Marmite on toast soldiers with a boiled egg is one of the 'breakfasts of kings'!

It also came with some (delicious) pre-chop bites - kimchi & potted beef (very good - 13yo), anchovy & egg (amazing - 13yo) and pickled jalapeno & blue cheese (a complete disgrace - 13yo).

I've wanted to visit Blacklock in Soho for ages - it specialises in chops and grills. Fortunately the 13yo has a big appetite now, so we went for a sharing platter of skinny-cut lamb chops, pork chops and beef rump, with beef-dripping fries, slaw and gravy. Incredible!

Converted Mail Rail with passengers

Original Mail Rail

Mail sorting interactive game

Can of MailRail engineering loco - the only crewed vehicle on the original system

Hidden under the streets of London was a secret underground railway that took mail across the capital. It's no longer used and has been converted so you can ride on it and explore some of the history as part of the interactive and fun Postal Museum. It's well worth a visit!
#MailRail #PostalMuseum

There is no more money for salaries in health, but as long as we can move sone money from the end of sone doctors' careers to the beginning of everyone's, then we can afford to pay resident doctors more. Otherwise, they are behind nurses, teachers etc in the queue.

Everybody, especially public sector workers, lost out on pay from 2008 onwards. Junior doctors have been recompensed far more than most. If they want more, it should come with strings - penalties if they work for <20 years in the NHS and a lifetime 75% tax-rate on any private practice earnings.

No way at all that the 13yo could sit through a service.

As it is, we had a very nice visit indeed, but its remarkable how differently I would have probably felt if I'd have paid full price for us both. An interesting reflection on tourism/value/enjoyment.

Exterior of St Paul's with red London bus

Lighting a candle at St Paul's high altar

Selfie facing east from top of St Paul's dome

Interior panorama view of St Paul's dome

St Paul's Cathedral
Yes it's an iconic landmark, but at almost £30 per adult it's not cheap and I'm not sure there's enough to justify that price. We visited using a disabled/carer ticket - the 13yo is eligible, and it takes off the pressure that on a bad day, he may want to leave after 15 minutes.

"Professor Dave's little book of sunshine"
"I can almost smell the food but certainly feel the love"
"Lots of lovely recipes and some really poignant reflections"

And the paperback is currently a bargain at under £10!
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1739...

#FoodSky #BookSky #Foodie #RecipeoftheDay

Roast Lamb, Mint Relish, Roast Potatoes & Parsnips, Asparagus, Peas, Jerusalem Artichokes with Lemon & Parsley, Lamb Gravy.
Happy Easter! (Although I always think its a bit strange that we eat the very symbol of the resurrected Christ)!

This recipe serves 2 - cut the duck breast in half end to end before slicing (half a duck breast per person). Or halve the duck breast end-to-end before cooking and reduce roasting time to 10 min.

In small pan, heat 1tbsp soy, 1tbsp mirin, 1tbsp sake to a glaze, pour on duck

To stock, add 2tbsp kimchi, 1tbsp kimchi juice, 1tbsp miso, 1tbsp mirin, 1/2tbsp soy, 1tsp sesame oil, heat 5 min
Add sliced pak choi, cooked udon noodles, 2 min

Top with egg, duck, chopped spring onion, sesame seeds

Duck Breast Miso Ramen with Kimchi

Heat 750ml good stock (ideally dashi) with 1 star anise, sliced ginger and 2 chopped spring onions, 30 min
Strain into large pan.

Boil 2 eggs, 8 min, peel, halve

Pan-fry 1 duck breast, skin down, 5 min, then roast skin up, Fan 180, 15 min.
Rest, slice.

And his favourite permanent exhibit is 'The Blitz', which gives you a real taste of what it was like to be caught up in an air raid.

Each exhibit is in one of the remaining 30-40 PoW camp. huts In one of them, they recreated bomber command with live action telling the story of a night in the control tower.

The 13yo chose today's trip to his favourite museum - Eden Camp. It's a World War II museum located in an old Prisoner of War Camp in North Yorkshire. Today they had a special re-enactment event. He loved that they test fired lots of old weapons, then re-created the fog of war.

Yes, there is. That was part of my motivation for writing it up - to make clear that currently, curstion is still required.

I don't have a mattock - im a whizz with a fork, but maybe i should change my approach.

Finally recovered enough from prostate cancer treatment that U can get up and do some heavy digging on the allotment. There's a LOT to do, but my friendly robin, Sam, is happy to see me, and is helping out!

Imagine if as much media time was spent on each of the 165 Iranian schoolgirls killed by an American bomb as is being spent on one downed US airman. #r4today #bbcnews

Kimchi Fried Egg Rice
This is a recipe I've tinkered with quite a lot and is one of the 13yo's top favourites. Compared to the version in my latest book (www.amazon.co.uk/Bluesky-Reci...) this version has 1tbsp added soy sauce, spring onions and peas, and is finished with furikake seasoning.

Yes, one of my favourite small birds. We live in the city, and only have a small backyard, so no birds at home. I'm jealous of anyone who can sit in their kitchen or living room with a coffee and enjoying looking out at them.

RSPB membership pack and goldfinch vase

Goldfinch

I find it very healing to spend time in local nature reserves, so I decided to join @rspb.bsky.social. I also treated myself to this little 'charm of goldfinches' vase from their shop. In my first visit to St Aidans after joining, it was a goldfinch that welcomed me in.

Every Easter, the 13yo's special school have a display of art and craft work in the main entrance to York council offices - we made a visit - a great way of trying to boost self-esteem in a school where the kids often have very little.
#SEND #SpecialEducation #SENDEducation

Yes, some burrata would be good. Or done cubed roadted squash woukd perhsps be even better. Ultimately i was going for total simplicity.

Pan-Fried Gnocchi with Salami & Sage Butter Sauce

Fry 300g ready-made gnocchi in oil & butter until golden
Add 6 chopped sage leaves, 50g sliced salami, 25g butter
Serve, finish with 4 more sage leaves

Serves 2

#RecipeoftheDay #Foodie #SimpleRecipes #FoodSky #OnePanCooking #Gnocchi

There are active pedagogies where podcasting, including the use of AI, could be really useful. I discuss these in the paper. The best AI-based one is getting students to use AI to generate podcasts, and then write a narrative about what is right/wrong, what could be improved etc etc.

If it was assessed students might do it. But in a class of 300, how would you choose 2 to podcast? Or assess it? And I suspect it would have similar quality control issues to AI and be much more work for everybody. Recording a podcast requires mastery of the material, and a spare day for two people.

Trump sees 'America First' opportunity in Nasa lunar mission A competitive edge with China and a possible lunar gold rush are twin goals behind Artemis II, experts tell the BBC.

Much as I am a space nerd, it is hard to get excited by all the cheerleading for the Artemis programme knowing it was started by Trump purely as an expression of 'America First' and a way of the USA ensuring priority access to all resources in space. #r4today #bbcnews
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...