#nor do I currently have kale chips

[devildomditzy]

And sorry to anyone who’s waiting on who’s most likely to prompts that have been sent to my inbox. This om rewrite project has snatched my attention for the moment and those weren’t doing to hot in terms of engagement so I switched focus. I promise I’ll get back to them 🧘‍♀️

[askrigg21]

Bao Buns with pork belly

WE might eat first with our eyes but sometimes we taste what we think we see. So, hands up, this veteran foodie has just confused pickled onion for chilli.

Chef Kevin Buccieri has brought us his Thai green ice cream to try and first I get flavours of lemongrass followed by chilli coming through the cold. It’s a little unsettling but intriguing. I wonder how he does it. Is the chilli infused or is it these little flecks of red, I ask? No, that’s pickled red onion, he says. I taste again and now I know the pickle flavour comes through. Doh!

It works. Brilliantly. Kevin thinks this dish should be a starter or certainly a palate cleanser (palate confuser, more like!) but diners prefer it at the end, like we had.

Celeriac ‘tagliatelle’

We have been invited to eat as guests at the Birdhouse, the tea emporium run by mother and daughter Julie and Rebecca English in a former workshop in  the charmingly named Alsop Fields on Sidney Street, Sheffield. They recently hired Kevin, ex-Rutland Arms No 2, to up the food offer from pies.

The menu, his first, is a pot pourri of small plates or tapas, mostly with an oriental slant at around a fiver each. And they often come with a chilli riff.

The chilli sidles up almost as an afterthought with the slices of crunchy stir-fried lotus root. It comes at you full gallop with the Puy lentil curry, firm and toothsome. But it is instantly addictive, particularly since it is on a contrasting bed of crispy kale. My wife loves it and she is a woman who has shunned kale all her life.

Chef Kevin Buccieri

We’ve been here before to buy tea but not lingered. There’s a sunny courtyard we now look down on from our upstairs table in one of two first floor rooms, all beams and brick, seating around 50. From the windows across the room you can see the Porter Brook filter its way through the city’s industrial backside.

Sidney Street is a little out of the way and apart from an A-board and a slightly outdated menu pinned to the front wall – there’s not even a menu or picture of a dish on the website as I write – so Kevin’s food is being hidden under the proverbial bushel.

Seek it out, if only for the pork belly filled steamed bao buns. I’d half expected a chopped filling  but the pork is in whole strips of tender hoisin-flavoured meat, a lovely contrast to the spongy, airy bun. There are two for £8.50 but the dish could easily be reduced to one to keep the fiver price point.

I first encountered Kevin, or his food, at the Rutland pub, just a stone’s throw away on Brown Street, where I had praised head chef Richard Storer (aka Chef Rico) for a stunning fennel ice cream with cucumber jelly. He sportingly gave all the credit to Kevin.

Kevin, in return, acknowledges his culinary debt to Rico. He’d left college after training as a joiner but found that without experience he wasn’t wanted so took to pot washing. After the usual round of pubs and restaurants, without much ambition, he found himself beached up at the Rutland “where I truly found my passion.” A light bulb had been switched on. He stayed for over four years before striking out on his own.

Curried lentils, crispy kale

Now the Rutland is an odd place, a scruffy, some may say eccentric-looking boozer, with an inventive, experimental kitchen which daily faces the heartbreak of sending out the pub’s best-seller, the Slutty Rutty, a massive chip breadcake, to those who should eat better.

For this reason you will not find chips on Kevin’s evening menu (it is available from 6pm). “The nearest I come to chips is the patatas bravas,” he says. Ah, we didn’t try those. But we did seem to have everything else. Dishes kept arriving (remember, we were being treated) and we were in danger of becoming Monty Python’s explosive Mister Creosote.

We loved the delicate goats cheese arancini balls winking like eyes with little ‘pupils’ of yellow pepper puree and the crunchy cubes of tofu (served with silky avocado) in a sauce of teriyaki, wasabi and golden syrup (rather than honey, to please the vegans). Since tofu is all texture and no taste it needs these companions.

There were big, generous slices of home cured salmon with paper-thin beetroot as well as seasonal asparagus served the classic way, with poached egg, hollandaise and truffle oil.

