Our family dinner tonight featured shepherd’s pie, pineapple pizza and perfect nanaimo bars and we scored 10 on the GSQ with help from Bob.
A2 is reading Laying out the Bones by Kate Webb.
Tag: quiz
Another Family Meal
Feeding time again. Today we had pork in cider and chocolate ginger beer cake which was tasty but filling, and scored an above-par 11 on the GSQ.
A1 is reading The Predicament by William Boyd. A2 is reading Clown Town by Mick Herron.
After the Birthday
Transit of Bob. It was A2’s birthday yesterday so she got a lot of lovely presents of things to drink, read and wear to the gym. Our family dinner was chicken, bacon and broccoli with A1’s cherry cake and perfect garden apple charlotte for afters. We scored 9 on the GSQ. Could have been worse. And we could have seen the lunar eclipse if it hadn’t been cloudy, and then raining. But it was clear in Lusaka (see right) — thanks, Guida!
A1 is reading The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith, the latest biceps-straining volume in the Strike/Ellacott saga. Expensive, too — probably the first £30 mass-market novel (although it’s been heavily discounted).
It’s nominally a fiendishly complicated crime novel (and it is complicated — you may want to take notes), but RG is having great fun with the on-off relationship between the protagonists, which fortunately errs on the right side of soapiness; you can imagine her smirking at the readers’ reactions. The targets this time include Freemasonry and another stab at an evil Boris Johnson analogue, who really seems to appeal to writers (cf Mick Herron, MW Craven etc). Can’t imagine why… Criticism? There’s a bit too much phonetic transcription of accents, and the subplot about human trafficking gets somewhat lost in all the fol-de-rol. But a thoroughly enjoyable read nonetheless.
A2 is reading The Predicament by William Boyd, which was absolutely delightful. Thank you A1.
Feeding Time
Today’s family dinner was spag bol with stuffed mushrooms for the kids and trifle for pudding, after which we scored a miserable 8 on the GSQ. Can’t win them all.
But we did win on the solar panels, which passed last year’s total with four months left to go. August itself was averagely sunny and warm, but very dry (and nearly half of the total came down yesterday — 10.5mm out of 22.5). Only 2022 had less August rainfall, and 2025 is looking like it will be our driest ever year by some way, even allowing for the weather station’s downtime in May/June.
Quiz Glory
Today’s family meal consisted of stroggers for the meat-eaters and homegrown bean, courgette and tomato stew for the veggies, followed by homegrown apple crumble with cream and custard. We had two weeks worth of quizzes to do and scored 13 on the first and 12 on the second.
A2 is reading The Final Vow by MW Craven.
Dish of the Day: Pasta Bake
We intended to feed the family with leftover spag bol but it was mouldy so A2 rustled up some emergency pasta bakes with and without tuna and A1 made a delicious blackberry crumble with custard. Thus fortified, and with the irrepressible Bob as quizmaster, we scored 13 on the GSQ, our equal best this year and bringing us back above 10 again.
A2 is reading Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky; anarchists exiled to a prison planet investigate the strange and ultimately liberating ecology.
Another family Dinner
Today’s family meal was spag bol (with a lentil ragu for the meat refusers) followed by trifle. We were somewhat stumped by the GSQ but managed to score 9 thanks to some lucky guesses and smatterings of arcane knowledge, preserving our >10 average — just.
A1 is reading Stay Buried by Kate Webb.
Yet Another Celebration
A family dinner to round off a week of festivities. A1 received a Shipping Forecast T-shirt and we both got coffee beans and beer. Toad-in-the-hole (veggie and carnivore versions) and the remains of the delicious cherry cake were served and we scored 12 on the GSQ, bringing our average back above 10 at long last.
<<<< And here’s Dad Dancing!
A1 is rereading Sympathy for the Devil by William Shaw.A2 is rereading Redemption by Jussi Adler-Olsen
National Beer Day
It is also Father’s Day, so we had a delicious chicken, leek and mushroom pie for the dads to enjoy with their beer, followed by Fried Alaska (with raspberry Swiss roll and minty chocolate ice cream), and scored a creditable 11 on the GSQ.
A1 is rereading Born in a Burial Gown by MW Craven. A2 is reading The Man Made of Smoke* by Alex North. Many years ago, various people ignored an unhappy child in a service station, and now they are being bumped off one by one.
Trifling
Our family dinner this week was chicken bacon broccoli plus vegetarian alternatives, followed by a fruity trifle, at which we scored 9.5 on the GSQ, bringing our average to a sub par 9.9. Come on guys!
A2 is reading Son* by Johana Gustawsson and Thomas Enger.
After the Feast
We were so busy enjoying our family dinner of roast pork, potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, broccoli, peas, carrots, stuffing and gravy, followed by home-grown rhubarb crumble with custard and cream, at which we scored a solid 12 on the GSQ, that we forgot to photograph it, so here is a picture of some of the washing-up.
Our weather station has been hors de memory crash for the past week so does not know that we have had ample rain recently, so according to our figures, May 2025 was averagely warm and exceedingly dry (a mere 0.6mm). The solar panels are working though; May 2025 was the third sunniest May and the eighth sunniest month ever.
