Polls: Food & Beverage

A popular stew across North Europe is lobscouse. It's known by several similar sounding names, lapskaus, lobskaus, labskovs, lobscows. People from Liverpool are known as scousers because of their love of the dish while in parts of Manchester people are known as lobby gobblers. Here in Wales it's lobscows in the North and called cawl everywhere else.

Recipes vary a lot, google pics turns up thousands of versions yet all recognisable as the. dish. I make mine with lamb, others with beef or ham shank, all are good and everyone insists their way is the right way.

Big Mac here is 558 calories by itself. Add that with upsize meal and bam you get a total calorie of a whooping 1222 calories. Large French fries being 512 and cola, 152 calories. A vanilla cone is 133 calories, triple cheeseburger is 580 calories! This is why I don’t eat them often because consuming them everyday makes you gain weight so much faster.

It's that time of year where breweries release their novelty Christmas beers bustling with festive flavours. But do you like these Christmas pudding flavoured beverages or are they an unnecessary annoyance?

What's your favorite type of roast of coffee? Any favorite brands?

I personally prefer room temp but also don't mind when it's a bit melted, I love how creamy it feels and tastes sweeter.

Amber Harvest Soup

Food Safety:

Use only food-grade, farmed cockroaches (like dubia or Madagascar hissing roaches from edible-insect suppliers). Never use wild roaches. Freeze for 24 hours to humanely dispatch and sanitize, then thaw in the fridge and rinse well. Those with shellfish allergies should avoid this dish.

Ingredients:
20–24 cleaned roaches, 2 medium onions (plus a few cubes raw for garnish), 3 sliced garlic cloves, 1 tsp grated ginger, 2 tbsp oil, 1 tbsp butter, 1 small diced potato (or ½ cup parsnip), 3 cups stock, ½ cup coconut milk or cream, 1 bay leaf, salt, pepper, herbs (parsley or cilantro), 1 tbsp rice vinegar or lemon juice, and optional smoked paprika or chili flakes.

Method:
- Dry thoroughly to prevent splatter.
- Optional blanch: 30–45 seconds in salted simmering water, then dry.
- Crisp-fry: Heat oil, fry roaches 2–3 min until deep golden; salt lightly and drain.
- Caramelize aromatics: Sauté onions in butter until golden; add garlic and ginger for 1 min.
- Build soup: Add potato, bay leaf, and stock; simmer 12–15 min until tender.
- Blend smooth, remove bay leaf.
- Enrich: Add coconut milk, salt, pepper, and vinegar or lemon; simmer briefly and adjust seasoning.
- Serve: Ladle soup, top with crispy roaches, chopped herbs, and raw onion cubes. Serve immediately.

Flavor Profile:
A velvety, mildly sweet onion base with warmth from garlic and ginger. The fried roaches add a nutty, toasty crunch—like sunflower seeds or crispy shallots.

Serving Suggestions:

Pair with buttered crusty bread or jasmine rice, a lime-salted cucumber salad, and a dry Riesling, chilled Gamay, or unsweetened lemon iced tea.

I'm starting to just eat one meal a day because of grocery prices going up. Saves me so much money.

Americans love to boast their food is the best in the world, so I've looked up few everyday American recipes to try. Now getting rabbits and squirrels aren't a problem around here, they're abundant.

Now I assume coon refers to raccoon, now they're pretty non existent in these here parts. But we do get a fair bit of badger road kill.

So two questions, does badger taste like coon?

And which of these recipes would you recommend?