What a day Dear Readers! Poor Caroline in Devon.. where one automatically thinks of sunny days on a sandy beach, has dreadful weather, whilst in London, WE are sweltering under a cobalt blue sky with HIGH temperatures!
I say WE with a bit of 'license' because I have been lolling about at home and SHE has been working fingers to bone gardening.. SHE cleared entire back - Peonies and Roses - bed of briars and nettles, then carried on towards mini shed.
Now SHE can get at those wonderfully BIG Blackberries! SHE came home with two huge pots of them, a Ziplock bag inside a plastic flower pot is a brilliant way to stop them being crushed when travelling home on bus.
SHE has a friend staying and SHE sent them a text saying "would you like some Blackberries.".. their mobile must have melted.. answer was SO quick " YES.. PLEASE!!"
SHE pruned Stone Fruit trees.. a bit late, SHE should have done it in June!!
But never mind.. at 5 o'clock, SHE realised exactly how tired SHE was, so put HER tools away, locked the two padlocks and walked up path and steps to wait for little bus.. which came in less than a minute.. great timing!
What to eat.. fridge and cupboards full of food.. but NOT what SHE wanted, SHE wanted some Rump Steak from Dickinsons, such lubbly-jubbly meat from this Butcher, so got off bus in North End Road and squeeezed into shop jurst before they closed on dot of 6 of the clock.
Many years ago, in decade called 70's, SHE worked in Harrods as a buyer.
Have YOU ever been into the Food Halls within Harrods? If not, YOU are missing one of the most unique sights of London.
SHE had several great 'mates' who worked in this extraordinary institution and one of them was Peter.. he had the incredible job of being HEAD Meat Buyer.. all meat that was sold in the Meat Hall, including Game, was Peter's responsibility.
He taught HER a lot about meat and two of the most important things he taught HER was about cooking meat of any kind..
Firstly, that YOU should NEVER cook meat which YOU have jurst taken out of the fridge.. it must always be allowed to 'relax' and this takes at least 30 to 45 minutes and secondly, always allow the meat to 'relax' again for at least ten minutes after YOU have cooked it.. the best way to do this is to take your meat out of the fridge, season it with herbs and pepper etc, then leave it on a plate to absorb the seasonings..
THIS is why you need an old fashioned wire dish or plate cover as they are perfect!
Tonight SHE came home with basket of 'goodies', 8 avocados from Kaza, Rump Steak from Butcher, beautiful 'Royal William' Roses that SHE had cut to put into sittingroom.. such a magnificent Rose..
SHE seasoned meat, had a shower, washed hair, put pan with butter and olive oil onto stove, bashed three cloves of garlic, SHE LURVES GARLIC.. by this time I was 'gibbering' with excitement..
HOLY MOLEY.. "thank you Peter for teaching HER how to cook meat properly".. these very important details are not written in recipe books.. and if YOU don't know, YOU will never cook meat properly and therefore you will never get best out of your meat..
SHE never eats Steak in a restaurant for they keep the meat in a chiller, they have to because they have no idea of how many steaks they will sell that night, so the meat is 'tight' and will not cook properly. Such a pity to 'waste' meat this way..
David was head Cheese Buyer.. It was he and his wife that introduced HER to Raclette.. oh, jurst delicious..
At lunch time SHE used to meet HER buddies in the canteen on the Fifth floor, it has all changed now, Hair & Beauty and other department have moved upstairs but in the 70's, this fifth floor was account and staff management offices, together with an excellent and HUGE staff canteen, plus a wonderful open terrace with deck chairs and tables.. it was a GREAT place to work!
SHE cannot remember Shell Fish Buyers name.. he was Italian and jurst larger than life.. These Buyers, such experts in their fields, were SO generous with their knowledge of how to prepare, cook and serve their specialities.. lovely men and women.. lots of very funny times with these people, in store and out of store hours..
But BEST was kitchen in staff canteen.. SHE lives very near to Harrods and Peter told HER about best deal in town.. take your own caserole or dish into canteen kitchen and give them ingredients.. pick dish up when you leave at 6 of the clock.. beautifully cooked.. ready to go..
The Fire Department and the Security Staff live on site when they are on duty, so canteen is open 24 hours a day, 365 days year.. Harrods has its' own artesian water wells and there are four, YES, FOUR, floors underneath store that customers are not aware of.
There used to be a big 'Pets Department ' with kittens, puppies etc, etc on Fourth Floor.. the Firemen used to let ALL animals out and play with them once store closed.. soppy guys!
Happy days.. great place to work, lovely staff as fellow workers, well paid and less than four minutes to walk to work!
Work? I am off to bed! Very late but I know WE are having a 'treat' tomorrow morning.. yes folks, a lie-in.. no getting up at crack of dawn for us.. So "sleep well Dear Readers, good night".
GeeGee Parrot.
August 18th, 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment