The other day as Mrs R. was shopping at the supermarket I was left to do our bit by recycling my wine bottles that I had enjoyed at home after many hard days work at the restaurant. Mrs R. is left in sole charge of keeping the wine rack topped up and I must say that she does a great job. In fact she is now quite an expert when it comes to wines from France. I remember many years ago we went down to the south of France and there was this French table wine that had three gold stars on the label. After opening a bottle we all agreed it was the most vile concoction that had ever been put in a bottle. We all wondered if our French was so bad that we had ordered bottles of paint stripper by mistake. A decision had to be made and as we had brought six bottles of it, perseverance was required. As our palates became accustomed to the wine, one could start to pick out the finer points of this crafty little number. It was not until the fourth bottle had been consumed that we all decided that in fact this was a fine wine and worthy of us opening bottle number five. Then just to make sure that this was one of the region's finest wines that the French had ever put in a bottle, yes bottle number six was the best one of all. Just bursting with flavour, one could taste the blackcurrants, pears, rose hips and all agreed that correct amount of tannin. In those days you were able to take the empty wine bottles back to the wine merchant, and they would give you a few francs back in exchange. So we were all pleasantly surprised to find out that we almost received as much back for the empties as we had paid for the wine in the first place. It also seemed, for some reason, to greatly amuse the French wine merchant  when we asked to buy another six bottles.
Anyhow that's another story. Let's get back to my recycling of the empty wine bottles. After I had popped them all through the correct holes in the bins marked for clear or green glass, my eye was drawn to a cardboard box that laid just near the large container for waste paper. After I wandered over to have a look at what the large box contained I slowly  lifted the lid and to my amazement saw it was full of books. On closer inspection I found four good cookery books and one in particular was a book that I read and cooked from many many years ago called the Good Housekeeping Cookery Book. All the books were in good condition, but for some reason these were cast out as a load of old junk.  Now, just to put your minds at rest, yes I did pop them into the boot of my car and they are now in the book case at the restaurant. I understand that we live in a world of disposables. If the TV won't work and it's getting on a bit most people will buy another one with the latest gadgets, and that reminds me I must see if Mr. Wallis can get me another valve for ours at home. But to leave perfectly good books by a skip made me start to think that what is junk to one person, can be of perfectly good use to another. There have been extreme cases of people that have never disposed of any thing that they ever brought. I remember seeing one dear old fellow that was living in a space of only a few feet because the rest of the house was crammed with stuff that he had accumulated over many years. Needless to say I think that is taking things a tad too far. I decided to check with my Ladybird book of long words, the word junk, apart from being a sailing vessel used by the Chinese,  is also explained as follows 'odds and ends and rubbish'. To see unwanted property changing hands from one person to a willing buyer can be observed every weekend at car boot sales. I, for one, love to wander from stall to stall and it can be a bit addictive. I remember very clearly the day that I came across a greenhouse heater. Why I wanted another one is still a mystery, as I had four other heaters already.   At the time I was very much into growing pot plants for showing and I had won a few firsts prizes at Heacham and Kings Lynn shows. My best was to get a first prize at the Sandringham flower show. It was October that I had brought the heater from a car boot sale. It worked on paraffin, and on arriving home I filled it up and trimmed the two wicks and promptly placed it in the greenhouse to keep the frost out. All went well for a few nights and I thought that I had bought a real bargain. But it turned out to be far from the truth. Mrs R. was the first to notice that the entire inside of the greenhouse was coated in soot. What had happened was that the chimney on the heater had slipped and for some reason allowed the two wicks to burn in a way that they made soot. That day I had to dispose of almost 200 plants, not such a good bargain after all.
Just a few words now for those people that have from time to time had the pleasure of hiring a skip. To many people a skip holds a great secret regarding its contents; old doors, worn out Hoovers, tins of paint that don't require a lid to hold the paint in the tin and you will always see paint brushes that have gone rock solid inside  jam jars, but it's always there in the back of their minds that there may just be a real treasure laying hidden, if only one could have a good look. A skip will, if left in the right place, attract people from all walks of life, and often a skip that is full in the morning may only be half full the next day, especially after a moonless night. Of course a skip that is left too near a main road has another attraction for others. It's not that they want to take any thing from the skip, no, they are the people that are overcome with a desire to help fill it, and in doing so believe that they are offering those that would wish to remove any thing from the skip a far better choice.
The English may be a nation of shopkeepers but maybe we are also a nation of hoarders? In my own case Mrs R. has a policy of use it or loose it and on a close inspection of my wardrobe I noticed that one suit was missing. Now the last recorded occasion that, according to her, I had used the suit was confirmed as being in 1981 at a New Year's dinner. The suit in question was light grey with darker strips; the jacket was tapered in the middle with two vents, the trousers had large flares at the bottoms and the waist was all of 34 inches. The suit had hung in my wardrobe for all those years waiting for the days that flares would make a come back, but even if they did the big question would be would I be able to wear the trousers with a waist line of 34 inches? Even I know the answer to that. I often wonder where the suit is now after it was given to an overseas charity. My only hope after the loss of my suit is that it's gone to a good home and that some fellow in a strange country is strutting his stuff and pulling the birds in a light grey suit with flares. I for one don't ever have any thoughts now of buying any more second hand green house heaters. Buy if any one out there has the desire to dispose of any old cook books then there is still a bit of room on the shelves at the restaurant and they will be welcomed. And remember if you go on holiday to some far off country and you see a man in a light grey suit with large flares; it could well be mine.

At this time of year there is a wonderful supply of fresh mackerel and I remember that this was all those years ago one of the first dishes that I ever cooked at home for my parents from mothers book called Good housekeeping cookery. It's a very simple recipe and only takes a few minutes to do but as a tribute to the book that was left by the skip I thought I would give it a go. Ask your fishmonger to fillet a good size mackerel. The two fillets from the fish are for one person. Place a good thick bottomed frying pan on a medium heat and into the pan drizzle a little oil. Coat your mackerel fillets in a little flour, this will help them to stop sticking to the pan as they cook.  When you feel that the oil is hot, place the mackerel into the pan, do this with the skin side down. Turn the heat down so that the fish is not burning. After the fish has been in the pan for a couple of minutes turn the fish over. Finally turn the fish back and cook until tender on the skin side. When cooked remove the fillets and place on a plate in a warm oven.
Now to make the simple mustard sauce. Drain off the pan of any excess oil, pop this back onto the stove. Add to the pan a good splodge of single or whipping cream and give it a good stir with a wooden spoon making sure that all the crispy bits that are left from the fish are well mixed in. You can at this point turn the heat up a little as this will help to reduce the sauce, add a tea spoon full or two of English mustard, its up to you how much you like,  to the sauce and stir well in, and a knob of butter added wont go amiss. Check for seasoning with salt and pepper and the sauce should now be ready. To present the dish take a plate, place the mackerel in the middle and pour the mustard sauce around the fish. You can serve the fillets on mashed potatoes or as I prefer with freshly dug new potatoes and garden peas.

Colin Rushmore