recent techy blog posts

Getting a 403.501 error response from IIS? Check your 'Dynamic IP Restriction Settings'
Dynamic IP Address Restrictions are great, unless all the requests are coming from one IP address!
Posted 14/08/2018
Using the AngularJS 'ng-required' attribute to make fields co-dependent
A quick and dirty way to use the ng-required attribute to make fields co-dependent for validation purposes
Posted 15/07/2018
Creating a linked server that has a different name to the "real" server
Creating a linked server that lies about who it is; it can be useful sometimes
Posted 10/07/2018
How to console.log the name of the variable as well as its value
Using object literals to your advantage
Posted 28/06/2018
Counting the number of installed certificates via PowerShell
A quick way to count the number of installed certificates, should you need to know!
Posted 26/06/2018
"unable to load certificates" when using openssl to generate a PFX
Remember to export the certificate as Base-64 encoded, Rob!
Posted 21/06/2018
Quick Tip: Randomising a resultset from a SQL query
A quick and dirty way to get rows returned in a random order
Posted 17/06/2018
Creating projects and solutions using the dotnet command
Creating a solution and associated project using the dotnet command is quick and easy, here's how
Posted 16/06/2018
Always make sure you specify the length to CONVERT in SQL
Using CONVERT(VARCHAR, [Column]) without specifying the length of the VARCHAR is a silent data-loss risk
Posted 10/06/2018
SQL Server 2016 syntax for dropping objects
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS makes for much shorter, and safer, scripts when re-creating tables in SQL Server
Posted 31/05/2018
Structuring UPDATE and DELETE queries so that they're a little bit safer
Using this way to write mutation queries reduces the risk of an "oh crap, what've I deleted?" moment
Posted 30/05/2018
Using Google Analytics to track page views in an AngularJS single page application
Using Google Analytics to track page views in an AngularJS single page application
Posted 27/05/2018
TIL: Queries against linked servers... Be careful how you structure them!
Two near-identical queries, one gets executed remotely, the other doesn't...
Posted 13/04/2018
Braces on new lines in Visual Studio Code
Delving into settings for Visual Studio Code to get braces just the way I like them
Posted 13/04/2018
Using Visual Studio Code, Node.js and gulp.js to create a web application - Handling changes
This is going to be quite a short post, there's not a lot to getting the gulp script to re-process any changed files - but it's a very useful thing to have!
Posted 30/03/2018

recent cooking blog posts

Tomato, Mozarella and Basil plated salad
Another of the sides I roll out when we BBQ, a bit of variety other than a green salad makes a nice change
Posted 05/08/2018
Blueberry and Banana Mini-Muffins
Gooey, sticky and full of fruit. These mini-muffins disappear into hungry litte ones very quickly!
Posted 22/07/2018
Pork Loin steaks marinated in hoisin, ginger, garlic and chilli
It's nice to have something different on the BBQ from time to time, a marinade with sugar in it works really well with pork because the sugars in the honey help to carmelise and crisp up the fat on the BBQ
Posted 01/07/2018
Fish Pie
Fish Pie is such a comfort food, I have to confess that even in the height of summer this is something I'd contemplate eating though perhaps with a salad rather than steamed vegetables
Posted 29/06/2018
Cheese Scones
Cheese scones are a nice Sunday afternoon treat that takes very little time or effort
Posted 17/06/2018
Braised beef shin with thyme dumplings
Beef shin is a cheaper cut that needs a long and slow cook to get the most out of it, but after it's had the time, the result is well worth the wait!
Posted 06/03/2018
Beef Stroganoff
My take on beef stroganoff, made as a mushroom free dish, with Sirloin steak as a happy medium between fillet and rump
Posted 18/02/2018
Sea Bass parcels with asian flavours
This recipe is based on one by Donal Skehan, tweaked to account for what I had in the fridge and rustled up solely on the desire to use some Sea Bass fillets I had, but not to go for my usual 'go to' choice of serving it with a fresh mango salsa. It also has the bonus of being super quick to cook and the parcels keep the amount of washing up down, win/win!
Posted 24/01/2018
Five Cheese Macaroni Cheese
What's better than Macaroni Cheese? Macaroni Cheese with five different cheeses in it!
Posted 06/12/2017
Potatoes Dauphinoise
If roast potatoes aren't tickling my fancy, this creamy, garlicky dish is next up for potatoey goodness
Posted 06/11/2017
Slow braised leg of lamb
Cooking a leg of lamb for 3 hours? Heresy, you may cry. Try it, it really is delicious!
Posted 01/11/2017
Steak and Guinness Pie
Beef, Guinness, Pastry - happy days are here
Posted 28/10/2017
Broccoli and Cheddar soup
Another tasty soup, perfect for autumn that could be lifted even higher by using a blue cheese
Posted 14/10/2017
Soy, Honey and Garlic Chicken
Soy, Honey, Garlic, chicken thighs with slices of red chilli makes for a warming tasty meal
Posted 11/10/2017
Beef Stew with Horseradish
Beef stew, one of the reasons to celebrate autumn
Posted 08/10/2017

