Rosalia Rambles

Tag: food

  • Redundancy Review: Day 39, “Sankyu”

    Redundancy Review: Day 39, “Sankyu”

    (for context on what this series is, please see my Day 1 post here: Redundancy Review: Day 1, “A New Beginning” – Rosalia’s Rambles)

    Good morning idols and divas, welcome to Day 39 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.

    True to form with the weekend, this is the first time I have woken up feeling somewhat relaxed in a long while, especially considering how many challenges I ended up encountering during my first week of contracting.

    That said, I have not slept in like I was anticipating. It is currently 8:48am as I start to write this which is not all that long past my usual wakeup time of 8am, I feel a small amount of grogginess in me but not to an overwhelming degree like on the weekdays.

    Regardless, my cortisol levels will probably thank me for not feeling stressed right now, letting my body slowly return to normal before it inevitably begins all over again on Monday.

    Something that affects me greatly in terms of my career path is how hard it is to trust my own emotions at points. My mind is often in a state of flux due to both estrogen and the way my brain has always been which makes it difficult to settle on how I am actually feeling on things, leading to confusion and uncertainty within myself.

    Returning to the tech space has, without a doubt, made my stress worse – which is weird to consider that when my state of being before that was unemployment, something that makes anyone stressed regardless of background. But even though my unemployment was stressful, I was following a plan to try get myself set up as a writer of sorts.

    Would it have made me anywhere near as much money as I make in the tech space? Most likely not, at least not for several years.

    Would I have been happy living on the back of my creativity? I definitely think I would be.

    My intention is to still make the most of this contract, because whilst I get stressed I am still able to prove that I am able to do the job day-to-day, it is just a matter of trying to find the appropriate coping strategies that help ease the pain.

    I think that is what might drive the conflict within me. On one hand I am fully capable of doing tech-focused roles especially in regards to QA, being able to navigate my way through a vast multitude of problems and proving the adaptability that so many people compliment me on.

    But conversely, the life I am so good at leading puts me at odds with living a lower stress lifestyle. The tech world, especially the startup space I have worked in for the last three years, moves fast and does not let up in terms of presenting challenges. I recognise that I am the person I am today because of how many challenges I have faced, but at the same time I desperately want to stop being challenged so I can focus on other areas of my life.

    A much longer mental check-in than I had anticipated this morning, but the topic kind of rolled naturally to me.

    This leads us on to the review, and whilst I was not able to put out a proper review yesterday, I have got another exciting episode of: “Rosa Eats Her Way Around Shrewsbury” for you all – this time with an extremely new restaurant on the scene.

    When I say The Gate is extremely new, I mean it only opened on July 2nd this year, a mere 17 days ago at time of writing. A dual offering of a brunch menu during the day and a steakhouse menu when evening rolls around, it provides a unique twist to a historic underground location.

    The location has a bit of personal history for me and my partner as well, as the Traitor’s Gate used to contain a burger restaurant called Lyon’s Den which unfortunately closed a while back – though it is with only a twinge of sadness I say that, as new management in the final days of the Den led to a severe drop in quality, service, and atmosphere of the establishment.

    But regardless, we were excited to return to a familiar venue with a new purpose for a good meal. Full disclosure, whilst pricing will be talked about in the review, the meal was paid for by my parents as it was my dad’s birthday meal (thanks mum and dad!).

    It was surprisingly quiet for a Friday evening, for the longest time we were the only people in the restaurant with a handful more coming in as we were getting ready to leave. My partner asked about it as we were leaving and we got told they get more busy on the weekdays than the weekend currently, which is a good sign that their dual-offering is working.

    We ordered our food, and admittedly it did take a while for our starters to come out to us, but considering the quality of what we received, it was no detriment in the slightest.

    I ordered the Buffalo chicken wings as a starter, which came with four full wing joints, for a total of eight wings for £7.50. It even came with a little bowl of water to wash your fingers off afterwards which was definitely needed.

    The sauce was the perfect blend of sweet, spicy, and rich, with the chef definitely not skimping on the amount put on the wings, that said the amount of sauce did not negatively impact the crispiness of the wing too, the skin being perfectly crisp to compliment the flavour of the sauce – with the experience only being elevated by the addition of the blue cheese dip served alongside it.

    When it comes to blue cheese, and by extension, blue cheese sauces, I can usually be a little apprehensive of them tasting more like the mold than the mold enhancing the flavour of the cheese. But this sauce was the perfect compliment to the wings, an amazingly creamy accompaniment to a very generously portioned starter for the price.

    It was a similarly long wait for the mains to come out, which our lovely server Callum did apologise for as he brought them out, making a point to say everything is cooked freshed, but taking into account the quality again, it all makes sense.

    My main was the appropriately titled “Elephant Classic” burger, with my standard addition of a fried egg, bringing the total price to £19 for this absolute beast-sized burger, accompanied by a side of hand-cut chips. (£17 without the egg)

    Is this the priciest burger I have reviewed thus far? Yup, beating out my Beefy Boys offering by over £5.

    Do I think the price is worth it? I absolutely do.

    The patty on this burger was thiccc, you can tell it is thick because I added an extra C on to how I described it. It was easily at least a half-pounder – in actuality I would guess the patty was closer to a full pound than anything else given how dense it was, and despite that density the inside was not dry at all, still being perfectly juicy.

    That said, all shows need their supporting actors, and the hand-cut chips were an absolutely perfect co-star. Crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, and perfectly seasoned with salt & pepper, they needed no sauce to accompany them, standing out perfectly on their own merit.

    One side I specifically asked to order was the creamed spinach, my personal favourite side when it comes to matters of steak. Admittedly when it came out I was a little worried, the cream sitting in the dish with the spinach itself looking a little plain made me think I was going to be underwhelmed.

