karohemd | Recent Entries

Thought I make a new post about my current situation.
In the last update I stated that the repairs to my flat would be taken care of by the housing association. That turned out to be a lie. The contractor did come and looked at everything and I told him repeatedly that the only things that needed to be absolutely done were the plumbing and the blocked toilet.
They said they'd get in touch when they had a date as they were doing this as part of their "charitable" efforts so outside of paid work.
This dragged on and on with several attempts to connect via the Housing Officer until they finally came back saying "it's too much" and stating again that only the plumbing issues needed to be looked at, nothing.
Eventually the Housing Officer recommended we find an alternative so my extremely generous host hired a plumber they'd had a good experience with. While that plumber eventually did the work, it dragged out for another almost six weeks because of missing parts and then a back injury. Once the plumbing was done, we were finally able to hire cleaners for a deep clean. They were extremely efficient and did everything in one day, took the rubbish away and everything. I don't think the flat was that clean when I moved in.
All that remained was to declutter and clean the bedroom which I had been using to store all the loose things and items of furniture so the cleaners had the best access possible. I managed to do that over the course of a week or so. The final step was to have broadband installed but because I have an old socket, the "home install kit" wouldn't have worked so I had to book an engineer with a lead time of 2 weeks. Had I known about the delay earlier, I would have booked it earlier. Anyway, I now have broadband, even if the engineer was almost an hour later than the top limit of the time window.

After exchanging my small double bed for a single from Besom (local charity, organised by my social worker) and the serious decluttering, my bedroom now has enough space for a computer desk which I'll try and sort over the next few weeks. This means I'll have a dining/gaming/photography table in the lounge again.

I continue to receive Universal Credit and also applied for PIP a few weeks ago but without a result (positive or negative) yet. The current payment is just about enough for breaking even, especially as I had a few extra expenses when replacing things in the flat. If the PIP application goes through, I expect to receive only the minimum but even that will help immensely as I'd be able to afford better food, the occasional treat and maybe even put some money into savings.
The next large outlay will be a new pair of glasses. Reading on computer screens is fine but regular books and especially food etc. labels are almost impossible to read. Unfortunately I have quite a complicated prescription and because of my odd head shape/wide nose/low ears/eye alignment, I can't just buy a pair from one of those cheap online outlets as they need to be professionally fitted. The NHS might be able to give me a whopping £15 discount!!!

Therefore, money is still a concern and if you or anyone you know might be willing to make a small donation to my paypal, I would be extremely grateful: https://paypal.me/karohemd
I might also set up a gofundme or similar for the glasses.

Thank you for reading all this way!

ETA: I just made a resolution: Today is what I will celebrate instead of my birthday. What should I call it? Back Home Day? Restarting LIfe Day? Any suggestions welcome.

Current Mood: hopeful

Update 14/11/25
It's now been confirmed that the necessary repairs to my flat will be done without cost to me but it's going to be a while. Contractors are going to look at what needs doing on the 3rd next month and then hopefully start soon after.

Further, in two weeks' time from today, I have an appointment with a support person who are going to help me with going through the process of applying for benefits (Universal Credit and PIP). Especially PIP is going to be a huge one as I won't be able to live on UC alone. With PIP, I'll be fine and able to slowly pay off some debts.

Update 10/11/25
Big news: Last Wednesday AIRE Centre submitted the EUSS application on my behalf after I managed to beat the ID app into submission. On Friday morning, I received an email from the Home Office confirming my settled status/indefinite leave to remain. This is a huge relief as I can now move on to the next procedures for which I needed to have that status, most importantly applying for benefits (Universal Credit and PIP).
This will of course more time meaning I am still without income for several more weeks if not months so the appeal for donations remains a necessity unfortunately so I can afford food and other expenses like payments to the housing association and standing charges for utilities.

Folks, there's no easy way to say this, I need help.
I've been struggling with mental health problems for a number of years now, mainly a mix of complete lack of executive function and anxiety. This led to all kinds of problems I kept ignoring and culminated in losing my job because I couldn't cope with stressful situations. When my savings ran out last year, it looked really bad but I was rescued and after a lengthy hospital stay, friends put me up at their house. I recovered a bit financially after a generous donation from my parents but that buffer only meant I kept ignoring the new problems arising from the battle with the benefits and other systems and I did nothing for several months. There are still legal issues preventing me from applying for benefits that are slowly being worked on with the help of a social worker from the local council, a process I could easily have started last year but was refused by my brain.
Now it won't be long until my money runs out again so I've finally jumped over my own shadow and am asking for help.

