21 February 2012

re-united

Takes a long time to get a house moving in the morning when there's five people to get through the bathroom (and chaos when two different people feed the dogs. They love it. And are capable of eating their entire feed and then looking half starved by the time the next person enters the room, thereby getting the second feed.) and Sherlock begs for pancakes, because it's pancake day [Shrove Tuesday] Mycroft!I'd almost forgotten you could do that. Don't. Pancake day, Shrove Tuesday - everyone knows what I mean! [It's plebeian] And? I'm a pleb! Stop it. Anyway, yeah, so Sherlock manages to negotiate pancakes for everyone for breakfast, using logic to defeat all my arguments, and begging to defeat the ones logic failed on. And enlisting Mary on his side as a final blow to any objections I had.

John got a phonecall, and it was so late it was decided we should head to the park to let the dogs run off their mammoth breakfasts. Sherlock climbed trees, the dogs somehow ran about without being sick, Deimos completely destroyed one of their tennis balls by catching it mid-air with such a hard bite it disintegrated. He looked surprised.


And then...we went to the cafe, for a sort of lunch-ish snack, given most people had eaten ther bodyweight in pancakes not long before, and, as John's phonecall earlier had worked out...in walked Mrs Holmes and Mary's mum.

Danger's face looked a bit like this, but even more smiley:

 That was him the other week, in the hotel. Hence the hotel-brown wall behind him, and low lighting. And smile.

Obviously Mary was delighted, and there were hugs and a few tears and a lot of tea as they caught up a bit. And the boys were glad to see their Mum, and I've no idea how, but Sherlock managed to drink an entire milkshake, despite there being no possible way he could fit anything else in his body, unless he's been fitted with a tardis as a stomach.

So...Mary's leaving us today, which is kind of sad, as she's been a brilliant houseguest. But it'll be nice for Mycroft to get his room back, too, given he doesn't get much time alone nowadays, as he shares a room at school.

And now Sherlock, Mycroft and John are compiling a list of things we cannot have panc...Shrove Tuesday without. So far it's maple syrup, sugar, lemons, Nutella, Jam, bananas, blueberries, icing sugar... and this all for a day where you're supposed to be using up the last of your rich food for lent. Riiiiiiiiiiight.

197 comments:

Desert Wanderer said...

John Watson, you marvel. Mrs. H. clearly knew what she was doing when she picked you. <3

(Did you take a book from Lestrade's hair styling in that pic? They do say couples start to look like one another after a while...)

John H. D. Watson said...

I look like I'm plotting someone's downfall there. Or my hair is.

and this all for a day where you're supposed to be using up the last of your rich food for lent

We'll use it all, promise! :)

Greg Lestrade said...

Yeah. If I didn't know better I'd say I'd just ruffled your hair, and you were about to detach my arm from my body... It's just you and your dislike for me taking your picture, so when you do actually let me you pull faces. That was the most smiley one I've got. Well, that I can share on a family blog.

I can't believe Mycroft's double standards that I can't call it Pancake Day, but he can go on a supermarket sweep for goodies to have with pancakes! Just mean :(

REReader said...

I'd never heard of Pancake Day--but then, I also didn't know what Shrove Tuesday was. But when I google one, I get the other. :) Now, Mardi Gras--that I know of. Also Ash Wednesday. But I thought they were both only Catholic holidays (as in holy days).

And it sounds like a most wonderful lunch-ish snack time!

(I love the photo, by the way. :))

REReader said...

(My tenses seem to have gotten a bit mixed there. Sorry!)

John H. D. Watson said...

Even if you don't call it Pancake Day, it's still for pancakes! It'd be like celebrating Christmas without...tinsel.

REReader said...

:D

(Who looked more pained at that--Lestrade or Mycroft? :))

John H. D. Watson said...

I think it was a tie.

REReader said...

You need to get some very special sweaters next year for Christmas grumps. :)

Greg Lestrade said...

When I was a kid it was sugar and lemon. Usually that crap stuff in a bottle, because exposing us to real fruit would be a bit much. Not all these syrups and sauces and extravagant things!

REReader said...

Nutella is not syrup, it's HEAVEN. Mmmmmmm, Nutella.

John H. D. Watson said...

Don't forget jam. Nothing wrong with jam.

Greg Lestrade said...

Heathen.

At least we're representing both sides of the pond with our pancake consumption. America this morning, the UK tonight (even with all the added extras.)

Nothing wrong with lots of things we're Not Having On Pancakes. provided they're not on pancakes.

Anon Without A Name said...

It's plebian

Would it help you to think of it as secular, Mycroft?

Well, that I can share on a family blog.

Spoilsport :-p Although, that is an extraordinarily cute photo :-)

It's sugar and lemon juice only on pancakes in this house. Classic. traditional. Nommy. None of this nutella and bananas and other fancy stuff.

Anonymous said...

*laughing* It's wonderful to see (hear? read?) that Mary and her mother are reunited once more! I take it that they've left for their own personal Shrove Tuesday/pancake day/omg, I'm so happy you're alive and okay! celebrations? :)

John - That is a fantastic picture, so if that means you're plotting someone's downfall...plot away. ;)

Greg - Is there anything left in the kitchen, or have Sherlock and Mycroft made it all disappear? *giggling*

Enjoy your pancakes!
~A from NW

Greg Lestrade said...

It's sugar and lemon juice only on pancakes in this house. Classic. traditional. Nommy. None of this nutella and bananas and other fancy stuff.

Thank you!

Piplover said...

I have never heard of sugar and lemon on pancakes. It sounds... interesting.

I like nutella, or whipped cream and strawberries. Also, honey with butter. Very yummy!

CzechReader said...

John, the Plotmaster!

L - we don't actually celebrate Pancake Day (whatever you call it) in here. But tomorrow... tomorrow... tomorrow is the day of jam-filled doughnuts! Hell yeah!

