The Diary of a Domestic Goblin: 2026

Sunday, 1 March 2026

Multimedia Dinners

Amorini

Heart shaped chocolate coated in silver or bright colours.

First meal as Queen on flight to Entebbe, Uganda

Venison, duck, ham, orange sauce, boiled egg, salad, strawberries and cream.

Food for the corgis

Steak, poached chicken and rabbit.

Prince Charles' underaged drinking in Gordonstoun

Cherry brandy.

Other foods mentioned

Porridge

Sausage and mash

Butter pats

Bottled plums

Afternoon tea

Pancakes with lemon and sugar

Other facts

King Charles loathes chocolate puddings of any kind.

Prince William had two cakes made for his wedding reception:

An eight tier fruitcake decorated with cream and white icing

A cake made entirely of McVitie's chocolate biscuit

(What a Thing to Say to the Queen written by Thomas Blaikie)

Smithy's Indian takeaway order

Chicken Bhuna

Lamb Bhuna

Prawn Bhuna

Mushroom rice

Bag of chips

Keema Naan

Nine Poppadoms

Sag Aloo

(Gavin & Stacey, S3:E2)

Supper at Eric Harrison's Gloria Avenue bungalow in Van Nuys

Cashew nuts

Caviar

Smoked salmon

Lamb

Beef

Vegetables

At least three puddings

(According to Miriam Margoyles in This Much Is True)

Salatim

(Laser Wolf, Philadelphia)

Sally Albright: I'd like the chef's salad please with the oil and vinegar on the side and the apple pie a la mode.
But I'd like the pie heated, and I don't want the ice cream on top, I want it on the side, and I'd like strawberry instead of vanilla if you have it. If not, then no ice cream, just whipped cream but only if it's real. If it's out of a can, then nothing.
Waitress: Not even the pie?
Sally Albright: No, just the pie, but then not heated.

(When Harry met Sally)

Food/drink served at Grace de Pointe du Lac's Creole wedding

Checkered cake
Pompano fillet
Boudins
Dirty rice
Beef
Green beans
Wine

(S1:E1 Interview with the Vampire, TV series)

Daniel Molloy has a lavish meal at Louis' home in Dubai

Duck foie gras terrine, pickled fruit, roasted apple bon bon.

Ajoblanco (bread, crushed almonds garlic, olive oil and salt) and a garnish of green grapes.

Rabbit, three ways.

Debbie McGee cooks dinner for Louis Theroux

~ Apple and mushroom soup with hot bread.

~ Chicken in a marsala and mushroom sauce served with mashed potatoes, beans and carrots.

~ Banoffe pie.

* Food mentioned in books, TV shows and films *

Your Taste

Seopsanjeok from Jungjae in Jeonju

~ Beef rump

From a cow raised by Jeong Seong-cheol at Mawon Farm.The meat is minced and kneaded into a patty and grilled.

~ Pine mushrooms

Oven roasted.

Truffle Neobiani

The meat is thinly sliced, then scored, marinated and grilled.

(S1:E1)

Menu at Jungjae

Amuse bouche: bugak.

Naengchae: salad.

Steamed egg instead of soup.

Main dish: seopsanjeok.

Dessert: dried persimmons.

(S1:E2)

Truffle Neobiani developed by Chef Jang for La Lecel

Grilled Neobiani served with truffle paste and with osmanthus tea-based jelly made with lemon juice and flowers.

Jeonju-style Jjajang

(S1:E3)

Ongeoul Youth Food Festa Contest

100 sheets of Neopdo Island laver

Gamtae from Taean

Ham from Mount Jiri

Beef from Mawon Farm

Jungjae Set:

OG Carrot Gimbap with Sweet Moju

(S1:E4)

Le Murir Sapparo inflight meal collaboration with Han Air

Japanese Bento Box

Western Frenched Rack

Special guests (French and Korean fusion marriage)

Amuse bouche of Korean yukhoe (beef tartare) served on gamtae chips.

Square shaped dumplings (pyeonsu) filled with tofu and oysters served with beef brisket broth.

Shin Choon-seung's Special Makgeolli.

Samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup) combined with a French style seafood soup.

(S1:E5)

Jungjae Manual

1) Jungjae is a restaurant that changes with the season. The menus shift to incorporate seasonal produce. But we welcome customers with an unchanging heart.

2) The seasonal vegetables growing in the garden may not always be pretty. It's because we don't use chemical fertilisers or pesticides. They're organic.

3) Buy all the other ingredients at Nambu Market where it is guaranteed to be fresh.

I'm leaving you with all the recipes that contain all of Jungjae's past.