If you are able to help me with a donation (one-off or monthly, any amount welcome) towards my monthly outgoings (fees/charges for my flat, utilities and basic food), I would be eternally grateful. Currently, I have two options:

Paypal: https://paypal.me/karohemd
Please declare the payment as gift and make it out in GBP/£.
or
Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/karohemd

From the UK another alternative would be a direct bank transfer. Please contact me on karohemd at gmail dot com if you would prefer that option. Please also let me know if you know of any other "send me money" websites/apps. I've done some searching but it's all rather complicated and the easy ones are all US-only.

If you think you know people who might be able to donate as well, please pass on this post or just the links as you see fit on socials, discords etc.

I have always been bad at asking for help so this post is hopefully a step towards overcoming that hurdle.
I also know that many people are struggling financially in the current climate so please don't feel bad if you can't help. Thank you!

Update on 31/08/25: It's been a while and things have been moving forward but still very slowly.
I am receiving legal help with applying for the EU Settlement Scheme from the AIRE Centre. I finally managed to get all the evidence needed so they can start the application at the Home Office on my behalf. Once that is successful, I'll be able to apply for benefits.
I'm also going to renew my passport in London this week, with the fees being taken care of by a charity grant. This can however take up to 8 weeks.

Update 30/09/25:
I have my new passport so I can at least prove my identity reliably.
There was some delay and another piece of red tape was missing but the AIRE Centre now hopefully have all the info they need for the ESS application. Unfortunately, they estimate the process taking until the end of the year.
We've also made considerable progress in getting my flat ready for repairs and cleaning but it all depends on securing funding. The social worker helping me is applying to various charities but even if they agree, the actual amounts offered are pitifully small.

Update 30/10/25:
- my housing association has agreed to help finance the repairs to my flat. Fingers crossed they pull through and it happens.
- We will hopefully finally be able to submit my EUSS application next week.

However, I am still in dire need of funds as I have no income so if you can help, any amount donated to the above links will be appreciated greatly. I am frustrated that I need to keep asking for financial help but there is currently nothing I can do.

Current Mood: hopeful

Time to revive this for posts that don't fit into twitter/mastodon/bsky:

Updated after five days in #Starfield:
It has been described as "No Man's Skyrim" and "Fallout in Space" and that's exactly it. There's nothing new or revolutionary about it but it looks pretty solid in terms of playability and bugs, which is pretty impressive for Bethesda at launch. There's a lot less flying in space than what various promos suggested, you just jump from system to system and inside a system you click the planet you want to go to and the ship flies there on its own. Landing and docking is automatic, too (which, frankly, I'm OK with, the days of Elite are over).

The cities (I've only seen one which seems to be your base of operations, at least at the beginning) are pretty but not spectacular. What I'm really disappointed with is the character models of the NPCs. They lack in detail and the facial animations aren't any better than those from The Outer Worlds, which was released over five years ago. Pretty shocking for a late '23 AAA title. Baldur's Gate 3 has more expressive and emotional character models.
Dialogues are fully voice acted and pretty decent but again quite average. As in BG3, your lines aren't spoken in game, only the NPCs'.

It's early days but the main plot of collecting mysterious artifacts isn't gripping me yet (come on, think of something new!). The side/faction missions sound a lot more interesting.
UPDATE: The side content is definitely more interesting. I will be doing everything I can before continuing the main one. There are so many actual interesting stories. Obviously, there are some basic fetch quests, too.

For my character background, I went for Chef which might not be the best one but I'm always the roleplayer, not min maxer. I love that you get a free skill point in Duelling (melee weapons). Characters only have skills (a huge tree), no attributes/stats. You also have three Traits (various background options, allegiances to factions, and certain game mechanic things like bonuses/penalties to certain skills in certain situations).

UPDATE: I really like that - similar to BG3 - you can resolve various quests using the "Persuade" skill, which can be augmented by items. There are a number of social skills you can use in combat (make enemies run away, stop attacking, etc.) which I haven't explored yet because you only get one skill point per level up and I've invested mostly in health and combat.

Inventory management is a mess and it needs a "Mark as Junk" option and traders need a "Sell all Junk" option. Loot is probably the best way to make credits in the beginning.

