The Time Bubble

When I come to think about it, it is amazing that the idea of making my own crisps never crossed my mind before. As readers experienced with my work will know, I have more than a passing acquaintance with crisps. In fact when it comes to crisp and snack products in general, I am considered somewhat of an authority on the subject. Yes, my love affair with them goes right back to 1974 when as a four year old boy I was thrilled at buying my packets of Walkers from the off sales at the pub for the princely sum of 4 1/2p. For younger readers, there used to be a 1/2p coin up until the early 80's. Excessive inflation rendered it unnecessary by then, but 40 years ago most things cost around one tenth of what they do now, so the half penny was of quite significance. Here's a piccie of a supermarket window poster from the 1970s. Bargains! But inflation rendered the half penny redundant, prices rose rapidly back then, in fact I remember the shock of the crisps at the pub going ...

Hello, Well it is spring cleaning time here at Ayres Mansion. Not that being seasons for things really applies to much these days. Just as you can buy seasonal produce any time of the year, and I also enjoy mating all year round, so the cleaning never stops here. But the Easter holidays has enabled me to tackle some of those larger projects which never seem to get done during term time what with the endless school runs and trying to squeeze all the rest of it in-between. Funnily enough, despite having all day childcare responsibilities during the holidays, I am finding I can get more done without the time pressures of all that to-ing and fro-ing from St Edburg's and the Courtyard. I am also not getting so knackered so early in the day - that early morning desperate dash around trying to get them fed and watered and to school and nursery and the correct times leaves me feeling like I've done a days work by 9:30am. Things are just that little bit more relaxed now. Anyway - ...

And that mission is - to create, or find, the perfect chip! In fact, not so much a mission, more of an obsession. I've had the Tefal Actifry over a month now and have tinkered about trying various methods of cooking chips   in it, some successful, others not so. What makes the perfect chip? Well they have to be tasty, goes without saying. But also natural - I like to know where my ingredients are coming from. For example, I have heard that McDonalds fries, tasty though they are, never go off - you can leave them for months without rotting, due to some sort of preservative on them. Whether or not that is true, (urban myths spring to mind) it kind of puts me off somewhat. I also think they need to be crispy, but not burnt, and definitely not soggy. The quality you get from various establishments in Bicester varies quite considerably. Sometimes I get fries from them that are gorgeous and fresh - other times, well, I could suspect that they may have been left over from the previo...

For some completely random reason that will not be explained I have invited a guest speaker to introduce tonight's blog, the legendary Alfred Hitchcock whose name keeps popping up for one reason or another just lately. So here he is again. Good Evening! Thank-you Alfred. We could have done with you to introduce last night's horror story. Anyway, this evening I shall mostly be talking to you about the exciting world of chips, and my relationship with them down the years. From chip shops to the latest hi-tech gadgets, this is where it is at. I became aware of chips at a relatively early age, as both of my grandmothers were a dab hand with the old chip pan. Now I am fairly sure that it is a universal constant, that no matter how much parents battle to get their children to eat healthily, the more laid back grandparents when given free rein for the odd day are quite happy to spoil the little darlings. Perhaps it's a revenge thing. Maybe we worry about it more in our 30s...