We found ourselves in the Trafford Centre last night. Goodness knows why but the sales bargains were amazing the shops must simply be desperate for cash. Rather than join the queue out of the car park we went to the cinema and saw The Day The Earth Stood Still. Yes it's pretty slow, there's no real plot and we all know it will end happily (this is American, no English villain though) but it kept our family entertained for a couple of hours. It's not great but I'm not sure I'd call it tat. Nice little point made at the end when the lights go out......but I'll say no more to avoid spoiling it. Leaving the cinema was a little surreal. The TC was heaving when we went in, came out at 10.30pm having watched a human race wiped out disaster movie, TC was deserted, out into the car park - deserted and heavily frosted. Took a short cut back through Trafford Park to get on the M602 home - no traffic at all. If you'd told me the film had just come true I might have believed you!

The offer is a good one, I just downloaded 24 books for free. You'll need to give a credit card number but there is no charge. Download the reader software first as this gives you a target to save the books to. For some books you will need your credit card number as the unlock code to allow you to read them, others do not require the unlock code. This wasn't what I expected, I assumed it was audio books, and it wasn't till I had downloaded all 24 and opened one I realised it was for reading onscreen! I have a mobile device which should support the software so that will be handy. Otherwise it will be nice to have a book handy for the occassions I'm stuck in a hotel with my laptop. It's worth checking you have a device that will support the software. Lots of Nokia Smartphones will do and it appears most Symbian devices also. Obviously Windows works but not Linux. Good link American

I agree with you on Fairtrade. I had re-written this post several times in an attempt to be accurate and Fairtrade I meant to takeout but didn't. I'd agree with both you and 02g on Fairtrade. Regarding organic I understand what you say and it's true there are legal standards. I could show you produce sold as organic which does not carry Soil Association logos or the registered number or product grown on sites which is labelled as organic which the the Soil Association would have no reason to inspect!

If you want good produce animal or vegetable, which tastes the way you would like find good shops in your local town, buy seasonal product ideally grown locally and buy little and often. Store it correctly, don't put tomatoes in the fridge!! Organic or not this is the way to find and eat good food. Think about foreign markets, especially the French. Try to buy products which have not been processed. Cook from ingredients, you want a tomato sauce? Chop onions, tomatoes, chuck in some garlic and reduce over a low heat. For me the term "organic" has become catch all for better quality, taste and planet saving. It isn't neccessarily so and the whole issue of quality, sustainability, environment, climate change is extraordinarily complex. The difficulty I have with the whole thing is retailers are using a whole bunch of catchphrases, which actually mean nothing to persuade us to buy their product – fairtrade, organic, locally grown, traditional etc. I could bang on for hours. Consider two: where is the logic in buying organic French beans from Kenya in December? Sainsbury's promote locally grown produce. It's true it is grown locally, the phrase "locally grown" hides the fact it's shipped 100 miles to a distribution centre before being shipped back into the local area!!!! It's travelled 200 miles to get to the store but it was grown locally. Over the past 20 years UK growers have reduced chemical inputs to the point where much produce is almost organic. The motivation is profit, chemicals are expensive, removing them reduces the reliance on agro-chemical suppliers and reduces costs. Much UK produce in supermarkets is virtually organic in the sense chemical inputs have been reduced to an absolute minimum to allow the grower to make a profit / remain in business. UK produce is superior to much that we import, however the supermarkets dare not publicise this fact as it would reflect badly on the non-seasonal product imported from overseas. UK consumers expect a vegetable to "look" a certain way. Supermarkets have responded by demanding uniformity, packaging etc and the whole thing has become self-perpetuating. Plant breeders concentrated on high yielding, uniform, long storage crops. The end result is we are faced with the bland offering we find in Tesco et al. The public gets what the public wants Taste is the one I love when discussing organics. Taste is often provided by sugars. Plant sugars break down under cold storage, no sugar equals no taste. ALL supermarket produce is cold-stored or chilled, usually on site by the producer. Organic produce is stored under the exact same conditions as non-organic produce. Better taste is imagined rather than actual. I could actively demonstrate this if we lived closer. Try buying a tomato from a supermarket, then find a tomato grower and buy one which has not been cold stored. One will taste like a tomato. It is true variety choice has an influence on taste but nothing like the influence of destroying the sugars which provide flavour! In short the problem I have with organic, and why I consider it a waste of money is this: the consumer is not being given the whole picture, just the bit that makes them feel good. Secondly while organic produce is more expensive to produce it is not 30-40% more costly and while it is subjected to the same processes which remove taste from our food it cannot taste better

