Chip week is coming! (aka French Fries)

I have no idea why I took this photo.

And it's out of date now as my beard has disappeared.

Anyway...

Did you know that it is Chip Week from the 17th to 23rd of February 2014?

In support of chip week, I will be eating lots of chips.  Not because I enjoy them, but because I believe in a British chip.  If only because a chip from overseas (a french fry should I say?) will have gone cold by the time it gets here.

Okay - I love chips.  I love thick chips from the chippie, accompanied with a piece of battered haddock, doused in so much salt and vinegar that if you breathe the air nearby you choke with the strength of vinegar.

I love the thinner fries, with salt or ideally chip spice (it's a Hull thing).  Or the really dinky thing ones you get with a manufactured burger from McDonalds - yes, it's maybe not the healthiest thing in the world for you, but it's cheap and it's tasty, and now and then that's what you want.

And chips dunked in thick chip shop gravy are gorgeous.  Coated in ketchup, or even salad cream - not my first choice, although salad cream is surprisingly good on a bacon sandwich - tartare sauce is good on chips too.  What's your favourite chip dish?

For more information, and to vote for your favourite fish & chip shop, head over to http://chips.lovepotatoes.co.uk/

While I'm writing this post, I just wanted to say that my blog posts might be a bit erratic for the immediate future - a relative has been taken into hospital over the weekend and I'm not quite sure how things are going to pan out, but it is likely to result in some changes to my routine, in the short-term at any rate.  I do aim to blog 3-4 times a week (and currently I've actually got a few spare posts half-written to give me some space) but I'll have to see how things go.  The reason for blogging is for myself - I like to write, and I like to be creative, I know perfectly well that I'm not going to become the most popular site on the Internet, or make a living through these scribblings, it's a hobby I enjoy (and thank you very much everyone who does take the time to read them!) - but ultimately it is a hobby, and I may need to put it on the back burner just for a little while.  Hopefully not, hopefully I can keep blogging as normal, or nearly as normal, but I don't quite know what's around the corner.

Meme stardom here I come!

I can't help but notice how popular "memes" are at the moment.  I've spent some time analysing the key points of the most popular memes, and here are some home made ones - please do feel free to share (and tell people where you got them from!)

And here's one for everyone from Hull:

Speaking of Hull, I went out with my dad yesterday down Princes Ave in Hull.  Due to the weather, we spent the vast majority of Friday afternoon in Pave, and very much enjoyed it.

Me and a pint of Hoegaarden, with fruit in!  Very odd but it did enhance the flavour.

Dad in a philosophical pose.  This was later in the afternoon, when we'd been to another pub, and then due to the rain decided to return to Pave rather than attempt a march to Newland Avenue.

Dad very much enjoyed the Yorkshire Lager on sale, whilst I did my usual trick of trying a different drink every time - I think my favourite was possibly the Schneider-Weiss on tap, very nice indeed.

While I'm blogging I must flag up that Christmas is swiftly coming upon us, and if you want any chance of ordering rather cool stuff for presents (either for family/friends or for yourself) I can't help but recommend getting a catalogue from Raven - obviously I'm biased but my parents business does sell all kinds of weird and wonderful stuff.  They're mail order to the UK and Ireland, send them a message on Facebook with your name and address to get a catalogue, and I do believe that you get a voucher for a free gift with your first order too!  I'd also recommend liking them on Facebook because their status updates are always very interesting, usually a bit of history about what happened on this date, or otherwise it's pictures of food.

Which is always good!