Category Archives: Ramblings

Ham in Coca-Cola

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Daily writing prompt
Do you or your family make any special dishes for the holidays?
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Our Christmas eats are the typical traditional foods you’d see in most Irish homes around Christmas. Roast turkey and baked ham with sage and onion stuffing. Potatoes (naturally), carrots and brussel sprouts. A few peas thrown in, maybe!

I’ve experimented down through the years with the sprouts but I’ve gone back to the old way of steaming them because I’ve learned that the people who don’t like Brussels sprouts won’t eat them no matter how they’re cooked.

I’ve also stopped with all the fancy ‘extras’ — no one wants it. They just want the traditional Christmas spread! So, why complicate things for myself?

For the last few years, I’ve cooked the ham in Coca-Cola. The gravy from the ham-boiled coke is the best ever! My son did it this way last Christmas but unfortunately, he overdone the cloves and the result was strong clove-flavoured gravy. God love him!

Dessert is plum pudding. I make my own every year. I don’t follow the same recipe every time but always similar — not too rich.

Some in our house like custard and fresh cream poured over their plum pudding. I take mine with Bailey’s fresh cream.

You can’t finish Christmas Day without the evening-time turkey and ham sandwiches. For some people, this is even better than the dinner! They’re the best sandwiches you’ll ever eat!

What’s your favourite Christmas food?

Thank you for reading!

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John, Will, and Lewis

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Daily writing prompt
Who is the most famous or infamous person you have ever met?
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In August 1999 my cousin Louise and I went to see the musical, Oh What a Night in the Eventim Apollo Theatre in London. Before the show, we went into a little pub nearby for a quick drink because we were early. I was around five months pregnant so I wasn’t drinking alcohol but I was high on excitement. It was my first time attending a musical at a London Theatre.

The pub was quiet so it wasn’t difficult to notice the two young men who walked in and sat at the bar. I recognised John Altman immediately because I was a big East Enders fan back in the days of Den and Angie, and Nick Cotton (played by John Altman).

I told Louise, ‘I’m going over to ask for his autograph.’ She was a bit mortified I think. I was going to embarrass us!

He was unbelievably lovely; very welcoming. At the time I didn’t know who the other guy was. When he reached out to shake my hand, I smiled and said, ‘Pleased to meet you. Who are you?’ He seemed a bit put out.

‘I’m Will Mellor. I’m also in the show.’

Around that time he was famous for his roles in Brookside and Hollyoaks; both I never watched.

John went out the back door and came back with programmes for the show and they autographed them for us. They asked us to call back to the pub after the show to meet the rest of the cast.

We hadn’t really intended on taking them up on their invitation, but when the show was over (great show by the way) we had an hour to kill before our train time home.

We went into the little pub and they welcomed us. We sat with a small group of the cast including Kid Creole. He was amazing, dressed so flamboyantly as if he were still on stage. The 80s was a great time for bold and vibrant fashion.

They were all very friendly, and I think they asked more questions about us than we asked about them. It was just like being out mingling with the locals.

The hour flew by and it was definitely an ‘Oh What a Night’ for me.

Back in the mid-eighties I was visiting the same cousin when I met Lewis Collins in a pub. I can’t remember whether it was in High Wycombe or in Beaconsfield. I was just a teenager and so star-struck. Lewis Collins had played my favourite character, Bodie, in the British tv show, The Professionals. He didn’t seem to mind that I went up and asked him for his autograph. He was very obliging. I thanked him and went on my merry way.

Lewis Collins passed away in 2013 at the age of 67.

Collecting autographs was a big thing back then but they were the only three I had in my collection. Do people still do that?

Thanks for reading!

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Ink and Tippex

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Your life without a computer: what does it look like?

This is what my life would look like without my computer.

Like when I was a teenager, I’d have to type everything on a good old-fashioned typewriter, get covered in ink every time I’d have to change the ribbon, have a good supply of Tippex, scrunch up badly written sheets and throw them into the bin.

I’d have to look up words in my thesaurus, asking myself, where is that thesaurus I once owned? I loved that book. It smelled beautiful and its hardback cover was dark blue with silver writing. The last time I saw it, it wasn’t in pristine condition, and that’s because it got a lot of use.

I’m sure it’s difficult for those who weren’t born before the age of computers to imagine what life would be like without them.

People my vintage and older remember having to handwrite or type everything.

I had a computer long before I had the internet. Before Cloud, I saved my work on floppy discs and CDS, and my kids played games on diskettes and CDs.

I played games such as Pac-Man and Donkey Kong in the arcades. We had to put money into a slot to play, so there was little chance of becoming addicted. Plus, there was usually someone standing in line waiting their turn.

I’d be lost without my computer, to be honest!

Thank you for reading.

MORE ABOUT ME, MY BOOKS AND MY CHARACTERS IN THIS YOUTUBE VIDEO!