Overall Impressions

I pre-ordered the European 3G Xoom from the Carphone Warehouse.  This edition comes with a silver, metal back which makes it look faintly similar to it’s chief competitor.  The tablet comes with a dual-core Tegra, clocked at 1GHz, some RAM (does it matter?  See below), a decent camera on the back and a respectable web cam on the front.  It’s also packing 32GB of onboard storage, and whilst there *is* a Micro-SD card slot, it’s not working yet pending a firmware update.  Not overly clever, but I think there’s genuine reasons for that.  On top of all that is Honeycomb – Google’s latest iteration of the Android OS designed specifically for tablets.

Size and weight wise, especially with the silver back, reminds me of an iPad 1.  It feels good in the hand, if I could be persuaded to take it out the case once in a while (yes – I’m mildly paranoid).  It’s a good form factor for a variety of jobs and so far in the past week this thing has been out to a picnic (where it took a few very good shots), managed chunks of my business (e-mail and documents primarily, and in general been a very nice bridge device between my phone and my laptop.  I am impressed.  The general approach by both Motorola and Google has been to aim for this bridge approach, and does make me wonder if Chrome OS is possibly a little redundant.  Details such as the e-mail client’s pane approach and the new notification system are clear indications of a real re-think as to how Android should work on a tablet, and even the way native 2.x applications work on the tablet has subtle differences which make for an enhanced experience.

Honeycomb

Honeycomb has had a complete UI redesign to target the tablet market and it shows.  There’s no point of me posting my own images here, 30 seconds googling and you can find your own.  The home interface is still based on the same widget based interface you know and love, but have taken some of the features on board from third party home screen replacements.  Scrolling widgets are now native (although not *yet* resizable – shame), and with extra collections of smart folders, feels more like a desktop.  Normal third party widgets work fine – I don’t think I could really live without the Pure widget collection.

Navigation and notifications are distinctively different between 2.x and Honeycomb.  Notifications are not displayed across the top of the screen, but pop up in the bottom right of the screen, before fading away and leaving an icon.  Tapping on the bottom right will display a list of notifications, just like pulling down the top bar.  Navigation is handled by soft buttons in the bottom left for back, home, application-switching and (for 2.x applications), menu.  Applications with a Honeycomb specific UI do not require the menu button, since they now use a slightly different model.

Since the dawn of Android, Google has encouraged people to use layouts for their applications which are designed to scale well to different sized screens, and made this pretty straightforward with their layout engine.  This has been positively reinforced (despite the moans) by manufacturers, who stubbornly refuse to use just one screen size and insist on producing a multitude of different devices.  A such, if you wanted your application to gain a wide-reach in the market, then it must have already been robust enough to work on these differing handsets.  This sets Honeycomb in good stead, since most 2.x applications simply treat it as a bigger screen and scale appropriately.  I’m currently writing this blog post in AndroNoter, which has correctly placed it’s main three buttons across the bottom of the screen and given me a huge writing area to work within.  So far, there are very few applications I have found which don’t scale in a similar way (ironically – the WordPress application being one of them).

As for Honeycomb targeted applications, Google has added a few more niceties into the mix.  Applications now have access to an application bar which is displayed across the top of their application.  The application bar contains the title of the application, an icon (which in some cases acts as a home icon for the application), the toolbar for the current activity (copy, paste, zoom, forward, archive, etc) and an icon which when clicked, gives a drop down menu.  There is also an enhanced menu interface for options and dialogs and a few other goodies to boot.  Here again, we’re looking at a halfway house between a mobile and desktop experience.  There are flavours of both, whilst making them work very well on a large touch-screen device.  These motifs will not scale down to smaller screens, which appears to be one of the reasons why Google is hesitant about releasing the source for Honeycomb before Ice Cream is ready.

