Oatmeal Soup

At some point in the 90s, my wife and I were visiting my grandparents. They lived in a lovely old flat right down on the waterfront at Kinghorn. You can see it on any photo of Kinghorn bay, like this one, lovingly stolen at random from the internet. Their flat was on the first floor, right hand side of the big sandstone building smack bang in the middle of the picture.

Anyway, on this particular day, Gran served us some soup for lunch. It was so good that we asked her to pass on the recipe. At some point, I must have typed it into the computer, because I found it tucked away in a rarely visited directory on my hard drive (yes I keep backups, and yes, they get restored every time I upgrade the computer. I have lots of files dating back to the 90's, most of which will probably never be opened again).

I don't know where she got the recipe - the Sunday Post most likely or maybe Woman's Own - but I've never come across it elsewhere, not even in those Scottish recipe books like "The Scottish Kitchen". The closest I can find is The Fife Diet, but their version uses turnips.

Anyway, it's mostly veg, certainly suitable for vegetarians. The health benefits of oats are well documented. and if you miss out the swirl of cream and use skimmed milk, it's pretty low in calories as well

Oatmeal Soup

Ingredients
60g Rolled Oats
2 Medium Onions (chopped)
1 Large carrot (grated)
60g melted butter
600ml Vegetable Stock
600ml milk
Parsley
Salt
Pepper
Cream

Method
Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed pan. Add the onion and carrot. Sauté for 6 minutes. Add the oats, cook for 4 minutes, stirring until the oats stick. Add the stock, cover and cook on a low heat for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the parsley, milk and seasoning, bring to the boil and serve with a swirl of cream.

Two Tribes Lyrics

Many, many years ago, somebody somewhere has transcribed the lyrics to Two Tribes by Frankie Goes To Hollywood and has, for reasons best known to themselves, included the line "Sock it to me biscuits, man". This has now proliferated across the net and has become the accepted lyrics.

As we are covering it with our 80's band, and as "Sock it to me biscuits, man" is obviously nonsense, I have re-transcribed the lyrics directly from the single. I'm posting them here. These are, I think, the most correct version on the the net.

Incidentally, "Sock it to me biscuits, man" becomes "Let's step into this good night" - a reference to Dylan Thomas' poem, "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night", which was also the source of the title of Frankie's later single, Rage Hard.

Two Tribes
7" Single Mix
Words and Music by Peter Gill, Holly Johnson and Mark O'Toole

The air attack warning sounds like.
This is the sound.
When you hear the air attack warning, you and your family must take cover

Ow, ow, ow
Ow, ow
Let’s go
Oh
When two tribes go to war a point is all that you can score 
Score no more, score no more
When two tribes go to war a point is all that you can score
Workin' for the black gas

Cowboy number one, a born again poor man's son
Poor man's son
On the air America, I modelled shirts by Van Heusen
Workin' for the black gas
Yeah

Hear me more
When two tribes go to war a point is all that you can score
Score no more, score no more
When two tribes go to war a point is all that you can score
Workin' for the black gas

Switch off your shield
Switch off and feel
I'm workin' on lovin', yeah-eah-eah

Givin' you back the good times
I'm shippin' out, out
I'm workin' for the black gas

Tell the world that you're winning
Love and life, love and life

Listen to the voice sayin' follow me
Listen to the voice sayin' follow me
Oh

When two tribes go to war a point is all that you can score
When two tribes go to war a point is all that you can score

We've got two tribes
We got the bomb, we got the bomb
Yeah, yeah-eah, let’s step into this good night

Are we living in a land 
Where sex and horror are the new gods?
Yeah-eah
Ow, ow, ow (When two tribes go to war)
A point is all that you can score