BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: keberoxu
Date: 25 Dec 18 - 08:41 PM

I have a feeling that, in Christmases Future,
there are going to be some people muttering
"Don't even MENTION Kevin the Carrot to me/us..."

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: Senoufou
Date: 24 Dec 18 - 09:50 AM

Ha Thompson, I enjoyed listening to that Dubliners' song. And the way they pronounce 'bewk' and 'hewk' is exactly how my mother spoke!

I'm interested about the genetic link with liking or not liking sprouts.
My husband had never in his life even seen a sprout until he came to UK. I've always encouraged him to eat green vegetables as a side dish to his fiery curries, and he loves sprouts, as do I.

He's amazed to learn that some people detest them (we've watched that Tesco advert) as he wolfs them down with much pleasure.
For our Christmas dinner tomorrow we have a large free-range chicken, a stalk of sprouts to pick and cook, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, spring greens, mashed and roast spuds, pigs in blankets and sage-and-onion stuffing.
And individual Christmas puddings with a tiny spot of brandy (Muslim, but 'the alcohol evaporates' :) ) and fresh double cream.
I think all this will be followed by a luxurious nap! Then the Queen's Christmas Message. Then another nap...
Then Oliver! and The Snowman and Mrs Brown's Boys.

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: Thompson
Date: 24 Dec 18 - 09:31 AM

Maybe I should run down to Aldi and buy a bunch of Kevin carrots; they're not selling particularly well in Ireland, as far as I know.

Brussels sprout liking or disliking is genetic.

St Kevin, as sung by the Dubliners.

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: keberoxu
Date: 22 Dec 18 - 07:24 PM

... and,

"you SHALL go to the ball!"

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: keberoxu
Date: 22 Dec 18 - 07:20 PM

... and Senoufou/Eliza was just referring to

the mysterious Auber Genie.

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: keberoxu
Date: 22 Dec 18 - 07:12 PM

I stand corrected: Jim Broadbent does voice-over narration. Not just a single carrot.

And now I read about the other fairy-tales planned
for the Aldi Christmas adverts:

Kevin the Carrot and Pea-nocchio

Katie the Carrot and the Fairy Cake Mother

Kevin the Carrot and Rhubarb Stiltskin

...which makes me nostalgic for
Robert Carlyle in hideous green-gold makeup with the spinning wheel.

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: keberoxu
Date: 22 Dec 18 - 03:42 PM

You say Aubergines,
and
I say Eggplants --

another UK verses US distinction.
Hardly ever, in these (dis)United States,
do I hear anybody call this nightshade-vegetable an "aubergine,"
when I hear it I always suspect UK origins.

So, according to Big Al Whittle,
Jim Broadbent supplies the voice of Kevin the Carrot.
I wonder what actors are the voices of the other
members of the vegetable kingdom.

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: Senoufou
Date: 22 Dec 18 - 03:29 PM

Just saw their latest Kevin the Carrot ad. It features 'Auber Genie' who offers Kevin three wishes. But Pascal the Parsnip causes trouble and Kevin escapes on a magic carpet.
I'm starting to love these little tales!

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: Senoufou
Date: 08 Dec 18 - 04:17 AM

Well there's a large Kevin the Carrot (the giant one, 1 metre tall) selling for £99.99 on ebay. Anyone daft enough to go for that needs certifying.
Have people gone completely bonkers?

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: keberoxu
Date: 07 Dec 18 - 08:46 PM

Now, what's this about an auction on eBay?

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Dec 18 - 11:19 AM

Parsnips are delicious when baked in the oven. I quarter the thick end and cut the rest into finger lengths (short finger), and toss them in an iron skillet with olive oil, sliced garlic and shallots, season with salt, pepper and thyme, then bung the pan in the oven.

This baked-veg dish can be expanded with pretty well any root except rutabaga (too bitter). Harder veg, such as carrots, beets and potatoes, should be parboiled first so everything is finished at once.

Great with steak or a joint of beef or lamb.

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: keberoxu
Date: 04 Dec 18 - 12:11 PM

Pascal the Parsnip reminds me of
Mister Oogie Boogie from
Tim Burton's Nightmare before Christmas.

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: Senoufou
Date: 04 Dec 18 - 03:43 AM

The Christmas wrapping paper apparently sheds glitter all over the carpet. Blooming nuisance!

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 04 Dec 18 - 03:20 AM

I went to see Jim Broadbent at The Bridge Theatre last week. He asked me if I'd read his graphic novel, Dull Margaret. He never mentioned his latest success story as the voice of Kevin the Carrot

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: keberoxu
Date: 03 Dec 18 - 01:06 PM

And now the madness includes holiday wrapping paper.

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: keberoxu
Date: 30 Nov 18 - 01:52 PM

Here's a round-up of Kevin the Carrot show-off photos.