And of course! I was always assured that all growing kids have tardis instead of stomachs. Only somebody switched my metabolism to adult and forgot to take mine :-(

Well, back to the gym on Friday .-)

REReader said...

I don't think I've had pancakes more than three or four times, so I don't have a standard topping. Maple syrup and butter is what I've had on them, when I've had them.

Small Hobbit said...

One sugar and lemon (proper lemon not out of a bottle), followed by banana and cream - well, you have to experiment sometimes.

Piplover said...

Sadly, I'm having to eat gluten free for two weeks, so I have to miss out on the pancakes. I'm very sad. But! I did have gluten free waffles this morning. Does that count?

Small Hobbit said...

and the captcha said starve - Mycroft have you been working on them?

Anon Without A Name said...

Piplover - could you make pancakes using a gluten-free flour? I don't know whether the texture would work - this is probably Lestrade's area of expertise. Our pancakes are quite thin, a bit like French crepes; I get the impression that American pancakes are thicker?

Greg Lestrade said...

Nameless - American pancakes tend to have a raising agent, Brit ones don't. Hence us being American this morning, with fat fluffy pancakes with fruit in, and UK tonight, with proper skinny pancakes, albeit covered in all manner of things.

Desert Wanderer said...

I get the impression that American pancakes are better?

Fixed there for you, Nameless. :P

The captcha just said "SBeach scheme" like the diet. Well done, Mycroft. :)

CzechReader said...

Nameless - Sadly, the gluten is what basically makes the pancake stick together, as far as I understood the explanation of one friend of mine. So it's hard to make a proper pancake without it.

L - and when it is time for bliny? :-)

Greg Lestrade said...

DW...I don't know what to say. Hang your head in SHAME. American pancakes have their place in life, but really. Do you have an entire day dedicated to how great your pancakes are? What's that? No? Yeah, there's a reason for that!

You can go and sit on the naughty step and think about how wrong you are. :)

Piplover said...

I've looked into it, but the gluten free flour is pretty crumbly. I don't know how well the pancakes would hold up. It's interesting, when you're suddenly not allowed to eat something, to realize how much of that product you took for granted.

REReader said...

But we do have a rather large restaurant chain named after them.

REReader said...

(Pancakes, that is.)

Greg Lestrade said...

Pip - Sherlock's face fell when he read that you couldn't have pancakes. Clearly this is an unimaginable hardship for him. He's said when he's older he'll invent you a 'good pancake', and says when your two weeks are up you should have some then.

He'd type this, but he's, y'know, eating pancakes. Still.

Greg Lestrade said...

RR - big business is in no way the same as a nation uniting to eat a foodstuff, regardless of religion (well, I'm sure some people don't celebrate, owing to religion, but the rest of us, who pick and choose our religious festivals depending on how much fun they are, are all over pancake day, as we are Christmas.)

Desert Wanderer said...

But... But... They're so much bigger and fluffier and you can't really put fruit in yours cause the fruit is thicker than the pancake and falls out the bottom and you're just wrong!

Fine. I'll sit on the step. Meanie. >:(

(its so hard not to laugh too loud my boss probably thinks I'm having a fit of some kind.)

Piplover said...

Sherlock - I most definitely plan on eating as many pancakes as I can just as soon as I'm able.

I've decided that even if I'm allergic to gluten, which is the reason why I have to not eat it for two weeks, it will totally be worth it to eat pancakes! And I hope you can invent a gluten free flour that will make really fluffy pancakes. That would be an amazing invention!

CzechReader said...

Piplover - what about buckwheat flour? Some crepes are done with it and the original russian bliny (and L didn't answer the question about bliny-time yet) is done with it as well.

It works quite nice and I was told it's gluten-free, but I'm not sure...

Greg Lestrade said...

DW - indeed, ours aren't sullied with added ingredients. You put them on after.

Don't get me wrong, as I said, we had American-style for breakfast, with fruit in. But they'll never be as good as thin pancakes :)

I'll make you one and bring it to the step. (You know you have to sit there for a minute for each year of your life, right? Maybe I'll bring you a cushion too.)

Greg Lestrade said...

CR - sorry, I don't know why, but blinys here (should it be blinies? I don't know.) are considered posh - you have them with caviar and stuff. Or at least, I think you do. I've never had any.

Desert Wanderer said...

Pip, this last deployment, I made gluten free chocolate covered pretzels, so I'm sure someone will figure out pancakes.



Even if they're the gross British kind. :P

Anon Without A Name said...

See, I knew this would be Lestrade's area of expertise; when he's right he's right :-) (And when he's being stern he's quite... um, yeah :-p)

DW - I would mock, but I don't want to get sent to the naughty step.

CR - I've used gluten-free flour to good effect in chocolate fudge brownies, but I suppose they have golden syrup and chocolate to hold them together :-)

REReader said...

Blinis.

I can't defend or attack IHOP, it's not kosher so I can't eat in them. Alls I know is they're there, and that they are doing nicely.

(If it comes to that, I don't think there are any kosher restaurant chains. Unless there's a small chain or two in Israel, maybe? But that would be like having a restaurant chain in New Jersey, so I doubt it.)

Greg Lestrade said...

(And when he's being stern he's quite... um, yeah :-p)

What's that supposed to mean‽

John finds it amusing. Obviously not in front of the boys (well, boy), but afterward. It's difficult, being stern!

Piplover said...

I think I may try potato or buckwheat flour, as CR suggested. I have to head to the store tonight anyway, so I may yet get my pancakes!

John H. D. Watson said...

It's difficult, being stern!

Between constables and criminals, you should have plenty of practise!

Greg Lestrade said...

I can be stern to them (I was going to say 'on the job'...but..no.) Partyl because you're not giggling behind them, and partly because they'll genuinely be in the wrong.

Sometimes with Sherlock whatever he's done is so funny I don't want to be stern....but then I feel like we let him get away with murder! I'm conflicted.

CzechReader said...