As we had two veggies with us I did!!! You're certainly right about organic food. I've given up these days but trying to explain to people who insist on having a weekly vegetable and soil box delivered that they are being ripped of big style is impossible. Talk about fundamentalists!!! Organic food is a complete rip off without any question. Still it's been a great marketing opportunity and raised margins by around 40% on the product. Suckers. As an aside the current / next big marketing opportunity is green /environmental. Knowing a few of the things planned for 2009 I can promise you all this is the next big "salve your conscience" thing - and once more it's all nothing other than marketing hype.

Watched Pirates of the Caribean - Deadman's Chest, last night, the original title of this thread. What a load of rubbish. If it had been 45 minutes shorter one could have been mildly entertained, as it was this was just stretched out to become a blockbuster with scene after scene being lengthened uneccessarily. Terrible.

That's a thought. I usually melt some butter, brush that over the skin and then place very fatty bacon over the breast. Never thought of putting the butter inside the turkey.

Haven't read the thread so don't know if this has been mentioned. I bought Duffy's Rockferry Deluxe Edition last week. I rarely buy music these days, and a female artist is even rarer. I think it's a very good album and she has a great voice.

Only just noticed this Tris. Yes lamb is one of their strengths though we often have beef - the blue beef steaks are fabulous, just show them a hot skillet and they melt in the mouth. Availability does vary. The meat is home grown, then sent for slaughter with only a few animals going at a time whch means once a cut is sold out you have to wait. I see that as a sign of quality and most folk I know expect to go and chose from what's available rather than find specifics. As a complete aside I cooked our turkey using Nigella Lawson's brine soaking method, to my surprise it works very well. Get a large plastic bucket throw in unspecified quantities of cloves, mustard seed, caraway, anise, all spice seed, cinamon, salt, sugar, maple syrup, two onions quartered, one orange quartered and squeezed into the mixture, bunch of parsley, two inches of ginger diced add cold water sufficient to cover turkey. Stir for a bit and taste, mine was slightly salty and could taste the maple syrup. Put turkey in, leave in cold porch over night, then cook as usual. The result was beautifully moist meat. Found a good stuffing receipe as well, apricot, pistachio and venison. You need to buy venison sausages and skin them but the rest is easy, pistachios, apricots, bread crumbs, onion, lemon zest, thyme, parsley. Combine everything in a bowl, mix well with your hands, place result in turkey and cook. You can use any sausage but venison is a good foil to the turkey, it freezes well so can be made in advance

There isn't enough choice in the area no question of that. I'm inclined to agree the Clog is over-rated. Only been the once and I enjoyed it, we paid £12 / head inluding drinks and three starter platters shared between us so I think the value is good. Our party was 8 adults, 2 small children. On the downside it wasn't especially busy and we'd been there for 90 minutes before we got our main course - people were just starting to get twitchy when it arrive. The meat platter starter was disappointing, the others good, everyone enjoyed their meals but I found there was little choice if one didn't want hail and hearty food. Interestingly only one vegetarian option. My wife had fish pie which was delicious. I had the burger which came over-cooked (I ordered rare, which for me means almost bleeding) and was very solid, we make better at home. (If you make burgers they need enough bread crumbs to make them crumble, this was like a 1" thick slab of meat). This sounds rather snobbish but I think the menu is designed for Blackburn folk; it's very hearty, filling and gives you lots to make you feel you've had good value. Haven't been to the Three Fishes but I'm guessing the location means it will be a different approach. The food, service and atmosphere are good, wine list good but expensive, no music which is great so it adds up to excellent value but falls some way short of gastronomic experience. I had expected better, less would have been more.

