We’ve always been pretty hot on eating meals at the table.  None of those tray-top takeaways here, where places to takeaway are just too far to…well…bring it home hot.  Now there are just two of us at home, however, we have developed a bad habit of watching TV as we eat our evening meal, in particular.  Often it’s the first chance to catch up on the news, other times it’s simply that there’s a programme we’d like to catch, which was the case this evening, when Simon Hopkinson was on TV.

Simon has long been a favourite.  We are fans of the small, simple “roast chicken”  paperbacks and frequently refer to his “Week In Week Out” as well.  Bibendum has provided some of our most memorable meals (hasn’t it, Mary?) and as a result, as we enjoyed our supper this evening, we were also enjoying the preparation of Fish Pilaf.

But this is the 21st century, isn’t it?  And surely, no-one would be surprised that an iphone was on hand, complete with QR reader app, ready and waiting for when the dish was complete?

And being “that” kind of household, that a digital camera was also nearby, to be able to record that moment when the iphone was held to the screen, to capture the 2D barcode in an instant?

Resulting in the recipe being there, ready in the twinkling of an eye; so quickly it even took my hero’s breath away.

There.  You didn’t really think he was so easily impressed, did you?

However, one of us is an old hand when it comes to 2D barcodes and is secretly rather thrilled that the rest of the world is finally catching up.  Except I’ve moved on to this

Details here.  Download the free Microsoft tag reader for your smartphone and hover over the colourful square above.

How clever is that?