    The exact opposite happened.

    Despite its appearances, it was one of the best bits of creamed spinach I have ever had.

    One of the main dangers when making creamed spinach is that it will come out soggy and bland due to the fact spinach contains a great deal of water which can severely dilute the quality of the sauce. But this humble plate exceeded all expectations, the spinach was moist without being soggy, the cream and the leaf itself were perfectly seasoned. If not for the fact I was sharing it with the table, I would have happily eaten it all myself.

    When it came to desserts I was too full of meat and dairy to even consider going further, so I finished my meal with a mocha (which I forgot to take a picture of) that delivered an insanely strong hit of coffee, serving as the ideal finisher to a delicious meal.

    That said, my partner had a dessert of a churro sundae, which I will include a picture of here because it was an absolute spectacle of a sweet treat.

    For a new restaurant on the scene, I did come in with a fair bit of skepticism. But I walked away wanting to return, and wanting to recommend this place to the highest degree. 

    Independent restaurants are the heart of towns and cities, bringing immense amounts of variety amongst the big chains that can often dominate. I can wholeheartedly recommend The Gate, I am wishing them every success in the future.

    That was my longest food review in a while, with a lot of passion being translated onto the page. But I hope it shows how much I love food as part of my life, and makes you curious to try The Gate.

    Thank you for reading a much more substantial Redundancy Review today. I hope you can take a relaxing Saturday wherever you are, treat yourself to some good food, or if you are able, treat your friends to good food too. The best memories are made around a dinner table with people you love.

    For more information on The Gate, visit their Linktree page here – it will let you view both their menus, book a table, and visit their Facebook page for even more info: https://linktr.ee/thegateshrewsbury 

  • Redundancy Review: Day 27, “The End Justifies The Means”

    Redundancy Review: Day 27, “The End Justifies The Means”

    (for context on what this series is, please see my Day 1 post here: Redundancy Review: Day 1, “A New Beginning” – Rosalia’s Rambles)

    Good morning sharks and seahorses, welcome to Day 27 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.

    Writing this a lot later than I usually do due to a mix of calls and appointments this morning around different topics which I wanted to tackle before getting my thoughts in line to do the mental health check-in portion of the review.

    I have been presented with an opportunity to do some contracting work which, whilst not entirely in my wheelhouse or interest, is in my area of expertise, that being Quality Assurance. 

    My main feelings around continuing QA work are what the title suggests, being the means that can help justify the way I want to live my life now. My ultimate goal is still wanting to be a writer for hire, telling my own stories whilst helping others to tell their own. If freelancing in tech can help enable that lifestyle, then it is something I should pursue…

    …which I recognise goes against my entire discussion on my burnout a couple reviews back, but the benefit of this being a contracting role is that I would be able to back out if things became too much for me. Even if it was just for a short while, it would get me some additional experience both as a QA and getting more familiar with the freelancing way of life.

    The Redundancy Review would continue even upon taking the contracting role – there is no stopping this train now, especially since the role would let me fund the “eating my way around Shrewsbury” reviews far easier, which are honestly some of my favourite pieces to write.

    There is some part of me that wonders what it would be like to try position myself as a professional food critic, but the problem with that is I love food too much to want to try criticise it intensely – even the most subpar food I will still find things to love about, and in a way I have not forgotten my student days where things such as the “lasanwich” and the “chicken kyiv burger” brought me incredible amounts of comfort.

    I strive to find the positives in everything, and unless something made me physically sick, I would want to try to express those positives.

    Even as I begin to enter into contract work, I will keep myself available for writing work, which if you are reading this and want to hire me, please do! I am available for professional scripting, transcription, and reviews of all sorts, do not catch yourself putting inadequate AI-generated copy out there – invest in a burgeoning writer today!

    Today’s review is another homeware/furnishing review, but one taking a very different form from a flatpack. 

    3M Command Hooks/Command Strips are one of the most useful pieces of kit as someone who rents the place they live rather than own, as like most renters, I am terrified of actually putting a hole in a wall that is not mine. 

    Command products are a godsend in that regard, with all different varieties being in different locations. I have used Small Clear Wire Hooks to build a makeshift tool rack over my hob, and the decorating clips allow me to hang fairy lights around easily, letting me live out my dream of being an e-girl through the aesthetic.

    But today’s subject is a bit more heavy duty than those two, and is used in a very unique and novel way.

    3M Command Large White Wire Hook has a weight capacity of 2.2kg, making it more geared around holding heavier objects with the suggestion on the packaging being a dustpan and brush, whilst also being able to go up to backpacks, bags, or cumbersome tools that are hard to store elsewhere.

    So, what do I use them for?

    Creating a makeshift armoury behind my bed and desk of course.

    These hooks are the absolute ideal way to mount up Nerf guns without drilling any holes to make mounting posts. The main body of the hook is long enough to guide it through the sling points of more slimline blasters, meaning the second hook can be positioned to support another section or be put through another sling point to make a rock solid mount.

    The application of the adhesive strip is incredibly straightforward, with the body of the hook itself being able to be slid off to remove the strip when needed. Each pack comes with two strips so the hook is able to be removed and reapplied elsewhere if they need to be repurposed.

    My guns have been mounted for a period of over four months now and I have not had any issues – a relief given that three of them are mounted over where I sleep, meaning I have not had any rude awakenings. With how well the initial mountings went, I am definitely looking forward to investing in more and expanding my armoury wall.

    That does it for today, thank you for reading the Redundancy Review today. These will continue until morale improves, so I look forward to continuing this journey with all of you.

