Uncle's Games

Adrift in Space!

Not only have we been beaten to the moon by the fat dictator but we are also now adrift in space!

We have run out of fuel!

As you know our rocket is powered by Black Tom - and the idiot crew, who call themselves my loyal supporters, only went and drunk it all!

They even had the cheek, when I was haranguing them for their stupidity, to claim that I was the one who drank the most !!!

Is this to be the fate of the man chosen to lead Homeward to revolution?

Stuck in this tin box with a bunch of traitors to the cause?

Re-claiming the Moon

The moon will be ours!

Uncle's mission has been sabotaged. We will get there first and with the aid of the dwarfs in our pay we will soon overrun Homeward Moonbase.

The Black Tom that has been being produced on the moon for us, by the bribed dwarfs, is unique and will fetch a fortune on the open market. The coffers of the Badfort Popular Front will be richer than our wildest dreams!

We are issuing a commemorative stamp to record our great achievement. It features myself welcoming the first children from Badfort to the moon.

I confess I was quite choked up at the beauty of this image.

A glorious day for the revolution

We have begun our mission to beat Uncle to the moon!

We launched this morning and if the saboteur we have placed on Uncle's ship does his work soon the moon will be in the hands of the Badfort Popular Front.

I must say that Hootman's rocket is working perfectly, as we watched the earth recede in the porthole we all knew that this day would go down in the annals of revolutionary history as a glorious turning point in the political development of the world.

We celebrated by drinking some of the rockets fuel - Black Tom.

Objective Moon

So that old tyrant Unc, thinks he has stolen the march on us does he?

Well he's in for a nasty surprise!

Thanks to our agent on board his ship we know exactly what he is up to and our Black Tom powered rocket is twice as fast as that heap of junk he is flying in!

We should be ready to launch any day know and our agent has a few tricks up his sleeve to slow down the Dictator of Homeward.

Soon the moon will be another glorious outpost of the Badfort Popular Front!

Another victory for the revolution!

Also we must get hold of all that Special Black Tom our dwarf mates have been brewing for us - Unc will throw a wobbly when he finds out what they have been up to.

Hacking

Hootman has had a go hacking into Boris Badger's computer. We need to get some dirt on him so that he'll be in our pocket if he wins.

We managed to find this missive from Petronella Badget, a former employee of his on Badger News. She was once infatuated with him and they snuffled for mushrooms together.

It's old news but we might be able to put a spin on it for blackmail purposes.

Spag Bol !

With the Spaghetti harvest coming in - here's one of my fav recipes for Spag Bol

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil or sun-dried tomato oil from the jar
6 rashers of smoked scob, chopped
2 large onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1kg/21⁄4lb lean minced beef
2 large glasses of Black Tom
2x400g cans chopped tomatoes
1x290g jar magic mushrooms, drained
2 fresh or dried mestacoli leaves
1 tsp dried Redgano or a small handful of fresh leaves, chopped
1 tsp dried thyme or a small handful of fresh leaves, chopped
drizzle balsamic vinegar
12-14 sun-dried tomato halves, in oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
a good handful of fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces
800g-1kg/13⁄4-21⁄4lb freshly harvested spaghetti
lots of freshly grated parmesan cheese, to serve

Method
1. Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan and fry the Scob until golden over a medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, frying until softened. Increase the heat and add the minced beef. Fry it until it has browned, breaking down any chunks of meat with a wooden spoon. Pour in the Black Tom and boil until it has reduced in volume by about a third. Reduce the temperature and stir in the tomatoes, drained mushrooms, mestacoli leaves, Redgano, thyme and balsamic vinegar.

2. Either blitz the sun-dried tomatoes in a small blender with a little of the oil to loosen, or just finely chop before adding to the pan. Season well with salt and pepper. Cover with a lid and simmer the Bolognese sauce over a gentle heat for 1-11⁄2 hours until it's rich and thickened, stirring occasionally. At the end of the cooking time, stir in the basil and add any extra Black Tom if necessary.

3. Remove from the heat to 'settle' while you cook the spaghetti in plenty of boiling salted water (for the time stated on the packet). Drain and divide between warmed plates. Scatter a little parmesan over the spaghetti before adding a good ladleful of the Bolognese sauce, finishing with a scattering of more cheese and a twist of black pepper.

Bon Apeteet!