Despite his surname – great grandparents came over from Naples and he grew up in Darnall and Birley – Kevin cannot speak Italian nor cares that much for Italian food. But he does do a celeriac ‘tagliatelle’ with pesto. See if you can guess what the sauce is. A clue: apart from the pesto the dish only has one ingredient.

Writing all this I realise just how much we ate so my tastebuds can be excused over the Thai ice cream (I ought to mention we also tried an Earl Grey ice with gin and vanilla sauce but don’t ask me for a considered opinion – I was flavoured out)!

Delicate goats cheese arancini

My tastebuds were very much in action at the start of the meal with the arrival of home made bread with tzatziki. Sourdough, I silently groaned, for local bakeries all seem to make the same rubbery, damp bread. This was none of that and it was close crumbed instead of holey. Kevin was disappointed with the lack of air pockets but not us. If we want holes we’ll eat focaccia.

This menu is very much an opening salvo. Kevin, a one man kitchen, has high hopes of doing more fish, probably pickled, possibly a ceviche. And a duck dish with a chocolate nod to Sat Bains’ Nottingham restaurant may appear when he’s happy with it.

Sheffield’s food scene is currently the liveliest I’ve seen it. Strip away the seemingly endless burgers and pizzas and there are plenty of fresh ideas and talent.  The Birdhouse adds to the mix. Just don’t ask for chips or Italy’s most famous export. Kevin might sound Italian but “I hate making pizzas,” he says.

You would be in the dog house at the Birdhouse!

Birdhouse is at Alsop Fields, Sidney Street, Sheffield S1 4RG. Tel: 0114 327 3695. Web: http://www.birdhouseteacompany.com

The Birdhouse. Our table is in the top window

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Birdhouse trills a happy tune WE might eat first with our eyes but sometimes we taste what we think we see. So, hands up, this veteran foodie has just confused pickled onion for chilli.

[airoasis]

motivation monday: october finish up

Hi, and delighted Monday! Today I am publishing a recap of my October running, primarily for my own records and to distill what went excellent and where I require some work. Total I satisfied my (incredibly simple) goals. If any of this works to you, then Happy Motivation Monday!! If you have some suggestions for any parts of it, do not hesitate to share. Thanks for reading, friends.

Many Interesting Workout:

Of numerous excellent exercises this month, it was tough to select a preferred. Sunday, Oct 14th is it. That early morning I ran a slightly fasted (I had actually eaten well the day previously, simply no breakfast) and spontaneous half marathon all by myself, at a pretty smooth pace (9:38 average). I didn't set out to run that long, but it felt fantastic! Every mile felt much better and much better, and I had some extra time, so ultimately, I just went for it. It's far from my ultimate time goal for 13.1, however considering I did this with no breakfast and no hydration or calories along the method, I'm delighted. It gets me thinking about what is possible when I am effectively sustained. And I had gobs of energy all the time after that! It's insane. Adaptions are happening.Worst Day: I attempted

operating on the extremely first day of Shark Week * this month, and I paid the rate. My other symptoms had been so mellow leading up to "The first day," I thought undoubtedly a 6 -or 7-mile simple day was possible. I had a hard time through 2.5 then walked another 1.5 while talking myself out of a pity party. Ha. It's great. I went house and poured my minimal physical energy into other things and counted my blessings that a difficult run was the worst of my health difficulties. I moved on with my life.Longest Run: Wednesday, Oct 24th: 15 even at Lake Hefner, with Mickey cyclingbeside me. This

was actually my longest run in numerous months, and I was happily surprised by not only a constant speed (9:46 average)but by the reality that I was not truly tired later. Nor was I the least bit sore the next day. Like, in general, it felt similar to an average 8/easy day. Huge thanks and high fives to my buddy for keeping me business!! The miles passed happily, and I got to hear numerous terrific stories about his life. I hope we do that together more frequently! Fastest General Run: Early on Sunday the 21st I shocked myself by running a little over 8 miles at an average speed of 8:47