Google’s own applications and third party applications are already adopting the extra Honeycomb goodness – Gmail, Talk, Picsay Pro, QuickOffice HD and Due Today are apps I use daily which have already had Honeycomb face-lifts.  Could we do with more?  Hell yes, but it’s currently a young eco-system, and I’m happy with the way 2.x applications work for now until most of them get a Honeycomb facelift.  It would be nice if Google added a filter to the market for tablet specific applications – (and I think the US may have it), but that’s just a small nicety.

Applications

An Android device wouldn’t be an Android device without shipping with a few Google Apps.  The usual stack is here, GMail, Calendar, Maps, Talk, etc, and most have enhancements specific to Honeycomb.

The Browser

Most of my workflow now exists in the cloud.  My business is managed via FreeAgent, my documents are managed via GDocs, diagrams are done via Gliffy, etc.  In general I now look for a cloud app before I look for a native app.  So now I’m going to make a pretty bold statement:

The browser in Honeycomb is the best browser I have used from mobile to the desktop.

There – I’ve said it.  Let the hordes of angry people tear me limb from limb, I don’t care.  Google brought a tabbed browser to what was already a pretty strong Chrome on mobile browser, added in a few bells and whistles and turned out what I think is the best browser to far.  This thing is faster than Chrome on my desktop, handles every web app I throw at it (even Gliffy – which is flash based), syncs bookmarks with Chrome desktop and comes with an Incognito mode (which has more uses than porn – stop your giggling at the back).  The UI is Honeycomb based goodness and the whole thing just gels.  It’s a genuinely glorious experience.

Specs – Does It Matter

It’s quite exciting that we are starting to move in to a strange, post PC world where raw crunching power is taking a back seat to overall user experience.  It’s a game Apple and Google have been playing for a while, and the rest of the world is just about starting to catch-up with them.  The Xoom packs quite a meaty punch under the hood, but the raw specs of the machine itself are almost irrelevant.  What is relevant is that it takes about 20 seconds to power up, about one second to unlock, zero seconds to switch between applications, applications start in a second, and the whole experience is buttery-smooth.  It multi-tasks *very* well, and is absolutely silent in it’s operation.  90% of people could quite happily throw their PC away and just settle for a tablet and a keyboard.  Apart from coding – I think *I* could.

Accessories

And now, we come to the shameful part.  For Google and Motorola have released a genuinely superb tablet, which makes good use of the Android Market system and is very well polished.  But Motorola managed to score a few own goals with the accessories.  I’m currently writing this post using an Apple Bluetooth Keyboard – since I already had it hanging around.  My tablet came shipped with a “standard dock” (promotional pre-order freebie from Carphone Warehouse) and I purchased a “folio case” from Mobile Fun.

Standard Dock

I have had many smartphones over the years.  For most of them, I’ve purchased a dock.  When consumers purchase a dock, they usually expect it to do two things:
1) Charge their device.
2) Provide a means of file transfer to that device (usually via USB of some sorts).

The Motorola Xoom standard dock fails in 50% of the required objectives.  When you’ve eventually faffed around with getting your Xoom on to the dock (it’s not an easy fit), your device will indeed charge (although despite what the manual says, will front light on the dock does not light up).  The dock itself also contains a micro-usb male connector which fits in to your Xoom.  But there is no USB leading away from the dock.  Whilst your device is in the dock, you can not transfer files, nor debug, over USB.

Epic fail.

Luckily, you can use windows shares quite happily using ES FileExplorer.  Which admittedly is no different to how I transfer files on my phone anyhoos, but I’d like the option of using USB if not for file transfer, then for file debugging.

Folio Case

When it rains – it pours at Motorola’s Fail department.  Whilst the standard dock is an annoyance, albeit a bearable one, the folio case comes down on the heavy side of fail.  The premise is simple – a light case your Xoom clips into which allows you to use your Xoom in a variety of positions: help for reading, tilted on the desk for typing, higher for viewing, and flat on the desk – for whatever flatness you require.  Motorola have been advertising this accessory as the primary accessory since announcement.  Oh, and it comes in leather.

