8 Pints of Milk

Here is a little anecdote for you. I had to buy eight pints of milk for the school's fayre last Saturday. To pour in coffee and tea (patently absurd in tea, but I digress). I thought it was too much milk for what we needed, but since I was tasked to do it, I did it. So I stopped at the local Sainsbury's in the morning. They were out of semi-skimmed milk bottles of the right size. So I asked one of the employees there. He asked me to give him less than five minutes and in the meantime, he told me where the find the other bits and bots I had to buy. A really helpful guy. I thought he would come back late telling me they were completely out of stock, but no. Within five minutes, on the dot, he was walking with the milk bottles. As I always like to show my gratitude for helpful staff, I told him he was a man of his word. he replied: "If I was not a man of my word, what kind of man would I be?" Which I think deserves to be a new great unknown line. I might use it in my writing one day, in any case I thought I'd share it on the blog. But yes, eight pints of milk was way too much.

Jack O'Lantorch

 For today's countdown to Halloween, I wanted to blog about a very useful item for trick or treat: a torch. I bought this one at Sainsbury's. It has a friendly looking Jack O'Lantern on top, that lights up when you press on. It also gives a spooky howling sound. We had a similar one a few years ago, but it did not make any light anymore, so I bought this one. I affectionately call it Jack O'Lantorch. It will make us see (and seen) (and heard) (yes, I know, lots of brackets, it's intentional) when Wolfie and I walk in darker paths on Halloween night for trick or treat.

Les trois citrouilles...

Nous avons acheté deux citrouilles de plus hier. Ca nous fait trois citrouilles en tout et par tout à creuser pour l'Halloween. Le pire, ou le meilleur, c'est qu'il y en aura sans doute d'autres: je compte bien en acheter une plus grosse et nous irons sans doute dans une ferme pour enfants en fin de semaine, où il y a un "pumpkin patch". Petit loup risque de faire des ravages. Et je ne compte pas mesurer ses ardeurs. Sa mère peut-être, mais pas moi. Mais enfin bref, trois citrouilles de taille correcte, l'Halloween se rapproche de plus en plus. Je suis content, mais ça passe beaucoup trop vite.

Première citrouille

J'ai acheté notre première citrouille pour l'Halloween.J'aurais pu en acheter une plus grosse, mais celle-ci avec le reste de l'épierie était déjà lourde à charrier, alors j'achèterai une plus imposante la prochaine fois. Ce n'est qu'un début.

Les serviettes de l'araignée

En Angleterre, l'Halloween n'est pas aussi célébrée qu'au Québec ou qu'en Amérique du Nord en général. Les décorations sont moins présentes dans les commerces, souvent celles de Noël sont déjà plus préponérantes, etc. Mais ils ont des trucs bien, il suffit de les trouver. Lors de ma dernière visite à Sainsbury's, j'ai trouvé ces serviettes de table, qui ont la forme de toiles d'araignée. Avec les araignées en plus. Elles ne sont pas très pratiques, mais ce n'est pas l'Halloween sans quelques araignées, alors j'ai acheté les serviettes. Petit loup est fasciné.

Boo Tea Ful

My wife went to Sainsbury's yesterday for a quick top up and she bought me this tea mug. This Halloween tea mug. It changes colour when you add tea and it shows more ghosts. I was so happy when I received this. Now I have not one but two Halloween mugs, however one is getting old and the other well... Well the other is fine, but we never, ever have enough Halloween mugs. And this one has ghosts. Halloween and tea go hand in hand in my book (more on that in another post), so I am so very glad to have this new mug. Better still: I'd like to think that my wife is finally, finally, finally getting into the spooky spirit. Well, one can hope. Maybe it is motherhood, but I do think she got more into it this year.

Citrouille ou Potiron?

