Pie n Mash

Beef, Bacon & Red Wine Pie

After a trip to the Emirates and a pretty awful time on the tube, sustenance was required on our recent London jaunt. We stepped out of the Mole highway at the delightful Tower Hill. With it's views of the Tower, Thames and Shard it was welcome change to the armpits of the sweaty on the life sucking Mole highway.

After a brief period chillin and catching up with messages it was decided to alter plans. Repairing to a nearby public hostelry for a libation was  a very wise and welcome decision. We chose the Minories Pub only a minutes walk away. Finding Peroni on draught was a welcome start to our respite. Comfy seating with plenty of room, no overbearing music and sport on the huge TVs meant we settled in quite quickly.

Further discussion of the day led us to decide to stop and eat, as there seemed to be a reasonable choice which included PIE. After much debate, discussion and consideration all of us went for the Beef, Bacon & Red Wine Pie pictured above. Encased in shortcrust pastry it came with buttery mash, some green stuff and a serving of gravy to cover everything with.

Some comments were noted about the dryness of the pastry in part and the fullness of the pie content but overall I think the consensus of opinion was that this pie hit the spot. The meat and gravy content was tasty, the mash wasn't school lumpy and overall we would definitely repeat the choice given the opportunity.

The Market Porter

Suitably refreshed we then headed out for a bimble across and along the River Thames stopping occasionally for some much needed refreshment  in some delightful spots, the Market Porter being a memorable one. 

Although I would definitely recommend avoiding the Brown Cow beer mmmmmm On this particular evening the  weather was very kind, almost balmy and made strolling around very enjoyable. London at night lit up looked fantastic and as a backdrop would be hard to beat.

Gooners Day

The continuing birthday celebration of Bilbo Baggins led our happy band to the Emirates stadium in North London to watch the Gooners take on the mighty blues of Everton in the 6th Round of the FA Cup.

An early kick off (12:45pm) saw us up and out promptly from the hotel on a sunny glorious day in London. This seemed to put most people in a good mood. The stadium is magnificent even if the result was not so good!!! Plenty of room and great facilities it is massive step up from some the pits we've been to in the past. 

Depite the fact that three of our party are blues and the odd one out is a red (Liverpool kind), we still had a good time, in with the Arsenal faithful. One criticism though of the ground was that they ran out of Pies which is unforgivable !!!!!

Declaration 2014

In celebration of a special birthday, a gathering of cestrians was convened in sunny London to attend the Mike Peters, "Declaration" 2014 tour. The venue was the 02 Academy Islington and the tour is supporting the just released Declaration album, which celebrates the 30th anniversary of the original release by revisiting it with new versions and ideas.

The evening consisted of two sets, with the first being a meander through the extensive back catalogue of the Alarm and Mike Peters. This is a blistering start to what promises to be a great evening. For one of the hardest working men in rock and roll, Mr Peters voice is a little ropey to start off with but quickly gets up to speed with some help from the audience. Each of the songs is punctuated with chat which is interesting, funny and not too long.  of this section my personal favourites were hearing Breathe and Across The Border.

After a short break for 10 mins the second set starts and is devoted to playing the original Declaration album track list in it's entirety.  However there is a noticeable departure in the style, arrangements and lyrics of how these songs are played. Some are as good as and some are even better than the original. I suppose that will be down to individual choice but my absolutely favourite of the new interpretations is Shout To the Devil  the backing riff  of which had been banging around in my head since I heard the new album.

The whole of evening was enhanced by the use of three mics for the vocals,  a drum, mandolin, a variety of harmonicas, loops, samples sounds (?) and ONE excellent guitar. It gave the performance a little breadth and power without having a full band. The crowd were fairly lively and it was great to see Eddie Macdonald/Gaz Top enjoying the gig as well from the side.

I have had the pleasure and good fortune to hear Mr Peters live in various disguises for nearly 30 years as the Alarm, MP & Poets, DMW, Coloursound, with BIG C, and on his own in all sorts of settings. Of his solo performances this was a stand out one. After finishing with a rousing version of Blaze Of Glory  he went off before returning to finish with some cracking encores as you can see from the set list below.

The venue was sold out but not uncomfortable and Mr Peters was in tip top form marching on to a level most could only aspire to. Thanks to Mr P and all the MPO team for an absolutely cracking night.

Edit this setlist | More Mike Peters setlists

Everton 3, Swansea 1, Pie 2

An excellent afternoon watching the Toffees overcome the Swans in the FA Cup on a sunny but cold day at Goodison. The match was preceded by a minutes silence for the late Sir Tom Finney. A laboured performance overall by Everton which started incredibly well, with new loan signing Lancia Delta (Lacina Traore), scoring with a deft back heeled flick in under 4 mins.

Swansea equalised fairly soon after that and it became difficult for Everton from then on. Silly errors and giving the ball away cheaply followed until the second half introduction of Osman and Naismith whose presence led to two more goals to win in a less then convincing style.

To celebrate, a belated lunch was taken with Steak Pukka Pie from a local chippy and excellent it was, easily outperforming Swansea by a long way. Bring on the Gooners.

Year of the Horse

Happy New Year !, a photo by Idreamofpies on Flickr.

Chinese New Year celebrations in Liverpool with parades, dragons, wibbly worms, firecrackers, smiles, fortune cookies, dad dancing and some food !! An excellent time at the Chinatown festivities. Lots of people , music, colour, rides sights and sounds on a weather blessed day, brilliant.