    The Command Hooks mentioned in this review and many other fine products are available at B&Q in the UK: 3M Command Hooks and Hardware at B&Q (not sponsored, just a fan)

  • Redundancy Review: Day 25, “The Call of Yesterday”

    Redundancy Review: Day 25, “The Call of Yesterday”

    (for context on what this series is, please see my Day 1 post here: https://rosaliarambles.wordpress.com/2025/06/11/redundancy-review-day-1-a-new-beginning/)

    Good morning knights and squires, welcome to Day 25 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.

    A later start today, but it feels nice to be relaxed for the first time in a while. This whole experience I am going through puts me under varying amounts of stress day-to-day, so having an afternoon yesterday and a morning today where I do not feel that as hard as I usually do is an incredibly liberating feeling.

    I do not think I have used that word enough in regards to some parts of this journey: “liberating”. It is a weird one to use considering how redundancy has completely upended my life, but it has also brought benefits to me.

    There was no denying I was going through some degree of burnout in my old job. I was still delivering what was needed of me on the daily but I also struggled to get out of bed some days in the lead up to the end times – dragging myself to my desk and putting on my best face.

    It was honestly the people that kept me going a lot of the days, I worked with extremely talented and personable people who made even the hardest times go by quicker. The culture, even with all of us working remotely, was what kept me in till the bitter end.

    (god getting woken up at 3am has thrown me off today, struggling to keep my mind on track)

    But now that I am out of work, there definitely is something positive from being away from the tech sphere and doing my own things. I have struggles but I also have runway, leading to me existing in this flip-flop of zen and panic, but ultimately letting my mind recover from the experiences I have been through.

    Writing every day is helping with that too. Being able to sit down and express myself through the written word is a peaceful feeling even on the days where my brain does not want to co-operate with me, and I remain ever thankful for anyone who takes time out of their day to read my words.

    The dream is still to be able to make some form of living off of writing, be it being hired as an in-house copywriter for a company or freelancing my way around, always finding something new to work on. Is this a lofty goal in the age of AI? Of course, but what I am building for myself is an identity of human creativity, what I aim my “brand” to be in a way.

    If you are looking for someone to write something thoughtful and emotional, consider hiring me. This project is but a fraction of what I am capable of, I would love to prove my worth against a wide range of works.

    Eating my way around Shrewsbury

    Yup, that is right. Welcome back to another exciting edition of talking about somewhere to eat in Shrewsbury!

    With my redundancy payments coming in, and after putting money into both bills and savings accounts, my partner and I resolved that we would go out for a proper meal at a restaurant. We tour cafes and small eateries pretty frequently, but it had been around two months since we had last gone “out out” as it were – for obvious reasons.

    Considering I was going to pay, it was my choice as to where we would go, and I picked one of the best places for burgers in town: The Beefy Boys.

    The Beefy Boys is a small-scale chain restaurant with only four locations across the UK: Hereford, Cheltenham, Bath, and of course, Shrewsbury. Very good going for a group of four friends who came together over a love of cooking, a wholesome start that reflects in the quality of their food today.

    After we got seated by the extremely friendly staff, we got to work on deciding what we wanted. Beefy Boys is one of the few venues I have seen today that offer free refills on soft drinks, a very good offer considering the asking price of £4.25 with both myself and my partner getting three glasses worth out of it.

    With food though we decided to be a little more indulgent. One of the main differences at Beefy Boys is that you can decide what kind of burger patty you want:

    • You can go for a standard smashed patty, which comes with two thin patties on the burger
    • You can go for a thicc patty, cooked pink in the centre
    • You can go “Oklahoma-style” smashed patty, which has onions pressed in during the cooking process
    • Or you can go for “Cali-Style”, which is a thick patty grilled in mustard – mimicking how the fast food chain In’n’Out do their “animal style” burgers

    Everything beyond a smashed patty incurs an additional charge, but having the freedom to upgrade your burger however is a very nice touch on the menu.

    For myself I got what is known as the Pizza Boy with smashed patties. This is a burger topped with pepperoni, marinara sauce, a big lump of breaded mozzarella, and served with a garlic and herb dip on the side. I am a lover of all things cheesy, and this hit the exact spot I was looking for when coming back to Beefy Boys.

    My partner got the Bacon Boy with the thick patty and an egg added on top. Unsurprisingly, this burger contains a large amount of bacon, coming loaded with crispy bacon strips, bacon jam, and baconnaise. A solid choice for any porcine purveyors out there.

    When it came to sides, we know from past experience to only order one portion of fries, as doubling up with the absolute majesty of these burgers leads to feeling extremely bloated… that said, an old special has now made a permanent home on the menu in the form of chicken kyiv fries – fries topped with chopped chicken strips, garlic mayonnaise, and garlic butter. 

    These are an extremely indulgent treat, but are oh so worth it. We finalised our sides with an addition I specifically wanted in the form of mac and cheese balls, which came with a little side of chipotle ketchup. These were crunchy, creamy, and absolutely divine when paired with the sauce, perhaps a little overkill considering everything else on the plate.

    To finalise, we decided to get milkshakes as our dessert, which is where “indulgence” started to slowly eek into “overkill”. They were absolutely delicious, extremely thick and a very generous portion, but I had to stop at least twice during mine to contemplate what I had done.

    Now, for the price breakdown:

    • Two refillable soft drinks: £4.25 each for a total of £8.50, where we both got three glasses each out of it
    • Pizza boy with smashed patties: £13.70
    • Bacon boy with thick patty and an egg: £16.15
    • Chicken kyiv fries: £12.50
    • Mac and cheese balls: £7.70
    • Biscoff milkshake: £8
    • Banana milkshake: £7

    Total cost of meal: £73.55
    8% service charge: £5.88

    Total cost overall: £79.43

    A very expensive meal overall, but hopefully the price breakdown shows the general impression of what you get for your money at Beefy Boys. Additionally, the service charge is discretionary, and you are able to remove it from the bill if you want.

