THE MODERN MINT BLOG
For those people who have followed this blog closely enough to have seen our 2017 updates about the best gin and tonic, we have found this rather odd complimentary product on the BBC….
GIN AND YOGHURT. TOGETHER.
Really. We know. Gin and YOGHURT!
Ridiculous. But then these food consultants (development chefs?) are suggesting there is more to come. We get Heston Blumenthal doing some wonderful things, but do you really trust Sainsbury’s with your food?
When Heston Blumenthal makes a weird mixture of a dish, it is so expensive – which is appropriate – because then it becomes an event. You pay a lot of money to eat something weird.
The price validates the dinner.
When Sainsbury’s make something weird, they try to make it cheap. So everyone can have a bit, everyone can like it, they can make money.
It is not an event, with Sainsbury’s, it is an assault on the senses!
Please don’t bother buying it, or trying it. It won’t be worth it.
Though we doubt that poor sales will be proof to Sainsbury’s that they should stop messing about with our grub. It will probably just make them work harder, longer hours, whipping and roasting their development chefs until they are steaming from the ears with new ideas for ugly recipes.
Pan-fried llama with a concrete topping?
Fish and Chupa Chups?
Leek and Annyong Soup?
Stick to what works well, especially when it comes to Gin.
Which means checking out our tried and tested recommendations for the best gin in the UK this year. Go now! Enjoy!
Modern Topiary, the Book, at Garden Media Guild
My book about topiary, Modern Topiary, has been mentioned on the Garden Media Guild newsletter…. As the screenshot says, the book can be read for free online here. At the bottom of the screenshot, it looks like another Garden Media Guild member has a book out called ‘A Year In A Cottage Garden’…. so if that is where your garden heart lies, check that out too! And at the top of the screenshot, it looks like I was listening to Pelleas et Melisande, by Debussy. What a classy chap I am, listening to classical music as I reply to emails. …
Start of the Whitby Topiary Library
I have been offered a space here in the centre of Whitby, south-facing aspect, with some raised beds in, so that I can make a Topiary Library. In my head, a topiary library is a place to showcase the common (and then not so common) shapes you can make out of topiary. With classical topiary plants, as well as some more unusual pieces. This Topiary Library can act as a reference for people to learn more about pruning and clipping. The space is small but the aspect is great and the beds are deep enough to put some plants in. …
Delivery After Dark – From the Makers of The Amelia Project
Last week I spent most nights stood in cold water streams on the moors of North Yorkshire, helping to film a new project called Delivery After Dark from the makers of the Amelia Project. I worked on the Amelia Project back at the end of 2024, lending my terrible vocal talents to a small part in the episode Didius Julianus. But this project is something new – and exciting! – and thankfully only needed me to be filmed, rather than to actually say anything. But not only did I have to stand in cold moving water at midnight, I also …