Food was a bit of a scrum and a bit pricey compared to our last visit but we did find a new place for coffee and cake in town ...nosh and coffee. Bit of a shop for the ladies but not too demanding, before home and a cascade of chocolate mmmmm. No pie was consumed but we still had a ggod time.

Maurice the She Mog

Maurice the She Mog, a photo by Idreamofpies on Flickr.

Welcome to the Pie Tribe household, new resident "Maurice". Boy name, Girl cat. Not known as a Pie eater and if she touches mine she may not be a resident for long !!!! 

Arrived a couple of days before Christmas and shows no sign of disappearing soon despite opportunities to do so. She has only moved 4 doors (from the swampies) so should settle well, particularly with her pyschotic mother on the prowl in the neighbourhood to be avoided at all costs, the inappropriately named bubbles.

Fairly self sufficient and unobtrusive the main problem thus far is her persistent habit of attempting to trip us over by sneaking up when you least expect it and scarring the living daylights out of us.

Pie and Bovril

Hollands Meat & Potato Image: ©GeorgioImages

Over the festive period, in the company of some exiled Cestrians (Billy, John Boy, Elrico), we went in search of Pie and Football at the Exacta Stadium. With the mighty Chester playing the giants of the north east Gateshead AFC. A bright cold day had us wrapped up warm and searching for the Pies.

Delighted to find the Pies on sale were Hollands Pies, not so delighted at the £3.00 price tag. But more than delighted when they arrived (Peppered Steak) as they were twice the size we are used to, so the price was actually very acceptable. Also some of us had the added bonus of Bovril mmmmmm. The football itself was interesting and entertaining if not quite on a par with Premiership level !!! A 1-1 result was probably a fair reflection of the game overall.

Revival Times

Trip to Goodwood revival in September was a highlight of the year again and just brilliant in so many ways !! Unlike last year the weather was not as kind but the racing and the event were up to it's very high standards. 

Exceptionally well organised with crowds limited every day, make this event is very special. The effort people go to is exceptional at times (dressing up in period costume) and even if your not too interested in the motor racing there is plenty to occupy you on site. It is ram jam packed with interest and spectacle. One of the most delicious collections of working racing motor vehicles your ever likely to see anywhere on the planet.

At one point I was standing behind a couple of antipodean gentleman who had specifically come over just too see the largest ever single race gathering of Ford GT40s strutting their stuff at full thrutch. They were gobsmacked and raving about it on the phone to friends back home!!. It was brilliant to see and hear!!

Even the car parks are interesting with a lot of visitors arriving in a variety of excellent well preserved working vehicles from many different marques.

The racing as ever was superb with some fantastically close exciting racing drieven by many well known professionals inc Tom Kristiansen, Andy Wallace, Jochen Mass, Derek Bell, Mark Blundell, Jackie Oliver, Win Percy, Derek Daly, John Cleland, Henri Pescarolo, Dario Franchitti, Kenny Brack, Jean Alesi, Mr Bean ......and many others

The image of the huge Ford Galaxie 500 V8 powered monsters drifting and sliding at speed around the track, racing against all sorts (inc minis) will remain with us for a long time !!

Anchored In Worthing

Playing catch up with posts and couldn't forget a trip down to Sussex in September. Whilst roaming  a damp downtown Worthing one evening, looking for fodder we were welcomed by customers and genial host Nigel (Top Man) to our first Micropub, "The Anchored". What an excellent idea !! Micro breweries we know of, but this was new.

What an excellent time we had working our way through the roster of mainly locally sourced liquid refreshments !!! No music, no TV, no Fruit Machines no corporate designer decor just great conversation and excellent interesting beverages to imbibe. We liked it so much we made a special effort to get back a couple of nights later for another great evening of tasting and chatting.......

Crims in the Cathedral

First gig of the year saw the Pieman and Georgio stepping out to Manchester Cathedral, for some groovin with the fantastic Fun Lovin Criminals. An unusual venue for a rock style concert but excellent nonetheless.

The sound on the night was not brilliant, which may have be acoustics or first night of the tour gremlins. At first this was hardly noticed but eventually there was some downtime to sort out Hueys guitar/amp/lead issue before proceeding on without interuption. 

However during this difficulty Huey & the Crims were relaxed and cool about it all. The innate ebullient nature of Mr Morgan seemed to infest the crowd with general good humour and a determination to enjoy themselves which they duly did. With some excellent tunes, raps, playing ...... underpinned by the pistol crack drive of the drums from the big presence of Mr Frank Benbini it was easy to get sucked in to having a good time!!

 

Sweeping through funk, soul, rap, hip hop, jazzy, punk, rock you certainly don't get bored with the Fun Lovin Criminals.

Bear Hug, King of New York, Southside, All for self, Back on the Block, Loco, Up on the Hill, Swashbucklin' in Brooklyn, Scooby Snacks, Where the Bums Go,10th street, I Can't Get With That, Come Find Yourself, Classic Fantastic, Big Night Out, Will I Be Ready Encore: Bombin' the L Love Unlimited,  Live, Have, Love, The Fun Lovin' Criminal

Set aside for the journey home a Phil Salt Butchers, pork pie to eradicate the late night munchies. On this occasion a little heavy on the jelly but excellent meat/pastry combination as ever.