I've probably butchered the English grammar - in Russian it is one blin, two bliny, three and four blina, five blinov... (read as you see, like in German)

Actually in Russia it's not a posh food at all - you either slightly butter them and eat them as they are, or you roll them with sour cream and sugar or sour cream and chives. Or cottage cheese with vanilla sugar when you want to be fancy...

Damn, now I have cravings for bliny! :-)

Desert Wanderer said...

And dogs, Degus, 'dopted boys, and Dangers.

John H. D. Watson said...

I'm not giggling behind Sherlock either! Although, yeah, there are times when that takes some effort...

Greg Lestrade said...

Don't make me get stern with you... Because I will send you to bed without any...

...just without any.

REReader said...

My brother is the youngest by more than 10 years behind the youngest of my two sisters. I remember a good many times that my mother just gave up and laughed at stuff he'd done that would have gotten us lectured. :)

(Although, she sometimes did that with us, too. And take photos!)

John H. D. Watson said...

.just without any.

Without any pyjamas?

Anonymous said...

*joins DW out on the step* I'll keep you company! Crepe?

Greg - I'm assuming your sterness has different settings like your "on the job" glare is far more scary than your "no, this is not up for discussion" glare. :)

~A from NW

Greg Lestrade said...

Pyjamas is an excellent option.

A - it certainly does. Less about glare, more about volume. I'd never shout at the boys - I think it's unecessary and counter-productive. Shouting at adults is different. Well, probably a bit about the glare, I don't know, I never see myself glaring!

John H. D. Watson said...

Sally assures me the glare and shouting are fearsome. I always find it difficult to picture.

Desert Wanderer said...

Doc, somehow I think your punishment would be worse than the naughty step. Or perhaps better...

Can we get up yet? Please Please Please Please Please Ple Please ase Please Please Please. I promise not to say your wrong pancakes are wrong again. Even if they are wrong.


That's really hard to do on a phone.

Desert Wanderer said...

Thanks. I've never had a crepe before. <3

Greg Lestrade said...

Sally assures me the glare and shouting are fearsome

Why are you even talking about it??

DW - given you have to sit there for a minute for every year of your age, and I'm too much of a gentleman to ask a lady's age...I will have to leave it at your discretion when you should get up, won't I?

Also, I thought that split-please up there said 'arse', and you were trying to slip an insult in there.

And why do you think Danger would be worse?? Although, obviously, his glares are terrifying.

Small Hobbit said...

I think we need the Doc's opinion of L's glare when he's on the job.

Greg Lestrade said...

I assure you I don't glare on the job.

Danger has been known to wax lyrical about my eyes though... you'd have to ask him about that though. The big soft sod.

Desert Wanderer said...

Ha! Hardly a lady. You're lucky the aerodynamics of a snowball mean they can't get that far.

If I were going to insult you, it'd be out in the open. Just FYI on the extraordinarily unlikely event of me hitting my head very hard and needing to insult you.

I meant your punishment of Doc would be worse than yours of us. I imagine doc and you have a similar "youve disappointed me" vein to your punishments thats especially hard to take. A billion times more devastating than just plain yelling and name calling.

Cranky Bookwyrm said...

Hey! What's wrong with New Jersy? We're not that small! (Pancakes sound so good. Thin ones even better, but that's a rare treat.)

REReader said...

It's pretty small for a whole country, though. Or a chain of restaurants. It would be more like a second location than a chain, really.

Greg Lestrade said...

ah, I understand, DW.

I'd never punish the Doc! I really wouldn't. Only person who disappoints me is me, really.

And yeah, with Sherlock it's more trying to get him to work out why whatever it is is wrong. Sometimes he can rather lack in empathy, and just needs a bit of help getting there. Which I think is usual for young children. But he always gets there. He's clever enough to work it out once he's been made to stop and think.

REReader said...

Which I think is usual for young children.

Yep, sounds entirely normal to me. (Although, obviously, not all six-year-old can work it out for themselves.)

John H. D. Watson said...

L - good thing! If it's a minute for every year of your age, I'd be on the naughty step way too long.

Anon Without A Name said...

What's that supposed to mean‽

How on earth did you get that weird combination of a question mark and an exclamation mark?

I think we need the Doc's opinion of L's glare when he's on the job.

Completely agree, SH.

Greg Lestrade said...

As if you'd ever do anything I would ever dream of punishing you for. Work's different - they've got obligations.

Anyway, don't believe you'd sit still and be quiet.

Greg Lestrade said...

And, my main point, it's not up to me to punish you!

Nameless - it's an interrobang, and I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you (you can generally find out by Googling your system and shortcuts, I think?). I don't understand why more people don't use them.

And I told you, no glaring. Just soppy stuff about how my eyes are 'like melted chocolate' (yes, he has really said that.)(He may have been drunk at the time.)

John H. D. Watson said...

Lestrade!

Ro said...

Piplover, I'm gluten free and I eat pancakes. There is even a shake'n'bake bottle version available in Australia that is gluten free. Buckwheat I believe. Yummy, too.

Desert Wanderer said...

Nameless - it's an interrobang, and I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you (you can generally find out by Googling your system and shortcuts, I think?). I don't understand why more people don't use them.

Is that you, teaching us all something about computers? Who are you and what have you done with our DI "Computer stuff goes over my head"?!

(Interobang sounds like the title of a bad cop porno. Just sayin'.)

Anonymous said...

*is amused*

Greg - Are you being subjected to a John glare?

John - It's actually very sweet of him to say that. Both of you turn into poets when drunk.

DW - When you want to get off the steps, let's make real pancakes, all right? :)

~A from NW

Ro said...

Pip - look at www.basco.com.au/product-pancake-mix/ - they're made from cornflour

Anon Without A Name said...

Ah, thank. I tried googling the actual symbol, and got nothing...

John - that's so sweet. You're allowed to be a soppy git sometimes, you know? Especially when you're drunk :-)

Greg Lestrade said...