Finally got the Clog and Billycock today. Food good, atmosphere good and no music so we could talk!! Great wine list. Thought the menu a little limited and things I'd half expected to see weren't there but all said extremely good value for money. Went by tandem, great fun getting there, much tougher getting home again!!

I rarely have time to read as much as I would like so I've taken to loading talking books onto my iPod and listening on my journey to and from work. Recently I've "read" Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat, the true story of Marina's experiences as prisoner in Avin (outside Tehran) at the time of the Islamic revolution. The book, perhaps slightly overlong, gives an excellent first hand account of her time in jail, how she is saved from execution by one of her interogators only to be forced to marry him and convert to Islam. Flashbacks to her childhood paint a picture of life in Iran under the Shahs and give some background as to the causes of the Islamic revolution. I know very little about the subject but thoroughly enjoyed the book and feel I learnt a little about Iran, the revoloution, it's people and country. Good stuff and I would imagine historically quite accurate. Also listened to a short story by Nick Hornby, Not a Star about a mother who discovers her son in his mid-twenties has been making porn movies. Vaguely amusing but no belly laughs. Would take about an hour to read. I had expected better from Nick Hornby. Another short story The Highwaymen by Ken McClaren is set in Scotland after climate change has become reality and Britain finds itself at war - this is a great short story examing how wars begin. To say more would spoil it................. Next up is On Beauty by Zadie Smith, Chronicles Volume 1 Bob Dylan and The Lemon Table by Julian Barnes, His Illegal Self by Nicolette McKenzie. Our, small, local library has a good range of talking books it might be worth others with less time available having a look at this.

........and still couldn't get a reservation so it's looking like Heathcotes or Thyme on Saturday. The manager at the Clog suggested we'd have to wait at least an hour on Saturday, though he did promise "you will be fed" - something I'm not prepared to do!. Good to see you both last night, the food looked great!

Well if we're doing butchers now (well meat suppliers) I can recommend Spout House Farm in Higher Wheelton. On the left as you drive from Blackburn. Open Friday, Saturday, Sunday 11.00 to 4.00pm. Superb home grown meat, nice cheeses, nice people and great cakes (made by a local lady). I think they are looking to expand if the refurbisment of a lrage barn is anything to go by. We no longer buy meat products in supermarkets, everything is at Spout House, ten times the quality and the same price if not cheaper than Tesco.

If he's not match-fit and overweight I suppose it's too much to hope that we're not paying him?

This is a very good book, don't be put off by the opening pages which i found contained rather graphic descriptions, those applied right through the book in fact. Recently I've read "The Tenderness of Wolves" by Stef Penney which has come in for criticism because the author did her research in libraries rather than visitng the Canadian wilderness where the story is based. Apparently the book also contains a number of historical inaccuracies which have an impact on its value - e.g one character gives another a fountain pen which was not invented till 1884 and the book is set in 1867 - good to see there are pedants around in every walk of life!! The plot line is narrated by Mrs Ross who has discovered the body of a local trapper, at the same time her adopted son and some money disappear. Various people and groups set out to track down the missing boy and potential murderer. A very good and descriptive read which rarely fails to give one a real sense of "being there". Also read "The Abortionist's Daughter" by Elisabeth Hyde. The title tells it all, the novel is based around Megan daughter of Diana, an abortion doctor who is founded dead at her home. The ensuing murder investigation and "who dun it" is the basis of the novel. Megan is a pretty unpleasant brat and I rather hoped she had murdered her mother and would get her due punishment. Sadly the real killer is obvious at an early stage. None of the characters are convincing or in anyway sympathetic. One to be avoided. I listened to John Grisham's "The Summons" which is a good thriller. I think the book went on for too long and I'm not sure if this is because it was an audio book (I had the same feeling about another audio book recently), or just the author needed a few 1000 extra words. Set in Virginia, our hero finds his father dead after having been summoned to the family home to discuss the old man's will. Shortly after finding his father he also finds £3m in cash in the house. The story centres around where did this money come from and what to do with it. You can't go far wrong with John Grisham and this is a good holiday read / page turner. I don't know who wrote "Ladies of Letters Say No" but the audio read by Patricia Routledge and Prunella Scales is a scream. I think you'll find it in most libraries. It's basically an exchange of e-mails by two ladies already past being "women of a certain age" and moved into the batty zone (sorry to our lady members!). It's a hoot and needs listening to very carefully to get all the humour. Finally I started listening to "Vernon God Little" - DBC Pierre, read by Ewen Bremner. I know very little about this and was in a noisy taxi at the time. From the first two I gather these are pretty dark short stories which I need to listen to again.