A2 is rereading When the Devil Drives by Christopher Brookmyre.
Happy Birthday Dave
Dave cuts himself a slice of delicious parkin cake after his post-birthday dinner of stroggers and pizza. And we scored a respectable 12 on the GSQ at last.
Strawberry Cheesecake
Another family meal, another creamy pudding. Since the Co-op shop was hacked there have been shortages on many shelves but a vast oversupply of sell-by-date cream. A1 served up a delicious beef stew and A2 concocted a creamy courgette gratin for the vegetarians. We enjoyed it all and scored our usual substandard 9 on the GSQ.
A1 started The Girl in the Woods* and The Cuckoo*, both by Camilla Lackberg, but couldn’t get into either of them.
A2 is reading The Last Weekend by Blake Morrison; a miserable book about horrible people with a specially ghastly protagonist.
Sunday Lunch
We had chicken and/or vegetable creamy pasta for lunch, followed by this strawberry sponge cake which was snapped up before it could be snapped, and scored an improved 10 on the GSQ.
A2 is reading The Cuckoo* by Camilla Lackberg.
Dejeuner en Famille
Dinner with the family in their lovely new house: salmon, salad and cherry cake for afters. What a treat!
Faye was our quizmistress and kindly gave us a score of 9.
A1 is reading The Vinyl Detective: Underscore by Andrew Cartmel. No proper recipes this time, but more on Vinyl Detective Macaroni Cheese, which is now credited to Sam Wong’s article How to Hack Your Macaroni Cheese in the 23 Nov 2022 issue of New Scientist (behind a paywall, but free to Leeds libraries members).
A2 is reading The Girl in the Woods* by Camilla Lackberg; child killers and child-killers, with 17th century witch trials added in.
Family dinner
Another Sunday dinner of spaghetti followed by a trifle decorated with leftover Easter eggs, at which we scored a sorely disappointing 8 on the GSQ.
A1 is reading Burn After Reading by Catherine Ryan Howard.
Easter Monday
We had chicken bacon broccoli and cheesecake for our family meal and did the last two weeks’ quizzes, scoring 13 on one and 10 on the other. Here’s the cake:
A1 is reading The Alaska Sanders Affair* by Joel Dicker. A2 is reading Burn After Reading by Catherine Ryan Howard. Another book about a Writer.
Blueberry Lemon Cake
Our pudding after our family meal of roast pork, stuffing, potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, broccoli, sprouts, carrots and gravy, after which we generously allowed ourselves to score 10 on the GSQ.
A2 is rereading Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks by Christopher Brookmyre.
Sad Kiwi Fruit
No wonder; it’s no fun being chopped up and mixed with a load of common fruits.
We had porky vegetables and cheesy courgettes for our family dinner, followed by parkin with custard, and scored 10.5 on the GSQ.
A2 is rereading Boiling a Frog by Christopher Brookmyre.
Like the Circles that You Find
Another day, another circular object. Today it’s the trifle completing our family meal of spaghetti and sauce, surrounded by tabletop clutter. We scored 10 on the GSQ, better than the last few.
A1 is rereading The Cut and A2 is rereading Not the End of the World, both by Chris aka Christopher Brookmyre.
Critters of the Day: Women
Yes, it’s International Women’s Day. We had a family lunch of kedgeree (with boiled eggs for the fish refusers), ate a blueberry cake and scored a substandard 9 on the GSQ.
A1 is rereading When the Devil Drives by Chris Brookmyre. A2 is reading The Fourteenth Letter* by Claire Evans, which was weird and unbelievable.
Feeding Time
We had meat and vegetable cottage pies and broccoli for our family dinner, followed by Aunt Celia’s lemon pudding, did this week’s and last week’s quizzes and scored a disappointing 9 on one and a disgraceful 7 on the other.
A2 is reading The Foot on the Crown by Christopher Fowler; an origin myth for London in a Dark Ages Game of Thrones setting.
Robin Hiding
Here’s a glimpse of the elusive bird that has been tormenting us with its vanishing tricks. One day we’ll catch it in the open.
We had macaroni cheese, vegetable and fruit salads and a sad-looking but tasty brick-like air-fried courgette cake for our family dinner and scored 12.5 on the GSQ; thx everybody and happy birthday eve Bob.
A1 is rereading Not the End of the World by Christopher Brookmyre. A2 is rereading Machines like Me by Ian McEwan.
Trout for Dinner
Our family dinner was rainbow trout with almonds, fried potatoes, leeks and courgettes, with parkin and custard for pudding.
We scored a reasonable 10 on the Guardian Quiz.
A2 is reading Picks and Shovels* by Cory Doctorow, a crime novel where the crimes are financial but a few people get beaten up nonetheless.
Head Scratching Time
Thanks to channelling our brainpower, we scored 12 on the GSQ tonight after our delicious dinner of roast chicken and apple crumble; our best score this year so far.
Ai is rereading The Sacred Art of Stealing by Christopher Brookmyre. A2 is reading Trapped* by Camilla Lackberg and Hendrix Fexeus; a special unit in the Department Q/Peculier Crimes mould recruits a mind-reader to solve a series of murders committed with stage magic equipment.