Which it doesn’t.  The original plan was for two versions – one in leather, one in “durable”.  When it came to shipping, they only shipped the “durable” version which meant anyone who ordered a leather one got one of these plastic things.  I raised this with MobileFun, who were as confused as everyone else, and they did offer a full refund for shipping the wrong product.  I decided to keep it when I found out that Motorola aren’t going to ship the leather version, at least not yet.

There has also been complaints about the case scratching Xooms.  My European version has a metal back, so this doesn’t appear to be a problem on my unit.  But the two lugs at the bottom of the case designed to hold the Xoom in are quite aggressive – and I can understand the worry some users may have.

When in the stand up position, the giant plastic clasp protrudes from the front of the case, sitting anywhere up to six inches from the device.  This means that if using a bluetooth keyboard with the case, your bluetooth keyboard has to in front of the clasp – which does not make it ideal if working in tight environments.  Total footprint when using the case with an Apple bluetooth keyboard – longer than a 12″ ruler.  That’s a bigger footprint (in depth) than my 15″ Macbook Pro.

The final fail of this case is in charging.  You can not charge the device while closed in the case.  The charging port presses up against the side of the case when closed, which means to charge, you need to open the case and lay it flat out.  The same problem occurs when using the case in the stand position – the charging is on the bottom of the device.  One observant person pointed out that since most apps will re-orientate themselves just fine, simply flip the tablet and use it upside down.  This is perfectly acceptable for desktop use, since you’re not likely to want to use the rear camera at that time, but is still an epic fail on the part of the tablet, and Motorolla accessories.

Charger

The charger I’m in two minds about.  One of the nice conveniences with the iOS portfolio of devices is they all charge from the same cable, which in turn powers from USB.  I had become used to, at least with phones, MicroUSB being the standard for charging devices of this type.  The Xoom comes with a brick.  Admittedly, a small brick, but a brick nonetheless.  Not even an integrated plug/transformer, but a separate, honest to God, brick.

I was just a little gobsmacked.  Welcome to 1999.  But then I charged it.  And it took a couple of hours to charge from completely flat to full.  That raised an eyebrow – I’m used to devices taking a little longer to get their juice.  One decent length bath is a pretty respectable amount of time.  The device does not charge at all over MicroUSB, not even a trickle, which means while travelling for longer than a day I will have to carry the brick with me.  But oddly, I think I’ll be happy to put up with that.

Delivery and Management

If Motorola are the king of accessory fail – Carphone Warehouse are the kings of communication fail.  On pre-order of the Xoom, they put a hold on the amount in your bank account.  I’ve no problem with this – it’s the only way of ensuring that the cash is there when the device arrives.  Plenty of other people were caught out by this and were expecting to pay a deposit and balance on arrival.  -1 point for clarity.

Carphone Warehouse then managed to fail in specifying a delivery date.  We knew the device was “supposed” to arrive mid-April.  It said so on CPW’s website.  But any communication with CPW led to a response of “we don’t know” and “it’ll be in stock when it’s in stock”.  Not even an estimate.  Distinctly unhelpful when they’ve taken 600 GBP of your hard earned cash.

On top of this, panic ensued when CPW changed the date of the website from “mid April” to “late April” with no notification, and removed the free standard dock from the listing.  This led to me wondering if there was any intention of shipping the standard dock, so I phoned CPW customer services for clarification.  At that point I was told that the Xoom has shipped already, would be with me that day, and no they weren’t sending out the standard dock despite it being part of the order.  I was told the manager was unavailable, could I leave a number for callback and the assistant said they would “try” to add the dock to ship later, as an apology (apology – I paid for the damn thing).

So I waited.. and waited.. and waited…  And it failed to arrive that day.  Funnily enough, there was no callback from CPW either.

Overnight I received tracking notification saying that the product was *now* shipping to me and would be with me the following day.  Which it did.  And lo-and-behold contained the standard dock I’d ordered as part of the package originally.  We then spent a good part of the afternoon having fun with the device.

