ARF/5-A-Day-Tuesday #9: Red Camargue Rice Fry-Up

This really does look good on the plate: a mixture of red Camargue rice, brown rice, black wild rice, and colourful vegetables. Mine contained some left overs from Sunday (carrots and broccoli), cut into smaller units, plus fresh vegetables, cut into very small cubes or julienned (carrots, red pepper, leek). I also added half a red chili and toasted sesame oil to heat everything up. Plus sweet chili sauce, nam pla, lime juice and coriander. Totally yum; at least 5-a-day, and entirely vegetarian.
(Don't overdo the sesame oil - it swamps out all the other delicate tastes.)

Later:
Oooops... I did it again: forgot to mention what this is all about! It is, of course, another entry for sweetnicks' health-conscious Tuesday, when we all try to create a dish which contains 5 vegetables and/or ARF (rich in antioxidants) foods.
Check it out on sweetnicks' fabulous site!

ARF/5-A-Day Tuesday #7:In the Pink - Beetroot Cocktail

As part of sweetnicks' weekly appeal to eat a healthier diet - at least every Tuesday - and just in time for Valentine’s Day:

Beetroot Cocktail... Well, as you can probably see, it’s more of a starter masquerading as a cocktail. It was originally inspired by a sudden yearning for Danish Herring Salad when I saw my jar of baby beetroot in the fridge. I also had uncooked beetroot but that was reserved for a beetroot curry, and this Herring Salad is a vinegary affair, so pickled beetroots are just right.
Of course, I had no herring in the house, but I concluded that it wasn’t the herring I was after (besides, it has far too many calories...), it was the pink, creamy sauce with gherkins and tart apples. So I concocted the following.

2-3 pickled baby beetroots, cubed
1 tart apple, peeled, cored and cubed
diced onion or shallot
mayonnaise
Philadelphia light
juice of 1 orange
pickled jalapenos
cumin and coriander seeds, pounded as finely as possible with pestle and mortar
fresh mint, chopped finely and for decoration


At least I think that’s all I used. I’m vague on the exact amount of Philadelphia and mayonnaise because it was a gradual process of not letting either the mayonnaise taste or the chalkiness of the cheese dominate. I used an orange because it had to go – lemon juice would be an alternative though it might make it too acidic. I replaced the gherkins with the jalapenos for a bit more kick, and that worked a treat. Cumin and coriander are perfect partners for beetroot, so they are a must. (The powdered variety might work, too.) Mint complements beetroot really well, but obviously, fresh coriander would also have fitted, and I bet dill would work a treat.

I loved it, and Tom - who hates beetroot, and rather suspected the striking colour could only be achieved by adding the detested tuber - also thought it was rather nice!! Wow!

He absolutely hated the beetroot curry though, which I served later. ... And in all fairness, I have to report that the alleged uses as an aphrodisiac leave something to be desired...

Yes, really, beetroot is said to have those magic qualities; in fact it's quite amazing what you can find out about this humble root vegetable once you get started. Unfortunately, I can't quite lay my hand on the notebook in which I recorded the properties of beetroot and the myths it is associated with, and it's also rather late, so this will have to wait until I get the next opportunity to try out some other interesting beetroot recipe.

Tom thinks I've been taken over by some strange sick bug which compells me to rise to the challenge of cooking the inedible, of making the unspeakable palatable. -- Whatever next? Radish icecream with rhubarb sauce?? Melon soup with liver dumplings??? *And why do we have a brain in the vegetable rack?!!

Well, as I said, more about beetroot (and also about 'brains') some other time. I must fly. (No, actually - drive - the fatherland calls...)

'See' you soon.

* Careful! Heston Blumenthal might nick these ideas!!!

Do make sure you check everyone else's fabulous ideas for a vegetable and antioxidant rich dish over at sweetnicks. And thank you sweetnicks, for being so efficient!!!

ARF/5-A-Day Tuesday #6: Roasted Red Pepper & Blueberry Soup

Well, this 'creation' only came about because of one of my all too frequent kitchen mishaps, if not to say 'disasters'. - Tom thinks I should call this blog 'Zabeena's Kitchen Catastrophies', and I think he's got a point, tonight's 'blackened carrots' being a prime example (just think hazelnut macaroons - see 'Biscuit Bonanza' - and replace 'attic' with 'ebay', and you get the general idea).

In this instance, I had to make a quick U-turn when the 'soup' I had de-frosted turned out to be apple puree. (Do you not label your frozen food?!! -- I hear you ask - eh ... no...; the labels kept coming off, and most of the time, I do know what I'm de-frosting...).

So, a dead-easy, dead quick soup had to be invented (as SOUP it had to be -- diets always turn me into a Homo Soupiens®© - please quote me if you want to use this expression! -, because soups are so satisfying even when they don't contain many calories).

I took a carton of passata, whizzed a few roasted red peppers with onions, garlic, basil and a handful of blueberries. This I added to the passata, alongside Worcestershire sauce, a dash of tabasco and a dash of jalapeno relish, salt and pepper. I then heated it all up, while the sunflower seed roll was being browned in the oven. (Still the one where the door has to be kept shut with the stepladders, oh yes...)

Quick, easy and effective. Just how I like things.

For those of you who like to cook things completely from scratch, here is my Mum's recipe for a wonderful Irish Tomato Soup - to which, I daresay, one could add roasted red peppers and blueberry quite easily.
(What exactly is supposed to be Irish about it, I don't know... there aren't even potatoes in it..., sorry, stereotypes, stereotypes..., nah, sorry, no time fopr a discussion tonight...)

Ingredients

500g very ripe tomatoes
1 medium sized onion
4 TBsp of butter
3 TBsp of flour
3/4 l stock
3 TBsp of tomato puree
1/8 l milk
1 Tbsp herbs (basil, parsley, thyme)
salt, pepper, 1 tsp of sugar
1/8 l cream

Method

Scald tomatoes with boiling water, remove skin and seeds; cut into strips. Dice onions finely, fry in butter until transluscent; add flour, bring to the boil. add tomatoes and broth. Boil for 10 minutes, without lid. Pasteurize, add tomato puree, milk and seasoning.
Pour into soup bowls and add whipped cream.

PS: This is actually last week's contribution, which I didn't manage to upload! (There is something very strange going on - that's twice in a row that I couldn't upload in time!!)
PPS: up-date on the diet front: only 1/2 kg last week, but that was quite an achievement, considering the amount of alc I had, and the girlie night with Tiramisu, of all things! -- And again, only 1/2 kg this week --- well, better than nothing...

Thanks to sweetnicks for coming up with the idea of ARF/5-A-Day Tuesday, and for doing the round-up! It's always chock-a-block with ideas for using high profile veg in your next meal. I tried out the red potatoes grilled in the GF straight away! (Which worked a treat, though my definition of parboiled certainly needs some re-adjusting!!)

EoMEoTE#14 - Poetic Injustice: Two-Tone Crema Pasticcera

It was Rosa, our wonderful Neapolitan au-pair, who introduced me to Crema Pasticcera, in one of our long 'let's compare recipes' sessions. Really, she should have taken advantage of all the Strategic Management Books in the house, as she was going on to take an MBA after this stint with us to improve her English, but instead, she chose to take one of my cookery books upstairs every night. And then we would end up discussing the differences - Italian - English - German. In the case of Crema Pasticcera coming to the conclusion that it is, in effect, nothing else but a thick custard. (But again - doesn't it sound so much better in Italian??!!)

