Monday, September 24, 2007

Food, Friends & a little Python



Monday night one of our first Glasgow friends but who has since moved back to the US came over for dinner. B & I lived in he & his wife's flat for the month of November.

It was great seeing him again but reminded me of how much we miss hanging out with him and his wife. They are good people.

So, company for dinner means one thing. Need to cook something tasty. How about:

Penne Alla Amatriciana





1 500g package penne pasta
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 oz pancetta, sliced thin & julienne (ok to substitute Parma Ham if you can't find)
1 tbsp sliced garlic
1 white onion fine dice
1/4 tsp chili
1 oz dry white wine
4 oz chicken stock
2 Roma tomato, julienne
6 oz tomato sauce
2 tbsp Italian parsley leaves
salt for seasoning
Parmigiano Reggiano

- In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the pasta until al dente, or around 5-6 minutes
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat
- Add the Olive Oil and sauté the Pancetta until it begins to crisp
- Add the diced white onion and cook until becomes tender
- Add the chili and garlic and just cook thru, but don't brown
- Deglaze the pan with white wine, and add the stock- Add the Roma tomatoes, tomato sauce and the cooked pasta
- Season the pasta with salt to taste
- Finish the pasta with the Italian parsley
- Toss the whole pasta mixture and transfer to a bowl and sprinkle with grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Then Thursday had another friend over for dinner and a rehearsal. Didn't take a picture of that meal so you'll just have to take my word for it that it was good.

Saturday for a change had a friend come over for brunch! Now that is a meal that I normally don't do for company. I'm more of a dinner girl but there were strawberries on sale and a loaf of bread in the fridge so this is what I came up with

French Toast with Sweetened Cream Cheese & Strawberries



Not much too it really. Just make some French Toast
- dip pieces of bread in a mixture of eggs, vanilla, milk a little bit of sugar and cinnamon
- as you fry them up in butter (I didn't say this would be healthy) keep the finished ones warm in the oven
- when all made up then take a pack of cream cheese and mix in some sugar, vanilla and cinnamon all to taste.
- take two pieces of French Toast and spread the inside with the cheese mixture and a layer of sliced strawberries and place one on top of the other
- serve with 100% pure Canadian Maple Syrup.

Yum

On to other news. My travel free month of September is not to be. Heading to wonderful downtown Leatherhead (just outside of London) for a days meetings. But will treat myself to a weekend in London after. This time I was smart and I've already purchased my ticket to Spamalot

Don't think of it as entertainment but culturally educational. Here's a clip that gets into socio-economics etc etc etc.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

New Music & Jelly Belly's

Purchased a new tripod this week so was all gung-ho to get out there and try it..... and it's been raining all weekend. It's coming down in buckets as I type this. I guess summer truly is over. Finally turned the boiler back onto the timer again as it was getting too cold at night and first thing in the morning.

So no sunshine I needed to find something to take a pic of to try out my new toy.




Music...

Picked up the new Arctic Monkeys album a few weeks ago. LOVE IT! And this single is absolutely fab, makes me want to dance around the flat every time I hear it.

Saturday, September 08, 2007

Understanding Me

This little video short... what can I say. If you watch it and understand the humour, art, vision then we are like minded.



I might add to this post a bit later as I want to do some research as to who these guys are and what they're up to now.

Love it, love it, love it.

Sunday, September 02, 2007

Sleep, Must Get Sleep


So the 'students' in the flat below me decided to have another party this morning. Yes, this morning as it was after midnight when they got started. I was just to that point of ALMOST going into that deep sleep we all crave when I was awaken by the thump, thump, thump coming from downstairs.

Yes I know I could have dialed 999 but I really just couldn't be bothered as I kept telling myself I'd get used to it and then drift off. And I didn't, because then the loud voices started, I swear they have a Foosball table down there. When I woke up at 6:30 this morning I could still hear them. When I finished dinner and was heading to the evening service I could still hear them.

They've stopped now, but it seems the party has moved to the flat on the other side of my bedroom wall. Well it's still early so perhaps they'll be done before 11PM (I can hope can't I?).

On the up side, the sun came out today which inspired me to take some pictures in front of my bedroom window. You can tell how incredibly tired I am looking at the bags under my eyes. I took a nice long nap when I was done.

Tonight, I've taken 2 Gravol to attempt to knock myself out so I can get some much needed sleep. No I don't do this on a regular basis (drug myself up) but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do to get her beauty rest.

Saturday, September 01, 2007

Waxing Poetic on Nutella

Oh Nutella
Why do I love you so?
Is it your chocolaty goodness?
Your hazelnut nuttiness?

Toasted brown bread
A glass of milk
And thou....

Heaven



Aaaaaaand now you're probably wondering what? why? Here's my thought process.

I'm celebrating a week that has involved no planes, trains or automobiles. It's a lazy Saturday where I've been lounging around doing a whole lot of nothing and really enjoying it. Had a late breakfast, a shower, read some blogs. Might hit a charity shop later this afternoon as I got a text from a friend about a way cool dress that she found that should fit.

Later tonight will join B and her folks for an early dinner. Which started me thinking I haven't had lunch but if I'm having an early dinner then I can't really have a normal lunch as then I won't be hungry. Sooooo.... Nutella toast and a glass of milk. The perfect snack.

Yum.