Bon, j'ai finalement trouvé hier une citrouille de bonne taille, la plus grosse de Sainsbury's (fait confirmé par la caissière). La voici en photo. Je dis citrouille, mais on devrait dire un potiron, comme l'explique cette vidéo trouvée sur YouTube. Je ne connais pas la chaîne, mais cette vidéo est très intéressante. Elle me rappelle mes classes de deuxième année, où notre prof nous avait dit qu'il ne fallait pas dire citrouille, mais potiron ou encore courge, pour le terme plus générique. Je m'en fous, je vais dire citrouille pareil, les mots étant descriptifs et non pas prescriptifs.

First lemonade of the year

I don't like lemonade all that much, except during summertime, when I find the lemon taste very refreshing. It was hot enough recently, practically summer, so we bought some lemonade with our grocery shop.Nothing too fancy, some cheap "juice drink" from Sainsbury's. I miss the home made lemonane made of fresh lemons we find in some independent cafés here, but given the current pandemic, I won't have any, unless I decide to make my own (now that's a thought). Anyway, I had one glass of this one, which tasted nice enough. The only problem is that the temperature dropped rather dramatically, so I won't enjoy it as much in the upcoming days.

Dim lights and guerilla shopping

Yesterday, we decided to do some guerrilla shopping in Sainsbury's, before things started kicking badly with the coronavirus. It was a strange and not very pleasant experience, but we managed to get most of what we wanted and I think we should be all right for the next few days at least. It was weird to see the aisles half empty and the dim lights. This is what struck us the most. Why the dim lights? It looked like we were at war. I guess we are, in a way. We were guerilla shopping, as we are bracing ourselves for guerilla living.

Tea's the season to be drinking

I know this title is an atrocious pun, but I think I had to do it. Anyway, my wife recently bought at Sainsbury's this Christmas Black Tea. Twelve (pyramid infusion ) tea bags flavoured with Christmas associated spices, in a box that looks like a Christmas cracker. She did not buy for herself as she hates tea, but for me. Isn't it sweet. Twelve tea bags for the twelve days of Christmas, but I had one already today. What to think of it? Well, it's all right, although I had spicier teas. The flavours are a bit faint, but maybe I need to let it infuse a bit more. And just for thesake of having a Christmas cracker with tea bags, it was worth it.

Monster Pumpkin (?)

For the countdown to Halloween post of today, a bit of news: I got my first pumpkin yesterday, along our online grocery shopping. We had ordered a Monster Pumpkin from Sainsbury's. This is what we got. The picture does not really show it, but it is rather small for a "monster" pumpkin. Sometimes I wonder if they don't stick the label to just any pumpkin. You know what I think of them. Anyway, it's not the biggest pumpkin I have seen, but it is a start. At least, we have a first pumpkin. I cannot wait to carve it.

Les citrouilles en fin de semaine?

Bon, j'espère que les citrouilles dans les supermarchés seront plus grosses que lors de ma dernière visite, car j'ai l'intention en fin de semaine d'aller en acheter au moins une, mais de préférence plus d'une, afin de commencer sérieusement mes préparatifs pour l'Halloween. Il faut bien savoir accueillir les Halloweeneux (comme on les appelait de par chez nous) avec les égards qu'on leur doit. Ce sera la deuxième fois cette année que l'on met nos citrouilles dehors pour attirer les gens. J'ai vraiment hâte de les creuser et commence déjà à penser à des designs. Cela dit, n'hésitez pas à me faire vos suggestions dans les commentaires.

Earliest sign of Halloween

I was wondering when and especially where I would see it first, with both excitement and a bit of anxiety: the first sign of Halloween this year. Well, it turned out that I found it in Sainsbury's: these small pumpkins, £1.00 a unit I believe, with some even smaller ones next to them. The tiny pumpkins would look nice on display in the kitchen or on a dinner table. The small ones have juust enough space on their surface to carve a Jack O'Lantern. But I did not buy any yet, as I want my pumpkins to be much bigger. I did however buy some extra long matches, as we were short on them and I am already thinking about lighting our future Jack O'Lanterns. I am very much in a Halloween mood and it is increasing every day. I think my little Wolfie already shares my enthusiasm, but it is for another post.