The two-tone version was a great success with the children at the time, and when Frank saw me making a Tiramisu for a friend's dinner party the other day, he reminded me of (and insisted on having soon) this child-friendly version of a trifle without fruit, jelly or cream. So, here it is, in time for EoMEoTE#14. (The one and only ovo-literal event, organised by the wonderful Jeanne over at cook sister!)It contains egg (3 yolks) and carbohydrates in the form of spongefingers (also confusingly known as ladyfingers).

My poem is based on Sylvia Plath's 'Daddy' --This is terribly flippant, so apologies are in order, I expect...

Eggy

You do not do, you do not do
Any whites, oh no.
Just 3 yolks, beaten well
With 30 sugars, pure & white,
One hundred grams to be precise.

Eggy, I have had to kill you.
I beat you up in time.
Flour-heavy, heat to boiling point.
When it’s creamy, go and add
Butter, vanilla, straight from the pod.

Two-tone crema – o you!
Cocoa-man, cocoa-man, you too!
Ladyfingers soaked in juice,
Sugar syrup in the German tongue,
- Zucker! And Orange juice, Ach du!


RECIPE:

3 egg yolks
100g sugar
50 g flour
1/2 l of whole milk
juice of half an orange (1 lemon)
sugar, water

Cover a serving dish with spongefingers; soak them with orange or lemon juice and sugar syrup.
Mix the eggs with the sugar, beat to a cream, put in the flour (sieved) and milk, and then heat up to boiling point, stirring the whole time; ca. 10 minutes.
When it's creamy, add 1 tsp of butter and vanilla sugar.
For the two-tone effect, add cocoa powder to half the cream. Pour the two types of cream on top of the soaked spongefingers. Leave to cool.

ARF/5-A-Day Tuesday #4: Cipolle Ripiene

Well, to you and me that’s just “Stuffed Onion”, but my, doesn’t it sound a hell of a lot better in Italian?

There are thousands of recipes out there, and mine is a variation of loads of them, driven by my desire to get as many vegetables and/or ARF foods into it,

As it was, I managed:

onions (obviously!), red pepper, carrot, courgette, garlic (does that qualify as a vegetable??!!)

My portion was served on a spinach salad (see above), and we also had mash from russet potatoes (well, at least I assume they were russet potatoes, I bought them at my wonderful Indian supermarket as ‘red’ potatoes). They made a lovely mash, which my three men enjoyed a lot (ultimate comfort food, apparently!). I had only a bit of that because I had added a generous knob of butter (how do you replace the butter in mash? Would olive oil have done? Joanna? What do you do?)

The following recipe is a rough approximation of what I did tonight.


Cipolle Ripiene

Ingredients

3 large Spanish Onions
½ pound of very lean turkey mince
1 red pepper
1 courgette, grated
1 carrot, grated
2 slices of prosciutto/Parma ham*
1 egg, beaten
½ pack of Philadelphia light
nutmeg, freshly grated
garlic
olive oil
coriander**
1 chilli
salt, pepper
dash of tabasco
breadcrumbs

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C, grease a baking dish. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Peel onions and slice off tops, boil them for 12-15 minutes until tender but not mushy; drain, cool, and remove centres, leaving shell intact. Chop centres. In the meantime, fry chopped tops and garlic, add mince meat and finely chopped pepper. In a large bowl, combine meat mixture, egg, cream cheese, vegetables, chopped onion centres, herbs and spices. Mix well. Place the onion shells in the greased baking dish, fill with meat mixture, sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Form any remaining mixture into balls and add to the dish. Cover dish and bake for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake for 5-15 minutes.
Serve on bed of spinach or rocket salad (with a balsamic, olive oil, mustard dressing) and/or potato mash.

* I actually use Schwarzwälder Schinken from Lidl, which is cheaper, and which I personally prefer.
** I had a lot of coriander to use up; any other fresh herb will do (in the various recipes, I came across basil, thyme, parsley, rosemary & oregano)

Other variants

Other combinations in terms of filling I came across: sausage meat instead of mince; chilli sauce, mustard, paprika, parmiggiano reggiano, 1 amaretti (crushed), thin breadsticks (crushed), 1 TBsp grappa; grated cheddar, tomato sauce, capers, anchovies, pine nuts, bread, borlotti beans, olives, peas, chopped mushrooms, ¼ cup dried cranberries, ¼ cup currants, white wine

In one version, each stuffed onion was topped with mashed potato


Verdict

Well, it looks great, but to be quite honest, it’s not really worth all the bother. Still, I’d call it a success, as everyone finished everything, which means they’ve all ingested vegetables they wouldn’t normally have eaten.

RESULT!!!



PS: Where did this week go?
PPS: I lost 1 kg (14 to go...), even though I didn’t go teetotal, and despite my working through the nut bowl! Yeah!!!

ARF/5-A-Day Tuesday: Black Beluga Lentils

Yesterday, I finally started the diet. I need to lose at least 15 kg, which roughly translates into 2 ½ stones. I’ve done it before, so I reckon I can do it again. For my ideal weight, I would have to lose even more than that but last time I came near, I had got rather wrinkly, and even bony in areas where my husband doesn’t like me bony (in fact, my husband would be quite happy with me staying as I am – mainly so that he doesn’t have to go on a diet...). More on that topic later.

sweetnicks’ ARF/5-A-Day-Tuesday fits in nicely with the intentions to eat a healthier diet, so I intend to be part of it from now on.

If you already know all about it, skip the following, and go straight to the recipe, which probably only just qualifies but has the added advantage of using a pulse type I had not tried before.

ARF stands for Antioxidant Rich Foods

Below, I have reproduced sweetnicks' list of the top 20, but I have grouped them into categories because that way they can be checked more easily for adding them to recipes and/or thinking up recipes:

Antioxidant Rich Foods (the Top 20):

Berries:
Wild blueberries
Blueberries
Cranberries
Blackberries
Raspberries
Strawberries
Other fruit:
Red Delicious Apples
Granny Smith Apples
Gala Apples
Sweet cherries
Plums
Black plums
Prunes
Pulses:
Small red beans (dried)
Red kidney beans
Pinto beans
Black beans (dried)
Vegetables:
Artichokes (cooked)
Russet potatoes (cooked)
Nuts:
Pecans

sweetnicks also provided this link and Alanna, trying to find more VEGETABLES for this list, reports the following:

“I did find this helpful list, many thanks to the Heart Center from the Cleveland Clinic.
Antioxidant - Good Food Sources
For Vitamin C -- Citrus fruits and their juices, berries, dark green vegetables (spinach, asparagus, green peppers, brussel sprouts, broccoli, watercress, other greens), red and yellow peppers, tomatoes and tomato juice, pineapple, cantaloupe, mangos, papaya and guava.
For Vitamin E -- Vegetable oils such as olive, soybean, corn, cottonseed and safflower, nuts and nut butters, seeds, whole grains, wheat, wheat germ, brown rice, oatmeal, soybeans, sweet potatoes, legumes (beans, lentils, split peas) and dark leafy green vegetables.
For Selenium -- Brazil nuts, brewer’s yeast, oatmeal, brown rice, chicken, eggs, dairy products, garlic, molasses, onions, salmon, seafood, tuna, wheat germ, whole grains, most vegetables.
For Beta Carotene -- Variety of dark orange, red, yellow and green vegetables and fruits such as broccoli, kale, spinach, sweet potatoes, carrots, red and yellow peppers, apricots, cantaloupe and mangos.
In my search, one name keeps popping up. It's MJ Smith, a nutritionist and cookbook author who ten years ago wrote a great book on cooking with antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables called The Miracle Foods Cookbook. Her book is everywhere! Written before its time, just at the start of the scientific research boom about antioxidant foods, the book remains an extraordinarily useful reference for home cooks preparing healthful meals for their families.”

