WHAT A DAY!!!!!!

[rosebud]

Easter Sunday, 11 for lunch cooked the lovely joint of topside last night, all was going very well, guests arriving at 2pm  lunch all prepared time 12-45 thought we should carve the joint, electric knife at the ready it would not cut the meat , called my husband explained  and he took over, couldent cut the beef blades were getting hot, eventually first slice cut full of disgusting grissle!!!! :o. OH tried to cut another slice off, well i tell you if any marathon runners needed soles for there shoes they could have run the marathon with 2 slices of beef for soles.
All supermarkets closed so we could not get any cooked chicken or sliced beef, oh dear what shall i do, well the best i could do was make a pie so i defrosted 2lbs of mince and made 2 very large pies dinner of course was very late, we all ate sunday roast with pie i was very upset about it but it all went well in the end.

Tomorrow i am taking it back it cost me over £14 and i hope i do not get fobbed off am i within my rights to ask for the mince to be replaced also??. I shall be polite but firm.  What a day it was meant to be a lovely family day, well it was in the end i suppose.

[rosebud]

[lorna]

Mary. Oh dear.... and all you said was BOTHER!!!!!!
Seriously, how annoying could  have really spoilt your day. Good job you had something in the freezer.. I would like to be a fly on the wall tomorrow. Having said that I once went to cook a chicken from Tesco's and it had a funny smell, I rang them up and asked would they like me to take it back, they said "No just dump it, as long as you have got your receipt!!".
Glad the day turned out OK in the end and I am sure you and your family will laugh about it one day.. Hope Ron hasn't blunted the knife ;D ;D
Take care. Lorna

[Carol]

I dont know how often I get that Mary.  The supermarket cuts of beef have not been hung long enough, must be something.  I can get great beef one week and the next  all grissle.  Same with steak, we can buy 2 nice pieces of Sirloin and nothing but sinews all the way thro.  Its always a hit n miss with me, get pretty fed up with it and so disappointing.  I am glad you ahd a good day in the end.  Theres nothing better than a Steak pie,  I had that today as well.   It was beautifully cooked steak, done slowly in a slow cooker.  It wasnt me who cooked it though,  brother in laws  partner!!!!

::) ::) ::)

[TEL]

I just hate it when that happens >:(
So now i get my beef from a butcher who delivers to are club meat raffle ;D
& what relay got me is it cost no more than tesco & it scotch beef 8)
I glade your day turned out in the end :D take it back & give them hell

[Motherwoman]

Find a good local butcher and buy rib of beef rather than topside,I've never had a tough one yet.

[rosebud]

;D  S*d it where has my post gone  AGAIN. >:( >:(

[rosebud]

Lorna of course i said OH DEAR ME ;D ;D ;D.

I took the offending joint back to the shop and said my friends on A4A said to give you hell ;D ;D ;D.
Seriously i took it back and told them and showed them the beef, they were very apologetic ,and i explained what i served my guests for Easter lunch.  With slight negotiation they gave me double the refund i was satisfied with that today, i do not know if i would have been yesterday i was so angry, but that was yesterday it is all done with now.   I shall NEVER buy meat there again.

[Carol]

Aw but Rosebud,  where did you buy the offending meat?  Was it the supermarket or a local butcher?  I know I should patronise the local butcher but he is so expensive but I suppose I would get better cuts of meat.  His hygiene isnt up to scratch either.   ::) ::) ::) ::)

[Hyacinth]

Oh Buddy! what a b. disaster >:( :o

So...where did you buy it? Gonna name'n'shame? ;)

[rosebud]

THE CO-OP. folks, but there customer service was good i must admit.

[Hyacinth]

hmmmm. Co-Op, eh? Well, if you got what you got as compenation from the desk.........STILL advise you to write to HO.......really really think you can get some extra compo........ :P ;D.....after all, there's all the added stress of cooking for guests at Easter, isn't there? :o

Surprised at the Co-Op, tho......their meat seemed always to be well sourced and of excellent quality......but this time they got it wrong...

REALLY REALLY worth writing to HO......please do it? PLEASE?? ;D ;D ;D

[Wicker]

Mary, I really feel for you - if you are like me the adrenalin kicks in and you get things sorted on a "high" but afterwards you are completely drained and feel terrible as well as angry.  think the Co-op has changed - used to be so "customer friendly" but now they have to keep-up with the even bigger guys.

Still no excuse for the huge price differences tho - 80 Fairtrade teabags in ASDA £1.42 in local (convenience shop) Co-op £2.05, small tin haggis (I know I know :-[) in ASDA 59p in Co-op 85p and it goes on and on.........

Have to agree about a lot of local butchers Carol though I am lucky to have a good choice.

[euronerd]

It's largely true, your local butcher is no dearer than the _supermarket, but what a difference in quality. I haven't bought _supermarket meat for probably 30 years but I occasionally have it fed to me and if I had to live off that stuff I wouldn't find it a problem to go veggie. When you get to know him, he finds out your favourites and your whims. And apart from selling you top quality meat he will give you advice and tips. you can swop jokes or recipes. You often get discount, sometimes free samples. You know the meat is what he says it is. You get loads of free fat for the birds in winter (or to make yourself some dripping). You can have the illegal stuff like pigs trotters for the jelly in the Christmas pie. :o You can phone your order and who knows? He might even drop it off for you or meet you half way. And there's the ecology bit: in my own case, food miles for poultry and pork is about 8. His beef, being grass fed Aberdeen Angus, has to come a bit further. No, I'm not a shareholder or his dad, just very happy about the stuff he sells me. And of course anti _supermarket.
The pic is bound to offend some of you out there, but meat eaters won't disagree that this T-bone made very good eating. I haven't checked the _supermarket price for the equivalent but I think this comes at about £12/ kilo.



Geoff.

[rosebud]

Hi Lish, YES, i will write to the head office i never thought about it after my refund but of course you are right thank you. ;D

Wicker you are also right i was ajusting and cooking on a high yesterday and last night i was so exhausted i wanted to cry just to relieve it.   Lucky for me my family are very understanding and patient ,lunch was so late.
We only eat the red meat about 3 times a year, its usually chicken we have, i think i shall stick with chicken from now on.

[Yellow Petals]

I'm never one to complain about a home made meat pie, dinner was delicious .... ....  ;D

[lorna]

YP. Yes and what a laid back lady Mary is. She only said "OH bother me" when struggling with the beef . (Does she tell fibs as well!!!! ???) Glad you had a nice family day.
Lorna

[bennettsleg]

His hygiene isnt up to scratch either.   ::) ::) ::) ::)

You are within your rights to contact your local environmental health officer (via the council) if you are in doubt about his hygiene.  They can carry out unannounced visits to determine if the butcher is being correct, awful or variations in between. They should also be able to tell you what their level of hygiene compliance is according to their (enviro's)
paperwork. 

I hold a food hygiene certificate, please can you name what concerns you and I may be able to highlight anything?

[Mrs Ava]

If my darling Ava spots that T-bone, he will be drooling down the screen!  We have a nice hunk or butchers rump tonite for dindins and it looks fab!  ;D

Glad you kinda got sorted Rosebud - you did seem to take it in your stride....which is more than i would have done!

[rosebud]

EJ, i did take it in my stride but once it was all over i felt stressed.
I keep calm over things in a crisis, but loose my cool over something quite trivial,
don`t i Samantha Hahahaha!! ;D ;D