Hobbies for the middle aged man

KS55 said:
Learn to cook.

Home made English dishes are so easy and so much better if you know a few principles.
Cooking techniques: the best way to fry, bake, roast, braise etc etc.
Produce: learn the characteristics of produce and the best way to treat them. If you see something with which you are unfamiliar, buy it and try it, you may be surprised. You can always look up a recipe or two on that interweb thing.
Sauces are a must to master, they enhance so many dishes and are easy to learn. Home made brown stock will improve almost any meat sauce and is imperative for gravy. No granules allowed. Use the Italian ‘Holy trinity’, that is onion, celery and carrot chopped very small as the basis for many sauces. Shepard’s pie is twice as good with it. If you can’t be bothered to chop, get a food processor or manual chopping system.
I find cooking both satisfying and maddening in equal measure, but I love it and cook every day.
The internet is awash with recipes, techniques, a mine of information. Utube is good, so is BBC. You’ll soon be expanding your repertoire to Asian, Italian and others.
I wouldn’t claim to be cordon bleu, more a cross between Delia Smith and Jamie Oliver. (The mind boggles) So, LET’s BE HAVING YOU.
PS. Oh, get to know a decent butcher.
PPS Grow some herbs in the garden or in pots on a window sill.I find mint and Basil most useful but Mrs KS grows a wide range. Today I’ll be using mint, chives, and rosemary fresh from our patch.
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He new on the scene..........? ;-)
 
HolisticJim said:
I've just started learning to play the guitar.

I've been doing it for free (bar the guitar) on www.justinguitar.com

An insanely good website with a full course, practice routines etc all for free.
Click to expand...
Top stuff - let us know how you go on.

Regardless of initial talent and pleasure - just stick with it!

At the some point the penny will drop and you will get great pleasure from it.

And in-line with other hobby suggestions, you can plunge as much money as you want into this. Buy well and look after your gear and a lot of it will appreciate in value.

Any technical queries, @Bill Walker is your man.......... ;-)
 
KS55 said:
Learn to cook.

Home made English dishes are so easy and so much better if you know a few principles.
Cooking techniques: the best way to fry, bake, roast, braise etc etc.
Produce: learn the characteristics of produce and the best way to treat them. If you see something with which you are unfamiliar, buy it and try it, you may be surprised. You can always look up a recipe or two on that interweb thing.
Sauces are a must to master, they enhance so many dishes and are easy to learn. Home made brown stock will improve almost any meat sauce and is imperative for gravy. No granules allowed. Use the Italian ‘Holy trinity’, that is onion, celery and carrot chopped very small as the basis for many sauces. Shepard’s pie is twice as good with it. If you can’t be bothered to chop, get a food processor or manual chopping system.
I find cooking both satisfying and maddening in equal measure, but I love it and cook every day.
The internet is awash with recipes, techniques, a mine of information. Utube is good, so is BBC. You’ll soon be expanding your repertoire to Asian, Italian and others.
I wouldn’t claim to be cordon bleu, more a cross between Delia Smith and Jamie Oliver. (The mind boggles) So, LET’s BE HAVING YOU.
PS. Oh, get to know a decent butcher.
PPS Grow some herbs in the garden or in pots on a window sill.I find mint and Basil most useful but Mrs KS grows a wide range. Today I’ll be using mint, chives, and rosemary fresh from our patch.
Click to expand...
On holiday in Tenerife we’ve just been for one of the best Tapas ever, they did these tacos oh my god the best thing I’ve eaten in ages we’ve been twice now just for them. I said to the wife I’ve got a lot of time on my hands I need to learn new dishes apart from spag Bol, lasagne etc. it’s the cost of ingredients may use once or twice but fuck it I need to learn stuff like that.
 
Onholiday(somemightsay) said:
Top stuff - let us know how you go on.

Regardless of initial talent and pleasure - just stick with it!

At the some point the penny will drop and you will get great pleasure from it.

And in-line with other hobby suggestions, you can plunge as much money as you want into this. Buy well and look after your gear and a lot of it will appreciate in value.

Any technical queries, @Bill Walker is your man.......... ;-)
Click to expand...
Cheers pal,

Appreciate your words.

I'm 6 weeks in, passed the sore fingers stage and can play wonderwall.

Currently learning Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd but it's hard going.

Just going through the course on the website and practicing for a couple of hours each day.
It's nice to have something new to focus on and I'm so so excited to one day be able to pick it up and play some tunes with confidence.

Really want to surprise some friends and my kids.
 
HolisticJim said:
Cheers pal,

Appreciate your words.

I'm 6 weeks in, passed the sore fingers stage and can play wonderwall.

Currently learning Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd but it's hard going.

Just going through the course on the website and practicing for a couple of hours each day.
It's nice to have something new to focus on and I'm so so excited to one day be able to pick it up and play some tunes with confidence.

Really want to surprise some friends and my kids.
Click to expand...
Brilliant mate - don't apply pressure to yourself to achieve 'x' by such a time and just enjoy it for what it is.

A lot of the fun is the getting good.

I love it.........
 
SCEtoAUX said:
I tried learning guitar but I found it too uncomfortable and physically difficult. I changed to learning piano, and whilst I'm not at all good, it is much more comfortable and I am enjoying learning to read music.
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Give it another go if you can - possibly try out a different shape of guitar to fit your requirements........
 
HolisticJim said:
Cheers pal,

Appreciate your words.

I'm 6 weeks in, passed the sore fingers stage and can play wonderwall.

Currently learning Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd but it's hard going.

Just going through the course on the website and practicing for a couple of hours each day.
It's nice to have something new to focus on and I'm so so excited to one day be able to pick it up and play some tunes with confidence.

Really want to surprise some friends and my kids.
Click to expand...
Took pelters on here once for saying that Oasis music is entry level for musicians and thats why every crap pub band of kids plays their songs. True though.

Keep going mate and good luck with it. Learn the Floyd and you will be a muso
 
Uncle Wally One Ball said:
Took pelters on here once for saying that Oasis music is entry level for musicians and thats why every crap pub band of kids plays their songs. True though.

Keep going mate and good luck with it. Learn the Floyd and you will be a muso
Click to expand...
Nah mate PF music is dead easy and simple. Mostly slow and plodding.
 
Onholiday(somemightsay) said:
Give it another go if you can - possibly try out a different shape of guitar to fit your requirements........
Click to expand...
Well I tried an acoustic and electric, and whilst I recognise that such things come in all shapes and sizes, I think I just prefer piano. Having said that, never say never, and I will soon have a lot more time on my hands :-)
 
Uncle Wally One Ball said:
Took pelters on here once for saying that Oasis music is entry level for musicians and thats why every crap pub band of kids plays their songs. True though.

Keep going mate and good luck with it. Learn the Floyd and you will be a muso
Click to expand...

"Meat & potatoes drumming" summed up their first album for me (think it was Miranda Sawyer who said it).
 
RiversideBlue said:
Virtual reality headset made by facebook (Meta). I mostly play some of the sports games like Walkabout mini golf and IB cricket. You get lost in the world and it feels like you're actually playing the game. Loads of different types of games on there. Its also good for watching short 360 degree films in cities, nature, etc that actually make you feel like youre there. It's actually very impressive.
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Second this. It's anti-social for your family too, which is classic middle-aged bloke stuff.

Walkabout is brilliant. Eleven table tennis, and Puzzling Places are two I dip into whenever I have a few minutes too.
 
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