    But you should not. Not only because service staff definitely deserve the extra boost where possible, but also because every time we have gone to Beefy Boys the service has been immaculate. Staff are friendly, the food comes out promptly, and the overall atmosphere inside is fantastic.

    It was a worthy date night out after two months of stress, and whilst the current situation prohibits doing it on the regular, I will definitely be returning to Beefy Boys.

    Thank you for reading today, hopefully I have not made you too hungry – but if I have, I hope you can treat yourself to something indulgent today too. It is Saturday after all, and the week has been a long one.

    For more information on Beefy Boys, visit their website here: The Beefy Boys – The Burger Experts

  • Redundancy Review: Day 20, “Road Trip!”

    (for context on what this series is, please see my Day 1 post here: https://rosaliarambles.wordpress.com/2025/06/11/redundancy-review-day-1-a-new-beginning/)

    Good morning drivers and racers, welcome to Day 20 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.

    The main thing on my agenda for today is taking a journey with a very close friend of mine. She needs to go pick up some pottery directly from the factory and asked if I wanted to come along, which I gave an enthusiastic yes to. I find myself oddly excited at this prospect, partly for the chance to hang out with someone I resonate a lot with but also the chance to talk in person about how I am feeling.

    It has been mentioned a lot throughout this series but the support my friends have given me has really helped see me through some of the darker days. They help remind me why I am here and to keep on keeping on through the pain, uncertainty, and anxiety that has come with being made redundant.

    On the subject of purpose though, I feel the purpose of the Redundancy Review has changed somewhat since I started. Initially these mental check-ins were only supposed to be one segment of the review followed by an update on my job search, finalising with the review. 

    Talking about the job search has fallen by the wayside, if just because having to write constant reminders of what I am applying for makes rejection feel all the worse due to having a detailed record written down. Applications still go out each day, and I am working on a “living CV” page for the site right now, so there is that.

    But it is time to make an adjustment to the Redundancy Review’s mission statement, and iterate what my main goals are with this daily series.

    1. Primarily, this is to get me out of bed and working on something each morning. Even if I do not feel like it, or even if my brain is foggy, something goes out to keep the habit
    2. This is a story of my lived experience. The homepage emphasises that no Generative AI content will be hosted here, and I will stick to that always. A machine cannot replicate the emotion behind my words, and I will strive to champion human creativity above all else
    3. Whilst the title includes the word “review”, I am not a critic – there are far better people than me to do that job. I am here to spread joy about the things I love and to try make the world a better place through my words

    I am also going to divert my call to action today. Normally I would be asking people to hire me for writing work, but this time I want to give a spotlight to a colleague of mine.

    https://www.behance.net/jordancollins16

    Jordan was the Art Director and 3D Generalist at Immerse, responsible for the look & feel of many projects along with creating some of the most insanely detailed and complicated assets you could come across. His expertise always shined in planning calls, where production would present the idea and his creativity would run wild of what he could accomplish.

    He is an incredibly easy going guy, able to act as a steady presence whenever projects hit that inevitable rocky stage, persevering through the hard times with the goal of laughing about it once it was all over. With how long he had been at the company, he was part of the foundation, and it showed through his dedication to the craft.

    If anyone reading this is in need of a 3D artist, get in touch with him. You will not regret having him involved.

    Time for today’s review, and we are staying in the usual territory of food & drink, but a newcomer into the category.

    Yup. I am talking about a brand of boxed stuffing mix. 

    It came into my mind as I was initially supposed to make a roast dinner yesterday but ended up getting too overheated, changing the plan to a more homely sausage, egg, chips, and beans instead. The stuffing is usually the star of the show when it comes to my roast dinners, and I have Paxo Sage & Onion Stuffing Mix to thank for that.

    I have tried supermarket’s “luxury” range of stuffings, I have tried people’s homemade stuffing mixes, and I have even tried Paxo’s other offerings – but it always comes back to the default to me, possibly out of nostalgia.

    That said, I do not just mix it with hot water, put it in a dish and call it a day. “Rosa Stuffing” as my partner calls it has two main defining features. The first being an addition to make Julia Child proud: copious amounts of butter, added at two different stages – first a healthy amount after the hot water has been added, and then a few small knobs on top once placed into the dish.

    The other is less conventional, an addition that comes from my experience with stuffing growing up. My granny and my mother would always add mushrooms into the mixture to add some extra body and difference in texture, with this small addition now becoming a staple of my own stuffing too.

    Mushrooms are a divisive foodstuff, but it is one I can not get enough of in any dish, with the inclusion of sauteed button mushrooms mixed with a rich sage and onion stuffing giving me comfort beyond compare, even in the context of a comforting roast dinner.

    With that new esoteric addition to the list of things I have reviewed, I will call it there. Thank you for reading today, please keep yourself cool today, at least in the UK it is supposed to hit between 29-31 degrees in some places. Stay hydrated everyone.

    For more information on Paxo products, visit their website here: https://www.paxo.co.uk/ 

  • Redundancy Review: Day 19, “Seeking Familiarity”

    (for context on what this series is, please see my Day 1 post here: https://rosaliarambles.wordpress.com/2025/06/11/redundancy-review-day-1-a-new-beginning/)

    Good morning burgers and fries, welcome to Day 19 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.

    Yesterday’s review was quite fraught with emotion and sadness with the time after having me feel very out of it and a bit spacey, wondering what was going on.

    Then I remembered something.

    We are coming up to the start of the month.

    I am a transgender woman, and have been on estrogen for the last three years now. It is undeniably one of the best things for my mental state/happiness, similar to every step I have taken when it comes to transitioning, making my life actively better.