Summary

When you buy a device like this, you’re buying in to a post-PC experience (there’s a painful term to coin).  Your accessories should “just work”, they should perform the function they’re designed to fulfil and your customer support should be second to none.  The whole thing should *gel*, making getting you up and going as comfortable as possible and then keeping you going as comfortable as possible.

Motorola and Google have pulled together a *fantastic* device in the Motorola Xoom.  The device itself is excellent, the operating system is superb and the app support is excellent.  But the overall experience is let down by poorly thought and executed accessories which hinder rather than help and a support system in CPW which sees the consumer as something in the way, who should be kept in the dark at all times.

I do not wish to incur the wrath of the dark lord, but this is something Apple got, get and do very well.  You buy a iPad, it does exactly what’s said on the box.  You buy an Apple case for it, it does it exactly and demonstrated and advertised.  No problems with charging and using your Pad at the same time.  No brick to carry around.  You also don’t get the product announced for pre-order four months before it ships.  The buzz machine dies down in that time.  This stuff is hard, but important for the acceptance of these devices with the general public.

These devices live and fail on providing an integrated experience.  I *want* to see the Xoom succeed, I want to see *other* Android tablets succeed.  I think they have a huge amount to offer the general public, but these teething problems with the whole ecosystem need kicking in to shape *now*, not six months down the line.

There are other accessories by third parties turning up.  Some of the cases look good, _come in leather_, and answer the problems I’ve raised above.  This is what I expect a good third-party eco-system to do.  But I also expect the manufacturer to get it right, since they make the thing in the first place.  If you’re thinking of getting a Xoom – it truly is an awesome device, but bear in mind some of the caveats above.

Myself and Mr Murphy recently did a radio spot for Gaydio, giving one of their presenters a quick lesson and a few hits. Chris took to it well, and we had a bit of a laugh.

Anyone who wants to hear the audio can prod me. I’ll be keeping a copy on the phone and laptop for a while at least

It is a truth universally acknowledged amongst realists, that we’re not going to change local gravitational acceleration in a signficant enough way to effect weight for a significant period of time. Well, not without opening up a local black hole and sucking the entire contents of the universe through it. Which may be a little much.

Therefore – the only way to make a significant impact on to one’s weight is to affect the variable which can be considered non-stable. Mass.

I have battled with weight problems since I was young. My weight fluctuates up and down based on a number of variables. This number of variables is significantly long and could otherwise be called a list of excuses (stress, pleasure, pain, pressure, availability, boredom). All these variables actually boil down to a simple equation:

change = food in – exercise[1]

In practical terms, managing this is easy. To create a bigger negative change, reduce the amount of food in and increase the amount of exercise. But then the excuses start to come back in, and we’re back to “argh, I have too much work to exercise” and “nothing to do, insert stuff into mouth”. Over time this simple equation gains enough side effects to make a theoretical physicist start to squirm.

What I have been doing for the past month though has been working. Reduce the number of variables and you can get a better sense of control. My food in has been limited. There is now a set route for morning and breakfast which almost anyone who knows me is now familiar with. Rather than having to think about every individual meal, the first two are now set in stone and provide a fixed number. This means I can concentrate on the evening meal, plan ahead to cook it and have an idea how good nutritionally it is. All my food thinking time consolidated into one easy, daily repayment. It’s also given me back a little bit of freedom to cook, which I’ve missed doing recently as well.

The most variable part of this equation has been exercise. Exercise has always been the first brick to fall when things start to go pear-shaped. When stress gets too high and the work loads are trying to cave in, traditionally I’ve just stopped doing anything else other than work to deliver a project. This doesn’t work, and for me, it doesn’t even work in the short term anymore. I am most productive when I’ve slept well and had some form of exercise. It is a myth that the time saved from not exercising is constructive time that can be spent working. So my two nights fencing (or coaching) are now fixed, and unless something very serious turns up (personal rather than work), they are necessary parts of my week (which they are). I’m also getting out running where I can in the mornings. This one is an easier said than done, and is dependant on a few variables. Some weeks I have been able to manage three runs a week, others I’ve managed one. I’m not too worried about making morning runs, so long as I do some. They are a plus to the routine.