What I really hope gets patched soon is the audio. Quite often, sounds and even dialogue lines just either cut out or are replaced by static. Quitting to main menu and reloading seems to fix this most of the time, at least. The other issue is that sometimes environmental chatter isn't muted during conversations, or you're on your ship talking to another ship/station and suddenly a crew member starts a conversation, too. The same can happen when playing recordings.

UPDATE: Mentioning patches, the game has been out since the 31st of August (there was no update/day one patch on the general release date on the 6th) and there still hasn't been a patch. During the time, Larian had already released two hotfixes for BG3. Sounds like they're going to let the modders do all the hard work again.

I haven't even looked at setting up outposts and building ships yet, that seem like entire games in their own right from various bits I've seen online.

Overall, I like the experience but it doesn't compare to BG3 in terms of scope of story, characters and world building, at least not so far. Exploring planets (so far) is just ticking boxes (gather all resources, scan all flora/fauna etc.). Some random buildings have enemies at/in them but unless you happen across a side quest, they're just XP fodder.

So, as a preliminary point, it's OK, some parts are fun. I'm definitely far less immersed than in BG3 and I'm glad I didn't have to pay any money for it (other than the monthly Game Pass fee which gives me loads more games on top)

Performance: On my 3 years old PC (i7, RTX 2080 Super, 32GB RAM), I'm getting just over 30fps on Ultra and just under 60 on High. There isn't much picture quality between the two so High is good enough for me.

Current Mood: content

A Dwarven Merchant for a Witcher game, lovingly illustrated by Gina Allnatt

Witcher dwarf merchant

As a German native, the portrayal in English-speaking films, TV series etc. often bugs me. This has improved much recently from the “Schweinhund” Nazi types of classic Hollywood WWII films but there are still some tropes that remain that grate because they are unrealistic.

I was prompted to write this short guide by a tweet by Chris Ing (who runs the fantastic Star Wars actual play podcast, Silhouette Zero) and is mainly meant for RPGs, although most of it would also apply to characters who are meant to be fluent in English (because of their education or because they've been living in an English-speaking country for a while) in fiction, TV and film.

Note: This is just a random collection of ideas off the top of my head, comments and suggestions/questions are welcome.

Name
Traditional names like Fritz, Hans, Dietrich etc. for male and Marie/Maria, Greta/Grete (never Gretchen, the Faust character is basically the only one with that given name in the German speaking world), Anna/Anneliese, Elisabeth for female are just that and would look very odd in a modern setting. It's easy to find the most popular names for a year on the internet (especially more recent ones might surprise you).
Also, pick one you can pronounce like a native speaker would, otherwise it does not work at all, because the one thing someone can pronounce perfectly is their name. If in doubt, consult a native speaker. :)

Language
Never use und, ich, du, ja, nein, numbers and other simple words because they are literally the first ones anyone learns and would not get wrong, either. Similarly, don't have them address English/American people with Herr/Frau. Basically, avoid replacing English words with any German words you might know or have picked up somewhere in an otherwise perfect English sentence.
What someone who isn't bilingual struggles with are complicated, archaic and technical terms and especially idioms. For example, you might hear a German person say they are holding their thumbs instead of crossing their fingers.
Obviously, these sort of replacements are tricky if your knowledge of German is limited so I suggest leaving them out entirely and concentrate on the accent.

Accent
Again, I suggest not to overdo it. The major thing Germans tend to struggle with is not the th (although that's still a bit of a hurdle) but the difference between voiced and unvoiced consonants as there are basically no voiced consonants in German and general intonation/diction.
Examples:
in German f, ph and v are pronounced the same, e.g Vater could as well be spelled Fater. Speaking from my own experience, it is very hard to get rid of this.
Many Germans wouldn't voice the th in “there” and “thing” differently

Sentence structure
After accent, this is the second most obvious indicator of a German native speaker using English. Unfortunately, it's also the one that is hardest to reproduce unless you actually know German (or are friends with English speaking Germans and hear them speak regularly. It's also not easy to describe or at least it would completely go beyond my intentions for this short guide

A good tip
Listen to native German actors in English media. Not Arnold Schwarzenegger because he has a strong regional Austrian accent and it's very obvious. A few suggestions: Franka Potente, Christoph Waltz, Daniel Brühl, Til Schweiger (who recently impressed me in Atomic Blonde), Thomas Kretschmann as Baron Strucker in Age of Ultron, Udo Kier, Armin Müller-Stahl etc.