    But, obviously, it does come with some side effects. The most notable of which is the development of a monthly “cycle” for myself similar to what those with a uterus experience, commonly referred to as “periods”.

    Now, I am obviously lacking in one biological aspect when it comes to it, and that means I do not have to deal with anything related to blood or pads – a fact I will always be relieved by. That said, I do deal with a majority of other symptoms too, including:

    • Extreme fatigue
    • Irritability
    • Cramps in the torso region
    • Mood swings
    • Brain fog

    So, yeah. My mind is currently flooded with hormones and that is why I was catastrophising things so hard yesterday, it is actually incredibly hard to think straight when my brain is being like this, so reviews might look a little different until things settle down again.

    I did have at least one rational thought during the day, which was thinking about how I have been seeking comfort in familiarity recently, be it video games, food, or old gaming Youtube videos. There will be a time where I elaborate a bit more on this, but right now the brain fog is too strong so I am going to push through.

    Despite the issues going on right now, I would still love to be hired for live writing projects. When I am in a rhythm and routine I can push through the period brain to continue to make beautiful projects, and I would be elated to have the chance to work like that again.

    Part of my activities yesterday was going shopping at Sainsbury’s with a friend of mine, getting the chance to do a big shop at a location I do not often have the chance to go to – a lot of my friends have offered to go shopping with me at all different places to give me company or help me out… it is really appreciated, especially on days when the loneliness gets hard.

    That is unrelated though, the main thing I found at Sainsbury’s was an old favourite drink of mine.

    Califia Farms is an American brand that specialises in plant-based milk alternatives, which includes a range of coffee drinks – my personal favourite of which is their “Mocha Almond Latte”, which feels weird to say cause I associate “mocha” and “latte” as two different drinks, but considering how nice it tastes I am not too bothered with the semantics.

    This specific drink has been very hard to find lately, and whilst I was initially hyped to see it again I think the recently reviewed Galaxy Mocha Frappe powder might have overtaken it as my cold coffee drink of choice. It goes down smooth enough, but I think I have been spoiled by being able to make barista-style drinks at home.

    It is providing my much needed caffeine boost early in the morning, but right now I think the main thing I appreciate it for is the convenience more than anything else, the ability to just open the fridge and have a massive amount of cold coffee ready to go. I know that sounds exceptionally lazy, but when my brain is this bogged down in emotions and hormones, it is the little things which help a lot.

    Shorter review, for a brain short on juice. Thank you for reading all the same, I hope to soon be back to providing the high-quality content you all love.

    For more information on Califia Farms, visit their website here: https://www.califiafarms.com/ 

  • Redundancy Review: Day 18, “Emotional Flip-Flop”

    (for context on what this series is, please see my Day 1 post here: https://rosaliarambles.wordpress.com/2025/06/11/redundancy-review-day-1-a-new-beginning/)

    Good morning dreamers and memers, welcome to Day 18 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.

    Despite a sleepy start yesterday, I pushed myself to go to Asda with my partner to buy some supplies for dinner. The humidity was killer, but I knew it was the right decision to go outside and have a walk. 

    Keeping in the routine has been hard, especially with how my headspace has been lately. I have been sleeping in harder than I have meant to and that means the review comes out later than usual as well. Whilst the routine is still there, the adherence is definitely slipping.

    I have talked about it a lot in previous articles, but there is still a fair amount of hurt over how things have played out – every time I think I might be close to starting to heal past what happened, something else crops up or my mind reminds me of things and the pain comes back.

    It is hard to reconcile what I want from my career right now as well. I am exceptionally skilled in Quality Assurance, and I have admiration for the idea of going into a senior role to act as a mentor for newer QAs, to share my stories in the hope of building their careers in the way others have for me.

    My production credentials are strong, at my first time on the bat I managed two projects simultaneously for an American pharmaceutical company, delivering on time with a healthy budget. This is not to mention how many times I stepped in to help manage other projects when other producers were on leave, even with the missteps I made.

    I demonstrate my love of writing every day, even on days like today where I keep tabbing away from the document and focus on something else. I have several instances of using my writing skills in my previous role, from creating proposals for a wide range of clients, to writing scripts for several different project types.

    But… I do not know which path to take.

    Here is where I would usually do my call to action for wanting to work on live writing projects, but today is going to be a little different. If you read my story and have any kind of career guidance for me, please get in touch. I have the skills to pay the bills but I need some help with what direction to take.

    The review today returns to “Rosa Eating Her Way Across Shrewsbury”, with my all time favourite cafe in town, a cozy little venue known as “The Ploughboy”. My partner and I tried it on a whim one day, where it quickly became our favourite spot for cheap but wholesome eating.

    Yesterday I got my standard meal, with one small addition to keep me going to the evening – a sausage, bacon, and egg sandwich with hash brown added to it for extra density, paired with a large mocha.

    There are no real frills with this one, and that is exactly what I like about Ploughboy. A homely meal prepared quickly for a reasonable price, which at £7.15 for the sandwich and £3.20 for the mocha made this one of the cheapest full offerings I have reviewed yet.

    The egg was cooked perfectly with a runny yolk, the bacon was at the perfect consistency for me with the fat cooked properly but the meat itself not being overly crispy, and the crunchy hash browns added the right amount of padding to make this basic brunch last me till the evening without breaking the bank.

    Ploughboy is a simple joy for me in town, and a place I return to time and time again.

    I am going to call it here for today, as I have gone from rambling to waffling very quickly. Thank you for reading this edition of the Redundancy Review, have a relaxing weekend whatever you do and enjoy time with your loved ones.