This very rigid (and worrying sensible) regime has had some net positive effects for me. I have more energy, am tired better in the evenings (tired was never a problem, but there appears to be qualities of tired) and appear to be overall more productive. Oh, and on top of all that I’m losing weight. My Thursday weigh in came in at under 15 stone.

[1] Okay, the full equation is a little more complicated than that, but you get the idea.

Eugh.

That’s a term I dislike. But a “Digital Fast” is the one LifeHack have adopted so I’ll settle with it for now. The idea is to take a 24 hour period completely disconnected from the Net to a) prove that you can do it, and b) to get a bit of life back and put your priorities straight.

But they make it sound like a chore.

Go have a read of the article, and then come back.

My partner and I had an online break recently for a whole two days, and it was one of the most refreshing things we’ve done for a long time. I had spent the week working for a client based in London, and with things still flying around up North it was a very hectic week. Fun, but hectic. Deciding that we really needed was a few days break I booked a couple of days in Kettlewell in the Yorkshire Dales (we recommend Littlebeck B&B). It was on a bit of a whim, and the place came on the advice of a friend. This was not intended as a “Digital Fast”, just a couple of days out of the rat race for a bit of R&R.

I got back into Manchester on Friday evening, Cat picked me up and off we went. Driving up, the usual run of Twitter and GMaps was happening until we got north of Skipton. Then all we got from GMaps was a grid, a blue line and an arrow.

“Follow the line! Don’t lose the line!”, so long as we followed the line we were OK. There was a map somewhere in the car if we got really stuck.

But the signal was dead. No 3G, no GSM. Nada. And as we hit Kettlewell it didn’t get any better. No Wifi in the B&B, Wifi in one of the pubs if we got absolutely stuck. All we had was each others company for a three day period.

And it was awesome. We woke at a reasonably casual time, wandered downstairs to a most hearty breakfast, casually strolled around the village, drank tea in a nice little tea-shop and ate at some rather nice pubs. No pressures, no connectivity, just the gentle countryside and company.

We even had snow on the Sunday, which made the whole thing even more picturesque – and did cause a bit of worry about getting back for Monday. Trapped for another day? Oh dear… Alas, it turns out the roads in that area are gritted and cleared more religiously than most major towns and cities so at that point it was easy travelling to get home.

We will be doing it again – next time hopefully for longer. A week, maybe two. It’s nice to have that feeling of gentle isolation.

So, if you are planning on taking your “Digital Fast”, and feel like it will be more chore than pleasure – why not disappear to the Dales or the Lakes for a day or two and enjoy what’s there instead? Enjoy your time away.

Since a few people have been asking recently… I am currently coaching at two clubs in the North-West: Manchester and Altrincham. Beginner geeks are welcome to turn up to either, and will be welcomed by a smile and a circuit board.

Manchester – Manchester Fencing Club
This club caters for all fencers from beginners to international.
I’m here every other week (other coaches are availible at other times). Ping for details.
West Hill School, Stalybridge, SK15 1LX
Thursday 1900-2130

Altrincham – Salle Kiss This club is a new club, currently catering to beginners. A good environment for beginners to feel comfortable.
Altrincham Grammar School For Boys, Altrincham, WA14 2RS
Wednesday 1900-2100

Fees vary from club to club. For your first session, stick a tenner in your pocket and you’ll get plenty of change (I don’t handle money and can rarely remember what fees are from one week to the next).

I’m horribly unfit!

Isn’t that the point? Seriously, we cater for all shapes, sizes and fitness. Turn up and give it a try. The sport is fun, addictive, painless (mostly) and we provide all the kit you need. Just bring yourself, a pair of trainers or squash shoes, tracksuit bottoms and a t-shirt. You’ll want some water and a towel as well.