And I think it’s this author which she then quotes as saying, "The best vegetables are the ones you actually eat!" Couldn’t agree more!

And what an effort it is, in a household dominated by men ! With my boys, I have to actually slip them one, play Hide the Veg, and PASTEURISE.
Ozzy is the worst, he doesn’t really eat any vegetables (which proved a bit of a stumbling block whenever he’s tried to become a vegetarian), except for broccoli, peas (now that he can manage to get enough of them on the fork) and cold (!) sweetcorn (yes, directly from the can!). Unless, of course, you put them into a very rich cheese sauce, when he will quite happily eat cauliflower and leeks.
Frank, on the other hand, loves carrots, especially raw, but will painstakingly fork through his food in order to eliminate even the tiniest sliver of a vegetable he doesn’t like (his plate always contains a heap of apparently inedible food at the end of every meal...).
Tom, of course, brought up at a time when grown-ups forced you to eat whatever was on the table – never mind your preferences or the fact that you were gagging – will eat anything (unless it’s beetroot or radish), as long as you smother it with butter or cream or cheese, or preferably a combination of all three. (There is no hope, is there?)
But more on Food Terrorism later. Here’s the recipe:

Black Beluga Lentil Salad

110g Black Beluga Lentils
½ red pepper
2 TBsp sweetcorn
1 spring onion

Dressing:
Cranberry jelly*
Blackberry vinegar**
lemon juice
lemon zest
olive oil
dash of tabasco (optional)

Cook the lentils as per packet instructions (no pre-soaking necessary), then rinse in cold water and refrigerate. Slice the spring onion, cube the red pepper (I used preserved roasted peppers, which adds a certain piquancy, but a fresh red pepper would be more nutritious and adds fragrance and crunchiness), then prepare the dressing. Toss all the ingredients into the dressing and let flavours develop.

I loved the contrast of the sweet-and-sour effect of the dressing with the earthiness of the lentils, and it also looked a lot more exciting than on my photo (any hints as to how I can get this camera – Sony DSC-P51 – to focus are greatly appreciated). Though it has to be said, while the lentils do resemble Beluga before they’re cooked, their black- and shinyness fades considerably once cooked. Still, they make an interesting change, and would certainly look good with their orange cousins, methinks.

* As this recipe mainly came about in order to include one or two ARF foods, using a jelly is probably not quite the original idea. But it was all I had in and it worked a treat. But I’m sure other ‘forms’ of cranberry would work, too. In particular, dried cranberries, I reckon.

** Berry vinegars: They can be very easily made by mixing fruit and white wine vinegar or even cider vinegar. Any form of reduced/preserved berries should work. I used homemade blackberry jam. Berry syrup can also be used. I made a very tart dressing with cider vinegar*** and Elderberry Syrup with Cloves from Pinks Farm (I buy the syrup from the Farmers’market but I’ve also seen them at Waitrose. Ultimately, I’d like to make my own, of course...) For less of a sugar content, I’m sure one can use fruit pulp, it simply has to be used up more quickly. Very nice little bottles can be bought at Oil & Vinegar. (See my earlier entry ‘Not so much waxing lyrical than burning the house down’. They also sell small 0.2l flip-top bottles like the one shown in Johanna’s Choco Mocca Liqueur post – just in case you were hunting for them...).

*** Cider vinegar: On Severine’s blog, Mes recettes de cuisine favorites, I found the following information:
Did you know that it is rich in minerals, such as phosphor, magnesium, calcium, sulphur, fluor, iron and silicon? Apparently, it is good for fighting obesity and cellulite because it destroys excess fat in your cells.

Gosh, in that case I would have to drink it by the gallon! I wonder whether bathing in it would show any significant effects?!!

Some Like It Hot

Ozzy came home from school on Friday and declared that he'd cook some pasta now if that was all right with me - it was indeed, I said, especially if he could cook for all of us (Frank and his friend S., who were playing guitar in the front room, and me). And he did: pasta with tuna & sweetcorn in a spicy tomato sauce. And above, you can see a spiced up photograph of how he gave some 'kick' to the sauce: Worcestershire sauce plus a variety of pepper/chili products. It was very good indeed.
And yes, I did have to nip into the kitchen from time to time, to 'correct' some of his assumptions..., for starters, he had put the pasta into the cold water... But all in all, I think the boy is well on his way!

Galette des Rois

Galette des Rois, this buttery rich cake filled with almond paste (frangipane), which is eaten in France around January 6th (usually on a Sunday close to the date), is the treat associated with the feast of Epiphany.

Epiphany is a much overused word these days, I find, especially in the world of food journalism. Of course, with its meaning of "the appearance; miraculous phenomenon" (from the Greek), or in a verbal variations, "to make known" or even "to reveal", and signifying a climax (i.e. of the Christmas season and the twelve days of Christmas), it is easy to see why some ecstatic food enthusiasts reach for it when they want to describe an out-of-this-world taste experience.

According to Wikipedia, the feast was initially based on, and viewed as a fulfillment of, the Jewish Feast of Lights, Hanukkah. It was fixed on January 6th, and commemorates the visit of the three Kings, presenting their gifts of gold, frankincense and mhyrr to the Christ Child. In other cultures, Epiphany is therefore known as Three Kings’ Day:
Spanish: el Dia de los Tres Reyes, la Fiesta de Reyes, or el Dia de los Reyes Magos; Dutch: Driekoningendag; German: Heilige Drei Könige.

The Three Kings are also otherwise known as the Three Magi, or Three Wise Men, and it is not at all certain that they were kings. Some claim they were Zoroastrian priests. Apparently, the Medes of ancient Western Iran (Persia/Kurdistan) had a priestly class named the Magi. When they adopted the Zoroastrian religion, their priests became Zoroastrian priests. (cf: Zarathustra)

The bible also refers to them not as kings or priests but as magi/wise men, and does not specify their number as three. In fact, according to Eastern tradition, there were twelve. About their origin the bible is not very specific either. They are said to come ‘from the East’, with Arabia, Babylonia, and Persia being popular interpretations of ‘the East’.
There is also a tradition, which claims that Balthasar was king of Arabia, Gaspar (Caspar) was king of India, and Melchior was king of Persia. There are no such references as to names or appearance in the Bible, however.

It was in fact the venerable Bede, in the 8th century, who described the magi as follows, "The first was called Melchior; he was an old man, with white hair and long beard; he offered gold to the Lord as to his king. The second, Gaspar by name, young, beardless, of ruddy hue, offered to Jesus his gift of incense, the homage due to Divinity. The third, of black complexion, with heavy beard, was called Baltasar; the myrrh he held in his hands prefigured the death of the Son of man." This is presumably where the concept of the magi representing different races comes from.

Further spinning of the tale doesn’t stop here either. There are stories that the magi were baptized by St. Thomas, that they became bishops and that they were reunited at the end of their lives when they saw the Star of Bethlehem again. According to one legend, they were over 100 years old when they celebrated Christmas together and then died within a few days of each other.
St. Helena, mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine (4th century), who is responsible for a great number of unsubstantial claims – which have nevertheless been adopted by Christianity – brought their purported remains to Constantinople. They first ended up in Milan, from where the Holy Roman Emperor Friederich Barbarossa appropriated them in order to give them to the Archbishop of Cologne, Germany. Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom) was apparently specifically built (12th century) to house the precious relics.
(cf: Cinderella)

But back to the food. Clotilde reminded me of the ‘magic’ rituals associated with celebrating ‘en famille’, and how I, as the guest of my Parisian friend P., won the fève and received the crown. A golden paper crown, by the way, which I kept for years and years as a memento. (Maybe I’ve even still got it – but I have a feeling I sacrificed it to dressing up games...). There is a link to recipe there, and Dara also has a recipe – both are in French.

