Mince Pie Fest 2024: Non-Cornish Cornish Pasty Chocolate Mince Pie

Non-Cornish Cornish Pasty mince pie day two! Chocolate today.

The pastry is really quite nice, with a similar texture to yesterday's, and a good chocolatey flavour. No discernable cherries in the filling mix, but there was a little nugget of pure chocolate -- or maybe a big chocolate chip -- that I assume was put there on purpose, but was a nice surprise either way. -1 for the price, obviously, but otherwise 4 out of 5. With an asterisk, because the chocolate is... untraditional. #MincePieFest2024 #MincePieADay

Mince Pie Fest 2024: Non-Cornish Cornish Pasty Traditional Mince Pie

Special #MincePieFest2024 special feature special! The first of four mince pies from Brighton's non-Cornish Cornish Pasty Shop.

I honestly, genuinely, only went in for one.

First, the traditional mince pie, which somehow exploded in transit.

This has a lovely chunky pastry with a nice, almost digestive biscuit, texture, and a generous dollop of filling that probably would be quite tasty, were it not for the over-abundance of cherries.

(I don't like cherries.)

-1 for the cherries, and -1 for the price (£4 each! I'll just put this link here for no reason at all: https://ko-fi.com/thekelvingreen) for a decent 3 out of 5. #MincePieADay

It's Over Nine Thousand

All of the Marvels, by Douglas Wolk, isn't really about one man's experience of reading 27,000 Marvel comics, although it touches on that. It's not a history of Marvel, although it touches on that. It's not a summary of the Marvel Universe story so far, although the final chapter skims through that.

Instead, this is Douglas Wolk, after reading 27,000 Marvel comics, picking out his favourite bits, and that makes for a compelling book, although it's not exactly how the book is marketed.

But it is interesting how, in all of those thousands of stories, Master of Kung Fu stands out as problematic as heck but also really, really good, or how the Dark Reign crossover turns out to be more clever and insightful than it appears, or how Jack Kirby was a genius but his Black Panther run was (probably) terrible.

I like that personal, my-favourite-bits, approach, and while a couple of chapters feel a bit perfunctory, I could quite happily have read another 15 chapters of this.

(Or maybe another 15 chapters by someone else. It would be lovely -- if impractical -- to get other people to read 27,000 Marvel comics and present their own favourite parts, just for a variety of voices. I'd love to read sequels to this by other authors.)

There are some disappointments -- there's an early interesting Grant Morrison-esque thought about the Marvel Universe being a unique fictional construct but it doesn't go anywhere; the Black Panther chapter doesn't quite grasp the importance of what Don McGregor was doing -- and perhaps overall the book is a bit fluffy, but it's always entertaining, and well worth reading for the parts in which Wolk pulls out a surprise favourite, or delves a bit deeper into a subject, or both.

Mince Pie Fest 2024: The Results!

I'm certain I will be consuming more mince pies and mince pie related items in the coming days and weeks, but the testing is over.

THE BEST NATIONALLY AVAILABLE MINCE PIE OF 2024

COOP Irresistible, although it was a close thing this year. These taste fancier and more expensive than they are. Very good. Well done, COOP.

THE BEST "CHEAP" MINCE PIE

Holly Lane, from Aldi. Simple but tasty. The filling is the star here, and the price is good.

THE BEST NON-BOOZY MINCE PIE

Also Holly Lane!

PALM OIL?

Quite a few of this year's mince pies do not have palm oil listed in the ingredients. From best to worst score, they are: Iceland Luxury (4), Infinity Foods (4), Tesco Merry (4), Waitrose Un-Numbered (4), Morrisons The Best (4), M&S Collection (3), Lidl Deluxe (2), M&S Classic (1).

(I am told that COOP uses "sustainable" palm oil, but there is some debate over whether there is such a thing.)

So there you have it! As I noted above, my mince pie journey is not yet over, but those are my recommendations for 2024. Enjoy!

#MincePieADay #MincePieFest2024

All Drummers Great and Small

BBC Four started a repeat run of The Box of Delights yesterday. I have fond but vague memories of the programme from its first broadcast -- 40 years ago! -- and I was excited to see it again. I'll maybe talk about it another time, as it ticks a lot of boxes for me: ancient British magic, mischievous hobo-wizards, time travel, snow and winter, wolves! It has some thematic crossover with Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising, another childhood favourite that I should revisit at some point.