. For me, that is quite

stylish. I rode endorphins the whole rest of that fine day, which we spent driving Klaus up Path 66 and doing a little hike, just the three of us. Then we had a very special dinner with our Sperrys, and my heart was so complete. (My trick that day was understanding that I only had about an hour to run, so I just crammed as numerous miles in as possible, then rounded it out to 8, ha! )Unique Meals Worth Sharing Since Food is Fuel: I continue to favor my odd"warm breakfast salad "over cold protein smoothies for post-run nutrition. Chilly early mornings simply beg for something relaxing, you know

? It's oats prepared with spinach and zuchinni, topped with two eggs. Bam. Love it.I am also caring huge, crisp apples and roasted peanuts, chicken breast sandwiches for lunch, and veggie-heavy soups and pasta dishes in the evening. Some roasted veggies with sticky rice is excellent the night eventually runs. Yes to gorgeous buffet, always, and salads at home get topped with warm things like roasted acorn squash and blended with kale for substance. I can not appear to eat enough eggs and peanuts the past few weeks. I do not comprehend why. Oh! And crepes. Jessica invited me over for breakfast one day, and together with the most beautiful salad ever, she made us a huge platter of warm, thick, chewy, eggy crepes.

Best and tasty. We went with savory over sweet that day. I am so proud of her and her cooking self-confidence and artistry.Horrible Error I Will Never Ever Make Once Again: Last Monday evening we were out at a costumed event behind anticipated and simply chose to get some late dinner at Taco Bell. Taco Bell, friends, around 9:45 p.m. This is not my life. I ate among those"power bowls "with steak and some tortilla chips with really hot homemade salsa. It was all tasty, however I had let myself get too hungry. I slept alright then early the next early morningattempted to run with my rapid friend Sheila. It was not fun. My meal was not digested yet. I had to cut the miles short and stroll back to my automobile . Dumb dumb LOL! Fresh Running Lesson: Vertical Oscillation

had currently been on my mind when I ran with Mickey that day at Lake Hefner. While bicycling behind me, he observed that with each stride I circled up excessive(think, Tigger the bouncing tiger, or perhaps an elliptical device instead of straight-forward motion ). Mickey offered a number of kind tips, which I attempted. Immediately my posture structured and my next couple of sprints were at my

max speed without any additional effort

. It just clicked. Fantastic! I practiced the toe-roll for numerous days after that and believe it is helping me waste less energy. Thanks, Mickey!Weather Considerations: From heavy rain all month to a surprise twister one day and constant temperature level swings, our fall weather condition has actually kept local runners thinking. I braved the treadmill just a few times, enough to see that my dullness endurance is abysmal, haha. I have some major mind callousing to do, you guys. Anyway, I am so happy to have actually satisfied my October objective with so numerous days that could have gone really differently. And the season modification has actually been awesome to see. I am not at

all grumbling. Oklahoma

has not seen this much color and such high water levels in lots of years, and the early morning skies, my gosh. I love everything. Simply extremely appreciative that a lot of miles were taken pleasure in outdoors, which is my favorite.Little Extras Still Happening? Yes, mostly. All month I did the dynamic warm-ups faithfully, and I stretched a little

after each run, but possibly inadequate. I got 8 infant weight-lifting days and about as lots of yoga sessions, but I might be more disciplined with that. Some core work and deep stretching at nights are probably in order, too. It's simply a matter of finding sustainable habits. Overall Miles: 223.1 These miles were mostly easy effort, long run rate, extremely relaxing, and delighted! My October objective was 220, just 10%up from September. It felt pretty uncomplicated, so I am thrilled

. Well over half of my miles were past this specific tree. I watched it alter colors each week. So beautiful!What's Next? My goals for November are to: keep my energy method up and my discomforts way down so I can delight in a month of both running and holiday festivity eat more mindfully, not like I remain in a panic all the time, ha!run 180 miles( a little step back)including two tough Hansons

workouts weekly lift rather much heavier

and regularly (perhaps every 3 days )yoga yoga I am incredibly curious just how much progress I'll see from strength training and coordination drills. After that, I will be a stone's toss from my "Run the Year"goal of 2,018. Wahoo !! What's brand-new in your fitness and health universe? * Shark Week, for this blog's purposes, will always describe a woman's natural reproductive regular monthly cycle. And"The first day" is the worst day for me

. I seem like you knew that already. However thanks for

following the asterisk.