Ads help us keep this site online

Fathers Day, Regretful Rats and Dads Yakitori Chicken!

16th June 2014

Posted by Gateway 97.8

HAPPY FATHERS DAY EVERYONE!

Celebrating and remembering every dad in the land! Honoring fathers and celebrating fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society. Many countries celebrate it on the third Sunday of June, though it is also celebrated widely on other days by many other countries. Father’s Day was created to complement Mother’s Day in the United States in the early 20th century.

Today is also National …

Magna Carta Day
Magna Carta is Latin for Great Charter, and is one of the most important documents in political history. Drawn up in Britain and signed on 15th June 1215, it outlines the rights of the common people and limits the powers of the monarchy. Since then it has been used as the basis for civil liberties around the World, advancing the cause of liberty, constitutionalism and parliamentarianism.

Why not celebrate Magna Carta Day by making your own parchment declaration. Take a sheet of white paper and crumple it into a ball, then open it out and wipe with strong black coffee, using some cotton wool. Dry this with a hairdryer and your parchment will look old and stained. Write out your declaration using a fountain pen, or quill pen made from a feather. Make a seal by dripping candle wax on the corner and making an impression with a coin.

——-

Rats experience regret when their actions make them miss out on better food options, a study has found.

We found out this week that it is the first time regret has been identified in mammals other than humans.

Researchers created situations where rats had to choose whether to wait a set amount of time for a food reward, or move onto another one.

Those that moved on and found the next offering was even worse showed regretful behaviour.

The study was conducted by neuroscientists based at the University of Minnesota, US; their findings are reported in Nature Neuroscience. Not entirly sure why this is important but hey-ho enjoy sleeping a little better for knowing! hehe

———-

The Gateway Chef has been in the kitchen all week to provide a special BBQ recipe.

Todays beauty is…. Dads Chicken yakitori

Ingredients

500g/1lb chicken breast, cut into 2.5cm/1in pieces

1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into chunks

small bunch spring onions

6 shiitake mushrooms, stem removed and halved

small bunch spring onions

3 tbsp mirin

3 tbsp Japanese soy sauce

3 tbsp sake (rice wine)

1 tsp sugar

Preparation method

Thread the chicken pieces onto pre-soaked bamboo skewers, interspersing each piece of chicken with spring onion, pepper and mushroom.

Mix together the mirin, soy, rice wine and sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves.

Heat a griddle pan and brush the chicken with the glaze. Griddle turning every 30 seconds or so, brushing the top each time until the chicken is cooked through and the meat burnished a to mahogany glaze.

———

11 ways you are turning in to your dad!

1. There is never anything on TV

Despite having over 900 channels, there never seems to be anything on TV. So you just spend your evenings flicking through the channels, getting to the end and heading back to 101 to start again. Eventually you’ll just put on a repeat of Top Gear or QI.

2. You stop fighting going bald and grey

When you’re young and foolish, you will fight this inevitability with all you have. As you get older (and more like your Dad), you’ll just accept this. Even trying to hide it with stylish combovers becomes a chore.

3. Golf becomes a legit sport to watch

But golf is a legit sport to watch now surely? No, it’s not. But it soon will be. And not only will it be a sport you watch – and genuinely enjoy – you will even listen to it on the radio.

4. Cleaning the car is a brilliant way to spend a Sunday

Lazy Sunday afternoons are no longer designed for Come Dine With Me or Don’t Tell the Bride marathons, they will be used to clean the car. Thoroughly. And not only will this not be a chore, it will be one of the highlights of your week.

5. You, and only you, can man the barbeque

Because only you know how to man a barbeque properly. You are the only person who knows how to properly season the burgers, char the sausages so they’re the right side of burnt and overcook the chicken drumsticks so they can be used as murder weapon in Cluedo.

Kids today, they don’t know anything about how to man a barbeque.

6. Saying things like ‘in my day’ and thinking you’re right

Now, this could be seen as you becoming an old curmudgeon rather than your Dad, but have you ever spoken to someone about the state of the world and said the words, ‘in my day’? Do you know who else has said that a lot? Your Dad.

And you say it because you’re right. In your day, we didn’t need iPads or online games for fun. We had Etch-a-Sketch and multi-tap ports to allow for four people to play the same game. Much better.

7. If you were running this country, everything would be sorted

This country is a shambles. But do you know who can fix it? The people down the pub after work who know a thing or two about a thing or two.

8. Thinking you’re right, being proven wrong, but still arguing you’re right

Because, dammit, in your head you’re right.

9. You know what’s best for other people’s cars

Not only do other drivers not know how to drive when you’re on the roads, but no one (apart from you) knows how to look after a car properly. So, it’s up to you to show the world how it’s done correctly.