Myself and my housemates Tom and Dean wake up this morning with the type of heads that demand sausages. Eggs. Farls. Soda bread. Deans wants a milkshake. We all want a coke. It’s finally time for me to experience the Belfast institution that is Blinkers cafe.
The interior of this cafe is amazing. So many Tiffany lamps. We each get a coke and they come in these dotey half pint glasses. Tom gets tea and the teapot doesn’t sit flat on the table, it’s hot as lava and it leaks when you pour. Perfect. Dean gets a strawberry milkshake that has a scoop of ice cream in it - Dean calls this ‘a big floater’ and it’s almost too much for my delicate condition. We each taste the milkshake and agree it’s straightforward Nesquik powder mixed with milk. We love it.
Each of us get an Ulster fry with extra pudding and I get beans. Mine ends up coming with an extra egg by accident and I’m very happy about this accident. It’s delicious but first it makes me feel bad and then it makes me feel good again. And yes reader, I eat the eggs in my controversial way.
Before a performance as part of Outburst we get a half pint and I’m not delighted about the glass the barman picked but it’s still delicious. We play cards and talk about what we want for dinner.
We call In to Lidl on the way home. It feels like the entire Belfast population is in there and it stresses me out. Normally, I love supermarkets. Being in spaces where food is sold gives me inexplicable calmness. The snazzy ones especially. Picture me in one of these. M & S gets me going. The idea of doing the big shop there - mother may I! I simply must and do get one of these giant kinder eggs. What is it about the chocolate in these eggs and what is it about the toy (toys aren’t as good anymore IYKYK). Bonus unrelated image of this man with a bucket of candy floss which he was swinging happily.
I make a snack plate when I get in which is v mixed but all good. Manchego, a smear of quince paste, honeydew and parma again, a pasta del data, and these dark chocolate covered orange slices - high brow Jaffa cakes.
I drink another burdock boggy spritz while we prep dinner. Dinner is a group effort - It’s this Meera Sodha recipe but instead of wild garlic we use chives and instead of chicken oysters we use chicken legs. Tom makes flat breads. I squeeze liberal lime on mine, and have some salad shoved in on the side, some extra yoghurt on top, a shake of sumac. We make an out-of-season Campari soda.
Katie Watchorn (@katiewatchorn) is an Irish visual artist who primarily makes sculpture. She is currently living in Belfast.