Getting a 403.501 error response from IIS? Check your 'Dynamic IP Restriction Settings' Dynamic IP Address Restrictions are great, unless all the requests are coming from one IP address! Posted 14/08/2018

Using the AngularJS 'ng-required' attribute to make fields co-dependent A quick and dirty way to use the ng-required attribute to make fields co-dependent for validation purposes Posted 15/07/2018

Creating a linked server that has a different name to the "real" server Creating a linked server that lies about who it is; it can be useful sometimes Posted 10/07/2018

How to console.log the name of the variable as well as its value Using object literals to your advantage Posted 28/06/2018

Counting the number of installed certificates via PowerShell A quick way to count the number of installed certificates, should you need to know! Posted 26/06/2018

"unable to load certificates" when using openssl to generate a PFX Remember to export the certificate as Base-64 encoded, Rob! Posted 21/06/2018

Quick Tip: Randomising a resultset from a SQL query A quick and dirty way to get rows returned in a random order Posted 17/06/2018

Creating projects and solutions using the dotnet command Creating a solution and associated project using the dotnet command is quick and easy, here's how Posted 16/06/2018

Always make sure you specify the length to CONVERT in SQL Using CONVERT(VARCHAR, [Column]) without specifying the length of the VARCHAR is a silent data-loss risk Posted 10/06/2018

SQL Server 2016 syntax for dropping objects DROP TABLE IF EXISTS makes for much shorter, and safer, scripts when re-creating tables in SQL Server Posted 31/05/2018

Structuring UPDATE and DELETE queries so that they're a little bit safer Using this way to write mutation queries reduces the risk of an "oh crap, what've I deleted?" moment Posted 30/05/2018

Using Google Analytics to track page views in an AngularJS single page application Using Google Analytics to track page views in an AngularJS single page application Posted 27/05/2018

TIL: Queries against linked servers... Be careful how you structure them! Two near-identical queries, one gets executed remotely, the other doesn't... Posted 13/04/2018

Braces on new lines in Visual Studio Code Delving into settings for Visual Studio Code to get braces just the way I like them Posted 13/04/2018

Using Visual Studio Code, Node.js and gulp.js to create a web application - Handling changes This is going to be quite a short post, there's not a lot to getting the gulp script to re-process any changed files - but it's a very useful thing to have! Posted 30/03/2018

Tomato, Mozarella and Basil plated salad Another of the sides I roll out when we BBQ, a bit of variety other than a green salad makes a nice change Posted 05/08/2018

Blueberry and Banana Mini-Muffins Gooey, sticky and full of fruit. These mini-muffins disappear into hungry litte ones very quickly! Posted 22/07/2018

Pork Loin steaks marinated in hoisin, ginger, garlic and chilli It's nice to have something different on the BBQ from time to time, a marinade with sugar in it works really well with pork because the sugars in the honey help to carmelise and crisp up the fat on the BBQ Posted 01/07/2018

Fish Pie Fish Pie is such a comfort food, I have to confess that even in the height of summer this is something I'd contemplate eating though perhaps with a salad rather than steamed vegetables Posted 29/06/2018

Cheese Scones Cheese scones are a nice Sunday afternoon treat that takes very little time or effort Posted 17/06/2018

Braised beef shin with thyme dumplings Beef shin is a cheaper cut that needs a long and slow cook to get the most out of it, but after it's had the time, the result is well worth the wait! Posted 06/03/2018

Beef Stroganoff My take on beef stroganoff, made as a mushroom free dish, with Sirloin steak as a happy medium between fillet and rump Posted 18/02/2018

Five Cheese Macaroni Cheese What's better than Macaroni Cheese? Macaroni Cheese with five different cheeses in it! Posted 06/12/2017

Potatoes Dauphinoise If roast potatoes aren't tickling my fancy, this creamy, garlicky dish is next up for potatoey goodness Posted 06/11/2017

Slow braised leg of lamb Cooking a leg of lamb for 3 hours? Heresy, you may cry. Try it, it really is delicious! Posted 01/11/2017

Steak and Guinness Pie Beef, Guinness, Pastry - happy days are here Posted 28/10/2017

Broccoli and Cheddar soup Another tasty soup, perfect for autumn that could be lifted even higher by using a blue cheese Posted 14/10/2017

Soy, Honey and Garlic Chicken Soy, Honey, Garlic, chicken thighs with slices of red chilli makes for a warming tasty meal Posted 11/10/2017