The real point of this post is what came after. BBC Four followed up with a 1978 episode of All Creatures Great and Small, and I hadn't seen that in years either so I left it on to see what it was like with adult eyes, and... it's really strange. If you haven't seen it, it's a gentle comedy-drama about a veterinary practice in rural Yorkshire in the 1930s, which is already quite niche for a prime-time show, but -- and I assume this is because it's the BBC and the BBC's public service remit means there has to be at least a token attempt at education -- it's also full of graphic on-camera medical procedures. Imagine tuning in on a Sunday evening, perhaps after your Sunday roast, and then watching Doctor Who trying to remember his lines while up to the shoulder -- and this is the actor, mind you, not a double -- in a cow's backside.

Still, it was massively popular, got millions of viewers, and seemed to run for years -- although now that I look it up, it had two three-year runs separated by a decade -- but what I want to talk about is the theme music. I had a memory of a gentle but jolly piano theme in keeping with the Sunday night broadcast. and that's sort of what it is, but what surprised me last night was how hard the drummer goes:



Alas the theme is only about a minute long; the drummer was just getting going!

Mince Pie Fest 2024: Greggs

The Greggs vegan sausage roll is rightly famous, but are the mince pies any good?

The pastry looks a bit anaemic, and so it proves in terms of taste, with a decent texture but a flavour best described as blaaaaaaaaand. The filling has some nice flavour, although nothing stands out, and as you can probably see, it's a bit stingy. There's something a bit sad about these pies. The sausage rolls are much better. 2 out of 5. #MincePieADay #MincePieFest2024

Mince Pie Fest 2024: Infinity Foods

No picture of the box, as they are bakery fresh, so here's a picture of the shop, which is sort of a big brick and concrete box, if you think about it.

The pastry is firm, and so thick it would stop the assembled hordes of Genghis Khan, but it has a pleasant crumble and a nice sweetness.

The filling is thick and rich, and there is plenty of it. It has a nice savoury, almost sour edge that is a perfect balance for the sweetness. There's no hint of booze, but I don't think the pie needs it.

The only downside to these lovely mince pies is the price. £2.10 each or £5.75 for three is a bit steep. They are good, but I'm not sure they are £2.10 good. 4 out of 5. #MincePieADay #MincePieFest2024

Mince Pie Fest 2024: Iceland Luxury

The last of the supermarket chain pies, these are apparently "improved". Let's see.

The pastry has a good, firm texture, and a slightly salty taste. I'm generally not a big fan of salty flavours, but I have to say that it's not too bad here. The filling has a lovely strong citrus flavour, but it totally obliterates any other tastes, which is a bit of a shame. Still, a good effort from Iceland (not the country) and indeed an improvement on 2023's version. 4 out of 5. #MincePieADay #MincePieFest2024

Mince Pie Fest 2024: Jack's

DID YOU THINK IT WAS OVER?

It's not over!

We found these in a corner shop, but most corner shops are part of a chain these days, and this chain is basically Tesco-in-Disguise, so you should be able to find these across the UK. But would you want to? Read on, MacDuff.

The texture of the pastry is all wrong. It's too thin, too crispy, and too sweet, buuuuuuuut it tastes quite nice, like a (very) sweet biscuit. The flavour does rather overpower the filling, about which I can say nothing because I couldn't taste it at all. The only reason I know it exists is because I took a picture.

Not bad, but they don't really taste like mince pies. 2 as mince pies, 3 as a general sweet treat, so let's say 2.5 out of 5. #MincePieADay #MincePieFest2024

An Overdue Apology

First of all, I am not being compelled or forced to do this, at least not by any external agent. This is all about acknowledging my mistake.

When the allegations about Mandy and Zak first arose, I very quickly jumped on Google+ and made a vague and non-committal statement along the lines of "I was fooled and I am sorry." I don't remember the exact words, but maybe it's been screenshotted somewhere. That's the gist of it, anyway.

When challenged to specify what I meant, I prevaricated and said something like "I said what I said", and left it at that.

Looking back, I was trying to have it both ways, to signal my expected outrage while avoiding taking a side, at least overtly. More, in truth it was never really about showing support for Mandy, but rather to be seen to be on the "right" side. It was bandwagon-jumping, and I expect better of myself than that.

It was cowardly and wrong.

I always try to be fair and kind in life, and this was neither. And for that, I am sorry.