Tickets, Tomatoes, and Terrific TV...

You'll have heard already, of course, but the date's finally been announced when Eurovision tickets go on sale. Tuesday 7th March, at 12pm, via Ticketmaster. Since Liverpool was announced as the host city, I've had regular messages from all sorts of people, asking when tickets will be available. I'm clearly seen as some sort of Eurovision oracle. Well, so be it. Heavy is the head that wears the crown - but what a fabulous crown! Anyway, tomorrow's going to be interesting. I imagine Ticketmaster will crash within thirty seconds and I imagine it'll be a stressful lunchtime for many people all over the world. Whatever happens, via my laptop at 12pm, the wider plans for the first fortnight in May look immense. There'll be something for everyone. In the more-than-likely event of my not managing to secure tickets, it'll be absolutely fine. There's still all sorts of Liverpool shenanigans to get involved with. The city's going to be buzzing.

Plus, this
happened on Insta.

Writing 

I spent Tuesday highlighting all the things one of my main characters says out loud. Jake is Leeza's best friend. He has a story arc of his own but we only see it through her eyes. By highlighting everything she reports him saying, I can check consistency, his own story development, and the quality of his character voice. It's not as tricky as it sounds. Basically, does Jake sound like Jake and behave realistically based on what we know he is experiencing as the novel progresses? It's much easier to tell, when I can quickly jump to the highlighted parts. I've also highlighted everything said by Cait, Jake's mum, and Poppy, Leeza's new nemesis. Their voices will get tightened up this week. Fun and games!

We are all Sunny.
(Sanjeev Bhaskar
playing Sunny Kahn.)

Culture
Unforgotten is back. The whole of series five is on ITVX, but it's being shown weekly on ITV. Nicola Walker was killed off at the end of the last series, much to the heartbreak of her fictional colleagues and real life viewers alike. That means there's a new Guv on the murder team. But the writers have done a very clever thing. It's hard to replace a character when the old one was so beloved. As viewers, we're predisposed to dislike DCI Jess James from the start. Cassie (Walker's character) is gone and her team are grieving. This new woman (excellently played by Sinéad Keenan) can't possibly match up. So she's introduced as prickly. She has different crime solving priorities (she's all about the budget!) and we feel as uncomfortable as Sunny and the gang when she's on the job. But to keep us viewers onboard and tuning in every week, the creative team have played a blinder. They've given her a shitty husband. No matter how aggrieved we feel that she's taking Cassie's place, we're still rooting for her. We don't want her to be forced to quit because she's facing the prospect of being a single mum, and needing better working hours. We're uneasy but we want things to work. At some point, I'm sure they will be, and Jess and Sunny will be the dynamic duo they're destined to be. But as openings of a new series go, Unforgotten continues to be exceptional TV. 

My haphazard version of spicy,
tomatoey, peppery soup.
With added feta.

Food and Drink
All this talk of missing tomatoes made me crave - wait for it - home made tomato soup. With very depleted shelves, I managed to get a pack of vine-on cherry toms, and the last pack of padron peppers in Christendom (aka the Sainsburys on East Prescot Road). Here's what I did...

• Throw the tomatoes and peppers into a roasting tray.
• Add a red onion, bulb of garlic and as much chilli as you can stand. Drizzle with olive oil.
•  Roast til soft. Forty minutes or so, perhaps?
• Blitz in the mixer, then add salt, pepper, fresh coriander, boiling water, and Greek yogurt, until you get the desired taste and consistency.

It was spot on. Yet, one small pack of mini tomatoes and a punnet of mini peppers are not conducive to batch cooking. This made enough for three portions. (Perhaps more, if I'd have watered it down further.) But I definitely needed to satisfy the craving or it'd have been all I could think about. It's fair to say, my tomato rations have been used up for the foreseeable future.

Out and About
It's been a much calmer week after all my recent gallivanting. However, I did spend an afternoon with an author friend, putting the world to rights and enjoying the joyous self-indulgence of talking for hours about writing. For an activity that's mostly solitary, it's great to come up for air and chew the fat, now and then. 

All that's left to say is a mighty Bon Chance for tomorrow. Whether that's for your attempts to procure nigh-impossible tickets for the biggest show on earth, or because you've got a normal Tuesday of work, chores, and family shit, good luck in all your endeavours, whatever they may be.

Have a lovely week, folks.