23/09/07

Why don't they sell pickled cauliflower on it's own? Right now, across the country, I'm willing to bet there are at least a hundred people standing in supermarkets, methodically searching though all the jars of mixed pickle for the one with the most cauliflower. Everyone knows it's the best bit - even the manufacturers. Haven't you noticed that the cauliflower percentage in mixed pickle has steadily increased over the past ten years? It's as if they're gradually phasing it in - eventually we will have mixed pickle jars that contain nothing except cauliflower and the one solitary piece of red pepper that's always there for some reason.

The annoying thing is that I really like pickled gerkins and silver skin onions when they're on their own, but they never taste as good when they're in a jar with cauliflower. I think they must use a different kind of vinegar or something. So I end up picking through the damn jar with a fork for half an hour, trying to dig out all the cauliflower while eating the minimum of everything else. And then I'm left with a jar half full of stuff I don't want, which I never feel able to throw out - so it will sit in the fridge making me feel guilty until I get drunk enough to eat the lot because I couldn't find any biscuits.

Anyway. Moving on. For those of you who are anthro fans (which I assume some of you are, what with all the anthro and everything), I read a good book this week - 'Beasts' by John Crowley. It's not new, 1970s I think, but it was rereleased by Gollanz not that long ago. It's a sci-fi, set in a fairly dystopian future America with humans and human-animal hybrids. I've only read one other of John Crowley's book - Little, Big - but I fell head-over-heels in love with that (which I may well have mentioned before), and this is a pretty good read as well. John Crowley seems quite keen on ending the world as we know it, but he also seems interested in what might replace it. Take a look if you get the chance.