To make it a bit more fun (and to leave out those first week blues), why not organise a couple of you to turn up together?

Oh, and you’ll get to hit me in a large leather jacket repeatedly. What could be more fun?

Interested?

Drop me a quick e-mail or comment to let me know you’re coming. It’s also useful to know how big you are (chest size and height) so I know if I need to grab some larger jackets from elsewhere.

But I’m a Foreigner!

Not a problem – there are plenty of clubs out there. Have a look at the British Fencing Club directory, and contact the club secretary (using that old-tech thing called a phone). That’s why they’re listed.

Back in April, I discussed my epic plans for the garden in an attempt to put some genuine home-grown food on our plates. Well dear readers, the garden has somewhat flourished since that post, and we now appear to have a good run of crops in potatoes, shallots, and tomatoes. For a full list of what’s growing in the garden, click on the landscape garden image to view the notes on Flickr.

Has it been worth it? Yes. It’s been a fun exercise and we’ve learnt a lot of lessons about how much effort and time it takes to grow your own food and the restrictions of working in a terraced yard. If you do plan on doing this yourself there are a few things to bear in mind:

1. Get a greenhouse. Just a small £20 one. It helps to germinate the seeds quickly, and who knows how long it would have taken to get some of the plants going without it.
2. Get lots of cheap containers. The dirt the food grows in has to grow in something. Oddly, most people seem to overlook this when budgeting. It doesn’t have to be elaborate – the basic requirement is that it adequately holds dirt. We’ve got a range of containers, from wooden tubs which were on special offer at a tenner a piece, to garden rubbish buckets currently holding the potatoes. We made an extravagance on two galvanised steel containers which to be quite frank are rather rubbish. Keep them basic and large.
3. You will spend an extraordinary amount of money on dirt. By dirt I mean compost, but when you get down to it, it’s glorified dirt. If like us you live in a terraced house, your yard contains no natural dirt and you’ll have to import all of it. Vegetables on the whole are relatively unfussy things. They do not care if you use miracle grow or Uncle Pete’s wholesale budget compost at a tenth of the price. Save the cash for more containers.
4. You will spend most of your money on 2 and 3. The rest pales into insignificance by comparison.
5. Get a book that you can understand on the subject.

In your first year, you are not expecting to become a master gardener. Your aim is to put something in the ground and make it grow. As such, your first reference book needs to be something with bright colours, simple instructions and guidance you can understand. My recommended reference for the novice would be Plot, Pots or Growbags available from Amazon for under £7.

I don’t need to say much about this book, the reviews on the Amazon page tell it all. It’s such a straightforward and useful book, you really can’t fail with it. We bought most of our seeds from Suttons online shop and were surprised with how slick an operation it was.

Cat is currently cooking a chicken, mushroom, leek and shallot pie to celebrate some of the early harvest. Today we shall ignore the diet. Now, time to plan for Autumn planting…

My bike is dead. I was asked to sign its death warrant yesterday. It was in pretty poor shape. It was the best thing I could do for it.

I admit I’ve not cycled for over a year. The bike I had been using was donated to me by Cat’s dad. It was rather too large for me, but it was a touring frame and rode well. Unfortunately I don’t agree with non-indexed shifters located on the bike frame, and this cough may have cough caused a few cough slips. Nothing epic, just a few occasions where I may have been forced to cough stop, due to a lack of chain on gear.

Oddly though, I’ve not suffered a serious crash on it, which I can’t say for my beloved pearlescent-yellow Muddy Fox MTB, on which I was hit by an ASDA lorry, side-swiped by a car on an estate, knocked flying by a pair of yobs in a white Fiesta into a bramble bush and finally, hit an unseen grate and slid for 25m on my face. That particular bike was nicked from my parent’s back yard when I came back from university and I was absolutely devastated.

Now I’m needing a new bike. I’m looking for a second hand road/race bike, 50-54cm frame size, drop bars and shifters on the bar. The last point is rather important (see above). I’ve missed two bikes in the past week that fitted the bill on Ebay. I’ve got a budget of around £150, if you know anyone selling, or if you’re selling yourself, drop me an e-mail.

