Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
715
Our major food battle has been trying to secure home delivery slots (as we are having to self-isolate, except for a daily walk). It has proved impossible to score one for either of the two supermarkets where we regularly shop. So, we’ve been booking with the third or fourth choice (no free range meat or organic veg which would be our usual purchases). We’re trying to keep a situation where we have the following three weeks secured. But it seems that, in spite of the chains allegedly expanding the number of slots available, there seems to be fewer actually available.
The last couple of nights, Mrs H has stayed up after midnight to try to get a slot when they add the next available day. Seems to be midnight although this doesnt seem tom be announced by any of them. However, that still failed to score a slot. However - and this is today’s Big News - she got up for a pee in the middle of the night and decided just to have another look. SUCCESS. So, we now have secured food supply for the rest of this month.
My half lamb was originally scheduled to arrive on the past Wednesday by an express refrigerated delivery truck Chronofresh, but is now lost in transit…Friday evening (yesterday), a delivery guy called and said that the address (the city) was not correct. He said that he would deliver today, except that the delivery service stops during weekend due to COVID. Now I’ve to wait for Monday. I’ll call the seller to see if the meat is still good to consume or I should refuse the parcel if it ever arrives. To make things difficult, the transport company said on the tracking page that my parcel has been delivered on Friday. What a mess!
My neighbour was looking at an online catalogue happily and said she would probably order directly from Rungis using Chronofresh to get some difficult to get stuff like fresh fish, strawberries and asparagus. I told her to forget it, given the district we are in.
That is a bummer about your lamb meat for sure @naf. We picked up our (whole, but cut up) local, pastured lamb a few months ago. I feel so fortunate to have it in the freezer, truly. It’s incredibly delicious this year, and unbelievably tender. It’s our favorite red meat.
1 Like
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
721
We probably eat lamb more often than we eat any other meat. We’re fortunate to live between two of the UK’s major lamb producing regions - North Wales and Cumbria - so, with that and the ready availablity at farmers markets and butchers, there’s rarely a need to buy from the supermarket (which, at various times of the year stocks New Zealand lamb instead of British). One farmer at the market also raises mutton which is just sooo flavoursome.
I’m open for adoption! I am the only lamb eater in my house and I don’t get to eat it here nearly enough! FYI I am house broken but I’m also a heavy drinker so you’ll need a local liquor store if you do adopt me.
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Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
723
Readily available in the village convenience stores. And the local “off licence” appropriately named “Bargain Booze”. You’ll fit in well with the community. Whilst I don’t drink myself, I do sleep with someone who does (although that wouldnt be required for any adoptees).
(“off licence” - a place licenced to sell booze for drinking “off” the premises. As opposed to the “on” licence that bars and pubs have to have. )
So I was down to my last bottle of whiskey (just opened) and my last vodka (almost empty). We were told to stock up for two weeks, not two months.
Apparently there’s a loophole that allows local distilleries to deliver/offer curbside. My very local distillery was sold out of pretty much everything but sweet pre-made cocktails, so I tried a semi-local that actually sells vodka-flavored vodka. I placed an order yesterday for two bottles. A few hours ago a nice man called to let me know he had arrived, the bottles had just been wiped down and, properly gloved, he delivered them to the edge of my porch. I haven’t tried it yet, but if it’s good, they may have just earned a regular customer. (And yes, I tipped well . . . never thought I’d be so happy to see a bottle of vodka.)
After a weeks-long shut-down the local LCB (Liquor Control Board) announced a few days ago that they would be re-opening their on-line home delivery site. Not sure why they shut it down in the first place The running joke is wondering why they reopened at all as it has done nothing but post a message that due to unusually high volume the site is temporarily unavailable. Compounding the problem is the fact that Delaware has closed its borders to out-of-state vehicles heading to their cheaper/tax-free liquor stores. But miracle of miracles, I actually got through today and ordered four bottles of whiskey.
Six bottles altogether. That’s a six month supply, or a six week supply, or a six day supply depending on how much more brutal this lock down gets. Yesterday I found myself sitting on my cold, wet screened in porch insanely happy just to spend 30 mins in fresh air (thanks to the current lack of non-essential medical care my hip does not allow a walk around the neighborhood).
Well at least everybody’s drinking at home, so few DUIs or accidents. (As an aside, my first job out of college was a claims adjuster for motor vehicle bodily injury claims . . . If you ever want to cure somebody of drinking and driving, let them spend a few years reading those reports and viewing those photos.)
How about getting a call from my friend . She’s walking home on our country road . 3 am . Its pouring rain out .Heidi’s in trouble a yell came from my other friend passed out on the floor downstairs. Like a fireman I jump out of bed . Clothes on . Take a spill on the stairwell. Bleeding from a scrape to the arm . Let’s go shuni , Heidi needs help . She gets up . We jump into a 69 GMC truck that was lent to me from my retired CHP buddy while my truck was in the shop .
Find Heidi walking . Make a k turn in the middle of the road . While backing up I hit the 35mph sign . Bent it completely over and got stuck in the ditch crossed over in the the lane . Fuck , help me Jesus and Mr wizard. Get out and push Shuni . I turned the wheel and made it out of the ditch . True story. My get out of jail free card used . My CHP buddy would have never forgave me . Worse than the DUI I would have gotten. Small town nonsense.
With this confinement, actually I drink less than usual, due to in mid March, every time I took a tiny quantity of alcohol, had bad headache. Paracetamol is in ration now and we have 2 precious boxes at home, don’t want to spend that on migraine.
Never having been to the U.K., it took me many years to figure out why the imported TV dramas called liquor stores by that term. But years earlier, when I moved from NY to Boston, I wondered what sort of things were shipped by package stores (this was way before UPS had stores). Maybe if they’d been called bottle stores…
Requirement!!! You just upped the ante, in the words of your premier international spy Austin Powers: “Let’s get randy baby”!!!
( ok pretty sure I just inadvertently suggested a 3-some with my newly adopted parents which not only scores a perfect 10 on the “Ewww” factor, I’m pretty sure there is absolutely nothing food related about the comment so I’m going to shut up before I have to flag and moderate myself )
Good night dad hope you and mom stay safe!
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ChristinaM
(Hungry in Asheville, NC (still plenty to offer tourists post Hurricane))
733
The running joke is wondering why they reopened at all as it has done nothing but post a message that due to unusually high volume the site is temporarily unavailable. Compounding the problem is the fact that Delaware has closed its borders to out-of-state vehicles heading to their cheaper/tax-free liquor stores. But miracle of miracles, I actually got through today and ordered four bottles of whiskey.