I thought I would revive this blog with the odd post on gaming.
One of my recent acquisitions has been Pugmire by Eddy Web, published by Onyx Path Publishing.
Pugmire is essentially Dungeons and Dragons with dogs. It uses a variant of the 5th edition rules, somewhat simplified and less voluminous with different names for the character features. The PCs are “uplifted” dogs, anthropomorphic dogs that walk upright and have evolved to use tools and language in a world a long time after the Age of Man has ended. There are classes called Callings (spellcasters, thieves, fighters etc.) and Breeds, rough groups of dog breeds like Companions (pugs, chihuahas), Runners (greyhounds, lurchers) and so on.
The world centres around the city of Pugmire, a typical medieval town, inhabited not only by dogs but also other uplifted animals like cats and rats. Further out, badgers (usually bandits) and lizards (travelling merchants from across the sea) can be found. There are mountains in the North, a huge forest in the East (beyond which is the land of the cats, the Monarchies of Mau), and a sea beyond Waterdog Port on the Southern coast. Most of the setting information in the book is about the city of Pugmire while the rest of the world has not been fleshed out in detail. For the crafty GM (or in the case of Pugmire, the Guide) this is a perfect opportunity to put their own stamp on the setting.
A separate complete game called Monarchies of Mau on cats is forthcoming. It has already been funded on Kickstarter, is currently being written and should be out in about a year or so.
I absolutely love the setting and have already run a few one-shots locally. I also started a proper campaign online using roll20.
You can buy Pugmire as PDF via DriveThruRPG. The physical book is available in the US via Studio 2 (and Indie Press Revolution soon), I've not seen it on the Esdevium Games releases list but Eddy says they should be able to order it from Studio 2.
Which brings me to an offer: I am looking for another player or two so if you're interested, comment below. We don't have a regular schedule but Sunday afternoons (UK time) are usually the preferred option.

Current Mood: excited

I'm resurrecting this blog for a post that wouldn't fit into my wp one.
Last week a friend tweeted a link to This Northern Boy, an artist who mainly does line art SciFi illustrations. He had a sketch for sale I really liked and I ordered it. It arrived today.

There was no context, no name, or any indication who or what the ship was so I had a bit of a brainstorm and came up with a tiny story. First time I've done this, really, so any comments and constructive criticism are appreciated.

The small spacecraft dropped out of hyperspace a few clicks from a massive asteroid field. As it approached slowly on thruster power, its compact shape extended to reveal a cockpit with a large, lens-shaped window. A solar array and various sensors and aerials deployed and clicked into place as it drifted into the field and began a search pattern.
Inside the cockpit, the sole pilot worked the controls, multiple legs prodding and adjusting dials, multi-faceted eyes checking visual readouts, feelers searching for vibration patterns, antennae sensing the olfactory outputs. Every now and then, a small transmitter was jettisoned from a chute at the bottom of the craft and buried itself in one of the asteroids.
Its search pattern complete and its supply of transmitters exhausted, the surveyor retracted its sensors and returned to its travel configuration. When it had cleared the asteroid field, space folded around it and it was gone.
Just another day working for the Krktk mining corporation.

Current Mood: creative

I have been lax in posting my own cooking to my blog recently which was mainly due to not having cooked anything new, exciting or worthwhile to post but here are two:

I had picked up a mackerel from the wet fish counter at Sea Tree in Mill Road and wanted to make something very simple and quick. I filleted the mackerel (which is very easy compared to other fish), rubbed the skin side with rapeseed oil, seasoned the flesh side with sea salt and pepper and fried the fillets skin side down in a hot pan for about a minute, took the pan off the heat and flipped over the fillets to cook the other side.
To serve I arranged the fillets on simply dressed leaves with orange segments. The bitterness of the leaves with the tart orange worked well together. Blood oranges would have been even better but those weren't in season.

