Druids Pie

To get us into the Christmas frame of mind we headed to the Christmas Markets in Manchester. Our trip was by train which was excellent apart from Mr Creosotes contribution as we approached Oxford Road Station!

From Oxford Road it’s just a short walk to the Town Hall and the best of the Markets with stalls from all over Europe with plenty of Bratwurst, Gluhwein, cheeses, gifts and Pie.

Spotted almost immediately was the Orchard Pigs stall which the Pie Tribe made a bee line for. The Piemans choice for today was the Druids Pie consisting of Pork, Druids Ale, Mustard seed, sage, pepper and nutmeg. A bit heavy of the pastry but tasty, very tasty (7/10)

We take a break from the Town Hall and head round the other markets which are dotted about taking in the dancers, walkers, displays going on and heading in the direction of Corporation Street and the cathedral. A brief pause in a café we head into the Triangle centre for Vintage clothing fair.

We then met up with the Blister in law and a number of her friends before heading back to the Town Hall for sustenance. Gluhwein and Bratwurst a winning combination with a side dish of Tartiflette. Pie Princess and Claire Bear are interviewed for BBC Radio Manchester. The weather was a bit grim but it didn’t matter we were determined to have a good time.

Squeeze/Lightning Seeds

 

What a double bill! We only found out a week or so before, that the excellent Lightning Seeds were going to be support to the mighty Squeeze. So for the first time in ages the Pieman and Georgio made the effort to be there for the support band.

We arrived at the Manchester Apollo just as the Lightning Seeds started and they were brilliant. Nearly all hits of pop perfection including Sense, The Life of Riley, Change, All I Want, Song for No One, Marvellous, You Showed Me, Lucky You, Sugar Coated Iceberg, Pure and a rendition of Flaming Sword by Ian Broudie pre-Lighting Seeds group “Care” …. Brilliant.

Then came Mr Difford and Mr Tilbrook with a cornucopia of hits and tunes. With some the best tunes ever written (and a band that included Steve Nieve on keyboards) it was easy enough to get your feet tapping, your hands clapping and give your vocals chords an out of tune workout.

Some but not all of the tunes included Black Coffee in Bed, Take Me I'm Yours, Annie Get Your Gun, Loving You Tonight, When the Hangover Strikes, Hope Fell Down, It's So Dirty, Goodbye Girl, Slaughtered, Gutted, and Heartbroken, Up the Junction, Labelled With Love, Is That Love, Hourglass. Cool for Cats, Tempted, Slap and Tickle, Another Nail in My Heart, Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)……

Another bonus for the night was the crowd entertainment when certain groups/sections took umbrage with others. This was an entertaining side sideshow which fortunately was overwhelmed by the superb songs being belted out onstage. Two great bands, great songs and a great atmosphere.

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

The Pieman got to go see Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) recently in the company of Pie daughter No 1. The gig was at the Echo Arena in Liverpool in support of the release of their latest album “History of Modern”

I’ve always been impressed by a band who could write a song about Stanlow! Also you have to be impressed by lead singer Andy McCluskeys dancing which must surely make him the King of Dad Dancing? Supergirl Pie Daughter can guess where some of my best moves come from now!

The arena was used in a shortened format so we were actually quite close to the stage and they played a good mix of new and old including History of Modern parts III + IV, New Babies: New Toys, Messages, Tesla Girls, Bunker Soldiers, History of Modern part I, Forever Live & Die, She's Leaving, Souvenir, Joan Of Arc, Maid Of Orleans, New Holy Ground, Green, Talking Loud & Clear, Walking On The Milky Way, So In Love, Locomotion, Pandora's Box, Sailing On The Seven Seas, Sister Marie Says, Enola Gay, If You Want It, Electricity…..

All in all, an excellent evening.

Feed The Yak

Many thanks from the Pieman to Mr Georgio Dragonslayer for our trip to see the magnificent blue boys. He managed to get us tickets for the Bullens Rd stand for the recent visit of the Potters.

Not the easiest of matches to watch as the Clay tribe didn’t real seem to want to win and sat back hoping for a break or set play to score from. However the Yak was fed and the toffees emerged deservedly triumphant at full time.

Moroccan Pie

In search of new Pie Mr and Mrs Pieman left the continent of Europe and headed for Africa. After much searching Pie was found on the main square in Marrakesh, Place Jemaa-el-Fna.

A particular specialty in Marrakesh is Pigeon Pie although it was a bit expensive. So we tried the cheaper and identical looking Chicken Pie/Pasty. A slightly different experience to our normal fare as this had a sweet and savoury composition. Minced chicken in a light filo type pastry, with crumbled almonds/icing sugar on top! Sounds a bit odd but strangely it worked (8/10).

Ostrich Pie

Following on from Mrs Piemans birthday we headed to Llangollen for its Food and Drink festival. It was pretty good although we didn’t leave enough time to go around but saw enough to interest us and pick up a few present s for Christmas. 

Orchard pigs had sold out their pies but we found a new pie an “Ostrich Pie with Black Pudding and Lancashire Cheese” from a company called Ostrich Direct based at Weatheroak Farm near Preston. The pastry was a bit dry but nonetheless it was an interesting and worthwhile eat (7/10).

Mrs Pieman’s Birthday

Quite a while since last entry so first a big thanks to everyone who made Mrs Piemans birthday this year so extra special. Following from the Auvergne Gastronomic meal at Chez Jules we retired to Mark and Viv TVs house for a great end to the evening. 

Many thanks to all those who travelled, made a cake, brought a present, sent a card, lent a house.……..