The Complete Chinese Takeaway Cookbook

I've been looking forward to Kwoklyn Wans latest book for a while now, so I'm very excited to find that Amazon Prime delivery have been and it's finally here!

It contains all the recipes found in his previous Chinese Takeaway books with around 50 new recipes to try out and I can't wait to get started...

I've just had a look in the fridge and I have enough ingredients to give the Chicken and Mushroom in Oyster sauce recipe a go...

Needless to say, it was absolutely delicious 😋 and I can not wait to try some more out 😎

Rii Mini Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Review

Wow!  I've only had this device for an hour or so now and it's absolutely brilliant.  As you'll have read from my previous posts, I am the proud owner of a Raspberry Pi that I am using as a Media Centre.  Up until today I was using a full-size USB keyboard to navigate the software as I couldn't find the Remote Control that came with my legacy Dell XPS 420 desktop that I have.

As I have not managed to locate where my remote control is (I have the USB receiver but it's not much use on its own) I decided to buy a compact keyboard and mouse and after several hours of looking at the different options I found the RiiTek RT-MWK01 and promptly ordered it from Amazon as the price was right at just £14.20 compared to over £20 for a lot of the other ones I could see.

It's not the latest model from RiiTek but it certainly does the job and the bonus is that not only is it the size of a typical remote control, it works really, really well and has a backlit keyboard so if you're watching TV with just a table lamp on you wont struggle to see what you're doing with it.

The trackpad is small (and not as useable as one you'd find on a laptop) but is adequate enough for using to operate a media centre on a computer.

Raspberry Pi As A Media Centre Review

It might not be Christmas Day yet but I already have a parcel to unwrap thanks to CPC and the super fast delivery by Royal Mail!

My Raspberry Pi that I ordered from CPC on Sunday has arrived so I now need to get to grips with it so I can set it up to be a Media Centre to play all my media files on my TV.

The first thing I did was to download NOOBS (New Out Of Box Software) which has the RaspBMC option in it which is the software I am using as my Media Centre - it's basically an open source application called XBMC that has been configured to work on the Raspberry Pi.

After downloading the NOOBS file I followed the installation instructions and downloaded, installed and run the SD Formatter utility and formatted the SD Card I ordered using the FAT system.

I then extracted the NOOBS file I had downloaded on to the root of the SD Card and then popped it in to my Raspberry Pi and then turned it on by connecting it to the USB slot of my HP MediaSmart Server.

Rock and Chips - Five Gold Rings

Rock and Chips, Five Gold Rings is the second feature length episode in a fantastic trilogy that depicts the early life of Derick Trotter and all of his family and close friends.

It's just as brilliant as the first Rock and Chips DVD that I saw the other day.

It was like a trip down memory lane as we've all heard the stories that Delboy and Grandad spoke about in the Only Fools and Horses TV Series and now thanks to Rock and Chips we get to see them first hand!

In this episode Del is still selling records from the docks and has thousands in the garage that belongs to the flat they now live in and it's in this episode that we first hear Del being referred to as a trader and his long and winding 'career' has now begun...

Rodney has been born and **spoiler warning** it is confirmed that Freddy the Frog is definitely his father.

The mannerisms of all the characters fantastically mimic those of the older versions of themselves that we have seen in Only Fools and Horses so not only is the writing fantastic but the acting is too.

As with the first part of the Rock and Chips trilogy, this an absolute 'must see' DVD.

Rock and Chips - DVD Review

Rock and Chips is the feature length prequel to the hit TV series Only Fools and Horses and what a fantastic prequel it is!

If you enjoyed watching (and growing up with) Only Fools and Horses this is an absolute 'must see' DVD.

You get to put faces to names you have heard in the Only Fools and Horses shows but never got to see.  People from the Trotters past such as Freddy The Frog and Jelly Kelly!  All the usual characters are in this prequel so you get to see Delboy, Trigger, Boyce and the gang in their youth!

Even at a teen at school Delboy was selling hookey gear from records to nylon carpets that give of so much static there's a wonder they need electricity!

Fantastic writing, fantastic cast and all-in-all a fantastic program.

The Kings Speech

I went to see The Kings Speech last night and I have to say it was fantastic!

Set in the early 1900's this film is based on the true story of King George VI and his relationship with his speech therapist who helps him overcome his speech impediment to enable him to speak to the nation and the world when we were at war with Nazi Germany.

Although it's a drama and not a comedy there are some hilarious moments in the film where everyone in the cinema was laughing very loudly indeed!

There is some bad language in the film, but it is in context and adds humour to the situation.

It has become a critically acclaimed film and deservedly so - if you've not seen it yet then I would thoroughly recommend you do so.