My friends Heidi and Carri had told me of a van that sells fresh wet fish from Lowestoft next to the Portland Arms pub on Mitcham's Corner on Wednesdays (from 8:30 to 15:00, I think) and yesterday I finally got up half an hour earlier and took a detour on the way to work. Yesterday, they had cod, haddock, salmon, plaice, Dover sole, herring, sprats, whole squid, prawns, rainbow trout and a few other bits and pieces. Everything looked excellent and fresh. As I knew I wouldn't have much time in the kitchen, I picked a Dover sole with the plan of poaching it. They even had a few that were already skinned which saved me some time.
Home after work, the fish was still in excellent condition, ever after 9 hours in the office fridge. I made a poaching liquor from white wine, water, a fish stock pot and a couple of slices of ginger and garlic, brought it to the boil, switched the heat off and let it cool down for a while, taking out the ginger and garlic at the end. On a Saturday I would have made my own stock from the bones but I was quite hungry and didn't want to wait that long. I filleted the sole (you get four fillets from a flat fish) and poached the fillets in the liquor for about five minutes. Then I took them out, seasoned them with salt and pepper and served them on dressed leaves and boiled new potatoes. Next time, i'm going to let the liquor cool even further so they don't cook quite that much. They were firm but still moist. The flavour was subtle and clean, just what I wanted.

Current Mood: accomplished

As Fitzbillies opened for dinner again after a summer break, they introduced a "feasting" menu (see bottom of the dinner menu), available to groups of four and above and consisting of a starter (from the current menu, and the whole group has to agree on one), a main which is usually a whole cut of roasted meat to be carved at the table or a "dish of birds" and a dessert (selection as with starter). When I read this, I immediately knew this would be good fun so after a few weeks of herding ~~cats~~friends, we had decided on a date and a menu.

Cured rabbit loin, celeriac/hazelnut remoulade

We started with cured rabbit loin and celeriac/hazelnut remoulade. The meat was superb, tender and flavourful, another example of Fitzbillies' excellent cured products. The crunchy remoulade went nicely with it.

A little extra course in the shape of an espresso cup of sweetcorn chowder with a roasted Queenie scallop was next. The chowder was fresh and subtle in sweetcorn flavour, the scallop cooked perfectly.

The main event, Dish of Birds: A quail each and a half each of pheasant and poussin, all perfectly roasted with crisp skin and juicy flesh. Not in the photo are the sides: roast potatoes, dandelion leaves, carrots, bread sauce, cranberry sauce and an excellent gravy. This was as delicious as it looked and after we'd finished, everybody was groaning with full stomachs.

The dessert, however, was still to come and it fit in, too, as the pear and chocolate cake was rather light.

All the courses were served on sharing platters.

It was a really fun evening and I highly recommend it for a family celebration or just a reason to bring friends together. With a few bottles of wine, coffee and service, this feasting came to 50 pounds a head.

Current Mood: content

( Not really a huge plot spoiler but better be safe )

Being incredibly behind the times the first time I heard (of) The Coal Porters was when they played a sesson on Bob Harris' Country Show on BBC2 a few months ago. Their version of "alternative bluegrass" music is fun(ny) and engaging, the muscianship is superb and they play in the traditional setup without amplification (except fiddle but that might have been because of the cramped stage) around a communal microphone. As each musician takes a solo or sings they step towards the microphone and then back again.
The Green Note in Camden is a tiny venue, an oblong room with the tiny stage in a front corner, tables along each long side and the bar at the end. Luckily I was early so managed to grab the small table directly in front of the stage. While there was a reasonable amount of light for such a venue, it was mostly red, the bane of all photographers because it washes out all skin tones so I had to convert them to black and white and crank up the contrast to get a reasonable result. A few impressions below, many more on flickr.

The Coal Porters at the Green Note, 02/03/13

( Bigger and more )

Current Mood: content

Last weekend I joined a number of old friends (you might be able to spot

fractalgeek,

queenortart,

undyingking,

pengshui_master,

sesquipedality and others) in The King's Musketeers, set during the reign of King Louis XIII of France, with characters both from real history as well as literature (e.g. Alexandre Dumas' novels). As often during these weekend events, costuming was at a very high level, many self-made and a number of players even were wearing several different costumes. If you'd like to know more about freeform games, the UK Freeforms website is a good place to start. Here's a selection of photos, with many more being on flickr. The great and sometimes daunting thing about these freeforms is that the plots are written into the characters who then go and try to resolve them (find lost characters or items, resolve old rivalries, make profit/politics/war, toppel those in power, empower the people and so on) mostly by social interaction. Character sheets can be five or more pages long (background, character description, goals, people you know) and there are additional materials to read, too, so preparation for a game like this takes a while.
This was my first weekend freeform for a while (since Queen Vic's Jubilee) but I got into it quite quickly and, unlike some previous games, it went really well for me and I kept thinking something had to go horribly wrong any minute but I not only survived but also resolved most of my goals. My only disappointment was that the mob didn't get to overrun Paris. ;o)

Here's a selection of photos, with many more being on flickr.