(You can tell I'm in trouble by use of my full name. Well, full surname. I never want to do anything that causes him to call me Gregory.)

Yes, Watson, light of my life?


DW - can you tell I was severely paraphrasing a lesson from Mycroft? He's the one who taught me it. I think it's brilliant! Far better than?! - which he tells me isn't really correct usage of punctuation. He may have given me a Danger-style 'look' when I laughed at the name.

Anon Without A Name said...

Interobang sounds like the title of a bad cop porno. Just sayin'.

DW, I am in awe of the way your mind works. Just sayin' :-)

Anonymous said...

Well, Costco tends to have kosher hot dogs and such (or at least, it is advertised as such) at their little stand inside the store. (Our grandparents took us there Sunday afternoon for the free samples, ending with a hot dog for lunch -- the only time I've enjoyed grocery shopping). Does that count?

~Cylendelmar

Desert Wanderer said...

...I actually didn't suspect Mycroft's involvement at all. Good thing I'm not a cop. "No, officer, I just happen to be walking around with this tv for no reason." "Well then, if you say so, my fault then. Have a nice day."

Cheers, Nameless. :)

REReader said...

The interrobang is indeed a genuine typographical character, invented in the 1960s by an ad executive. To quote from my source (Just My Type by Simon Garfield, which I just so happen to have on the shelf behind me, along with a number of other books on types and fonts and the like:

"The new symbol had rapid appeal, provoking an article in the Wall Street Journal and inspiring Remington and IBM to offer additional keyboard keys.s. Its success was shortlived, however, perhaps because people liked the incredulity of emphasizing 'what the ****?!?!?!?!!' with lots of punctuation, and perhaps because the interrobang could be ugly. [...] The interrobang is truly the Esperanto of fonts."

In other words--and with apologies to Mycroft--go ahead and use ?!, especially at small sizes. The interrobang is a failed dead end. :)

REReader said...

(Oops--the close parenthesis should have gone right before the colon.)

Greg Lestrade said...

DW - When I used to puppywalk new PCs, many years ago, one of them did indeed ask someone where he was going/what he was doing with a TV.

"Uh....I...er....the signal was really bad, so I thought I'd bring it outside and see if it worked better?"

"Oh. Does...does that work, then?"

(bear in mind we're in the middle of a patch of grass on a housing estate. Nowhere near a power source.)

I thought the PC was joking, but he just turned to me and shrugged as if to say 'well, good enough for me, shall we keep going and leave this chap to sort out his TV?'.

Gave the bloke enough time to decide the TV wasn't worth getting his collar felt, so he threw it at our heads and was on his toes. We got him about a street away. The TV's owner was not happy about their shattered telly. I was not happy about the TV-shaped indent in my body. There was a lot of yelling. Think the PC is a sergeant now.

REReader said...

Oh, and the name? "Interro" for the question mark, obviously. "Bang" is what printers and compositors used to call an exclamation point. See, proofreading used to be done by one person reading what the pages SHOULD say, and the other following along on long proof sheets, pulled from the press after the movable type was set but before folios were printed. So they had to read the punctuation out, too--and "exclamation point" took a long time to say, so they'd say "bang."

(It's a much more accurate way of proofreading than one person looking at two pages, but it costs too much in time and manpower, so no one does it that way anymore.)

REReader said...

LOL, L! (Although I bet that hurt.)

Greg Lestrade said...

...I think Mycroft speaks Esperanto. Well, I say speaks, obviously there's no one much to speak it to, I suppose.

You might be heading into his bad books, RR.

Desert Wanderer said...

Say what you like, RR. I'm sticking with "bad cop porno." :P


Captcha is so creepy today. It says "John butsir"

Greg Lestrade said...

Do you mean bad cop porno as in cop porno which is bad, or like, good cop, bad cop porno?

I have to know now.

Desert Wanderer said...

Do you have to know because of the "John butsir"?

I hadn't thought of good cop bad cop porno. I meant cop porno which is bad, as in bow chicka bow wow, shot in a hotel room on someone's iPhone with "Roxanne" playing in the background.


Or something.

Why do you ask?

Greg Lestrade said...

John can say 'But Sir, please Sir, can I have some more?' if he'd like...

Don't know why I had to know, but once I thought of it...I had to.

There really isn't much 'good' porno, is there? I mean, possibly better than you describe, but it's all still pretty terrible, right? (anyway, surely 'Interrobang' would be shot in a room empty apart from a desk and a chair...and there'd be a terrible strapline about questioning and surprises/exclamations)

Now I'm singing Roxanne. And I should be going to sleep.

Desert Wanderer said...

You're probably right.

"Roxanne" services you right, since you named your post "Re-united" which means I've had "Reunited, and it feels so good" stuck in my head all day and I DON'T KNOW ANY OTHER LYRICS!

Greg Lestrade said...

"Roxanne" services you right

I can assure you, red dress or not, she doesn't service me at all. I think you've mistaken me for someone else ;)

Desert Wanderer said...

Serves! Not services! Oh, goodness. Can I blame that on you?

Greg Lestrade said...

Hah! No, you can't. see above.

Danger's giving me the evil eye for singing now. It really is past my bedtime.

Desert Wanderer said...

So embarrassed now...

Sorry for contributing to the delinquency of a senior, Doc. Have a good night, guys.

REReader said...

Nonono! I don't mean any harm!

It's just that, well--people in real publishing houses pay me actual money to design and typeset books and I like to think I'm quite good at it. And I've done quite a lot of reading on the subject, because I think it helps to know something of the history of a craft. And if I'm fascinated, I assume everyone else will be fascinated too.

Even if you're annoyed, Mycroft, surely you find it interesting?

Anonymous said...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Brown%27s_Steakhouse

REReader said...

I stand corrected, NJ has a restaurant chain.

I still don't know if there's a kosher restaurant chain anywhere.

Anonymous said...