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: Senoufou
Date: 28 Nov 18 - 01:47 PM

That's true Jos, especially for children living in city environments.
But here in our village they get to see all sorts of animals and birds, both wild and domestic.
The children are outside a lot, playing in the fields and down by the river.
The two dairy farms and the riding stables hold lovely Open Days where people can watch cows being milked, get up close to big tractors, have rides on the horses and learn how to 'tack up' etc.
One can encounter swans, egrets, wild geese, wood pigeons, swallows, foxes, badgers, deer, field mice, any number of dogs and cats.
It's a veritable Noah's Ark, and infinitely better than sitting indoors watching inane cartoons on TV!

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: Jos
Date: 28 Nov 18 - 11:17 AM

I despair when I see books for small children, with drawings of animals that are often unrecognisable, drawn by people who have never looked at the animals in real life, or even seen films or photographs of them. I think they must have only ever seen cartoon animals, so they draw cartoons of the cartoons.

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: leeneia
Date: 28 Nov 18 - 10:32 AM

I agree, Senoufou. When those Cabbage Patch dolls were all the rage, I thought they were a snide parody of infancy. I was surprised when my sister-in-law testily said that people buy them because they are cute.

Cute?
============
I wonder about the effects of hours and hours of animation and fantasy (such as Kevin the Carrot, etc) on the minds of young children. What with all the media, and what with parents being lost in the dream world of the smart phone, are young children not learning about the real world?

I like fairy tales, but that was at age ten, when I already knew what it meant, say, to fall off a bicycle.

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: Senoufou
Date: 28 Nov 18 - 06:00 AM

Oh those sinister-looking weird dolls! All the rage, parents were fighting over them in the shops. Yuk.

I've been thinking about these ads, and feel that they should introduce a bit of cultural enrichment. What about 'Osama the Okra'? Or 'Suliman the Scotch Bonnet'? 'Yassin the Yam'?

I seem to be following you around on Mudcat today BobL. :)

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: BobL
Date: 28 Nov 18 - 04:31 AM

Were Kevin and Pascal raised in a Cabbage Patch (remember those?)

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: Senoufou
Date: 28 Nov 18 - 03:39 AM

Hahahaa McGrath! I've often thought the same thing. He should stick to parsnips.

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 27 Nov 18 - 09:42 PM

One of the interesting things about carrots is that if you eat too many you turn a bit orange, it's a substance called "carotene" that gets into your skin. It occurs to me to wonder if that explains Trump's appearance.

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: Senoufou
Date: 27 Nov 18 - 11:59 AM

He sounds like my husband leeneia. He has an asbestos mouth.

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: leeneia
Date: 27 Nov 18 - 10:51 AM

Clearly some foods taste different to different people. Somebody said parsnips taste like soap. To me, they have a pleasant, nutty flavor.

I used to hate Brussel sprouts till a friend told me to cut them in half, saute them till tender, and sprinkle with lime juice.

Cilantro is a notable case. To me, cilantro has a pleasant, cool taste; to my husband it is bitter. There is even a website on the topic, Ihatecilantro.com

The DH fancies that he has a superior palate to mine, but he thinks that food which is burning my mouth and lips is merely "a little spicy".

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: Senoufou
Date: 27 Nov 18 - 06:56 AM

That's true McGrath. He's supposed to represent Plenty and Conviviality.

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 27 Nov 18 - 06:16 AM

But Father Christmas is generally understood to be pretty traditionally built himself.

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: Senoufou
Date: 27 Nov 18 - 05:12 AM

Heh heh Will! If he IS real, he can bring me a new, wrinkle-free face and a less...er...capacious rear end!

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: Will Fly
Date: 27 Nov 18 - 04:42 AM

Are you insinuating that Father Christmas is NOT real? Omigod!

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: Senoufou
Date: 27 Nov 18 - 04:23 AM

I managed to persuade my husband when he first arrived in UK that Father Christmas was real. We always put out a mince pie, a tiny tot of sherry (from the miniatures I put in the Christmas cake) and a carrot for Rudolph.
I used to creep out during the night to put his presents under the tree. I had no trouble eating the mince pie (deliberately leaving a few crumbs) and downing the sherry, but I did get rather tired standing there in my dressing gown at about 2am, munching away on that blooming crunchy carrot. I always picked the smallest one from the vegetable rack, but it took ages to eat.
His face when he saw his gifts and the crumbs was a picture. The first time, he actually burst into tears!
I reckon he's twigged now though all these years later.

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 26 Nov 18 - 08:05 PM

I would hope that any child who was fond of Kevin the Carrot would resolutely refuse to eat carrots at Christmas Dinner.

As for "Kevin", my godfather used to always used to call me by the correct Irish pronunciation, which is Keeveen, but that's too much for most people to get their head round - as is the Irish spelling, Caoimhín, itself a modern simplified version of the older one, Caoimhghín.

There's another Christmas advert featuring carrots this year (I think it's for McDonalds), which appears to promote the idea of putting out carrots for Father Christmas's reindeers, which seems an excellent idea. Presumably Dad is duty bound to eat it along with the now traditional mince pie.

