Saturday 31 May 2014
San Francisco
I was
reminded of the city of San Francisco when
watching the America's Cup yacht racing last year – which New Zealand lost from
a seemingly unlosable position – sigh.
But if you think yacht racing is boring just look at this clip of the New
Zealand boat almost flipping over and then miraculously righting itself.
We may not
have won but the beautiful harbour was showcased. The iconic Golden Gate bridge. Alcatraz.
What's not to like?
I spent 3
weeks there once and enjoyed the city enormously. I can vouch for the truth of the fact that
summers in San Francisco can be a lot colder than you expect.
My first
and only experience of live baseball was in San Francisco. I found it quite mysterious – but then I
guess most Americans would say the same about cricket or rugby!
I particularly enjoyed the
time I spent in Sausalito. You have to
cross the Golden Gate Bridge to get there.
Friday 30 May 2014
Food on Friday: Broccoli & Brussels Sprouts
ON
Food on Friday: Broccoli & Brussels Sprouts is collecting all and any dishes featuring
either broccoli or Brussels sprouts – both are said to be very good for you –
but I have to admit I find them a bit boring and am always looking for ways to
jazz them up a bit!
To add your
dish just pop the name of the dish (and your blog name/name if you like) into
the first Mr Linky box and paste the url for your post about it into the second
one.
I'll be
pinning the dishes to this
Pinboard so that should make it easier for you to check out the other
dishes.
Thursday 29 May 2014
Need Some Inspiration? Try Dairy Free dishes!
Chickpea Curry |
There were 80 Dairy Free dishes in the Food
on Friday: Dairy Free
collection – absolutely fab. Thank you
to all who contributed.
I have
selected a few of the dishes to inspire you today. You can see the rest of them at a glance on
this Pinboard.
Lisa from
Cooking with Curls brought us this Limoncello
Tiramisu Ice Cream
Look at
these ingenious Mini
Tahini Cups with a Creamy Coffee Date Filling by Lisa's Kitchen.
Wednesday 28 May 2014
Still Life with Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen
To be
honest, Still Life with Bread Crumbs is
the first book by Anna Quindlen that I have really enjoyed. It drew me in from the very first page. The protagonist, Rebecca Winter, is quite
believable. It is very well written –
not literary in the sense of being inaccessible but definitely more literary
than the average best seller.
I am not
going to spoil the book for you – it was published in 2014 and I recommend it
to you.
One unusual
thing about the book was the way the chapters were named. Here is a sample:
How she wound up there – the
inspirational version
Knew it when she saw it
Safe as houses
What happened next – him
Mysterious and heart-breaking
It's almost
like the author is communicating directly with you through the chapter names
rather than the protagonist. It was a
little odd but I liked it.
The cover
of the book, while attractive, doesn't really give any clues as to what the
book is about. Some Goodreads reviews
say it is a love story but I don't think that is the guts of the book at all.
Tuesday 27 May 2014
Sausage 'Golf' Balls with Mustard Sauce
Sausage 'Golf' Balls with Mustard
Sauce was based on
a Nigel Slater dish from his book, Eat.
I did make some changes but wouldn't have thought of the basic approach
without having seen his recipe.
The sausage
balls are beyond easy to make. No
seasoning, no breadcrumbs, no egg – just one ingredient – sausage meat. But make sure the sausages you buy are top
quality ones – I used continental pork sausages.
All you do
is remove the skin and then roll the sausage meat into golf ball sized balls
using damp hands. And your meatballs are
ready to cook.
I fried
them to get a nice colour first and then put them into a moderate oven to
finish cooking through.
Then to
make the sauce I just put some chicken
stock with a splash of Worcestershire Sauce into the pan (after pouring off the
fat – or most of it). After boiling that for a minute or 2 I added ½
cup of dream, a tablespoon of Dijon mustard as well as salt and pepper. I also added a small amount of mustard powder
and turmeric just for the colour. After
you've simmered it for a few more minutes it can be poured over the sausage
balls and you're done. Garnish with some
chopped chives to make it pretty.
Simple and
very surprisingly delicious.
PS the original recipe
called for beef stock.
Monday 26 May 2014
Capital City of the Week – Athens
Athens is one of the world's oldest cities. It is pretty well known so I have tried to deal
with some lesser known aspects of the city.
There are
148 theatrical stages in Athens –
said to be more than any other city in the world.
Doris Day
Doris Day was born in 1922 – which makes her
now 92 years old! Wow!
Doris's
first ever hit was Sentimental Journey (YouTube clip) in 1945. She also was in almost 40 films. The only one
I can remember seeing was Calamity Jane.
My
favourite Doris Day song is Que Sera
Sera (YouTube
clip)– fabulous lyrics and tune. I
also really love Perhaps, Perhaps,
Perhaps (YouTube clip).
Day is
retired from the entertainment business but is still active in animal
protection issues.
Sunday 25 May 2014
Layered Tuna Salad
This Layered Tuna Salad was fun to plan and
put together – and tasted fab too! A win win win!
I think
this is the first dish I have planned out on paper before starting!
These were
the layers – starting from the bottom of the salad and working the way up to
the top. I seasoned each layer as I
went.
Layer 1 – this was the thickest layer – a
bed of lettuce broken up into bite sized pieces – it would have also been good
shredded.