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Next year's game is going to be Café Casablanca, with characters from Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon and other Film Noir films. It's almost completely booked already and registration is currently on hold while the organisers are figuring if they can fit in any more players. You can always register your interest as there are sometimes dropouts which will need to be filled.

crocodilewings mentioned recently he needed a new avatar and yesterday we happened to be in the same area so we met up at a pub and took a few photos:

Current Mood: content

Eat Cambridge is a food festival this coming March. The main event, an all day fair at the Guildhall will be held on Saturday, the 9th of March from 10:30am to 4:00pm. Throughout the previous and the following week there are many fringe events like popup restaurants, cooking demonstrations and classes, tasting sessions and so on. You can find all the details and information on how to book in the programme.

I will be joining the food debate panel at the McCrum Theatre in the afternoon on Sunday, the 17th of March. From the programme:

Food debate hosted by Tim Hayward
Time: 2pm to 4pm Location: McCrum Theatre, Bene’t
Street, (through the Eagle pub courtyard and on the
right hand side) CB2 3QN Price: £5.50 in advance,
£7.50 on the door
Description: To round Eat Cambridge off nicely we
will be holding a debate between food writers, bloggers
and restaurateurs. Covering issues such as reviews,
freebies and marketing in today’s social media world,
the debate will take on a Question Time format with
a panel of well-respected local food experts taking
comments and questions from the audience. Things
promise to get lively and you’re guaranteed to come
away with some food for thought (sorry, we couldn’t
resist!).
To book: Visit http://www.wegottickets.com/event/206087

I am really excited about this festival and I hope so are you if you live in or near Cambridge or at least visit regularly. Its main aim is to showcase local and independent producers, businesses and activists. Cambridge has long been slated as a clone town but if you know where to look, you will be able to find hidden gems run by passionate people who are worth supporting.

So, what are you waiting for, get booking!

Current Mood: excited

The Cambridge Brew House opened today in the former premises of the Bun Shop and its various incarnations in King Street. What used to be two rather cramped spaces is now one large open one with diner-style booth seating along the window front to the right of the door with tables and chairs filling the rest of this area with table service. Opposite the door is the bar with quite a wide selection of beers, including currently two house brand ones and a few other locals as well as a few well known beers. In the back to the left of the bar is the onsite brewery bit behind glass. This is not operational yet, their own beer is currently brewed off site until it's all set up. This is also a bit more casual area with a wild mix of seats (chairs, armchairs, bar stools and even a wooden vaulting horse) with low and high tables. I'm not sure if there is seating upstairs as well as it was quite busy and a grabbed one of the last seats on one of the bar tables before ordering a King's Parade and a chicken and mushroom pie. There were lots interesting things on the menu including home smoked and cured meats/fish but I thought a pie would be a good dish to get an idea of their cooking.
The King's Parade is an excellent bitter and one that actually deserves that name, really fully flavoured. I was just about to dig into my pie when Caroline found me and took me to her table. They had already had starters ("British Tapas") which they had enjoyed so I tucked into my pie while they waited for their mains. My portion was a quarter of a bigger pie, rather thick with excellent, crunchy pastry. The filling consisted of large chunks of well cooked, i.e. still nicely moist meat and mushrooms, not as liquid as you often get which also helped keep the pastry crispy. There was also a pile of fluffy chips and a little copper pan with gravy. I only realised now that there was no veg or salad but I didn't really miss it. I really liked it.
I'm looking forward to reading what Heidi thought of her excellent looking pork belly.
The second beer I had was the Misty River, a pale ale that wasn't quite to my taste but I prefer a darker beer, anyway. Heidi didn't fancy the bitter so it's definitely a matter of taste.
I also wanted to try a dessert but there wasn't that much exciting (chocolate/orange torte, "winter berry" Eton mess, and toffee pudding as well as ice creams and a cheese board with three or six cheeses). I'm not a fan of either orange with chocolate nor toffee so I picked the Eton mess which was not bad, not too sweet but with strawberries and blueberries it went a bit against their claim of using local and seasonal ingredients.
We agreed that the desserts needed some work but were rather happy with everything else. Considering it was rather busy indeed and their first day, I couldn't really find fault with the service, either.

The Cambridge Brew House is going to serve food all day, from 12 noon to 9:30 in the evening which makes it ideal for both early and late-ish dinners, lunch or an afternoon snack. I am definitely looking forward to returning soon.