The picture above shows galettes, but clearly also ducks. That is because it is a photograph from the wonderful foodie present I received on my birthday from the incomparable Sally – a book on food festivals in France, a month by month guide. And this photograph is from Foire des Rois/Fair of the three Kings in Brive-la-Gaillarde/Corrèze, Limousin, which focusses on the galettes but also on foie gras.

Accordingly, the recipe given here is for foie gras en terrine. Luckily for me, I happen to have one already prepared for me. All that remains for me to do is to find a broad brimmed black hat (and would that be for me or Tom?), a dark floral-patterned shawl, and a tape that features accordions, violas and fiddles for my own little village fête.

I might have to settle for Georges Moustaki... but hey, I’ve already gone from Christianity via Judaism to Zoroastrianism (or should that be the other way round?), from Iran via the whole of the Middle East all the way to India, only to end up in Cologne (so close to home), I don’t think his gueule de métèque (his words, not mine!!) is inappropriate at all.

After all, as I failed to bring back a Sauternes (though we did have a tasting...) for this occasion, we will have to wash the foie gras down with a Mosel-Saar-Ruwer (Bernkastel-Kues) Riesling Spätlese, and instead of the galette, we still have traditional English Christmas Cake to finish off before the diet. Mind you, there are a few paper crowns left over from the Christmas crackers...
Is it just me, or does the ‘favour’ suddenly remind you of the fève, and wasn’t there traditionally a penny hidden in the Christmas pudding?

PS: In order to include a bit of the “New World”, I should probably point out that the carol "We Three Kings" was written in 1857 by an American minister, John Henry Hopkins Jr., for use in a Christmas pageant.

MEME: Top Three Diet Tips

Tapenade

(picture to follow when my batteries are re-chareged... actually, that's my camera's batteries, really, although mine could do with re-charging , too...)

Now, imagine the above struck out (which I can't do...)

Also, note that the above is Frank's photo as - don't you just love your offsprings??!! - "You take crap photos, mum!"

Recipe below

I've been nominated by Joanna to continue the above meme which was initiated by her. She's already mentioned cutting out saturated fats and adding loads more fresh fruit, and as for her weak tea, I'd like to add that I personally love peppermint tea of which I manage to drink a lot, far more than if I tried to drink just water. I find peppermint tea particularly good because one can still drink it when it's got cold. Another non-caffeine tea is redbush which is very similar to black tea, and the Earl Grey variety from Waitrose is absolutely fantastic.

As already mentioned in the last post, a change of diet and losing weight is definitely on the agenda. Goodness knows how much we've gained over the holidays, and we're not through all the supplies yet... (we had a cheese fondue, and a chocolate one, and I've still got raclette cheese, loads of other cheeses, half a Christmas cake, etc, etc, etc....), but however much it is, it's going to be insignificant in comparison to the amount I've gained over the past 1 1/2 years. Basically since my brother and I had to take the dreadfully hard decision to place our Mum into a safe environment because her Alzheimer's had progressed too far for her to cope any longer with living on her own.

It's not exactly Kummerspeck (lit.: "worry fat", aka fat gained from comfort eating) but it's certainly true that it all started with comfort eating at the time, and when I'd put on 3 kg, I was so cross that I stopped watching it altogether. When Tom was then diagnosed with Angina Pectoris and subsequently had to have stents put in, that wasn't really the time either to get back to dieting and WW points counting because it was more important that Tom gave up smoking.
I haven't been on the scales since before Christmas but just before, I weighed 17 kg more than in June 04, and this morning, I finally gave in and searched for my bra extensions... So, yes, as soon as the unhealthy, fattening supplies are used up, we'll have to draw up a plan...

Of all the things that one can and has to do in order to lose weight, apart from the dreaded exercise, I think the following three will be the most important for me:

1) Always eat breakfast
2) Always carry a small bag of fruit & nuts
3) Don't buy foods you will pig out on

Ad 1:
This might seem like a very strange one for some of you but there really are people who are too fat because they don't eat enough. Tom for instance (who probably needs to lose ~ 5 stone), never has breakfast and hardly ever has lunch, then come 4/5/6 o'clock, he starts stuffing himself. Of course, the body can't cope. To start with, it 'thinks' there's a famine coming, and therefore holds on to the fat. Then when it hasn't been needed for most of the day, there is an onslaught of food which the neglected metabolism can't cope with... For your metabolism to work (i.e. burn off fat) you have to give it fuel!
For me, a very small portion of mini bix with skimmed milk works best, but when I'm in a hurry, I just grab a banana or two apples. BUT I haven't kept to that formula for quite some time now...

Ad 2:
It's the best 'convenience food' there is. A handful packed into small freezer bags, stashed into your handbag and your gym bag - just the right thing when you find yourself having skipped a meal, you're out shopping, etc and suddenly overcome by hunger pangs. It doesn't go off if you don't need it (unlike fruit... I once found a very nasty banana surprise in my bag).

Ad 3:
Ah, yes, that's where number two is difficult for me. If I buy nuts in bulk, I usually end up eating them in bulk... While nuts and raisins are good for you, they're still fattening in THOSE quantities...

There are loads more tips but I must give someone else a chance... ;-)

I shall nominate Mel/the laughing snail who has just posted an interesting piece on a healthier and less fattening chocolate spread on hecticium, and Debbie of Words to Eat By.

I recently stumbled over Debbie's blog, which is of course about food, but also about dieting (on and off). Debbie lost 108 lbs with WW and became a life member in 1998. She has put on about 20kg since getting married (ooh, I know all about that one - am I not married to the man who declared, "Oh, I thought that was what getting married was all about - stop watching your weight, watch TV instead... " ?!!! - I really ought to post some before and after photographs!!). There are lots of interesting stories on her blog (including her own journey), as well as links to other related sites and stories.

She recently published a list of diet blogs, which some of you might be interested in:

Fitness Blogs (click on the “links” to see more than 500 diet blogs!)
The Amazing Adventures of Diet Girl
Do You Have That in My Size?
Mr. Ointy
Jim at Diet-Blog
Coleen at Weight Challenged
Tracy at Health Diaries
Erin at Lose the Buddha (although it looks like she’s just closed up shop)
Yvonne at Hope Is the Thing

I haven't looked at all of them, but Diet Girl is funny (especially her other site, What's new pussycat?).

Well, as a first attempt at less fattening, low cholesterol eating this year, I tried to serve the very plain chicken breasts, boiled/steamed potatoes and vegetables with green and black olive tapenade yesterday. Tom, hoping this was some butter concoction, put a lot on his plate - where it stayed when he realized it was not melting on his sprouts... I thought it was very nice, and though probably not really a 'losing weight' meal, it's certainly suitable for a de-tox or low cholesterol diet.

I didn't have any anchovies in, which resulted in a very olivy/capery taste, neither of which Tom likes; he adores anchovies though, so I will give this another go, I think a stripey effect on chicken or fish would be nice...

Tapenade

(On the left hand side: quantities of one recipe, in brackets those of another)

20 olives (200g)
TBsp capers (100g)
tsp lemon juice (juice of 1 lemon)
2 tsp olive oil (unlimited olive oil)
½ tsp anchovy paste (opt.) (100g unsalted anchovy fillets)
black pepper

additional ingredients: (optional and varying from recipe to recipe)
- garlic
- salt
- shallots
- thyme/rosemary/parsley/chives

Process all ingredients in a food processor until desired consistency is achieved.