Layer 2 – a red and crunchy layer made up of
chopped red bell pepper (capsicum) and radish.
Layer 3 – green and crunchy chopped
cornichons (little pickled cucumbers) that would be nice next to the tuna.
Layer 4 – one can of tuna, drained of its
water
Layer 5 – a seasoning layer with
alternating dobs of mayonnaise and chilli capsicum jelly along with a small
amount of finely chopped red onion.
Layer 6 – Slices of perfectly ripe avocado
(which had a squeeze of lemon juice over them to keep the colour bright green)
Layer 7 – A yellow layer of corn kernels
(pre-cooked) and chopped yellow bell pepper (capsicum)
Layer 8 – A final red layer around the
edges of the top, letting some of the yellow layer show on top of tomato and
finely chopped fresh red chilli.
Once I had
planned the layers I prepped all the ingredients before assembling the
salad. I have an admission to make – I
tried to make sure 2 sides of the salad and the top looked pretty but didn't
worry too much about the bits that wouldn't show in a photo!
Just before
serving add a splash of your favourite salad dressing on top – you don't need
too much because of the mayo layer. I
used a Caesar dressing. It is really
important to season each layer as you go – particularly the avocado one.
Saturday 24 May 2014
Things to know when visiting Thailand
If you respect
these Thai customs when you visit you will be appreciated by the Thai people
you meet.
First, the
wai – when you meet someone you put your hands together like you would in
prayer at chest level and bow your head.
You do the same when you say goodbye.
Second,
remember that the Thai people revere their monarchy. Don't ever make fun of this or disparaging
comments – it's actually a criminal offence to do so.
Most
buildings will have spirit houses or altars – don't touch them.
It is
important not to touch anyone's head – that is regarded as offensive. And shoes are not to be worn indoors in
private houses or in religious sites.
Some traditional restaurants also require shoes to be removed.
When you
are in a restaurant try not to put your handbag on the floor – the floor is regarded
as dirty. In upmarket restaurants women
are given separate little stools to put your handbag on. Or you could get a handbag hanger – I bought
one not long ago but am not confident that it is really strong enough to hold
my handbag – which is stuffed full of stuff!
Of course
the major highlight of any visit to Thailand is the food!
Many of you
will know a lot more about Thailand than I do.
Please feel free to add your comments.
Friday 23 May 2014
Food on Friday: Dried Fruit
This time Food on Friday is building a collection
of dishes using dried fruit in them –
whether the dishes are sweet or savoury.
Or, indeed, posts about how to dry fruit too!
To add to
the collection just pop the name of your dish into the first Mr Linky box (plus
your blog name/name, if you like) and then paste the url for your post about it
into the second box.
There are
no rules other than having fun! It would
be great if you visited some of the other links – to help you pick which I will
be pinning each dish to this Pinboard.
And if you
enjoy Food on Friday, it would be lovely if you invited another blog friend
along to join in the fun. If you ask
them to leave a comment about it being their first time, we'll know to welcome
them properly.
Thursday 22 May 2014
Need Some Inspiration? Try Lentils & other pulses
Warm Lentil, Cranberry & Haloumi Salad |
Thanks to Food
on Friday: Lentils & Pulses I now have a whole bundle of dishes to try
out. I have selected a handful of them
for your delectation today. To see the
others at a glance, visit this
Pinboard.
The top pic
is of Ask Sarah's Warm
Lentil, Cranberry & Haloumi Salad
Richly
Braised Lentils by
TIFFIN
Lentil
Rice Cakes by Platter Talk
Orange
Shallot Tofu served on a bed of Lentils by Life Currents
Spanish
Chorizo with Haricot Beans by
Mamacook
English
Baked Beans by Small Wallet Big Appetite
Wednesday 21 May 2014
An Experiment – trying Gordon's tip for easily peeling hard boiled eggs
I've always had issues when peeling hard boiled eggs so when I was watching a Gordon Ramsay programme and he said that you could peel eggs easily his way, I immediately made a mental note to try it out.
It seemed such an easy idea and I had confidence that it would work. To test it I hard boiled 2 eggs from the same batch. I have posted about the method I use for getting perfect hard boiled eggs here.
So with one of the eggs I just let it sit in cold water as per usual. For the other I used Gordon's tip – I tapped the egg to crack it in several places and then put it back into the cold water again for a couple of minutes.
And yes – one of the eggs peeled very easily and the other was a bit of a shambles – but the thing is – the egg that was not put back into the water after cracking was the one that didn't work well!
So – Gordon – your tip didn't work for me! Back to the drawing board.
La Vie est Belle by Henrietta Heald
La Vie est Belle is a simply delightful coffee table book which captures a feel of French style. It is not a recipe book – there is one recipe at the end of each chapter – of a classic dish but you wouldn't read this book for the food.
If you love French style this book will draw you in. Super photographs and interesting text. I leafed through it in one sitting and felt inspired. It is a book that you could go to time and time again and each time notice a new detail.
The author is an English woman who has spent a lot of time in France and her love for the country shines through this book. If you go to France, though and expect everything to look like this book, you will be disappointed. The book has not allowed commercial signs, brands etc to show up and so it is an idealized version of the reality.
The pics have been taken from the book and I hope they will give you a flavour of what to expect. Get it from the library and inhale the atmosphere.
Tuesday 20 May 2014
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