Real fake smoked haddock and fake real fettuccine

Perhaps I am the real fake in all of this. My brain was not in gear while I was buying the fish at the weekend. There is nothing unusual in this as I tend to buy the fish early on a Saturday morning. The ‘end of week’ bottle of wine tends to be still influencing me by the time I get to talk to Han in George’s Fish Shop. In response to my “What’s fresh?”, he put on  a wry smile and refused to rises to the bait. Instead, he reminded me that everything is fresh except the frozen stuff. Then he recommended the Haddock.

Shish Kebabs for the dedicated follower of fashion

Got Ya! My fashion headline did the trick and has roped you into the first paragraph. We had family over recently and I decided to barbecue. The forecast was for rain. This meant that it probably wouldn’t. In Ireland, the weather likes to do its own thing. Like the weather, I like to do my own thing too. Back in the day when I was a youth and interested in my appearance, I did some pretty funky fashion stuff, believing myself to be the coolest thing on the catwalk.

Do you have frogs legs?

Hermione – One of the many frog adornments in my Mum’s house.

“No” replied the waiter. “It’s these pants, they are a little too tight.”

Now, let’s dispel the myth. The French are not great lovers of frogs legs. Just in the same way as true Italians look down their nose at Spaghetti Bolognese and the British don’t enjoy getting Toad in the Hole when out in restaurants (One needs to be careful how one puts that.).  All stereotypical ‘National’ dishes.

The European crisis – It’s big picture stuff.

Our European leaders can’t agree on the future of the Euro. Here in Ireland, we were lucky enough to be the first bailout boy of the current financial shambles. The God-like Greeks stepped in and took on the mantle of shame for a while. The poor chaps over in Cyprus were hardly noticed when they asked for a couple of billion to keep the dole queues queueing and civil servants civil. As I write, Spain is attracting the interest and Italy is only a few bond auctions away from the fun.