Use:
dip; on crostini/bruschetta; on meat or fish before baking; or as separate ‘sauce’ for potatoes, vegetables and meat/fish instead of butter/sauces containing saturated fats

Bye bye 2005, hello 2006

What sort of a year was it for us? I’d say it was one of those ‘Blink of an Eye’, ‘What, Christmas again?’, ‘Whoosh – was that 2005 which just ran past?’ sort of a year. They say it gets worse the older you get – how can it possibly get worse?
It was only yesterday that I sat here, in this very place (in front of the PC, right next to the radiator) with all the best intentions to write back to/phone all those nice people who had made an effort... (not to mention all the best intentions to finally deal with the Inland Revenue... but let’s not go there today...), and here I am again.
And it’s only when I summon all my strength in order to get these diminishing grey cells of mine to perform a few memory pull-ups that I can see that we were actually quite busy.[1]
There is a very noticeable domination of ballet performances (something that may need some counter balance next year) but that is entirely understandable because I have become a sponsor of the Birmingham Royal Ballet despite the deplorable fact that my personal income still wouldn’t keep me in the quantity (or quality!!) of red wine that I’ve become accustomed to. With my golden coloured ‘Director’s Appeal’ card, I can go to several dress rehearsals, AND bring a friend! So, with this on top of the ‘regular’ performances, I sometimes saw three ballet performances in one month!

What follows is a list of some of the (cultural) events this year – mainly as a reminder/memento for myself. (Partly to be filled in later, as some of those grey cells weren’t quite up to it...)
We started off by taking the whole family to see ‘Manon’ at Covent Garden (Ozzy was more impressed with the train journey than the ballet – apparently, good ballets need giant rats – and kept saying, "When does it land?", which makes you realize that these kids are more used to flights than trains these days...), and Frank and Syvvy to see ‘Romeo & Juliet’ at Birmingham, which was immediately followed by my first dress rehearsal, ( ). The next performance in the series was Duo Concertant (Balanchine), Scènes de ballet (Ashton), Rites of Spring (Nijinsky) & Dumbarton Oaks, all set to Stravinsky. In June, Ozzy and I made it into Brum City centre for “Stars of the Royal Ballet” (Covent Garden) on the big screen, and with a couple of friends we saw Holst’s ‘The Planets’ and ‘Into the Ferment’ (mostly by young choreographers) at the Hippodrome, which was followed by a matinee dress rehearsal, ( ). The next one wasn’t until October – ( ). There are three more to come next year, but ‘Beauty and the Beast’ at the beginning of December with my mother-in-law rounded this year off nicely.
Music-wise, I went to the Tsunami Concert in Cardiff, and another very ethnic one at a community centre, including Louis’ band; we saw an interesting film on John Coltrane and the song ‘Strange Fruit’; the Hugh Warren Quintett, and a Cuban Jazz band at the MAC, and numerous artists at the Cropredy Festival in August, most notably, Jah Wobble, the Hamsters, the absolutely fantastic Muffin Men and of course, Fairport Convention and Richard Thompson. We went to see Trevor Burton several times, of course, and even ventured into opera once: Rigoletto. (Was that when we saw John Nettles at the Hippodrome?). Ah, mustn’t forget Nitin Sawhney at the Medicine Bar of the Custard Factory (felt very out of place...), and the Destroyers at the Symphony Hall (great entertainment for all the family)!
Plays were few and far between, Pinter’s The Birthday Party (fantastic), the Reduced Shakespeare Company (absolutely hilarious) and The Tempest as interpreted by oddsocks (really good fun) with the teenagers. Frank and I also saw Brecht’s Gallileo (Syvvy had already seen it as part of her young playwrights programme), which was disappointing as Timothy West seemed to have problems with his lines. There should have been ‘Hecuba’ at Stratford, but that was cancelled due to an operation Vanessa Redgrave had to undergo. To be fair – we were offered tickets for the London performances but did not want another trip, when we’d already been down at the beginning of February and then Tom had taken Ozzy for Half Term[2], and the Caravaggio exhibition warranted another visit in May. In the event, it was only I who managed[3] to see the latter because we left it for the very last weekend, and Ozzy fell seriously ill, which was all the worse because he was due to go on a school trip the following Monday. This in turn, could not be put into jeopardy as I was going to use his absence to visit my Mum in Germany...
As it happened, this was to be the only trip to Germany this year as we felt we could finally go elsewhere. Easter and the May half term were sabotaged by Frank’s school putting on GCSE revision classes, but we said hello to some old haunts such as Wookey Hole, Glastonbury, Padstow and Sandymouth over Tom’s birthday.[4] In July, I went to Bordeaux with my College friends, and just a week later to Prague for our Wedding Anniversary. Then we took the tent, first to Cropredy, then to Normandy[5] and Brittany. Apart from seeing stately houses, landscapes and gardens up and down the country[6], that was it really, in terms of travelling.

Other than that, we have mainly sat around watching TV, drinking increasingly more expensive red wine, and bemoaning the state of the world. Tom still dreams of cigarettes but has been nicotine-free for over a year now. Unfortunately, diet-wise we have gone back to the bad old ways with predictable results. In fact, instead of being obsessed with points and WW meals, or at least trying to keep the cholesterol down, I fell in with the foodies when I discovered Chocolate & Zucchini... – hence this blog, wonderful new friends, and a huge array of recipes. The downside: once again I spend too much time on the PC (and too little in the gym), and the focus is on yumminess, not necessarily health and losing weight. BUT as Joanna so admirably shows, a food blog can be about healthy eating, too. So, who knows, I might yet be able set up a new regime and post about our successes... If yesterday’s meal is anything to go by, it’s going to be an uphill struggle. As many of you know, Tom believes that calories are actually what makes food tasty, and any meal cooked by him seems to come from a recipe book entitled ‘Give your Arteries Hell – Dr Tom’s Fast Track to Coronary Disease’: Chicken breast in garlic butter, cheesy leeks, creamy mushrooms (double cream, no doubt) and roast potatoes cooked in dripping... See what I mean?!!
But after another year of impossible time schedules and demands most mere mortals are not capable of meeting, such as being physically present at project meetings in Glasgow and Bracknell at the same time, I’m just glad that it only ever resulted in panic over certain bids[7] but not in him going back to smoking. I hope that we can tackle the food question this year.
Talking about tackling questions – Frank passed his GCSE’s this year with more or less success[8], and Ozzy had to brave the waves of 11+ reasoning papers. He came out of the first test as if he’d been in the trenches, and there was no way he was going to go back in to pretend sitting the test for a BBC camera crew.[9] I had quietly predicted this, and I was quite proud that appearing on TV held so little fascination for him. (Even though I knew that the main reason would be his desire to get home, crash out in front of said TV, thumb firmly inserted in his mouth...; yes, still a sucker at 10 and 11...).
As for myself, nothing much to report really, I’m falling apart at approximately the same rate as the house and have been avoiding to tackle the repairs on either front (me: teeth[10]; knees; house: front and back, top to bottom; cellar, kitchen, bathroom, attic, outhouses/garage, patio – everything really...). I’m not going to list all the resolutions which exist in my head as there is one single phenomenon which overshadows them all: P. Yes, the dreaded P-word: PROCRASTINATION. If I manage to curb my P this year, then I’m well on my way as far as all other things are concerned. Apparently, at the bottom of P lies perfectionism and the fear of not being able to achieve self-imposed standards. So, as a first step, I’m just going to leave it at that. This entry that is. Even though it isn’t by any means as well constructed, complete or funny as I would like it to be...

Happy New Year!!!