    For more information on Ploughboy, visit the link here: The Ploughboy Cafe | Original Shrewsbury

  • Redundancy Review: Day 15, “Patch the holes, change the parts”

    Redundancy Review: Day 15, “Patch the holes, change the parts”

    (for context on what this series is, please see my Day 1 post here: https://rosaliarambles.wordpress.com/2025/06/11/redundancy-review-day-1-a-new-beginning/)

    Good morning teas and coffees, welcome to Day 15 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.

    After having a somewhat terrible Monday, Tuesday was… up and down.

    One of the high points was getting to take care of my parent’s axolotl, Dottie. He is the second axolotl to have been in my family, with my axolotl Cedric being the first.

    Cedric was a very interesting character, she was quite upfront and social with me, even trying to jump into my hand on a few occasions when I was feeding her – doing so by hand as I had always done. Dottie is a bit more of an introvert though, he did not seem too interested in food and did not fully come out of his log while I was visiting.

    Yes, the axolotl with the male name was female and the one with the female-coded name is male. There is a metaphor in there somewhere.

    But in between talking to this not quite there salamander I was dealing with shit relating to my redundancy payouts, primarily around my unpaid wages and holidays. The company handling the administration is very opaque and obtuse, very rarely providing advice in advance, instead choosing to react whenever myself and my colleagues light fires under their arse.

    This was most prevalent in them not sharing the information/formulae used to calculate what holiday we have taken and what our weekly rate of pay is. Once presented with the information it made sense, but it feels weird that none of this was communicated upfront. There is a chance I will name and shame the company once this process is over, I do not exactly have “clout” or anything to make change, but it is part of my story.

    Main thing is I am finally getting paid what I am owed, which will help with finances for the foreseeable future and keep me in a position where looking for my next job does not make me too stressed out.

    If you reading this would like to make my next job working for you on a writing project, please consider getting in touch! My skills are slowly improving every day and the ability to work on real projects would only accelerate my personal growth.

    So, regular readers of the review know I am a big lover of food with many of my reviews taking me around various Shrewsbury eating spots. Today’s review is about food, but something a bit more closer to my original home.

    I have mixed feelings about my hometown, a very quiet village known as Codsall. The quietness and quaintness still have their appeal, especially living in a very busy town nowadays, but at the same time there is very little unique there for me now, highlighted further with the local butcher shutting down due to rising costs.

    However, one place is still around for me, and it is a place I will always make a pilgrimage to each time I need to return.

    Birches Bridge Fish Bar is one of two local chip shops, and in my opinion the vastly superior one. Both have been around since I was little, though Birches holds a special place in my heart as it was the regular haunt after my usual Saturday Warhammer 40k (later just card games) club for a filling lunch.

    One menu item in particular always draws me back, and it is in the picture above: the Birches Burger. A double cheeseburger topped with onion rings and the salad & sauce of your choice, my usual picks being onion, cabbage, jalapeno, and garlic mayo for an almost spicy coleslaw-like topping – paired with a regular sized portion of chips to give me a throwback to being fifteen again.

    It is your standard chip shop burger. Thin patties with a slight crisp to them due to being cooked in a press, topped with plastic cheese, and placed into a lightly toasted bun. There are no illusions, no fancy additions necessary, just a dense sandwich that brings immense comfort.

    However, I do have to highlight the chips though. Birches’ chips always hit hard for me, maybe partially out of nostalgia but something in my chips yesterday sang to me. I forgot to check the signage before I went in but it is around the time of year when chip shops start to serve new potatoes for a short while, and they definitely tasted like it. An almost buttery taste to them, only amplified by the addition of salt and vinegar.

    Now for the price: a Birches Burger sets you back £5.50 for the burger alone, and adding on a regular portion of chips is £3.40, bringing the total cost of my meal to £8.90 for yesterday. Looking both at local Shrewsbury chip shops and other takeaways, I would actually struggle to get a meal of that quantity for a similar price…

    …of course I have to factor in a £13.50 train ticket in order to get to Birches nowadays but I am purposefully choosing to ignore that in this context.

    Even outside of the very reasonable price for the one meal I had yesterday due to the sheer size, the familiar comfort that eating a Birches Burger once more brought to my soul helped ease the wounds of the last couple days, refilling my morale and letting me tackle the challenge of unemployment once more.

    That does it for today, hopefully I have not made you too hungry after writing all that (I certainly have made myself hungry). Whatever you get up to today, remember to eat hearty meals that bring you joy and keep you going throughout the day. I hope you have a good day, and I will see you tomorrow.

  • Redundancy Review: Day 12, “Moderate Stress”

    (for context on what this series is, please see my Day 1 post here: https://rosaliarambles.wordpress.com/2025/06/11/redundancy-review-day-1-a-new-beginning/) 

    Good morning miners and crafters, welcome to Day 12 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.

    Made it through the hottest day of the year so far pretty alright honestly, the temperature readout on the fan in my bedroom said it was 26 degrees Celsius this morning and in general the inside of the flat feels more pleasant to be around.

    That said, this morning feels a lot worse for me due to encountering other sources of stress last night. I am not going to go into too many details but the short of it is fighting for what I am entitled for due to my unemployment status and that being made difficult because of the administration company handling the situation. 

    Woke up feeling tired as hell because of it, and it sucks knowing I can not attempt to start fixing things until tomorrow – will probably try to take today a little easier to try to keep my energy reserves intact.

    Considering I have been temporarily screwed out of what I am entitled to, why not consider helping me out and hiring me for some writing work? If these reviews prove anything I can tackle a wide-range of topics and I have plenty of experience in writing professional copy for all sorts of projects.

    With the weather being so hot yesterday, cool drinks were on the agenda, and something I picked up on a recent Asda trip really helped out keeping my temperature down.