I hope you all enjoyed your pancakes! I did not eat any pancakes today. But, it is Mardi Gras here. So there were parades and parties and plastic beads and a whole lot of purple, green, and gold. Of course, we started celebrating Mardi Gras last Thursday because this is Louisiana and we always stretch out parties for as long as possible. School is out until this Thursday so that everyone can take part. Most places are closed. Tomorrow, all the restaurants will be advertising their Lenten menus.

Desert Wanderer said...

Did you have a King Cake, Louisianon?

Also, did you get any beads? ;)

Piplover said...

Sherlock will be glad to know that I achieved pancakes tonight. I found some flax flour I could use, and they actually turned out quite yummy! They were more like English pancakes than American, but they still tasted good.

Thank you to everyone for the ideas!

Piplover said...

Sherlock will be glad to know that I did find some flax flour, and pancakes were achieved.

They were more like English pancakes than American, but they were still very good.

Thanks for all the ideas, everyone!

Piplover said...

I don't know why that posted twice! I can't delete it, so sorry for spamming the blog!

Kath Ballantyne said...

Piplover, I'll try again but my computer and internet connection are working against me.
I've been gluten free for about 8 years now and my partner has for 3.
We've managed to convert almost all the food we used to eat and I don't really miss most things any more. Bread is of course the exception though fresh and homemade is much better than anything you can buy in the shops.

There are a number of great pancake recipes and we have some that are thick and fluffy like American ones and some that are thinner.
We have been making some fantastic banana ones this summer.

The main thing to realise about Gluten Free stuff is that one flour can't replicate wheat. Basically you have to work with a mix of flours. You can buy pre-mixed flours or make your own depending on what you want them to do.

Once I cut out gluten I felt a lot better. Problem then was if I even added a tiny, tiny amount back into my diet (even a crumb from the butter tub etc) I'd get majorly sick. My partner is just sensitive to it though and can manage to eat a bit before she gets sick.

It does mean often making more food from scratch because they chuck it in everything from sauces and packet mixes to iced tea and icecream but I don't really spend any more time cooking than I used to and if you make things yourself it doesn't tend to be a lot more expensive.

If you need any help with recipes or suggestions feel free to ask.

Greg Lestrade said...

I think it's great that people help each other out just through having met here. Brilliant.

(I keep overusing the word brilliant. I am not changing my name to Arthur though.)

I'm all for prior planning, but these terrorism exercises for the games don't half mess up my plans for my officers, who suddenly aren't mine anymore.

REReader said...

:)

(I gather Arthur is a character that says "brilliant" a lot, but I've no idea in what. )

That sounds extremely frustrating, L. I mean yes, as you said, preparation in good, but current cases aren't magically disappearing meanwhile!

Has Mycroft forgiven me for butting in?

Greg Lestrade said...

Cabin Pressure, RR.

It didn't come up as a subject of conversation this morning. I doubt there;s really anything to 'forgive', but he did give me a fairly good rundown of the history of the interrobang when he told me about it, so I expect it wasn't much he didn't already know.

I was only kidding when I said you'd be in his bad books. But he really does speak at least some Esperanto.

Anonymous from the Sacred Oak said...

Any time is a good time for bliny! Which filling do you like best, CR?

We completely forgot about Mardi Gras/Shrove Tuesday yesterday, and didn't get our Pączki. (We're in a big Polish community, so they sell them at the supermarkets here.)

But we were a little busy making sure the birthday boy got noodles for longevity, so we still feasted.

REReader said...

I completely believe he knows some Esperanto. But who does he speak it with? (Is there a club, Mycroft? I'm curious!)

Desert Wanderer said...

Anagrams of "Gregory Arthur Lestrade" include (but are not limited to):

heart ruggedly errors at [John]
daughterly roar regrets
regulatory herds garret (anti-cattle rustling)
desultory rather gag err
arrest hourly get regard

and my personal favorite:
arrest orderly hug great

Small Hobbit said...

DW - you're not feeling bored by any chance are you?

It would appear that more people consider Danger innocent than guilty - I wonder why? Or is this just in comparison to the Lestallion?

Greg Lestrade said...

Hmm, thanks, DW.

SH - don't you worry, I'm keeping careful tabs on the polls. Can't believe you all have such little faith in an officer of the law being innocent, and you all think a Doctor - legendary in the tales of their formative years - isn't guilty!

Desert Wanderer said...

Not really, SH. Was wqiting for my boots to dry, which proved fruitless anyway.

Greg Lestrade said...

Sounds like a euphemism, DW...

My favourite anagram of my name is Arrested Gel Orgy. Although Arrested grey log is probably more fitting...

I think for John is has to be Hashish Jam Wonton.

Desert Wanderer said...

Not a euphemism. I was trying to get the landfill juice out of them before it set/stained. Didn't work.

Much better anagrams, though.

REReader said...

you all think a Doctor - legendary in the tales of their formative years - isn't guilty!

Too many Noble Doctor television shows in our youth, no doubt. :)


After playing with an anagram generator a bit...Does it count as an anagram if one of the original words stays the same? Who'd know--Mycroft?

(Also, great time sink, DW...as though I had extra time!)

Greg Lestrade said...

Mmm, Landfill juice. Sounds like the sort of thing I get covered in when body parts are missing. I feel your pain.

REReader said...

I asked my brother who lives in Israel, and he said that there are. So it I ever can afford to visit him again, I will be able to eat in a restaurant chain, if I feel so inclined. :)

Anon Without A Name said...

Hmm. It's not as if the vote in favour of John being innocent are an overwhelming majority, though, is it? Clearly the happy smilingness has fooled some, but there's still enough of us who can see his true colours :-p

John H. D. Watson said...

I think the guilty votes are just L, voting over and over on different devices...

Greg Lestrade said...

Oi, I'm sure DW said she voted guilty too!

I'd protest that I don't have access 25 different devices. But I do ;)

Anyway, if anyone knows how guilty you are, it's me.

Anonymous said...

