Or, funny things non-anglophones say in the shop.
Incidentally, I love the word "anglophone". It doesn't really exist in English, but it gives me a rather entertaining mental image combining certain features of a saxophone with an anglepoise lamp. Just thought you should know.
1. "Ve are looking for ze weapons of Fitzwilhelm College".
Translation: We are looking for the arms (heraldic shield) of Fitzwilliam College.
2. "I would like a pair of Christ's handcuffs".
Translation: I would like a pair of Christ's College cufflinks.
3. "I would like fresh one please".
Translation: I'm going to make you run up and down three flights of stairs four times in 30° heat until I decide I actually prefer the first tshirt you brought me.
4. "Is it here we pick our stuff up for graduation?"
Translation: I just assumed someone else would have booked my graduation things for me. What do you mean, you don't have any left? Are you a gown hire shop or what?
More to come soon, I imagine. Oh, how I love tourists.
Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Wednesday, 23 June 2010
Cake Thursday
Last week I sort-of-accidentally started a new tradition at work: Cake Thursday.
I'm off Tuesday and Wednesday, and I like to do a bit of baking on one of those days- cake, or bread, or biscuits, or cui-miam-miam as it was last week. We have a gas oven, and the fact that we have to pay for our gas directly through a meter in one of the kitchen cupboards (seriously, I didn't know those things still existed until I moved here) means I feel guilty about putting the oven on with less than three different things in it.
I also have some exciting and under-used baking toys (thanks to Lauren for the first, Madeline for the second) I want to get more use out of.
Last week, I made chocolate and Nutella fairy cakes. This week, I'm thinking lemon drizzle cake. I'm after some new ideas to try, though, and this is where you lot come in- any suggestions? Challenges? Bizarre ingredients I should try and incorporate?
I'm off Tuesday and Wednesday, and I like to do a bit of baking on one of those days- cake, or bread, or biscuits, or cui-miam-miam as it was last week. We have a gas oven, and the fact that we have to pay for our gas directly through a meter in one of the kitchen cupboards (seriously, I didn't know those things still existed until I moved here) means I feel guilty about putting the oven on with less than three different things in it.
I also have some exciting and under-used baking toys (thanks to Lauren for the first, Madeline for the second) I want to get more use out of.
Last week, I made chocolate and Nutella fairy cakes. This week, I'm thinking lemon drizzle cake. I'm after some new ideas to try, though, and this is where you lot come in- any suggestions? Challenges? Bizarre ingredients I should try and incorporate?
Friday, 18 June 2010
Cui Miam Miam
Tonight, we're having people over for dinner, Breton-style.
Ze Boy and I have been thinking about galettes for a couple of weeks now, and, as usual with this kind of thing, we'll only be able to get the idea out of our heads once we've eaten them. Alas, I couldn't find buckwheat flour in Tesco, but I have brown flour, so that'll just have to do. A friend of ours has stealthily imported some proper cider (none of this strongbow nonsense, thank you very much!), so the thing is going to be Done Properly.
For pudding, I must admit to having found inspiration in an Oldelaf et Monsieur D song. After trawling the internet for a recipe (and trying to work out how to spell the damn thing, Google doesn't work if none of the letters in the words match up), I finally found a trustworthy one on a friend's blog. The thing I've made goes by the somewhat unpronouncable name of Kouign Amann, or, to use Ze Boy's version of it, Cui Miam Miam. Actually, he informs me that it's meant to be spelt "couie miam miam", but that sounds a bit too much like something extremely vulgar, so I've gone for the Cui version. In any case, a kouign amann by any other name would still have as much butter in it. Om nom nom.
Back to the cupboard now to hide until our guests arrive.
Ze Boy and I have been thinking about galettes for a couple of weeks now, and, as usual with this kind of thing, we'll only be able to get the idea out of our heads once we've eaten them. Alas, I couldn't find buckwheat flour in Tesco, but I have brown flour, so that'll just have to do. A friend of ours has stealthily imported some proper cider (none of this strongbow nonsense, thank you very much!), so the thing is going to be Done Properly.
For pudding, I must admit to having found inspiration in an Oldelaf et Monsieur D song. After trawling the internet for a recipe (and trying to work out how to spell the damn thing, Google doesn't work if none of the letters in the words match up), I finally found a trustworthy one on a friend's blog. The thing I've made goes by the somewhat unpronouncable name of Kouign Amann, or, to use Ze Boy's version of it, Cui Miam Miam. Actually, he informs me that it's meant to be spelt "couie miam miam", but that sounds a bit too much like something extremely vulgar, so I've gone for the Cui version. In any case, a kouign amann by any other name would still have as much butter in it. Om nom nom.
Back to the cupboard now to hide until our guests arrive.
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