[1] Though as usual not with the house, which is in the same deplorable state as described in every Christmas letter of mine – including the ‘Oh, are you moving?’ installation art of boxes lining the hall, which, incidentally, for Christmas this year, we cleverly disguised as ‘interesting mess’ with the aid of my huge array of Christmas books and several see-through boxes of those Christmas decorations which we weren’t using this year. Very festive. An absolute stroke of genius by my better half.
[2] where they saw The Pirates of Penzanze, which Ozzy loved – the costumes were blatantly based on a well known Jimi Hendrix outfit by the way, which reminds me that the “Stars of the Royal Ballet” included Nigel Kennedy playing Jimi Hendrix!!!
[3] only just, that is... At this point, one could not reserve tickets online (or any other way), and one was advised to get there early. Well, I took the train after dispatching Ozzy but, of course, only arrived around midday, and there were no tickets left!! So, what to do? As I didn't have to be back until Tue night for my summer course teaching, I was theoretically able to spend the night in London, get to the National early the next morning, see the exhibition and then return to B'ham as long as it was in time for my teaching. But short of sleeping under a bridge, which is only romantic in Paris (and even there, only in novels...), where could I spend the night? I have a friend who lives in Lewisham (how far that is from the centre, I do not even know) but I've only got her home phone number not her work number. The phone situation was further complicated by the fact that I had taken Ozzy's mobile because mine hasn't had any money on it for the past two years now (a testimonial to the fact that one can actually live quite happily without permanently having a phone attached to one's ear), but it now inexplicably asked me for some strange number, which of course I had no way of knowing... Luckily, I was still able to use it as an electronic phone book. So, I positioned myself in a café just opposite two phone boxes, drank a large cappuccino and thought it all through. I could phone Tom and ask him to find my friend’s phone number for me via her place of work... Then again, to Tom, this would seem a very complicated and annoying activity distracting him from the relative serenity of multi-digit numbers and fancy formulae (= financial modelling on enormous spreadsheets), so I thought I could just as well ask him whether I could spend the night at his hotel in Bracknell, which is, after all, not too far away from London. Of course, I had to ask him to phone me back as nobody carries enough spare change on them to actually conduct a conversation on a public telephone... To cut a long story short, that's what I did, I took the train to Bracknell, Tom picked me up, and I bought a toothbrush and contact lens lotion as part of his expenses. As it turned out, his hotel this time was close to Reading station - which of course, I could have gone to, had I only known this before, and which would have avoided the awkward situation of John having to get me to the station for my 5:30 train, which was the only one to guarantee that I would be at the National early enough to get hold of a ticket for that morning's 'show', i.e. 8:30! So, in actual fact, I was 1 1/2 hours away from London, which is ironic if you consider that Birmingham is only two hours away... Still, I did get there early, though I was by no means the first. And by the time the exhibition opened, the queue went all the way from the Sainsbury wing to the main entrance!
[4] He was even interviewed by Cornish Radio and was able to express his “surprise” at the somewhat incongruous circumstance that the ‘Obby ‘Oss wasn’t taking place on the correct date, because it fell on a Sunday ...
[5] Where Tom was interviewed again! This time by French television who were filming people and their reactions in the totally fantastic Eric Satie museum in Honfleur.
[6] We went to see where King John lost the crown jewels in the Wash (why was he transporting them in the first place?), and noticed in Boston that the postcards proclaimed that the horrid man had been King until 1261! (When of course, it should have been 1216!!)
[7] especially the £8 billion BBC one which they were in danger of losing when Tom’s laptop was stolen at the Hilton while he was the breakfast bar...
[8] He managed to get 17, not quite all with A and A*, but with only one C – which was not in French, as expected! His oral contained a role-play that had never been covered in class (or revision notes!): breaking down with the car (why a 16-year old needs to know this, is quite beyond me) – the vocabulary of which I nearly needed to conjure up on the way back from Brittany when I caused the Focus to huff and puff and burst into flames while attempting to drive for a few miles with the hand brake on...
[9] While waiting, I had been approached by a reporter of a programme which will show one little boy’s progress; to be broadcast in March after they will have received their ‘results’.
[10] I actually lost a tooth in France – biting into a Madeleine, of all things...

Was mache ich mit dem Eigelb?

Or: what to do with the yolks?

One of the delights of the internet (at least now, since about google) is that you can just type in anything and get an answer. (I won't at this point go into details over what sort of things I've tried in the small parts of the hour...just for fun, you understand...).

But when I'd baked my hazelnut macaroons, this is exactly what I did - I typed in: Was mache ich mit dem Eigelb?
And what was the answer? "Eierlikör, natürlich!"

Well, not so naturally to me. Sure, I make advocaat more or less every Easter, when I end up with masses of egg from blown out shells - but for that I use the whole egg, not just the yolk. But, after looking at recipes on the net, it seems that this is actually more the exception than the norm - a lot of them use the yolk only.

Excellent. Another wonderful bit of information is the fact that there are many, many ways of achieving this quintessentially Dutch liqueur (Or is it?? See below!), and I am delighted to find that I don't necessarily need evaporated milk - which my Mum's recipe asks for but which isn't the sort of thing I normally keep in my cupboard and which they don't sell at Lidl (just over the road from me - too close for comfort, i.e. I resent having to actually DRIVE somewhere for my food...).

The only question remains: can one buy 'Weingeist' (oh, wine spirit, oh spirit of the wine...) in this country, as one can in Germany, at the pharmacy? (Where one can also buy Haushaltnatron for Brezeln, of course, but that's another story...)
If yes, that would be incredibly useful (as we seem to have actually used up [drunk???!!!] all the Pott 54, and don't quite know how to light the Feuerzangenbowle this year... but I'm digressing as usual....).

However, with an alcohol %age of 90 odd, that seems highly unlikely - as clearly the Brits cannot be trusted with alcohol... ;-)

ANYWAY, this is the easy peasy way, using brandy and evaporated milk.

Eierlikör /Advocaat

3 eggs (or in this case, 4 egg yolks)
3 tbsp of sugar
6 tbsp of evaporated milk
lemon juice (optional)
1 cup of brandy

Blend all ingredients in a blender. Pour into sterilised glass bottle.


Opinion as to how long this stuff keeps in the fridge seems to be divided. But in my experience, this is totally irrelevant, as it is ready to be drunk immediately... and does not tend to survive any of the parties it was made for... if indeed, it ever makes it all the way to the party... hic

My bottlle is half way empty as we speak, and what is left is not worth taking anywhere... I rest my case.


According to Wikipedia, this alcoholic beverage derives its name from avocado:
The natives of the Amazon region had a drink called 'abacate', made with avocado, which the Europeans discovered in the 17th century. When they added rum and demerara sugar, 'advocaat' in its original form was invented - apparently the egg yolks were simply a substitute for the avocado!!!

Hmm, I wonder what it would be like with avacado? - Not exactly less calorific but better for the cholesterol conscious.

Anyway, there are lots of variations on this. A lot of recipes use cream instead of evaporated milk, icing sugar instead of caster sugar and add vanilla sugar; the alcohol used also varies - it seems a lovely field for experimentation!!!

For a chocolate and/or moccha variant: add nutella or cocoa and/or instant coffe or Camp (a chicory & coffee essence).

Some people claim that egg nog (or egg flip etc) is superior to advocaat - see a very illuminating entry over at the traveler's lunchbox under the heading: Top Nog.

MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!!!

Biscuit Bonanza

Oh my goodness, did we eat!!! And chat, and laugh, and drink...

