Another Saturday and Another Winter Competition Hockey Game.


Middle Baby Clog and his squad of pre-pubesent retro-bates (collectively known as Haackey Jongens C1) managed to haul their carcases out of bed in time for a 12.30 start, except Steijn who got a right chew out from General Cloggy because he arrived half and hour late for warm up - which began at 11.30.
This weeks victims, ermmm - opponents, were Bully JB2 who, very quickly into the game, scored the opening goal. The score stayed at 0 -1 for the 1st half with Haackey JC1 being unable to convert their attacking plays into goals.
 
As you may imagine General Cloggy was not best pleased and it looked as if a very heated half time talk was delivered to the boys during the break. One can only guess what was said in the dug out but whatever it was it  worked.

The Haackey boys stormed into the 2nd half taking no prisoners in their march toward victory. They played a calculated and controlled game building the attack from their defensive line, making full use of the field and won a penalty corner. This was converted by a fast sneaky slip left with the ball being played into the goal behind a disorientated keeper and the crowd went mad!. 1 - 1.

10 minutes later a ball, played into space from the half line, found the stick of a Haackey forward who converted the ball into the goal high and right. 2 - 1. Soon after a 2nd penalty corner was won but the ball was stopped on the line by a foot from the Bully defense. A penalty flick was awarded and converted. 3 - 1. In the dying moments of the game Haackey refused to give their opponents any respite and a fourth goal, from open play, was scored. End score 4 - 1 Haackey.

All the boys played an outstanding game which was enjoyed by the public but I have to say that Middle Baby Clog was awesome. Yes .. he made a few unforced errors but he more than made up for these with his work rate and technical skill - the kid commanded the right middle field giving his opponent no free space. Oldest Baby Clog umpired a solid game too.

A mad dash home and a quick shower - by Middle Baby Clog -  later, Family Clog were at the Cinema in Enschede for the 4.15 showing of Avatar 3D. It is an awesome movie which I strongly recommend even if you think you don't like that kind of stuff.
I can not remember the last time all of the Clogs were quiet at the same time for 3 hours in a row! We were going to go out and eat after the movie had finished but everyone was so stuffed with popcorn, nachos, candy and ice cream that we opted to skip dinner. Not very healthy but once in a while that's o.k.

Onion Johnny was the nickname given to the French farmers that used to sell onions door-to-door in England, Wales and Scotland. Dressed in striped shirt and beret, riding a bicycle hung with onions, the Onion Johnny became the stereotypical image of the Frenchman.



I love onions, always have done. I think they are value for money and the multitude of scrummy dishes that you can make out of them is endless. My Grandfather also loved his onions and ate a raw one every morning of his entire adult life stating that they had medicinal qualities. He was rarely ill but it was always wise to give him a little extra personal space in the mornings otherwise you would of been knocked out by his oniony whiff.

Downside of cooking with onions is that you have to peel them and chop em up and this leads to enevitable tears. There are many different solutions to this problem including putting a spoon in your mouth, wearing contact lenses, soaking the onions in water, chewing gum, sticking your tongue out, and (my personal favorite) wearing your kids swimming goggles to ensure an airtight seal around your eyes! None of em work - you just have to get used to the tears.

Today's recipe called for 2.5 Kg of finely chopped onions so I sharpened my knife and made ready the Kleenex .........

                                          Wednesday - Pissaladière

I filched this recipe from the book 'Simple French Cooking' book written by Georges Blanc and Coco Jobard. It involves making a dough base which is roughly 1.5cm thick and sweating the onions in a heavy based pan until they are translucent but not caramelized. Add the onions to the dough base and then place tomatoes, anchovies and black olives on top then place in a hot oven and bake for 30 minutes.

Was very yummy and there is a small bit left over for my lunch tomorrow. No sarky comments about the slightly darkish bits around the edge please, Raymond Blanc I ain't!

I went to school in a period when home economic classes
were compulsory and the TV Chefs of the day were the likes of the 'Galloping Gourmet' and 'Fanny Craddock'.

My teacher was a red haired witch, called Mrs Morgan who, ultimately, gave up her quest to teach unruly offspring of  the Mods and Rockers Era basic fundamentals of cooking and went into politics for the local Labour Party in a Conservative borough.

She was a tough old bird and conducted her classes with a Narnia ice queen like rule. If you made the mistake of wearing nail polish to her class a withering glance, over the top of her black horn rimmed glasses, made you slouch up to her desk, where she kept a bottle of acetone and a basket of cotton wool, and remove the offending lacquer.

Did I enjoy her classes? NO!
Did I learn anything? HELL YES!

One of the first things Mrs Morgan taught us (and YES I remember it clearly) was how to make a Roux Sauce. I won't bore you with the details but from that day onwards I have always made a perfect roux - no lumps to be found with no sieving or whisking necessary. Milk, Flour, Butter and seasoning are the basic ingrediants and if you want to get fancy you can infuse the milk with herbs and other such malarky.