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: Senoufou
Date: 26 Nov 18 - 04:33 AM

There's a Tesco Crimbo ad on TV at the moment where people grimace at the very idea of sprouts. We like the Scotsman who opens the door to some carol singers warbling "Sprouts!" He slams the door and mutters "No sprrrrrouts!"

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 26 Nov 18 - 04:29 AM

I like sprouts and parsnips. The former cooked, as suggested, very briefly. The addition of chestnuts is wonderful. Parsnips do need to be roasted, preferably with garlic and rosemary.

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: Jos
Date: 25 Nov 18 - 02:33 PM

I've always liked sprouts (but maybe some people just mindlessly reject anything that comes from Brussels).

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: Senoufou
Date: 25 Nov 18 - 01:24 PM

Haaaaahaaaagh keberoxu a Glasgae Sprout! Much more interesting than that feeble Kevin the Carrot!

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: keberoxu
Date: 25 Nov 18 - 01:11 PM

I'm a veg, I'm a veg, I'm a Brussels veg,
And my name is Sam The Sprout ...

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: Senoufou
Date: 25 Nov 18 - 01:06 PM

Do you know, I reckon the reason people hate sprouts is that they will blooming cook them for far too long. They go yellowish and smell like...er... a fart.
Honestly, we just show them the simmering water for about three or four minutes. We never boil them for fifteen, ugh.
Now husband has his new rice boiler with steamer attachment, we can do them in there.
I think a family of Sam the Sprout would have been nice for the TV promotion!

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: Thompson
Date: 25 Nov 18 - 10:16 AM

Oh God yes sprouts. Lovely in a stir fry too.

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: Senoufou
Date: 25 Nov 18 - 05:52 AM

Ha Thompson, my Irish mum used to cook them like that, and they weren't bad. But we both dislike them nonetheless.
We adore sprouts however, if cooked very briefly. They should still be bright green and firm. (And covered in butter)
I like spring greens too (same as sprouts, briefly cooked)

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: Thompson
Date: 25 Nov 18 - 05:45 AM

Kevin wouldn’t work in France, where for some reason the name has a bad reputation..

There’s a song about the original saint, who kept his hermitage in Glendalough, one of the most beautiful places in Ireland.

Senoufou, try cutting peeled parsnips in batons and steaming them, then covering them in a roux with honey and mustard and cooking them in the oven.

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: keberoxu
Date: 24 Nov 18 - 07:06 PM

There was a Saint Kevin and there was also a Saint Cavan, according to what a quick online search brings up.

Saint Cavan had a church on one of the Aran Islands.
Saint Kevin, hosever, was on the mainland,
and there is a Seamus Heaney poem about
St. Kevin and the Blackbird.
He was a hermit partial to nature and to animal life.

The English-language summaries say that "kevin"
can be translated "high born" or "fair of aspect."

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: Senoufou
Date: 24 Nov 18 - 02:50 PM

It's quite a nice name in my opinion. But lately it seems to have acquired a humorous overtone, rather like Cyril or Sydney.
I think there was an Irish Saint Kevin.

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: keberoxu
Date: 24 Nov 18 - 02:21 PM

Are there not alternate spellings of the name,
like Cavan for example?

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: Senoufou
Date: 24 Nov 18 - 02:13 PM

I hate parsnips, they taste of soap.
(I bet Steve will be on now giving us some hints as to how to cook them and make them tasty!)

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: Senoufou
Date: 24 Nov 18 - 02:11 PM

I seem to remember in the stage production of Spamalot (Monty Python type thing) that the hunchback who helped with the Death Cart was called Kevin.
It's an Irish name.

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: keberoxu
Date: 24 Nov 18 - 02:10 PM

There was an ancestor, in the generation of my grandparents,
who was extremely partial to
... parsnips. No one else would eat' em.

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: Senoufou
Date: 24 Nov 18 - 02:07 PM

Yes keberoxu, it's mad isn't it? (I posted about it on the Black Friday thread.)
People paying £20 for the giant Kevin, then offering it on e bay for up to £100.
Have to say though, the adverts are rather sweet. Evil Parsnip doing his worst, and Kevin winning through.
And each ad is based on a fairy tale (Little Red Riding Hood etc)
I suppose there are worse things for children to get involved with. It's all very innocent.
But I'd never pay all that money for an entire family of stuffed Carrot toys!
I bet when Crimbo is over, all these huge Carrot things will be in the way, and end up in Landfill.

Subject: RE: BS: Pascal Parsnip vs Kevin Carrot & family
From: keberoxu
Date: 24 Nov 18 - 01:58 PM

And would you believe
Kevin the Carrot Aldi trucks/lorries?

Subject: Pascal the Parsnip vs Kevin the Carrot & family
From: keberoxu
Date: 24 Nov 18 - 01:50 PM

The Aldi franchise has some kind of Kevin-Mania going on for the holiday shopping season.
This is being remarked upon, by UK Mudcatters.
Here's a report from what I believe to be
a USA journalist for a USA periodical.

Kevin the Carrot Fights Back (Mother Jones)