DW, Greg - ...*looks down at lunch* I should know better than to read these blogs while on lunch break, shouldn't I? :) Unfortunately, I have no advice to offer on the removal of mystery substances from clothing and shoes...

John - We know you're guilty of something, but relatively speaking, Greg is just more...open about his love of puns.

~A from NW

Anon Without A Name said...

I'd protest that I don't have access 25 different devices. But I do ;)

0_0 You must spend a fortune on batteries :-p

John H. D. Watson said...

Ha! Well, he needs something to keep him occupied at work, especially when he's on nights.

Greg Lestrade said...

Nameless - mains and rechargable batteries are a Godsend. Plus good old elbow grease ;)

Danger, I don't know what you're implying!

John H. D. Watson said...

I wouldn't dare imply anything, you might phone my mum again!

Greg Lestrade said...

There is nothing I could tell your mum that she doesn't already know. Believe me. Well, okay, some things, but I value my own life too much to tell her about those :)

Desert Wanderer said...

I did vote both of you guilty. Guikyty as the day is long.

John H. D. Watson said...

Small mercies...

Greg Lestrade said...

I shall be sure to tell his mum how guikyty he is, DW.

Danger - I couldn't be responsible for giving her or your dad a heart attack, finding out what their little boy gets up to ;)

Small Hobbit said...

There's also the question of the 2% of the vote that has vanished into the ether. And since those who refused to answer probably thought Danger guilty I think the majority believe you not to be innocent.

Desert Wanderer said...

AfNW, it doesn't come out of suede, just FYI. Jury's still out on the rest of the uniform. Sorry about your lunch, though.

Greg Lestrade said...

Suede isn't very forgiving for nasty stains, no. Especially...bodily fluids.

SH - Danger probably got Mycroft to tweak the poll.

Rider said...

I must admit I have ideas as to what someone might get up to with battery operated devices and grease, but 25 of them?

Clearly he's practicing hard labour because he's expecting to be found guilty.

Anonymous said...

DW - It's fine. I just decided to make my lunch soup part of my after-work snack. Hot chocolate fixes everything. =)

SH - *gasp of mock horror* Are you accusing all of us (or Mycroft and John) of vote rigging?

Greg - As for the 25 devices, batteries, and elbow grease... I fear for the continuation of this discussion. ;)

~A from NW

Greg Lestrade said...

Ha, don't worry, discussion won't be continued :)

Danger, Sherlock refuses to be tired, he's reading in bed, I said you'd go and see him in 15 mins and tuck him in. Are you feeling okay?

John H. D. Watson said...

Yeah, I'm all right, why?

Greg Lestrade said...

Dunno, just got a bit of stomach ache - checking I haven't poisoned us all with my cooking :)

John H. D. Watson said...

Must be just you, I'm afraid. Can I get you anything?

Greg Lestrade said...

Nah, I'll be brave :) Glad it's just me.

John H. D. Watson said...

Tea? I'm making some anyway. I'm sure we would've heard about it by now if Sherlock felt ill too.

Greg Lestrade said...

Tea's good, thanks.

I did ask him when he said he didn't want to go to sleep, in case it was that, but he just said he wasn't tired. Which I translated to 'it's the holidays, I don't want to be tired'.

I'm sure it's nothing. I'm paranoid - but know a good doctor. ;)

John H. D. Watson said...

Heh. He'll probably be asleep by the time I go up to check on him.

Greg Lestrade said...

Mmm, well, I didn't think it mattered, given it is the holidays and I don't mind one bit if he stays up later and gets up later tomorrow morning. He probably will be, face down in his book.

REReader said...

Was he? :)

Greg Lestrade said...

John's up there at the mo - although he's probably having a chat to Mycroft too.

REReader said...

You feeling any better, L?

Greg Lestrade said...

Not really. Probably just indigestion or something.

I'll get Danger to rub my stomach in a bit ;)

REReader said...

Having a most excellent doctor in house is very convenient. :)

Feel better fast!

John H. D. Watson said...

Yeah, Sherock's out like a light.

Bed for us too?

Greg Lestrade said...

yeah :) I'll scratch behind your ears if you rub my belly...

John H. D. Watson said...

It's a deal.

Desert Wanderer said...

I'll scratch behind your ears if you rub my belly...

Have a good 99, guys.

Greg Lestrade said...

Ha! Hush you.

(Anyway, 99 here means ice cream...with a chocolate flake.)

Desert Wanderer said...

We don't live in a binary world...

Mycroft said...

01000001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01110011 01110101 01110010 01100101 00111111

REReader said...

01001100 01001111 01001100

(Somehow I had a feeling that was coming, Mycroft. :))

Desert Wanderer said...

010100100110010101100001011100110110111101101110
011000010110001001101100011110010010000001110011
011011110010111000100000001000000101001101101111
011011010110010101110100011010010110110101100101
011100110010000001110011011001010110010101101101
011100110010000001101001011101000010000001110111
011011110111010101101100011001000010000001100010
011001010010000001100010011001010111010001110100
011001010111001000101100001000000111010001101000
011011110111010101100111011010000010111000100000
001000000100010101100001011100110110100101100101
011100100010000001100001011101000010000001101100
0110010101100001011100110111010000101110

Sorry mines not as neat. Harder on a phone than expected.

Calliope said...

Apparently we are. Egad.

Piplover said...

010110010110111101110101001000000110011101110101011110010111001100100000011000010111001001100101001000000110000101110111011001010111001101101111011011010110010100101110

Greg Lestrade said...

010010000111010101110011011010000010110000100000011001110110010101100101011010110111001100101110001000000100111101110010001000000110010001100001011011100110011101100101011100100010000001110111011010010110110001101100001000000111001101110100011000010111001001110100001000000110100101101110001000000110110101101111011100100111001101100101001000000110001101101111011001000110010100101110

Mycroft said...