Beef Stew with Horseradish Beef stew, one of the reasons to celebrate autumn Posted 08/10/2017

Getting a 403.501 error response from IIS? Check your 'Dynamic IP Restriction Settings'
Dynamic IP Address Restrictions are great, unless all the requests are coming from one IP address!
Posted 14/08/2018

Using the AngularJS 'ng-required' attribute to make fields co-dependent
A quick and dirty way to use the ng-required attribute to make fields co-dependent for validation purposes
Posted 15/07/2018

Creating a linked server that has a different name to the "real" server
Creating a linked server that lies about who it is; it can be useful sometimes
Posted 10/07/2018

How to console.log the name of the variable as well as its value
Using object literals to your advantage
Posted 28/06/2018

Counting the number of installed certificates via PowerShell
A quick way to count the number of installed certificates, should you need to know!
Posted 26/06/2018

"unable to load certificates" when using openssl to generate a PFX
Remember to export the certificate as Base-64 encoded, Rob!
Posted 21/06/2018

Quick Tip: Randomising a resultset from a SQL query
A quick and dirty way to get rows returned in a random order
Posted 17/06/2018

Creating projects and solutions using the dotnet command
Creating a solution and associated project using the dotnet command is quick and easy, here's how
Posted 16/06/2018

Always make sure you specify the length to CONVERT in SQL
Using CONVERT(VARCHAR, [Column]) without specifying the length of the VARCHAR is a silent data-loss risk
Posted 10/06/2018

SQL Server 2016 syntax for dropping objects
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS makes for much shorter, and safer, scripts when re-creating tables in SQL Server
Posted 31/05/2018

Structuring UPDATE and DELETE queries so that they're a little bit safer
Using this way to write mutation queries reduces the risk of an "oh crap, what've I deleted?" moment
Posted 30/05/2018

Using Google Analytics to track page views in an AngularJS single page application
Using Google Analytics to track page views in an AngularJS single page application
Posted 27/05/2018

TIL: Queries against linked servers... Be careful how you structure them!
Two near-identical queries, one gets executed remotely, the other doesn't...
Posted 13/04/2018

Braces on new lines in Visual Studio Code
Delving into settings for Visual Studio Code to get braces just the way I like them
Posted 13/04/2018

Using Visual Studio Code, Node.js and gulp.js to create a web application - Handling changes
This is going to be quite a short post, there's not a lot to getting the gulp script to re-process any changed files - but it's a very useful thing to have!
Posted 30/03/2018

Tomato, Mozarella and Basil plated salad
Another of the sides I roll out when we BBQ, a bit of variety other than a green salad makes a nice change
Posted 05/08/2018

Blueberry and Banana Mini-Muffins
Gooey, sticky and full of fruit. These mini-muffins disappear into hungry litte ones very quickly!
Posted 22/07/2018

Pork Loin steaks marinated in hoisin, ginger, garlic and chilli
It's nice to have something different on the BBQ from time to time, a marinade with sugar in it works really well with pork because the sugars in the honey help to carmelise and crisp up the fat on the BBQ
Posted 01/07/2018

Fish Pie
Fish Pie is such a comfort food, I have to confess that even in the height of summer this is something I'd contemplate eating though perhaps with a salad rather than steamed vegetables
Posted 29/06/2018

Cheese Scones
Cheese scones are a nice Sunday afternoon treat that takes very little time or effort
Posted 17/06/2018

Braised beef shin with thyme dumplings
Beef shin is a cheaper cut that needs a long and slow cook to get the most out of it, but after it's had the time, the result is well worth the wait!
Posted 06/03/2018

Beef Stroganoff
My take on beef stroganoff, made as a mushroom free dish, with Sirloin steak as a happy medium between fillet and rump
Posted 18/02/2018

Five Cheese Macaroni Cheese
What's better than Macaroni Cheese? Macaroni Cheese with five different cheeses in it!
Posted 06/12/2017

Potatoes Dauphinoise
If roast potatoes aren't tickling my fancy, this creamy, garlicky dish is next up for potatoey goodness
Posted 06/11/2017

Slow braised leg of lamb
Cooking a leg of lamb for 3 hours? Heresy, you may cry. Try it, it really is delicious!
Posted 01/11/2017

Steak and Guinness Pie
Beef, Guinness, Pastry - happy days are here
Posted 28/10/2017

Broccoli and Cheddar soup
Another tasty soup, perfect for autumn that could be lifted even higher by using a blue cheese
Posted 14/10/2017

Soy, Honey and Garlic Chicken
Soy, Honey, Garlic, chicken thighs with slices of red chilli makes for a warming tasty meal
Posted 11/10/2017

Beef Stew with Horseradish
Beef stew, one of the reasons to celebrate autumn
Posted 08/10/2017