Saturday was my first blogger meeting (Celia, Jeanne, Jenni, Joanna, Johanna, Martina, Melissa and Melissa's friend Wampe) and what a feast it turned out to be! Johanna, the host, treated us to Sauerkraut, Bratwurst and various Austrian dips. But that was only the 'amuse bouche'! We continued with a sumptious cheese fondue, complete with smoked hams and gherkins, washed down with white wine. Just in case we were still short of a calorie or two in this first instalment of the annual 'put on a stone in one month' marathon, we were then treated to mulled wine/cider and the complete array of Christmas cookies that everyone had brought! (The variety shown above is only plate 1...) Of course, every single one had to be sampled and swapped! YES!!! We all went home with containers full of the most delicious homebaked creations!
Just opening my tin, the smell catapults me back to a gappy toothed little me, singing Christmas songs by the light of the candles on the advent wreath, with my Mum and my brother, just as Johanna had conjured up on Saturday... Thank you so much Johanna for bringing back such happy memories, for hosting this event, and for all the hard work that went into it. Thank you to everyone else, too, for being absolutely marvellous company and such terrific biscuit bakers. Particular thanks must go to Melissa for her driving me down to "Twickers", and Joanna for driving me to High Wycombe.

I won't go into all the details of my semi-catastrophic cookie making, suffice it to say that OH had already noticed the mark on the dining room table and had inspected it and found a whole piece missing underneath... ooops!I've also got muscular ache, though why in my left arm, that remains a mystery.
Anyway, here's the recipe I followed:

Haselnussmakronen – Hazelnut Macaroons

Recipe says, it will make 70, my empirical research says: 50 at the most...

4 egg whites
200g caster sugar
1 pinch of cinnamon
1 pinch of salt
300g ground hazelnuts (for best taste, grind just before making macaroons)
50-70 whole hazelnuts (just in case)

Beat the egg whites until stiff, add the sugar in batches and continue beating until the mixture stands in stiff peaks, then carefully fold in the rest of the ingredients, except the whole hazelnuts. With two wet teaspoons, drop walnut sized heaps of the mixture on to a baking tray lined with baking paper. Place whole hazelnuts in the middle of each macaroon. Allow to stand. (Some recipes suggest letting them rest at room temperature for an hour...)

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 130º C for ca 20 minutes.

It is important at this point that you don’t go up into the attic to search for your nice Christmas tin...

Will keep for several weeks in an airtight container.
Apparently, they can even be frozen...

variations I found:
4 drops of bitter almond essence/vanilla essence
100g desiccated coconut & 200g ground hazelnuts
a mixture of ground and flaked hazelnuts
1 teaspoon lemon juice
icing sugar instead of caster sugar
grated lemon rind

I also found that it might be possible to ‘grind’ the hazelnuts in a food processor...

My Mum used to make coconut macaroons all year round, but I never took to those as much, they were just too sweet for my liking. Of course, it would also be dead easy to make them with almonds, for which I might try the ground/flaked mixture for a more varied texture.

The suggested temperature in the recipes ranged from 120º C to 300º C, and the suggested baking time from 8*-30 minutes, making it the ideal recipe for me, operating with a mini oven where the temperature cannot be determined (at least not by you - you get what you’re given), and where the heat can disappear despite of the stepladders’ valiant efforts...

* 8-10 minutes at 185º C, for soft macaroons, suggests one recipe

Soon to come:
Was mache ich mit dem Eigelb?
What do I do with the yolks?

I wonder how similar my advocaat is to Johanna's home made Bailey's?

Round Robins

Last year, amongst the Christmas books Tom buys me every year, was one by the otherwise well appreciated Simon Hoggart, which annoyed me enormously.
The book came in a manageable format, a pretty red and silver sleeve, which features a funny seasonal cartoon and the intriguing title, ‘The cat that could open the fridge’. Moreover, the blurb promises an ‘inimitable funny commentary’, and attests that the writer has wisdom and humanity, with a touch of class. (Yes, you’ve guessed it, such accolade can only come from a fellow journalist, one who has worked for the same paper and who is still a colleague in broadcasting…)
Well, I only recall laughing out once, namely at the quote on page 92, when an extremely miserable circular letter, describing all the disasters and mishaps of one family, ends thus: ‘On this note, we wish you an equally contented and peaceful 2004’. As the comic element was provided by the sender himself it did not need SH’s commentary at all. As for the rest of the book: it didn’t even put me into the agreeable state of mild amusement, which is all any of the other books that have the undeserved praise “hilariously funny” heaped on them have ever managed to do. In fact, it thoroughly frustrated and angered me. So much so, that I have decided not to send any more Round Robins.

And to those of you who might see the book around, or - heaven forbid - the follow-up, I'd like to say:

Do not buy this book. Its 145 pages consist almost entirely of quotes from Christmas letters, all of which have been sent to SH by readers who declare to absolutely loathe them, who find them excruciatingly boring and/or disgracefully smug and boasting. At £9.99, SH has added nothing worthwhile. In fact, everything he says/implies about the so-called round robins – the writers don’t know when to stop, the letters aren’t really funny, not really entertaining, not really enlightening, not really insightful, and really, really, really could have done with radical editing… – aptly applies to his own book. Only difference being that the poor betrayed writers of those letters did not claim to be funny and insightful, they had the decency to use their own words and didn’t ask anyone for payment!!!

If you’ve ever felt like SH’s contributors about someone’s Christmas circulars – namely that they’re “boasting, whingeing, ... miserable, ... nit-picking, testy and grandiloquent, ... packed with facts without information and information without knowledge", their writers "often blissfully lacking in self-awareness” – don’t be as cowardly as they were! Don’t shop those people (whose only ‘crime’ is to think that staying in touch is a nice trait) to SH so that he can publish another book, with 95% of the work done by the very people he insults. One page, for instance, contains less than 18 words by the author himself. Instead, do the decent thing: Tell them that you don’t want to be bothered with their annual whinge.

And another thing: Reply to Christmas greetings! Only horrible people like those who write to SH, and include such lines as, ‘my oldest and dearest friend, but oh dear, what a plonker!’ think that not replying for a decade is a hint that they don’t want your Christmas cards, the rest of us think that you simply can’t find the time, but that you still appreciate hearing from us!

I for one have decided not only to give up writing Round Robins, but also writing to people who do not write to me. I used to think such tit-for-tat attitude was rather silly and small-minded and petty, but the thought that there could be just one person out there who thinks of me as someone “trapped in a forest of self-delusion” who forces other people to plough through "thousands of words describing every detail of someone’s life" (as if free will and bins didn't exist...), has resulted in this resolve. Instead, I'll point people into this direction, my blog.

Blogs, of course, will undoubtedly receive the same loathing as Round Robins by fans of Simon Hoggart, are they not, after all, certainly by those people's definition, the very epitome of wearisome self-important drivel, detailing every boring development in some non-entity's life: from what they've cooked/eaten to their nostalgia for 80s punk, let's say?

Well, to all of those (who might as well call for the undertaker now, as they're clearly already dead inside) I have to say, I have 'met' more people via blogging who are tremendously kind and generous, interesting and exceptionally educated (which says quite a lot considering I have worked at Universities in Germany and the UK for longer than I care to admit to), not to mention talented, funny and original, than in 'real life' for yonks and yonks and yonks!!!

And tomorrow I'm going to meet some of them in the flesh, and I can't wait!

