Saw some Dragon Fruit in Waitrose - are they worth trying? I find most supermarket tropical/Mediterranean fruit disappointing as it's been picked long before it's ripe and has very little flavour compared to when freshly picked and eaten - eg figs - we had a fig tree in our sunny little Wimbledon garden when I was a child and after a good summer those figs were absolutely delicious. The ones we had recently, courtesy of Waitrose, were pretty tasteless.

Thanks for mentioning that, MJ.  I had no idea Waitrose had reached the NW yet but your post prompted me to try the branch checker on their website.  My friends and family here have become addicted to the herring in sweet spicy marinade that they sell and I've had to visit Waitrose on my monthly trips to London and haul half a dozen jars back home with me.  I note that there is now a store in Formby so, although it's a good 10 miles from here, I needn't feel too guilty about telling my f&f to go and buy their own if they're that keen!  How long have you had a local Waitrose?  The north has been deprived of these stores for too long in my opinion - it's one of the things I really miss since moving back up here.

Since July I think. They weren't at all ready the night before the grand opening - there were trucks trying to deliver but they were still tarmaccing the car park - until the tarmac set in the tarmac truck and they had to give up! 

Thanks, MJ.  Bet they got over the teething troubles pretty quickly.  It's a pity they couldn't have taken over our Somerfield site when that company pulled out.  That's now a Home Bargains - as I'm sure I've mentioned elsewhere.  HB is a decent store of its type, but it's no substitute for a proper supermarket.  Waitrose on the other hand - at least the Waitrose I know - is the absolute model of what a supermarket should be.

Probably the biggest downside to my move North was the loss of a Waitrose: if I'm driving up or down the M6, the one at Sandbach is not far from the motorway at all, so I've tended to stock up there: but now there's one in Morningside (posh Edinburgh) so I'll have a trip down there every six months or so instead, particularly if they're stocking those wonderful Orkney Black potatoes this winter....

Andy: you get what you pay for.

That's one thing that we can pick up in virtually any shop we like, MJ. The wee Co-op down the road (was a Willie Lows, sold to Tesco, and then to the Co-op) has them, as does the Spar and the Deli. Better still are those made by the local bakery, Goodfellow and Stephen, particularly the cheese ones: horrendously moreish - I can scoff a packet at a go easily. They are easy to make, as long as you can lay your hands on the right grade oatmeal...

http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usrecipes/oatcakes/index.html

The lard might be a problem for vegetarians, but you can get something similar made with vegetable oil, and the last time we made any (which was some time ago: not a lot of point when you can buy them after a ten-minute walk down the beach) we used olive oil, added in small amounts until the texture seemed right: they crisped up well and tasted excellent.

Both Tesco and Waitrose do cracked black pepper oatcakes which I like a lot - I suspect they're made by the same people as they both sell for 99p. They're quite peppery though so you probably wouldn't want to eat a lot of them. Couldn't find any pictures online so I've scanned this in myself.



EDIT I've just noticed the salt figure for these - they're twice as salty as Nairn's Rough Oat Cakes but have the same amount as Sainsbury's Rough Oatcakes. I like them rough!