoted in the UK) and Stella Artois Cidre. Of the three I prefer the Stella, I find Strongbow quite chemically. I think Magners is inoffensive. Stella is more French style so different to my palate - I think of it as reasonably appley. I am spoiled for small producers in my area but I would look for one of those and give it a go in preference to any of the big brands, at least for one bottle. The best cider I have had in years is sold from the farmyard door in Wales, but only in quantity, and I need to go track him down when I've run low (http://www.welshcider.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22&Itemid=145) You can see him on the slideshow here http://www.shropshirestar.com/pictures/2011/09/05/welsh-food-festival-in-pictures/sd3892965po3food-4/

Here's what they say about their Fairtrade bananas: https://livewellforless.sainsburys.co.uk/fairtrade-bananas/ Not a whole lot of info. I would expect Sainsbury's to be legit with Fairtrade, it would be lethal to their brand if they weren't. But yeah, not much info.

I am not sure I would bother with automated, personally. But then hubby and I quite like the teamwork. I make the pasta dough (and freeze in small batches, enough for two people). He likes rolling the pasta out and usually gets on with that while I'm fiddling about with the sauce. I have this http://www.lakeland.co.uk/12417/Pasta-Machine?gclid=CIu5tO-i0ssCFcSRGwod-UEHNg&src=gpkit&s_kwcid=AL!49!3!110071140851!e!!g!!lakeland%20pasta%20machine&ef_id=Vt8pDgAAALE9iRM7:20160321171054:s and the manual ones are IMO very easy to use. It's probably worth our while having that rather than using the rolling pin I think.

I missed off organic fairtrade banana *cough*. They are all house branded and sadly they don't mention the company at all. I can see the odd fair trade sticker on the banana pictures but nothing that's obviously Chiquita, for example. The loose large ones can come from Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Ghana, Windward Islands, or Panama. The bagged up ones don't even give you that amount of info! The small ones are grown in Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ghana, or Windward Islands. The organic ones are grown in Dominican Republic or Peru. I think I am demonstrating that to the UK consumer a banana is a banana is a banana really. Probably a tasteless one grown for easy transport.

Discovered hubby had taken some photos on the camera so can't resist sharing all our hard work! Entrance to the veggy plot, with from left to right 3 lingonberries 3 whimberries, 3 cranberries, 3 more whimberries and 3 blueberries. And a lot of ericacious mulch! We are at about 6 - 6.5 in terms of pH. Hopefully that will be low enough with a little help. Rhododendron and camellia do OK here, so fingers crossed! Better pic of the beds, the fruit cage, and the 6 baby fruit trees we plan to train on the warmest point, the wall of the cart barn. The furthest bed is asparagus, the nearest is intended for cut flowers for the house and the holiday lets (and is currently hosting some prunings from the various trees, because why not. The pond to the left is natural - our water supply is a natural spring which comes up just under the green hexagonal building you can see in the middle distance. Currently a pair of mallard ducks are in residence - they told us off loudly about all the digging

Love the banana tutorial. Sainsbury's currently offer fairtrade banana and small fairtrade banana

We decided last night to fire up the Kamado Joe Jr for the first time. Organic Hereford rump steak from a farm less than a mile away, and chips (cooked in lazy mode at 190 degrees for 8 minutes from frozen, but still very crispy). Served with a rocket side salad with ponzu dressing. Would cook again

Planted the last two fruit trees this weekend and got all the berries into the ground. And all the veg beds are dug over. Produce a go go!

Gobsmacked at that wonderful market <3

I bought a whole Serrano leg from Aldi at Christmas for £28, including a stand and a (rubbish) knife to cut it with. We then found a fully massaged Iberico at Lidl for £100 which is still in its vacuum pack. Our weekend lunches tend to be picnic lunches But for that price I am relaxed about using it in pea soup etc etc.

I don't know what they would do in the US, but in the UK they don't take credit cards I don't think. They only started taking debit cards relatively recently IIRC, about 2 years ago. It's certainly worth checking before making a special trip I think.