01000101 01100001 01110011 01101001 01100101 01110010 00100000 01101001 01101110 00100000 01110011 01101111 01101101 01100101 00100000 01110111 01100001 01111001 01110011 00101110 00100000 01001101 01100001 01111001 01100010 01100101 00100000 01101110 01101111 01110100 00100000 01101001 01101110 00100000 01101111 01110100 01101000 01100101 01110010 01110011 00101110 00100000

John H. D. Watson said...

--. --- - --- ... .-.. . . .--. --..-- -.-- --- ..- -. --. -- .- -. .-.-.-

Anon Without A Name said...

01001110 01101001 01100011 01100101 00100000 01101111 01101110 01100101 00101100 00100000
01001101 01111001 01100011 01110010 01101111 01100110 01110100 00100000 00111010 00101101
00101001 00100000 01000010 01110101 01110100 00100000 01101001 01110100 00100111 01110011
00100000 01100001 00100000 01110111 01101111 01110010 01101100 01100100 00100000 01100110
01110101 01101100 01101100 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01101110 01110101 01100001
01101110 01100011 01100101 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01100001 01101101
01100010 01101001 01100111 01110101 01101001 01110100 01111001 00101100 00100000 01101111
01101110 01100101 00100000 01110111 01100001 01111001 00100000 01101111 01110010 00100000
01100001 01101110 01101111 01110100 01101000 01100101 01110010 00101110

01001100 01100101 01110011 01110100 01110010 01100001 01100100 01100101 00111010 00100000
00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000
00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000
00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000
00100000 00100000 00101111 00100000 00100000 00100000 00101111 00100000 00100000 00100000
00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000
00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000
00100000 00100000 00100000 00101111 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000
00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000
00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000
00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000
00101111 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000
00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000
00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000

Calliope said...

− − • • • − − • − − • • − • • • • • • − • − − − • − • − • − • − • −

REReader said...

Essentially, most writing systems--and all alphabets--are arbitrary. Binary is arguably as irrational, especially as it just represents other writing systems at present.

Calliope said...

--. .. --. --. .-.. . ... -. --- .-. -

Greg Lestrade said...

I'm giving up on you all.

Mycroft, do as John said.

The rest of you, don't go blind with all the 0s and 1s.

November india golf hotel tango.

Anonymous from the Sacred Oak said...

I learned so much from this one post! I didn't know what a strapline was, and I didn't realize that English pancakes were more like crepes than like American pancakes.

And I think I'd heard and forgotten that stuff about the interrobang. Wow!

I'm up for pancakes of any sort. American, English, crepes, blini, buckwheat American pancakes, I like all of it. But tonight I'm having leftover sichuan food mixed with the western Broccoli I just roasted tonight. Yum.

Anonymous from the Sacred Oak said...

Oh my God, I reloaded when I posted and thought the whole world had gone binary on me!

Well, binary and Morse....

Calliope said...

I tried for Hieroglyphics, AftSO, but I couldn't figure out how to get it to post properly...

REReader said...

In the end, it was all just English text. Nothing alarming. :)

Good night, L! (You too, John and Mycroft.)

Desert Wanderer said...

0100100100100000011100110111010101110010011100100110010101101110011001000110010101110010001011000010000001001101011110010110001101110010011011110110011001110100001011100010000000100000010100110111000001101001011100100110100101110100011101010111001100100000011100010111010101101001011001000110010101101101001000000111000001110010011011110110110101110000011101000111010101110011001000000110001101100001011100100110111100100000011101100110010101110010011011110010000001101001011011100110011001101001011100100110110101100001001011100010000000100000010010000110000101110110011001010010000001100001001000000110011101101111011011110110010000100000011011100110100101100111011010000111010000101110

... --- .-. .-. -.-- --..-- / -.. --- -.-. .-.-.-

Ten seven, Lestrade?

Desert Wanderer said...

Sorry, that's supposed to be "the flesh is willing but the spirit is weak" Thus endeth the lesson in hubris (but probably not).

Bronwyn said...

DW - if you haven't already found s solution, try this. I use out to get . . . Stuff out of my clothes. Soak the machine washable clothes in hot h2o with 1 cup oxygen based bleach (oxyclean, vanish, etc.) And 1 cup baking soda. Let soak overnight if possible. Wring clothes out and wash in the machine on warm with 1/2 cup ammonia and your regular detergent. Dry. You may need to wash the ammonia out if it was particularly awful.

If the suede doesn't need to be gorgeous, you can try a paste of the bleach and baking soda and let it sit until it dries. Scrub off.

Good luck!
Bronwyn

Desert Wanderer said...

Thanks, Bronwyn. I'll give that a go tonight. I've had them soaking in hot water with oxyclean since I fell in this morning, so hopefully that'll help.

Unfortunately, the suede has to be just this side of gorgeous, so the boots are unservicable. To be honest, they were mostly wrecked after the desert anyway, and I probably should have replaced them earlier. I've got an issued pair I'm wearing now, but they're a size and a half too big. Sometime this weekend I'll get a proper pair.

Anonymous said...

DW, I have had four kinds of king cake. There was a blueberry one and a strawberry one and a bavarian cream one and a cream cheese one. And I do have beads. Now I am faced with the same question everyone in Louisiana has after Mardi Gras. What do you do with a bunch of plastic beads? Good luck cleaning suede! I have a pair of suede boots that I almost never wear because they were expensive and I don't want to ruin them.

John and Lestrade, I voted you both guilty in the polls. And I don't understand any of the ones and zeros.

-Anon from Louisiana

REReader said...

A from LA--try this site. :)

Desert Wanderer said...

They all sound lovely. Did you find the baby in any of them? I lived in central LA for a little bit. I leanred to eat craw fish which are brilliant because I'm a big fan of any food you can order by the pound. lol

Enquiring minds want to know, though. Did you earn your beads honestly? ;)

H. Savinien said...

My mum eats glutenfree and still manages good American pancakes! It takes some experimenting with non-wheat flour mixtures, but it's totally doable.