The use of Butter in cooking, these days, is frowned upon due to all sorts of discovered dietary blah-de-blahs but,  in my opinion, God would never of created the Cow if he had thought that an unsaturated fat/ low cholesteral product would be a suitable replacement.

I remade the dish using the time old roux recipe (WITH BUTTER), taught by Mrs Morgan, and added the tomatoes, spring onions, garlic, mustard powder and other banned ingredients that the nutritionist had included/excluded in her makeover and the results were pretty outstanding.

Moral of this story - If the recipe requires a roux sauce then never try and replace the butter!

I served the dish up with fresh baked bread rolls and a green salad with a honey and mustard dressing.

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A Weekend of 'FIRSTS' for Knobbly Clog.



First Hockey Games ..... not that he noticed much as he was too busy chasing his tail.

On Saturday the Winter Hockey Competition kicked off a bit later than planned due to snow on the astro turf. The 2 youngest Baby Cloggys had games with General Cloggy at the helm providing the strategy and cunning tactics for the both teams.

Youngest Baby Clog and her team (Haackey Meisjes D2) were playing on a full field for the first time ever! This skirmish was at 'Bully' in Oldenzaal and nerves were high as Haackey was a man short. The opposition were over confident and fully expected an easy win but they underestimated the fanaticism of General Cloggy and his squad of tiny Banshee's. At half time the result was 0 - 0 but in the second half Haackey stormed ahead and secured a resounding win of 4 - 1. Youngest Baby Clog scored a fantastic goal from a penalty corner - a power shot from the top of the circle.

Middle Baby Clog and his team (Haackey Jongens C1) have been promoted to the 'sub-top' division and are using the winter competition to try out new games plans and field positions. Their regular coach is taking a well earned sabbatical over the winter break and has left them under the tender care of Cloggy for a few games. General Cloggys tactics have involved placing the boys into a higher age group for the winter competition and also changing all of their field positions with the forwards playing as defence and the defence playing as forwards.
Yesterday they played their first game against 'Twente' Jongens B2 and I have to say it was one of the best games I have ever seen them play. The boys from 'Twente' were giants and watching the 2 teams line up for the start of the game I must admit that I was a little nervous on behalf of the Haackey boys but my angst was unwarrented. Middle Baby Clogs team danced their way around the the giant opposition and logged in a 4 - 1 win. General Cloggy was resplendent in his coaching and was grinning like a Cheshire cat as he walked off of the field.

First Walk

Knobbly Clog was taken for his first 'big boy' walk this afternoon and I dressed him up suitably for the cold weather conditions. The Baby Clogs were unamused by Knobblys attire and told me that I was making the mutt into a 'meitje' but DAMN IT  I just don't care, he looked cute. Tonight he will curl up on my pillow and sleep the sleep of a well contented little puppy!
MANY THANKS  to the Wonderful Ladies at "Bibi Klamer" for designing, making and sending his little doggy coat, they not only make great clothes for kids but have an eye for designer practical doggy wear too! Here's a link to their website if you are curious;- link

New Years Eve ..... A time for remembering the old and celebrating the new. Typically in the Netherlands,depending on yer age, a nice family dinner is eaten accompanied by a few bevvies (drinks). Then at midnight everyone puts on their cold weather gear and heads outside for the inevitable pyrotechnic's.


The pyrotechnics in our little corner of the Netherlands had begun somewhat earlier in the day when my brother had discovered that the neighbour was firing footballs out of milk churns using homemade explosives. The Dutch call it 'Carbid Schieten', I call it  'A further example of the male of the species determination to exterminate themselves'! Please note that the below clip is one that I found on the Internet and their isn't a female n sight, I wasn't stupid enough to get anywhere close to the neighbours little "Al Qaeda" set up.

I love this clip and laugh my largish British arse orf everytime I watch it cause its so typically DUTCH!

Mercifully Cloggy decided that Carbid Schieten was not for him mainly because I had made enquiries and obtained quotes for an increase in his life insurance policy. The premiums were wickedly extortionate so he settled for the bog standard fireworks that could be bought just about anywhere.

He and my Brother, who was visiting from the UK, decided that the Dutch fireworks were all too bloody expensive and made a skirmish across the border into Germany to purchase the colourful explosives.

Their shop of choice was the Aldi and they filled a shopping cart full. Once they got to the checkout they discovered that neither of their bank cards were acceptable and my Brother had to leg it across the main road to the hole in the wall to get cash whilst the queue of cabbage and potatoe buying German public behind them in the check out line got longer and more bad tempered.

Come Midnight the Skies above Swampland lit up and the noise was unbelievable. Everything we learnt about how to handle fireworks safely and responsibly back in Blighty was instantly forgotten under the tutorship of Cloggy whose lighter of choice was a big fat cigar.


The Baby Cloggys, their Cousins, my Brother and most definately Cloggy had a great time and retired to their beds as very happy little pyromaniacs.

          

My Brother and Cloggy woke up the next day with kicking hangovers!