Hot cross buns for Easter

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you are enjoying your day. We are having a quiet one here and as I am typing this I haven't had chocolate yet (I kid you not). But we started the day with a very traditional and very British Easter special: the hot cross buns, which we all ate for breakfast. Not the many variants we find nowadays in supermarkets (some of these variants are delicious), but the proper stuff (which we bought in Sainsbury's). A little anecdote about them: it is the one indulgence of my very English mother-in-law, who normally does not like anything sweet. I am not that keen on them, but around Easter I find it a nice tradition.

Mince pies and an anniversary

When I first met Mrs Vraie Fiction fifteen years ago, it was in the common kitchen of the students residence. I was eating a mince pie. Since then, I eat a mince pie on the same date to celebrate our meeting anniversary. I blogged about it in 2008. And guess what I found two days ago in the kitchen? Somebody wanted to make sure I would not miss it. The ironic thing is that neither of us like mince pies all that much, it just happened that this was the dessert I was trying at the time.

First Pumpkin!

This is the first pumpkin I bought this year for Halloween! A bit later than I usually do, but hey. And whatever it says on the label, while it is a large pumpkin, I have seen bigger ones, so I am not sure if it deserves the title of Monster Pumpkin. Anyway, little Wolfie was very curious about it and amused. It is not his first Halloween, or his first pumpkin, but it is the first time he is conscious about it.

First Pumpkin

Quick countdown to Halloween post for tonight, I have simply one thing to mention: we bought our first pumpkin for our Jack O'Lanterns on Saturday, the 15th.We had ordered a "Monster Pumpkin" from Sainsbury's, for whatever reason they could only find us a "normal" sized one. Which means, by my standards of Halloween aficionado who grew up in a country that new decent pumpkin sizes, a borderline small specimen. But hey, that is our first one. We will have more and hopefully bigger.

Monster pumpkin?

Two days ago, I bought my first pumpkin to make a Jack O'Lantern. This is the one on the picture. At Sainsbury's, they call it a monster pumpkin, it costs three punds instead of two, which is the price of the "normal" size ones. Monster pumpkin is what it says on the label and what it said in the huge box where this one was. I suppose it means that it is a particularly big pumpkin. I don't see it. I mean, see on this post/picture is what you can find in Montreal, for five dollars, and they are much bigger. Not to mention cheaper. Monster pumpkin indeed! Anyway, this is the first one I buy this year, not the last. My wife thinks I would have more luck in one of these farmers' shops we have nearby, and I tend to agree. So it will be my project for the upcoming weekends: find a worthy pumpkin to be my master Jack O'Lantern.

New sign of Halloween

Quick post update about the signs of Halloween I saw. In England, a country where it is not nearly as celebrated as in North America (even though it keeps growing). Anyway, I went to Sainsbury's recently and I saw Halloween desserts. Not many, but still a few, including the Halloween donuts I blogged about extensively last year. I didn't like them that much last year, but as Halloween is also a celebration of gluttony and as they caught my eyes, I bought a pack.

Halloween donuts

I bought these a few days ago. They were a pound in Sainsbury's (they sell all Halloween desserts for a pound, so it's a bargain). I crave donuts from time to time and those are Halloween donuts, so I had to buy them. Maybe I am a sucker. After all, they are normal, glazed donuts, only with an orange glazing and some chocolate sprinkles.  Their association with Halloween is tenuous at best.

Then again, maybe I am not such a sucker. For one, those donuts are associated to the gluttonous aspect of Hallowen, of which trick or treating is a modern manifestation. Donuts are also associated in The Simpsons's episode Treehouse of Horror IV, where Homer sells his soul to Satan for a donut (you can see a few minutes of the episode here). In a way, he makes a Faustian pact. Now, I can also mention that Anthony Burgess,my favourite author, wrote in a dissertation on Marlowe's Dr Faustus that Faust secretly desires damnation because he wants to experience hell. So every time I eat a donut I think of this episode of The Simpsons, and then of the Faustian pact, and about the appeal of eternal damnation when one is tempted by Satan in folklore...

And I cannot believe that in one post I talked about Marlowe, Anthony Burgess, the legend of Faust, Halloween, The Simpsons in a post about trivial donuts.