    (I mention Asda a lot in these reviews, I am not sponsored – just a fan)

    As a small introduction, one of my goals this year was to learn how to make perfect frappes in my blender. I have a variety of supplies all around the kitchen along with different recipes to try out, but success is currently limited.

    Cue my surprise when I saw a mocha frappe powder from my favourite chocolate producer, Galaxy. I picked it up and was excited to try it out.

    On my first time of using the powder, I followed the blender recipe on the packaging exactly:

    • 100ml of milk
    • 100g of ice
    • 4 heaped teaspoons of powder

    This… did not turn out so well. The mixture was delicious but it wasn’t as sippable as I would have liked it to be, often needing me to poke it with a spoon to get it to pour.

    I was not deterred though, and I tried again a little later with the following recipe:

    • 200ml of milk
    • 125g of ice
    • 4 heaped teaspoons of powder

    Not only did this blend together better, this went down so smoothly. Hitting the exact spot I wanted from a homemade frappe – creamy, chocolatey, and a good hit of coffee, along with making a greater quantity of drink.

    In Asda this powder cost me £2.98, and with current milk prices of around £1.20 for 2 pints, it is extremely cost effective to make homemade frappes with this, something I very much appreciate in my situation.

    That about covers everything for a slow Sunday redundancy review. Wherever you are I hope you are able to relax today and take things easy, you definitely could do with some chill time.

    Galaxy Mocha Frappe powder is available at Asda and Tesco in the UK.

  • Redundacy Review: Day 9, “Keep On Keeping On”

    (for context on what this series is, please see my Day 1 post here: https://rosaliarambles.wordpress.com/2025/06/11/redundancy-review-day-1-a-new-beginning/)

    Good morning roadrunners and coyotes, welcome to Day 9 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.

    Yesterday was definitely a day of me not feeling myself, but after a relatively early night and a long lie-in this morning it is a different story today. Having a brief hangout with some good friends at a coffee shop also helped my mood a lot – social connection is helping me a lot through this time.

    We had a somewhat in-depth conversation about the nature of career growth, and how it has really shifted over recent years. There is obviously the ever-looming issue of Generative AI in today’s world, especially when it comes to the creative arts, but in general I feel there is another “indie renaissance” taking shape right now in all sorts of industries.

    With big budget gaming going on the way it is and new IP in film struggling to make an impact, there is a lot of space forming for smaller scale teams in collaboration with contractors to make creations that create more impact with audiences.

    In a way, that is part of what inspired me to restart my writing work… even before getting hit with the axe. There is a disclaimer on my Home page that no Generative AI content will be hosted on this site, with the two main reasons being:

    1. I have integrity when it comes to my writing as my art
    2. I firmly believe human creativity and collaboration wins out every time

    Having tested ChatGPT once or twice, primarily as research into its capabilities, my main impression was being surprised at how well it can string a coherent story together from a prompt… but that was where it ended.

    What it pumped out felt soulless to me. It knew the beats of a story and how to put it together, but there was no love behind those words – no passion for the subject other than regurgitating what it could scrape off the internet.

    Emotion is what drives my writing, my lived experiences and mental misalignments come through in my work no matter what the subject is. It is the core of my writing identity and what I feel differentiates me from a GenAI tool. I try to convey the feeling behind my words each time, be it pain, joy, or absolute fury.

    Nonetheless, it is a scary time for creatives, especially in writing. But I will keep doing what I do, writing from the heart every day about the things going on around me and talking about things that bring me joy.

    Keep on keeping on, as it were.

    (I have been playing way too much Death Stranding lately)

    If my impassioned speech against the use of GenAI writing resonated with you, why not consider hiring me for a writing project? That barely restrained fury is not the only emotion I could bring into your work, and I would love to collaborate with other people on projects too.

    With a nearly full page rant against the current state of creative writing done, I think it is time to move onto the review. 

    Disclaimer: despite me wanting to pay for my friends at this cafe, the product I am reviewing today was received for free. Price will be considered in the review all the same.

    When meeting up with my friends yesterday, we started in Shrewsbury Square and were intending to see where the vibes took us. In a Discord conversation one of them had mentioned a venue known as “Daily Brews” as one they liked, and with it both in close proximity & being entirely new to me, it felt like the perfect choice.

    Given how extremely hot and humid it is in the UK, a cold beverage was on the agenda. They did have iced latte and whilst I was craving a caffeine hit but it did not speak to me.

    Cue my delight then when I decided to look over the milkshake page of the menu and saw that any milkshake can have a shot of coffee added to it for £2 – adding that to a chocolate milkshake gave me my usual mocha.

    First off, the glass it arrived in was extremely fancy, being almost like a full goblet. Whenever I picked it up I felt my hand automatically adjusting to hold it in an appropriate way and it made me feel powerful when I did… even if I was drinking a caffeinated milkshake at the end of the day.

    The glasses were not all the same though, so it was sheer luck that I got this one. Regardless, bonus points for the glass.

    The milkshake itself went down perfectly, being extremely chocolatey and refreshing in the heat. The thickness was ideal as well, not getting clumped into the straw at any point, keeping it smooth to drink without any awkwardness.

    Whilst my body definitely responded to the coffee shot I had put into it, it was not exactly the taste of coffee. When it comes to adding coffee to chocolate-based items there is an art in adding enough not to introduce the flavour of coffee, but to enhance the richness of the chocolate instead. This was the case here, which I do not consider a negative point against the milkshake, just a reflection of my taste.

    As for the cost, this was definitely more on the pricey end, even when considering luxury milkshakes in Shrewsbury, though it is with the coffee in mind.

    A base milkshake is £4.90, which I think is a reasonable price for what you get, especially if you get a fancy glass as part of the deal. That said, I think £2 is a bit much for a shot of coffee, especially when in my milkshake I could not taste the coffee all that much. 