Oh, and they are still offering 50% off on food today (Thursday) so you really can't go wrong.

Current Mood: excited

Kavey Eats has a monthly ice cream challenge called "Bloggers Scream for Ice Cream" in which I have taken part twice so far. This month's challenge is any theme from the last year so I thought I'd try my hand at a sorbet.

My Riverford box contained blood oranges which were ideal. I zested the oranges then instead of juicing them I peeled them and blitzed them with my stick blender. In a saucepan I combined the juice, zest, half an inch of grated ginger, half a vanilla pod, two short cinnamon sticks, one star anise, five or so bruised cardamom pods and quite a bit of demerara sugar (don't ask me how much, I did this by eye but enough to make the mix taste really sweet), heated the mix until the sugar was dissolved, pulled the pan off the heat, put a lid on and let it cool off and infuse with the spices. After the mix was cool, I strained it into a tupperware container to remove the spices and put it in the freezer.

I don't have an ice cream machine so I took the container from the freezer every hour or so and stirred it through with a fork to break up any ice chunks that were forming. In my low rated freezer compartment it took almost 24 hours until it resembled sorbet or, to be honest, more like a slushie as it melts quite quickly. It tastes nice, though, fruity, tangy and spicy so I'm really happy with it.

Served in a tumbler with (shop bought) brownie pieces

Current Mood: cheerful

On Friday evening Jo Kruczynska aka The Afternoon Tease, cake baker extraordinaire and regular club host held a special night of boozy baked goods and cake inspired cocktails at Hot Numbers in Gwydir Street. Despite her only initial advertising being her blog and twitter, the tickets were already sold by the time it was advertised in Cambridge Edition.

Click on the menu for a larger version

We started with a "marmalade martini" which was a lot less sweet than it sounded and was a great way to ease us into the evening.

The first bite was an Amaretto Sour Macaron, which was crunchy and light with good almond flavour.

The next drink was a "Hot Gingerbread Punch" which tasted rather like a hot toddy and made sure the last of the cold was driven out of our bones.

These Mojto Doughnuts were the highlight for me as they while flavoured were exactly like the Faschingskrapfen my grandmother used to make. They were fantastically fluffy and a little crunchy from the sugar glaze. I've already ordered a box of them for my birthday party. The punch was great with this.

The last baked round had two bite sized offerings: Dark chocolate Margarita Truffles which had been sprinkled with salt, creating the perfect balance of sweet and savoury; and a brownie with a Kirsch soaked cherry and cream. Needless to say, the brownie was rich and moist.

The last drink was an espresso martini which was quite strong both in coffee and alcohol but thankfully it was still relatively early in the evening (just after 9) or I wouldn't have been able to sleep.

The evening was also accompanied by live music, James Brotherston on the piano and Phil who occasionally sang as well.

The atmosphere was jovial and fun. I think pretty much everyone asked when the next one is going to be and rumour has it there will be one in a couple of months' time so keep your eyes open.

Here are a few more photos:

Still more photos on flickr. You can read about the evening from Jo's perspective on her blog.

Current Mood: sleepy

On Friday I needed a quick dinner before my next engagement and as The Sea Tree on The Broadway section of Mill Road had been recommended to me by various people I decided to try it. The Sea Tree is part traditional fish&chip shop, part fishmonger (one of the very few independent places selling wet fish in Cambridge) and part eaterie with a handful of small to medium sized tables where you can order both from the fish&chip shop menu and their "alternatives" menu with pan-fried or grilled fillets of or whole sea bass, gilthead bream with a choice of sauces and sides as well as a specials board.
I picked the "whole baked Whitby crab thermidor" which was served with a mixed salad (leaves, peppers, red onions) and chips. The picked and mixed crab meat was served in the shell of the body and was carefully seasoned so the flavour of the crab still came through and it was cooked on the dot, lovely and moist. There was a nice crust on top, too. The chips were crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside and not soggy at all.
If they can cook something as tricky as crab so well, I'm convinced their other offerings will be just as good. It's a bit out of the way for me but I will definitely be back, most likely for one of their lobster nights. It's not a place to linger because the shop is unsurprisingly rather busy but if you want a quick quality bite before a night out, this is definitely the place to go. They even have an alcohol license and serve beer and wine but I only had orange juice and water because I had a night of cake and cocktails ahead of me.
The bill came to around 13 pounds without service.

Current Mood: cheerful

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Karohemd's World

Photos, Cooking, Music

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