The menu:

Pan seared rib roast, thin cut fries (chips for the uneducated in SA), mushroom and madeira sauce and a side salad of garden tomatoes with goats cheese and red onion.

Problem one:  Need a skillet big enough for the rib.  Yip, you’ve heard it correctly – BIG enough!!! As the saying go – a picture is worth – bla bla bla.

So – back to the skillet – luckily Ludlow is well know for its cooking and cook shops.  So – forced (yes it was against my will – I had absolute no, but no other option to venture out and visit said cooking shops.  The result:

This however was not the end.  Because as the great white hunter (yes Dad I am talking about you) would point out – No meal is a meal without a good bottle of wine.

To show my undying loyalty to my country of birth I bought this Brilliant bottle of Chilean Shiraz.

But – I hear you ask what about the person who’s birthday this is?  Well what about her?  This is my blog, my steak, my skillet, my wine – what about her?

My preparation is not finished yet – well spotted – yes I am still missing flowers.  Do not fear – here it is:

And after some minor rearrangement from this master interior designer and home decorator:

Ok – ok – stop crying.  The birthday girl:

Back to what matter.  The meal.

No – much more importantly – the CHEF:

Ruben eat your hart out.

Fast forward to the result of the endless hours behind a scourging hot oven – the feast.

On the table – being carved by a true artisan.

For your “old” folks struggling with your eye sight.

So – now all that is left is to contemplate and reminisce the last / first 50 years.  And even the cats joined in:

So 5o years and counting.  Here is to the next 50!!

I now need 50 years to recover from the 50 pounds of steak in my 50kg body.

Thought of the day – it is all ready 2011 in Sydney.

What a year – looking back and the following “high lights” spring to mind.

January – tumour removed from left leg.

March – emergency removal of gall bladder.

May – rushed to A&E with suspected burst cornea – false alarm, thank god.

Total time from work – 9 weeks – yes it’s right – no work no pay – and I am out of pocket for more than two months salary.

Put on top of this the total and utter lack of certainty regarding work security and long term prospects and you get – the year best forgotten.  Let’s leave this one behind us and move on.

To summarise – not enough time for myself, not enough time for family and friends, to much worrying and not enough living.  NOT ENOUGHT TIME ON THE SHOOTING RANGE.

So – any new year resolutions?  No fuck that – just live everyday as if it is my last, sing as if nobody is listening, dance as if nobody is watching etc., etc..

Now to the main event – the year in pictures:

April 2010:

The big white hunter turns 75.

Summer 2010 (European)

A true reflection of the year to date.

But there is always a game fair somewhere to cheer you up.

And my local butcher does support my sport and culinary taste.

December 2010

Birmingham German Market:

And so – onwards to 2011 – happy new year to everybody.

Riaan and I want to test you tube videos and blogging.

So far I have to admit that I absolutely love it. Took some time to get used to Office 2007. Now it is just brilliant – little changes from 2007 to 2010 – but it is an improvement.

I really do like the new Office.

Now going to give the “publish to blog” feature a test.

Not sure if I will be very impressed with the formatting options – just first impressions.

Being a resident of Braveheart’s country (Scotland is part of the UK and the prime minister is Scottish so I can claim residency of Scotland and any way I am in pain so do not argue with me) I though let me follow the advice from old Julius – “When in Rome – and all that shi..” so off I went to capture Cantina Mexicana, to be precise “La Rancherita”.And before you all jump to conclusions – it is not a whorehouse and I don’t have the clap.It is a “fine” Mexican restaurant.

So let me tell you about my hideous injury.

It all started with the tortilla chips and the dip served with it – when they asked me if it is to hot I said no it is actually quit mild.This was taken as a grave insult and a declaration of war.I then order some Burritos a la Diabla (for all you ignorant people back home – Diabla is Spanish for Devil!!).O holy sh.. (this is exactly what is currently wrong with my behind) – it was served with a side order of peppers.Well since I regularly buy bottled Jalapeno peppers when I make wraps I though this I will enjoy.

Well for the record – there is a MAJOR difference between Jalapeno and Habanero.I put one (yes it was little whole chillies) in my mouth.CARDIAC arrest – my heart rate shoot up to 500 beats per second – my eyes popped out – I could not see – I could not breath – and I definitely could not talk – my survival instinct was all that saved me – downed my beer – downed my glass of Pepsi – crawled over the table to the bowl of guacamole and allow me to say – even while the valley of darkness was opening in front of me I still could appreciate the fact that this was indeed very good guacamole – the avocado was the star of the show – not overpowered by too much tomatoes and cilantro (O for G… sake – it is coriander – you Philistines of culinary knowledge) – and THEN!!I took a bite of the burrito.I now know what it must have been at Chernobyl.One small nuclear device went off in my mouth.The good news was that the pain from the Habanera was now wiped out – so was my tong, any feeling still left in my body – any dandruff that I may have had – my stomach lining disappeared in one nanosecond – the other diners though I am a gymnast – why else would I be doing summersaults? – my hair turned into an Afro style – it was as if I’ve gurgled pure Napalm.

This is what great food is all about – I am an addict – can’t wait for tomorrow – I am going back and this time around will ask for extra chilli in my Burrito.

Viva Mexicana.

Ps.Can only imagine what senorita Rancherita must have been like.

Never, never, never think about dieting and then flying with your old clothes. The one thing that Slimming World did not warn you about is the dangers in having to go thru airport security with a pair of jeans that is two sizes to big. They will ask you to remove your shoes and belt. The scanner will go "beep". They will ask you to stop and lift your hands for a body scan. YOUR PANTS WILL FALL DOWN!!

This is not something anybody should suffer in a crowded Birmingham departure hall. THIS IS DEFINITELY NOT SOMETHING YOU SHOULD THEN ALSO EXPERIENCE IN A CROWDED SCHIPOLL AIRPORT ON THE SAME DAY.

I did not sign up for Slimming World in order to loose my dignity – I signed up to loose weight – that’s all. Not pants and who knows what else.

I am typing this sitting in Detroit airport. I should have boarded hours ago but is currently refusing to go through another security checkpoint. I am now going to wolf down a half pound cheese burger and fries with a extra serving of onions rings and two pints of beer. Hopefully this will keep my pants up and enable me to continue on my journey.

The rest of my US experience will have to be in another post. Until then – do not diet and fly at the same time.

This is what it is all about.

A quality stand for a quality product.

Never to young to start.

No – we did not go hungry

See you at the next game fair. Happy hunting.

Visited the Gourmet Burger Emporium last night.Was confronted by a monster burger.There is no way that I can do justice in trying to describe this burger.Maybe the photo will help you to understand.

How am I going to eat this?

Note the bottle as indication of the height of the burger.

And to top it all – it is the real thing!! When you are asked how you would like your burger patty you should start to suspect that the name (Gourmet Emporium) may not just be a marketing trick.

One word: Unbelievable!! Just unbelievable – the best burger ever.