    I do intend to return to Daily Brews though, and try more things out soon.

    That covers everything, thank you for reading the Redundancy Review today. I hope you keep cool wherever you are and have a relaxing day where you can.

    For more information on Daily Brews, visit this website: Daily Brews | Original Shrewsbury

    (for some reason Google says it is permanently closed… really hope it did not shut forever one day after I visited xD)

  • Redundancy Review, Day 5: “Familial Ties”

    (for context on what this series is, please see my Day 1 post here: https://rosaliarambles.wordpress.com/2025/06/11/redundancy-review-day-1-a-new-beginning/)

    Good morning allfathers and allmothers, welcome to Day 5 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review

    If you can not tell from today’s iteration of my silly greeting, it is Father’s Day – which is appropriate for using “allfather” cause of Odin, but the only usage of “allmother” I can find is “Narwa the Allmother” from Monster Hunter Rise… which I love to pieces so it might be a redundancy review topic in future.

    I actually did go out with my dad today, which is why I am writing this piece a little later than usual, but I did get a subject for the review portion thanks to it so that has made me happy.

    For those who know me, my history with family has always been a little checkered and difficult, especially in the wake of my transition. There was a lot of friction after I came out properly to them and I reacted in quite a negative way to it, which led to more negativity on both sides as we both dug our heels in.

    Whilst I do not explicitly regret how I acted; there is definitely some element of knowing I did some things I should not have really done, and better ways to approach things.

    But my life philosophy is focusing on the here & now, whatever decisions I made have brought me to the point I am at and I should not dwell on things I could regret, instead choosing to try to live life the best I can.

    Concerning everything I talked about yesterday I actually feel remarkably calm and composed today. Maybe it was the longer amount of sleep I had, or the fact my dreaming was not a nightmare like it so often is. I am relaxed today, despite everything going on in my life currently, and it feels so relieving to actually be relaxed for a change.

    Helping with that is another food delivery from my mother – she works at a food hall so I often receive any product that needs to be wasted due to expiry dates or damaged packaging. These deliveries have been happening long before my redundancy but they are a genuine lifeline now in terms of helping to plan for meals and minimising what needs to be spent during the week.

    Granted it does mean my freezer is full up again when I have been actively trying to empty it out, but y’know, worse problems to have.

    A pretty positive mental state summary today, with the next positive note reminding any readers that I am available for writing work if you want to hire me. I have experience writing sci-fi, fantasy, and grounded pieces of fiction along with a vast swathe of professional business and creative copy in my line of work, I would love the opportunity to work on live projects again.

    Time to move onto the review, which actually does come with a disclaimer today. I will be reviewing the meal I had at Peaberry Grand Cafe in Shrewsbury, whilst I will be including the price in my assessment of the meal it was paid for by my dad (thanks for that!)

    To drink I ordered an Iced Frappe Latte, with the addition of some chocolate syrup. Something like this is a halfway point to what my choice of caffeinated beverage in summer usually is, being a Mocha Frappe. The chocolate flavour was not as pronounced as I would have liked it to be and honestly the coffee flavour was also a bit lacking compared to my taste, but as a vector of caffeine on a hot & humid day like today, it still hit the spot nonetheless.

    Plus I have a soft spot for drinks served in mason jar style glasses, there is a pleasingly rustic charm to them for me so bonus points to Peaberry for that.

    However, the main event was my usual brunch option of choice: a cheeseburger. To some it may seem weird, but to me there is no better option than that to keep me going for the rest of the day. Usually I would order an egg on top of the burger as well, but considering I was on my dad’s dime I did not want to take the piss.

    Even without my extra topping of choice, this was a beyond fantastic burger. The moment I bit into it the juices flowed into my mouth, the homemade beef patty being perfectly seasoned and not at all dry. The pickles underneath the burger were crinkle cut circle ones as opposed to strips, making each bite easier to manage and delivering acidic bursts of joy every time.

    The sauce was about what I would expect from “burger sauce”, some unknown mix of mayo, ketchup, and whatever else the chef might have put in to act as an extra layer of moisture to the burger – perfectly passable but nothing noteworthy.

    And finally, those chunky chips. Proper triple cooked chips with an incredible thickness, seasoned lightly with salt shortly after they came out of the fryer so it adhered properly, not needing any additional salt adding – only thing I needed to add was a small pot of mayo to make them the perfect accompaniment to such a beautiful burger.

    Now, as mentioned this was paid for by my dad, but the total cost of this meal was £18.65, breaking down into £4.65 for my drink and £14 for my food. For the price of the drink whilst it did give me the hit I needed, I definitely think it could have been better as well and if/when I return to Peaberry I will likely pick something else.

    The burger however I think was worth its price and then some. There are a fair few decent spots to get a burger in Shrewsbury, including an award-winning restaurant just a stone’s throw away from where I was today in the form of The Beefy Boys (if I get the resources I am definitely doing a review on them – fucking love that place).

    Peaberry’s cheeseburger though stands out as being of an exceptional quality without going far beyond what I would be expecting to pay elsewhere. At another local cafe I am about to get a standard cafe bacon cheeseburger with chips for around £10, and whilst a £4 jump is a fair bit to consider; the quality is definitely worth it.

    With potentially making a few people reading this hungry, we reach today’s conclusion. Thank you for reading my words today, if you are around your father figure today I hope you have a good day, and if this day is more difficult to you for whatever reason, I hope you are able to take care of yourself today. Treat yourself regardless, you definitely deserve a relaxing Sunday.

    For more information on Peaberry, visit their website here (a little outdated, but it has the vibe): my-peaberry.com | Shrewsbury Grand Cafe & Party Venue