Here at Tentacle Towers we have the typical urban gardening facility – a yard. Your typical yard does not really lend itself to being transformed into a urban garden paradise of self-sustenance, but we’re giving it a jolly good shot.

Growing vegetables tends to throw up images of hours of back-breaking work, pitch forks, west country accents and the sounds of the Archers. Oddly, non of the above it required, except possibly the Archers (or at least a radio tuned to Radio 4). What it does require is time, a bit of money to initially invest, and dirt. Ideally some compost.

Veg tends to broadly fall into three categories: 1. Straight to pot – the easy one. Take a large container of dirt, add some seeds, water and harvest in a few months. Straightforward enough. 2. Incubate and destroy – a little harder. Requires small potting things, and somewhere warm to germinate and grow. When your seedlings are large enough to eat a small human, transfer into the obligatory large container of dirt later. 3. Herbs – easy, but … odd. Can be kicked off in the open, or in the greenhouse. We already have a few containers of herbs, but are starting off this year’s seedlings in the greenhouse.

Important bits: * Greenhouse – this doesn’t have to be the epic huge glass house that your Aunty Mabel grows her begonias in. The Range and B&Q both sell a small greenhouse which is essentially nothing more than a series of shelves with a plastic cover. The only real difference between that one and Aunty Mabels is Aunty Mabel’s is significantly larger. * Containers – if you let them, containers can be expensive. The most we’ve paid (so far) for a container is £25 for a container to hold our Jerusalem Artichokes. The best containers are often the most novel ones. Our potatoes are in garden refuse buckets and one of the herb pots is an old barbecue.

And to prove it works, broccoli making a bid for world domination.

Ingredients

• 500g Shin Beef, Diced
• 2 Carrots
• 1 Parsnip
• 2 Onions
• Fresh Rosemary
• Bay Leaf
• Beef Stock Liquid

Directions

1. In a frying pan, heat a little oil, fry off the beef and onion with a little rosemary. Add to a casserole dish.
2. Scrub/peel carrots and parsnip. Add to casserole dish.
3. Add rosemary and bay leaf.
4. Add enough made up stock from liquid to cover meat to cover contents.
5. Cook at 200oC for 1 hour, then drop to 80oC continue cooking for 1.5 hours.
6. Mix 1/3 suet to 2/3 self raising flour for as many dumplings as you want. Add a little salt, and rosemary if you wish.
7. Add water to the dumpling mix until a sticky, moist mixture is reached.
8. Spoon mixture into casserole dish. Either leave of surface or push under surface.
9. Turn oven back to 200oC and return casserole dish to oven for 30 minutes.

Just before adding the stock and committing to the oven:

Fresh rosemary – no garden or kitchen should be without it:

There’s also the benefit that Abel and Cole boxes are organically sourced, and all UK produce, zeroing the air miles as well. Ignoring the fact that a little man comes and delivers it to the door, it’s significantly better for the environment, see?

So, for a first time out we decided to order a mixed medium box, some mushrooms and a loaf. Pretty standard fare, except that we were told “order over £20, get a mixed box free”. Which meant that when the box arrived, we were greeted with this:

Oh holy, moly. That’s a lot of food.

For the inventory, there are potatoes, carrots, parsnips, onions, rocket, radishes, broccoli, apples, plums and oranges plus the mushrooms and bread we bought extra. The potatoes are smaller than those you’d be expecting from your supermarket, as are the onions, but there is a significant difference in taste.

Out of this fine assortment, there’s a (broccoli) bit that Cat (rocket) can’t (radishes) or won’t eat. Abel and Cole have a preferences system so you can adjust what they will and won’t send to you. We clearly need to do a little more tweaking on ours, but for a first effort, not bad at all.

So what to do with a mountain of good quality food? Well, best cook it. See the next post for my basic, but nommish beef casserole recipe.