H. Savinien said...

Mmm, a cafe in town has "flapjacks" that I suspect are a bit like English pancakes, thinner and a bit eggier than regular American pancakes. They're lovely and they do them with huckleberries in. I am also fond of regular pancakes, though, especially pumpkin pancakes with applesauce on top and maybe a teensy bit of (REAL) maple syrup.

That's a pretty nice photo!

Also, I voted you both guilty.

Greg Lestrade said...

But....flapjack has... absolutely nothing in common with a pancake. Why...what... I don't understand!

Anonymous said...

REReader- Thank you! It all makes sense now!

DW- I did not find the baby, which is good because it means I didn't have to buy any king cakes. Crawfish are the best! Crawfish season is just starting. My Dad had some last week, but he said they were small so I'm waiting for them to get bigger. Now that I think about it, we do like to order food by the pound. Haha. And of course I earned my beads honestly! I was in Lafayette, where Mardi Gras is family friendly and people are expected to behave themselves. Things only get really wild in New Orleans. One year I'm going to go to one of the places that do the chicken chasing version of Mardi Gras.

-Anon from Louisiana

Desert Wanderer said...

But....flapjack has... absolutely nothing in common with a pancake. Why...what... I don't understand!

Two nations, separated by a common breakfast.

Anonymous said...

... o.o

I go away for six hours and come back to binary and Morse code. I don't know if I should applaud you all or run away in shame because I can't read your entries. :)

- A from NW

Small Hobbit said...

I get up this morning and discover I don't understand half the latest posts or the breakfasts.

Are you feeling okay now L?

CzechReader said...

А вобще-то, и вам всем доброе утро :-) Сегодня блинчкики не будут, но зато я сделала себе кофе на дорогу.

Хотя мне не спится уже несколяко дней - просто не могу уснуть. И не заню почему...

CzechReader said...

So, for those who don't have the cyrilic coding on their computers/phones/other gadgets, I will have a pity and tell you that I wished to all a good morning, regreted the lack of bliny in my life and bragged about managing to make myself a cup of coffee to take with me on the way to work.

And then I complained about not being able to sleep properly this week - where do I submit my application to Incomniacs Incoroporated?

PS: I can't "translate" binary. I am too lazy to translate Morse. But I'm not too lazy to use my second mother's language ;-)

Greg Lestrade said...

Yeah, better, thanks SH :)

Can we call a truce on all the odd forms of communication. It's hard to keep up on a phone!

Desert Wanderer said...

Damn. I was just figuring out how to do semaphore. :)

Sorry to hear you're not sleeping well, CR. Hope it goes better for you tonight.

REReader said...

And here I was just debating between invisible ink and wingdings. *lost opportunities*

What are flapjacks, then? I thought it was a synonym for pancakes.

Glad you're feeling better, L!

CzechReader said...

DW - Thanks, I just think I will get my InsInc club card confirmed instead. It just comes and goes regularly and I actually don't mind it that much; what is much worse is that my husband can't fall asleep unless I am already sleeping. So less sleep for me means less sleep for him and he has epilepsy...

When I was single I simply browsed the net or read a book 'till I finally fell asleep on the laptop. Can't do this anymore. So I simply blink at the ceiling and try to will myself to sleep. Which is boring like hell. And I don't deal well with being bored...

CzechReader said...

RR - Why did I think that somebody would be going for a video with an interpretive dance? There was some mention of this in one of the comments under an old post here, wasn't there? Sometime around getting ready for Mycroft to go to school and Robin Sparkles?

*genuinely confused*

Greg Lestrade said...

Flapjack is rolled oats, golden syrup, brown sugar and butter squashed down and baked in the oven. It can have all sorts of other things added - raisins, chocolate chips, cherries - whatever you want.

I think they're a bit similar to a granola bar? Although over here granola bars all seem to be crispy, whereas flapjacks can be anything from crispy to chewy.

Honestly, I'm paranoid about stomach ache a. because I don't want to poison anyone with my cooking and b. because I've had stomach ulcers in the past and they are so miserable. (but that was back when I smoked, drank and took painkillers far too much. I've definitely reduced the risk a lot in recent times.)

Desert Wanderer said...

The fear of poisoning people is why I don't cook much for others. Vie stick to things like pasta which is less likely to be dangerous.

You're gonna have to put up a new post soon to avoid the dreaded 200 comments. Or stop being so likeable.

Anonymous said...

I can see the cyrillic alphabet just fine, but it doesn't mean I understand what it says, so the translation is needed anyway :D (I can't understand binary either, so I feel like when I'm reading a book that quotes foreign languages and there are no notes to translate and I'm just frustrated)

Anon from Paris

Greg Lestrade said...

I'll do one tonight, promise! You'll all have to stop being so chatty :) Trying to sort everything out on my case before I'm on nights at the mo.

For those struggling, Google provided me with translators for binary and morse.

Mazarin said...

I can't believe I missed the entire pancake day discussion. And didn't get to talk about paczki, the powdered-sugar covered jelly doughnuts of my husband's Kashoubian ancestors that we can only get in Milwaukee, mostly on Fat Tuesday (Pancake Day.)(Shrove Tuesday.)(Whatever).

We don't live in Milwaukee.

It depressed me mightily.

Having done the ulcer thing too, L, I really hope its not that, for sure. My sympathies are with you.

REReader said...

Ah, I see--different things for you. I looked it up, and in the US, "pancake" and "flapjack" are used interchangeably--and I think they both mean round doughy things you fry--I don't think we even have what you call a flapjack. All kinds of chewy and crispy granola bars, though.

My brother had ulcers, bad enough that the scarring made him ineligible for military service in Israel when he moved there. That is...very not good. I don't think being wary of a recurrence qualifies as paranoid, at all.

On the other hand, I'd say the like hood of you poisoning anyone ranges from zero to none.

REReader said...

Why would my iPod not recognize "likelihood"? I just had to stop it changing it AGAIN!

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