For my 30th (40th) birthday (ha!ha! – it’s funny how the older you get the funnier the jokes about how old you aren’t getting, get, right?) my wife took me to the BBC Good Food Show in our great second city, Birmingham. Here’s a short clip of us arriving in Birmingham on a lovely summer’s day in the UK. It reminds me of Atlanta. I went there once and it did this.
Anway once you arrive at the Good Food Show you are transported into a world of culinary delights.
This is an example of a culinary delight, FYI.
Here an orgy of pies, puddings, cakes, sauces, wines, scotch and cheese await the unwary. You don’t go to this thing unprepared – the stalls are a mix of cut-throat commercial enterprises and sweet little old dears selling homemade jam – you do your homework and build a plan of attack. Then you start sampling the wine and start buying stuff, like wine…
He looks like he’s hitting the limit to me
…And damn fine sweet treats!
In amongst it all we found the Hairy Bikers giving a masterclass. In reality they were buggering about (in the UK we call it ‘banter’). Here they back up my belief in buying puff pastry ready-made (whack up the sound a bit to get their insightful gibberish):
We also came across a man building a cheese mountain:
We liked his device so much we got one – but haven’t tried it out yet…
I didn’t try the oysters, I didn’t know my gag reflex status at the time…
Of course one of the main objectives of going to one of these food-fests is to collect as much bounty as possible. Here are our spoils – everything from pot plant seeds to toothpaste to curry sauce to hemp bags to god knows what…
I think I will be revisiting the Good Food Show via the blog again as snippets of memory return…
Looks like you had a wonderful birthday! Everything looks so grand, especially the sweet treats!
yes that was a good day and we won the football (it was on the tele in the bar later on in the hotel) so i was happy (till we were knocked out in the next round)
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That looked like fun. Great way to spend a birthday.
You have a great blog and thanks for stopping by my blog.
Now to copy that Peking duck pancake recipe. YUM!
Yes it gets a lot of hits that one
Reminds me of one of my favorite football sites – Who ate all the pies?
Quite a few of them looked they’d been eating all the pies.
First of all, Happy Birthday to you!
And my goodness, those dougnuts/pastries in the first picture look sooooo good!
The food and wine shows here in SA are not nearly as exciting as yours it seems, but I’m hoping you weren’t too sober when you left the place…
Yes those donuts were insane – didn’t go near those! And you’re right I kind of did a controlled stagger out of there…
For a minute there I thought you were in Seattle!
I can completely identify with your summer.
It’s still like this now. Except for Wimbledon but its getting worse…
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Happy birthday! I like the cheese mountain, must go next year..
Yes want to recreate that it looked great and he had a grated chocolate mountain next to it!
AMAZING.
Happy birthday! What a great way to spend it!
Yes it was an ideal choice by my other half!
You are so lucky to have been there!! So much fun.. so much food!!
Yes its all kind of sitting there. I got a big chunk of parmesan cheese buts its dried out!
Happy birthday! But just a tip, don’t lie backwards on your age – always add a bunch of years. Better to have someone say how great you look for 48 than what a tough life you’ve lived for 30. Now did you say you bought pot seeds? Is that legal over there?
That’s a good point! No it wasn’t pot seeds but rather seeds in pots.
Oooh duh…guess the blonde’s still there under the gray.
Well its a good idea though!
Happy birthday.
Looks like an amazing haul. I am very curious about this cheese grating device. What is it?!
thats for a future post!
Exciting!
Happy Birthday !
For my birthday we went out for sushi, but it looks like you did all right too !!
I read about that one that sushi it looked amazing – sushi over here looks like little green rolls of….well not much really!
Happy birthday!
I didn’t realise i’d get all these best wishes!
Hey Man, Happy 30th! Think of the alternative. Every day is a gift.
Sorry I feel like i’ve misled – I’m 40 but its actually quite a nice feeling to think I’m 30 so maybe I’ll stick with it!!!
I have celebrated my 30th birthday 3 times!
Third time is the charm.
lol i’ve been doing that for a decade!
You don’t look a day over 27
Haha! The photo is very grainy
Darling husband is about 12 years behind!
As they say, the only time you will see 30 again is on somebody’s front door. I went to the Taste of Dublin a couple of weeks ago. Similar vibe. Having paid €25 to get in, there were Dublin restaurants selling ‘taster meals’ for a fiver. However, they don’t take euros, only florins that one has to buy at one euro to one florin rate. The taster idea being that one would eat four or five of them. Call it another €20. Then any drink was 5 or 6 euro per class. Call it another €10. If one wanted to see any of the chef demonstrations and celebrity cooking, you had to stump up again. All this while guys with cockney accents are trying to sell us self sharpening knives and wonder whisks. The day would set a couple back a couple of hundred quid, wandering home with a few useless florins in one’s pocket. All to have people in the food business sell their wares to one. I am not impressed. Yours looks like a far better arrangement.
Best,
Conor
Yes that sounds like one of those captured audiences you get at executive conferences where you turn up for free but have to speak to sellers. Mind you they don’t serve up decent food at those things
looks like a great haul !
Yes it was good loot although still working through the chorizo and salami selection!
Happy Birthday. The cheese mountain device looks useful.
Cheers! Yes I am going to have to get to grips with that one
Happy Birthday! Did they hand out any freebies at the show? They’re quite generous here – with things like seaweed toothpaste, garlic beer, octopus…
Octopus? Thats an impressive freebee?!
What fun, Happy birthday!
Well thanks very much!
Amazing.. Might even do this for my 30th as well (almost reaching the 3rd decade really soon myself)! Seems perfect!
Bea
Well enjoy the next 10 years they flyyyyyy……….!
What a wonderful way to celebrate your 30th!!
Happy Food Loving Birthday!
yes it was a good one. Oh to be 30…..
I was trying to help you maintain the belief…;-)
I know and for that I am grateful, believe me!