Not a problem I was a bit frustrated at only being able to buy a two day old international Guardian!!

We've seen nothing from McCarthy to suggest he deserves to be at the club and his recent comments indicate he feels he should either be at a better club (Chelsea) or at the very least in our starting 11. There's little doubt McCarthy is very talented when it suits him but he has openly admitted he was not giving of his best last season, seeing his apprent fitness / weight levels on Saturday there's every reason to feel nothing has changed. McCarthy is at least third choice now and £6m for a non-scoring 31 year olf seems like a good deal. I don't understand why Ince would want to keep him? While I can understand why many fans don't want to see Fowler at the club he does at least appear to be trying - and that's one thing it has never been possible to say of McCarthy. Sunderland's £6m is a gift, we should take it.

philip i've been in turkey for close to three weeks and dont get back till early tomorrow. Reception on radio lancashire is patchy here. Perhaps you could update me?

The guardian reported on wednesday that we turned down a £9 million bid from sunderland last friday. I would have taken the cash. No one is going to match or better that offer.

As an alternative to books I've just loaded my iPod with: The Uncommon Reader - written and read by Alan Bennett Vernon God Little - DBC Pierre, read by Ewen Bremner The Summons - John Grisham After You'd Gone - Maggie O'Farrell Ladies of Letters Say No - read by Prunella Scales and Patricia Routledge And a selection pof poetry by Siegfried Sassoon, WH Auden, TS Eliot, Ted Hughes, Philip Larkin, Sylvia Path and Seamus Heaney plus 66 podcasts from Radio 4 Some serious beach time coming up!

Good grief £180 in a Chinese restaurant, it must have been fantastic on your previous visit to get you back there? Glad to see a few people voting for Thyme.......ABBEY you lucky so and so. Last time we went I was hosting some good friends as a "thank you" for a major favour. We didn't stint on anything and I think the bill was around £120 - £130. Spoke to the manager and complimented him on how nice it was not to be rushed - we arrived at 7.30 and didn't leave till near 12.00 - and he responded that the restaurant wants people to relax and acknowledged we are likely to spend more if we're allowed to stay and to return again. Both of which are true. Anyone visiting the Oban area should go to Eeusk ....just make sure everyone likes fish as that is all you will get

Been there twice in the last year; the first time we had a good evening, food was good, the portions were acceptable and it was expensive but reasonable for the whole evening. More recently we went as paying guests in a party of 12. We were asked to order our meal several days in advance (!), for me half the pleasure is mulling over the menu and chatting with people, the portions were minute, service OK and we were rushed out at the end, it felt like were on a production line. I'd say the Red Cat has become pretentious, over-priced and very expensive. Food's good but the whole package doesn't represent good value by any stretch of the imagination. I would not recommend it to anyone wanting a relaxed wine and dine evening, the best you'll get is an expensive two hours!

We had another table's bill added to ours!! £250+ from what i recall. What does that mean?

Thyme at Houghton is very good. It's above some pub or other that I can't remember the name of.