Jungjae's Meal of the Day

~ Autumn Veggie Bugak

~ Short Necked Clam Soup

~ Mushroom Seopsamjeok

~ Steamed Egg, Cabbage Kimchi and Wolgwachae

Deep fried butterbur shoots

Kitano Gurume

Hanasaki gani/hanasaki crab

Kegani (horsehair crab)

Crab miso soup

Uni (sea urchin)

(S1:E6)

Something Chef Tatsuo wants to eat

Uni Ramen: Made with the original Japanese miso ramen recipe mixed with Korean doenjang to get rid of the strong smell of uni.

Kongnamal gukbap

Best cure for hangovers according to Shin Choon-seung.

(S1:E7)

Dishes Motto serves to Diamante inspectors

Grilled red tilefish with scales served on top of a soy sauce scaly hedgehog mushroom puree with Korean mint and spinach oil.

Seopsanjeok/grilled beef dish infused with wild pine mushroom aroma.

What Yeon-joo made for Beom-woo when he said he was unwell

Mung bean porridge.

Product placement

Chilsung Cider: the fizz has a kick.

(S1:E8)

Temple Food

Young Monks Pizza Part: made with potato jeon and covered with tomato sauce.

Cake made out of soybean milk, walnut oil, beets, and strawberry preserve.

Finding the taste of awakening and healing.

(S1:E9)

Motto vs Jungjae cook off

~ First theme: chicken

Jungjae cooks Coq au Vin / jjimdak made with Korean native chicken or Silkies.

Served with Choon-seung's Sweet Potato Makgeolli.

Motto serves Gwangyang-style Cheongri native chicken grilled over charcoal made from wood from Baegunsan Mountain. A local dish that's crispy on the outside and moist on the inside.

Served with Chateau de Montepice wine.

~ Rematch:

Jungjae's main set meal today: home cooked spread such as shrimp rice jeon served with cabbage kimchi.

(S1:E10)

Serving good food cooked with care and sincerity.

* Food/drink mentioned in the South Korean TV series 'Tastefully Yours' *

Phil Rosenthal Favourites

~ The best two things in Thailand: soup and fruit.

~ One of the more delicious things he has eaten in his life: crab omelette made by Jay Fai in Bangkok.

~ Fish: Scorpion, grilled sardines.

~ Champion of Meats: Roast Goose.

~ Absolute favourite food: French Fries.

~ Loves anything in pie form.

~ Store-bought cookies: Fortnum & Mason Dark Chocolate coated Chocolate Pearl biscuits.

~ Ice-cream: Chocolate!

~ Fruit: Mango and mangosteen.

~ Khao Soi from Khao Soi Loong Prakid Gard Gorm, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

~ Seafood dish: Steamed king crab followed by crab fried rice using the crab fat (stall 010 5334 3317, Noryangjin Market).

~ Best shawarma: Shawarma King, Glasgow, Scotland

~ One of the best desserts in the world: Stephane Jego's version of rice pudding.

~ Absolute favourite place on earth: Florence, Italy.

~ One of the best seafood restaurants in the world: Gverovic Orsan in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

~ Favourite things: garlic; trying everything on the menu; chocolate croissants from Tartine in San Francisco; sandwiches and booze.

~ One of his favourite actresses in the world: Patty Heaton.

~ Favourite Phil: Phil Krajeck.

~ Happiest place on earth: The French Laundry in San Francisco.

~ One of the best things ever: Portuguese chicken.

~ Best restaurant in the world: Noma in Denmark.

~ Worlds best bread for dipping is made out of just pork.

~ One of the best restaurants in Washington DC: Rasika.

~ One of the best restaurants in Philadelphia: Laser Wolf.

~ Best burger: Orfali Bros, Dubai.

~ Unique experiences: Bedouin food.

~ One of his favourite drinks: tequila.

~ Best veggie sandwich that tastes better than most burgers he has ever had: Shawarma sandwich made with celeriac at Rovi (Yotam Ottolenghi's restaurant).

~ Favourite funny movie of all time: MacGruber.

~ One of the best seafood restaurants he has been to in his life: Saint Peter in Sydney, Australia.

~ One of the thrills of Phil's life: to see the Grand Canyon.

~ One of his favourite things in the world: hand pulled noodles.

~ One of his favourite thing about travelling: finding stuff in unusual places.

For example, Big Dan's Shanxi Taste. A restaurant specialising in hand pulled noodles found at the back of a supermarket located 15 minutes from the Las Vegas Strip.

~ One of the best restaurants in the Phillipines: Toyo.

~ The best place to have stroopwafel: Rudi's in Amsterdam.

~ One of the best restaurants in the Netherlands: De Kas.

~ The greatest pancakes in the Netherlands: Upstairs Pancake House.

~ One of the worlds best restaurants: Asador Extebarri.

~ One of his favourite unique pizzas: wood grilled pizza with pumpkin and spicy oil at Al Forno in Providence, Rhode Island.