Middle Eastern Delights

This time, my food parcel came from ISRAEL, from my lovely friend Simona, and the organic look of the contents and the previous art meme inspired me to lay them all out as a picture. It looked quite spectacular - unfortunately, my camera doesn't do it justice.
The totally delicious goodies are:
"hair halva" (halva=lit. sweetmeat; made from sesame seeds, honey or sugar syrup; other ingredients may be added, for instance rosewater, dried fruit, nuts, spices), two different types of Hummus snacks (savoury but not spicy-hot), chocolate coated (white and dark) raisins, caramel liquorice (!), candied strawberries, mini oranges, pomelo and papaya, and quince paste. Not in the picture are mini chocolate and halva snacks, and I also left out - for obvious reasons - the absolutely FANtastic handcream Simona sent.
What an absolutely thrilling, exciting and exotic parcel! Thank you ever so much Simona!!!
It's difficult to say what I like best - judging from what has been eaten most of, it would be the hummus snacks. But I think that's got something to do with the fact that it's not sweet, so you don't feel so guilty. Also: you can eat more savoury food in one sitting than sweet. The boys love the strawberries best, but I think I prefer the pomelo, I love the lush combination of citrus and sweet perfume. The hair halva is also absolutely gorgeous, and I could gobble it up in one go, as I adore the taste as much as the odd consistency of this sesame-honey concoction, which demands finger licking - surely one of the definitions of yummy food.
But I have to say that it was the quince paste which excited me most - simply because of this year's unsuccessful Quest for Quince... I will write more about this in The Quince Connection...
-- I know, I know, promises, promises; I never seem to get round to anything I announce. I still haven't added all those recipes from the Childhood Meme..., and, and, and, ad infinitum. But you never know - now that there are 5000 other things more urgent than the blog, I might just feel the urge to ponder the wonder of quinces...

meme: art & gastronomy

I'm not quite sure whether this is my favourite food related picture, but it is Bacchus, after all, painted by Caravaggio, no less, who IS one of my favourite painters. More of his paintings on http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/caravaggio/ (where I swiped this...).

Oh yes, this is the tag: onlinefoodmuseum

And the invitation came from SaoMai
http://cocinalia.blogspot.com

Tim Tam Slam!!!

Finally! Writing about my other parcel!! Over at Chocolate & Zucchini, we've been having an international parcel exchange, and over two weeks ago (my oh my, time really does fly when you have to go into orbit every week...), mine arrived from New Zealand. It took only 6 days (thumbs up for the Kiwi post!!), and it was from the lovely Barbara, whose acquaintance I had already made, which pleased me enormously and added a particularly personal touch. Just look at those 15 multi-coloured parcels, with their beautiful bow of black satin, to make them look like licorice allsorts, which is of course, my avatar and name (Lakritz = licorice). How sweet is that???

And as much thought had gone into every item chosen, and there was a long letter to explain the unique regional choices.

Pineapple Lumps (going since 1935)
- the candy for Kiwis, and it's easy to see why: the chewy, juicy pineapple candy is encased in rich, dark chocolate... they're very addictive, no matter whether they've been in the fridge (recommended) or not... [-- ooops, all gone on day 1]
Whittakers Peanut Slab (going since 1896)
Apparently, the peanut slab is sold everywhere from service stations to supermarkets, preferab;ly placed by the check out... and yep, I can see why you just have to have one! They're delicious!!

[-- mmmm, gone by day 2/3]
Cairns Fudge (made by a company owned by Chris Cairns and his fatherLance Cairns, NZ cricketing icons)
Now, that would be of particular interest to my cricket obsessed son Ozzy who's so determined to step into Freddie Flintoff's shoes that I had to turn the garden into a cricket pitch - but did he get any of this? [No prizes for the correct answer... ]
Chai Tea Spices (to be added to tea)
It actually says 'Masala Spice' on the pack, which of course makes this girls' ears prick up, does she not, after all, live in the very heart of Balti land, the land where garam masala and tikka masala rule?? And indeed, the spices are: ginger, cinnamon, clove, cardamom, nutmeg and black pepper -- sounds like a veritable Christmas spice mixture to me... [I haven't tried it yet as it requires proper tea leaves and the only ones I've got in are Earl Grey, and the bergamot would be overpowering...]
Flaky Salt
NZ version of Maldon salt; yum, yum... we should really cut down on salt, but find it very difficult indeed... , but, of course, this is quality salt...
Strawberry Huller
OMG, this made me want to go out and hunt down some out-of-season-strawberries immediately!!! Okay, so that hasn't actually happened yet, but I did promise Barbara that, come next Easter, I'd buy myself a Rumtopf in Germany and that I 'd start the 'pick your own' as soon as the season starts, and that I'd use that strawberry huller to the amazement of all my friends, and come next autumn, I'd be able to send her a jar of Rumtopf fruit in time for Christmas! [--No comments, please!]
Licorice
Of course! And very delicious it was, too! [Well, yes, it's gone!How long do you think licorice can last in this house?!!]
Harris Coffee
Well, of course again -- it's Barbara's name. -- We'll keep that as our rescue pack when we find ourselves in desperate need of a strong, hot caffeine injection only to find we're unaccountably completely out of coffee... and instead of expletives, we'll be able to say, 'Thank God for Barbara!'
Home Made Vanilla Sugar
And that's without knowing that I clearly believe that one must never ever run out of vanilla sugar under any circumstances...
Napkins
Hmm, olives and oil, adding that French touch, as did the
Zucchini Seeds
The Z-word had to be there!!! And while this made me smile, there were two things that made me laugh out loud:
a cake batter scraper, because I also included a spatula for such purposes to my parcel to Catherine, although a completely different model; and this absolutely cute mini quiche pan, which Barbara suggested for making mini quiches for Ozzy to take to school. Well, I might as well admit it now and get it over with: I do the earthmother look quite well and I do own an apron saying "Domestic Goddess", but I'm sure my mother-in-law meant this present ironically... I do like food and I do like cooking, but ever since falling in with the real, the true foodies, I've realized that I don't qualify at all... A proper meal prepared by me is more the exception than the rule, Tom cooks more often than I do, and my poor kids have to completely and utterly fend for themselves, because ever so often I'm still teaching at dinner time, and in the mornings, I'm either already out of the house, or, on the days I don't teach in the mornings, I don't even manage to be up early enough to make them breakfast... (no lectures on breakfast being the most important meal, etc, etc pp, please -- I know that! But knowing doesn't equal change... -- I'm weak; I get into ruts; I go to bed too late; I drink too much...)

Still, this cute little pan is certainly going to come in handy for little quiches or tartlets to take on our picnics which will undoubtedly be part of the 'pick your own' sessions next year!!

Before I finally come to the explanation of this post's title, I'll have to mention two more items, the New Zealand Listener (the glimpse of which made me cringe with guilt -- how did Barbara know that I desperately need to go on a diet?), and dried persimmon snacks, both of which deserve their own entry, as they spurred happy hours of research (otherwise known as procrastination periods...), and sharing the findings makes them seem less like wasted time but more like worthwile tasks. Of course, those times (and others devised to escape urgently beckoning duties) were responsible for not getting down to doing this write up. (In conjunction with my inability to make it snappy, and a very laborious method of typing...).
So, without further ado, what is the Tim Tam Slam?

Well, first of all you need Tim Tams - Australia's favourite chocolate biscuit. (Barbara is an Australian living in New Zealand, just in case you were getting confused now...) They look like Penguins (the ones produced by McVities, not the animal), and do indeed taste similar (more up-market was Franks verdict), but their chocolate has a slight hint of caramel, and the cream filling has a vanilla-chocolate flavouring. You also need a hot drink. Then you nibble both ends off the biscuit and brace yourself for the most disgustingly gooey and yummy taste experience you've ever had in 5 seconds flat: you use the biscuit as a straw for your drink and quickly slam it into your mouth before it disintegrates into your tea or coffee!
The Tim Tam Slam is also known as the Tim Tam Suck or the Tim Tam Bomb.

Thank you soooo much, Barbara, for all the phantastic gifts, for all the thought and work that went into preparing this wonderful parcel!!! And last not least for providing us with this most unique taste experience!!!