Tuesday 14th

Yeah Valentine’s Day, but I’ve already done all that so head to the peak district instead for a trundle around Stanage Edge. Cheese butties laced with Tabasco (try that one Corduroy Boy) make a satisfying high-ish altitude lunch, and the Tabasco perks me up for the descent.

My family live in a touristy part of Wales and it really annoys me when tourists arrive in 4x4s towing jet skis, use the beaches, and then bugger off up the A55 without spending any money. It means that increasingly the residents have to put up with the noise, congestion, and general disturbance, but do not receive the financial benefits in return. With this in mind I try to spend a few pounds in the local economy wherever I go for a walk. Hathersage is geared up to taking the tourist dollar with a lovely deli, baker, posh butcher, pubs, walking shops etc. I resist the urge to go beserk, and shop around for some fruit, a paper, and a drink.

Bizarre omelette craving when I get back to the flat so I chuck together a double-egger with the last bits of spring onion, red pepper and celery. A chap from Uni rings up while I’m cooking and tells me omelette is not exciting enough for the blog, so I add some dried tarragon to the beaten egg to liven things up – a real winner as it turns out.

As the evening draws on I don’t feel like eating a big meal, so I decide to make fan-tail roast potatoes with sesame seeds on. No reason, other than I haven’t eaten them since the 1980’s. I’m fondly reminded of rare restaurant meals involving prawn cocktails, t-bone steaks, Chicken Kiev (how good was that? I’m gonna look for the recipe on the web) and blackforest gateaux – and if I was really lucky a drop of Mateus Rose ‘watered down’ with lemonade.

Anyhow, the oven is a fan-assisted pain in the arse and the spuds are a tiny bit crunchier than expected. No black bits though, so I eat them out of a bowl with mayonnaise from a jar.