~ The best duck he's ever had: jerk marinated roasted duck leg with some Jamaican style rice and peas and Haitian pikliz at Comfort Kitchen, Boston.

~ One of his favourite kinds of tower: seafood tower.

~ One of the better lamb shanks he's had: at La Royal in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

~ One of the best breakfasts he has ever had: the big brekkie at Speedos Cafe, Bondi Beach.

~ The best 'alt burger' he's ever had: the cheeseburger at Saint Peter in Sydney. Interpreting fish more as meat.

~ One of the best Thai places he's ever been to: Porkfat in Sydney.

~ His absolute hero: Mel Brooks.

~ One of the best lunches he has had in his life: Asador Alphonso at Tagaytay, Phillipines.

~ One of the best, if not the best waffle in the world: the sweet potato waffle at Gritz Cafe in Las Vegas.

~ One of the best sausages he has ever had: smoked sausage at Barriga Llena.

~ One of the best fried chicken he has had in his life: made by chef Mario Godinez at Barriga Llena. Marinated in buttermilk for 24 hours and served with black garlic mayo and fries.

~ The oldest and maybe the best sweet shop in Guatemala: Maria Gordillo. Opened in 1872 and serves sweets that are milk based combined with fruit.

~ One of his favourite dishes in the world: Michael Solomon's lamb shoulder with molasses and pomegranate.

~ Some of his favourite chicken and sauce ever: chicken barbeque sauce from Damien Brockway's food truck called Distant Relatives, located at Meanwhile Brewing in Austin.

~ Everything he loves about life: to eat with your family and friends in a great place and working with people you love.

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Sunday, 1 February 2026

The Fickleness of Man

You coloured every part of my life

Now I see everything way brighter than before

You look like a limp piece of over-blanched spinach

===

* Quoted/paraphrased from Dynamite Kiss and Damiano David *

"While we still love and care about each other, we have decided to separate" - (Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow).

"If 'A' is open to processing with 'B' then friendship with an ex will help to put a fullstop on a painful chapter."

"Just because a romantic relationship ends doesn't mean that the other facets of your relationship have to end or, indeed, doesn't mean they can't get better" - (Chris Martin).

"People change. Feelings change. It doesn’t mean that the love once shared wasn’t true or real. It simply means that sometimes when people grow, they grow apart" (500 days of Summer).

"Our habits and energies did not align" - (unknown).

Playing for the Lacrosse Team and the Golf Team

~ Winona Ryder

~ Amanda Strang

~ Michele Monique Reis

Characters

Professor Charlie Wheeler played by Aisha Tyler

Wilhelmina Slater played by Vanessa Williams

Amanda Tanen played by Becki Newton

===

~ Takeshi Kaneshiro

~ Keanu Reeves

~ Chris Martin

Characters

Chidi Anagonye played by William Jackson Harper

Alternatives

Bill Bailey playing the piano

Phil Rosenthal eating

Louis Theroux asking questions

How Does Jeff Goldblum Stay Inspired?

“This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake.

Life is no ‘brief candle’ for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.”

(George Bernard Shaw)

The Singh Twins

A selection/close up shots of some of their mixed media art at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery

The Three Disgraces

Half civilised

Modern offerings now include popcorn, it seems

"Let the English who read this at home reflect that...it is not the tea alone but the improvised blood of the slaves devoid of its red seeds of life and vigour that they are drinking"

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October 2025

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Hyacinth Bean and Dragonfly

Transforming into an Insect in the Sky
In the air, the dragonfly soars,
With fluttering double wings.
Carefree, it hovers above,
Dancing in the dew.
Amidst the bean leaves, the breeze is gentle,
Waiting for what lies ahead.
Its shadow falls on silk,
Pausing like a celestial being.

扁豆蜻蜓圖

化身蟲天，翩翾雙羽。

逍遙凌空，吸露而舞。

豆葉風清，伺伏何所。

影落生綃，駐以仙組。

This poem describes the elegance and freedom of a lentil dragonfly.

Poem analysis

The dragonfly soars in the air, symbolizing its freedom and lightness.

The light dance of the wings of the dragonfly, showing its flexibility.

Dragonflies fly freely in the air, unrestrained.

Dragonflies dance in the morning dew, showing their elegance and vividness.

The bean leaves in the background sway in the breeze, creating natural tranquility.

The dragonfly seems to be looking for a certain target or place, which adds to the mystery of the poem.

The shadow of the dragonfly is reflected on the soft gauze, adding a dreamy atmosphere.

The last sentence mentions the existence of dragonflies like fairies, which brings elegance and beauty.

The whole poem is full of praise for natural beauty, and shows the lightness and flexibility of dragonflies.

* One of DGs paternal cousins provided this information, translation and analysis using Google translate and the app POC *