Blog

Pet Hates

2010-10-15T06:08:00.000-07:00

1. Flimsy plastic forks.
2. News reporters needlessly being on location.
3. People who eat with their mouth open.
4. The brown felty fuzz on conference pears.
5. Dessicated coconut.
6. Hypocrisy.
7. Badly plucked eyebrows.
8. People who deliberately drive the wrong way round one-way systems.
9. Bad pub food.
10. Comparisons between cats and dogs.

Date Bars & Zumba

2010-09-14T10:49:00.001-07:00

So the date bars turned out pretty well - sweet (but not too sweet) and sticky (but you get to keep your teeth). They are quite crumbly and messy but tasty-good, plus they keep well and are also freezable.

Tried out Zumba on Monday in a small class of all ages and all sizes and came out feeling on top of the world. I forget how much I like dancing. I wouldn't quite say it had a party atmosphere. There were about 10 of us spread across a dull blue school gym which felt very empty. However, it was good fun, and despite feeling slightly mortified (if mortified is a thing you can feel slightly) at all the pelvic action, I am already looking forward to next week. I have also found new respect for Shakira.

Food

2010-09-11T09:24:00.000-07:00

Been trying out a few new recipes this week.

First up, Cuban Chicken with Rice and Beans from Economy Gastronomy. I went in with high hopes for this one, having visited Cuba a couple of years ago and going mad for rice and beans/peas. In particular, the meal we had in scorching hot Trinidad, just off Plaza Mayor in a place aptly described as "slickly restored colonial mansion invaded every lunchtime by tour groups" (pic above), was surprisingly tasty.

So this recipe included lardons, red onion and green peppers. I'm not sure that's usual, but I certainly didn't object. Some well-crisped chicken which I should have marinaded for longer was nestled in among the other ingredients and a covered in chicken stock. Second mistake - I used a cube. These cubes normally do me proud in risotto, but I think what this recipe really wanted was some very fine, very tasty homemade stock because I just felt the whole thing tasted a little bland. The chicken was plumb and juicy, the rice was fine, but it just wasn't the same (though to be fair it was probably never going to be). That said, it went down very well with my partner in crime and I would cook it again. Next time I'll marinade longer, make some stock at home and perhaps even buy dried black beans and soak them instead of canned.

The next recipe I tried was from the same book - Macaroni Cheese with Artichoke Hearts and Bacon, also written by Allegra McEvedy who I really admire. Now I am not one for messing with mac and cheese. No mushrooms, no ham, no tomatoes or chilli or tuna or mustard, and certainly no fucking ketchup. No! I am a macaroni cheese purist!

...Or at least I was.

I raised an unsurprised eyebrow at wholegrain mustard and nutmeg; scoffed at the bacon, the artichokes, the garlic; and breathed a deep sorry sign at the tomatoes and herbs. But I was wrong. This is the macaroni cheese to end all macaroni cheeses. It is just so very tasty and I urge you to try it. Especially if you are a skeptic.

And finally, fresh out of the oven is the third recipe I tried this week, from the ever-so-sweet (and ever so slightly sickly), Rachel Allen. From her book, Bake, I have just put together Date Bars. The recipe was very quick and very simple and if the smell is anything to go by, very tasty.

Tenuous Top 10: New Things I Have Done Fairly Recently

2010-01-12T07:59:00.000-08:00

In reverse order, my top ten new things I have done fairly recently are as follows:-

10. Taken Mr Focus for an MOT. Can you guess what kind of car he is?
9. Seen We Will Rock You. I was shocked, not rocked! Shagaleo Gigolo indeed!
8. Eaten a pink grapefruit. As of today and quite possibly my first one ever.
7. Organised food for 17. Not 17 gerbils, but 17 real human beings. Hard work, but worth it.
6. Made and eaten my own Christmas Pudding. See picture above. Moist and tasty.
5. Ski-ing. Not technically new, but my skills suggest that is the case.
4. Learned how to knit. Just about.
3. Perfected carnitas. A few attempts and I think I have cracked it.
2. Been on honeymoon. As you might expect - a most excellent thing.
1. Got married. Hopefully this will only ever occur once and I highly, highly recommend it.

Overkill

2009-10-06T02:16:00.000-07:00

The distilleries I have visited:-

Aberlour, Balvenie, Benromach, Cardhu, Cragganmore, Dallas Dhu, Dalwhinnie, Glenfarclas, Glenfiddich, Clynelish, Dalmore, Edradour, Glenmorangie, Glen Ord, Oban, Old Pultney, Royal Lochnagar, Ardbeg, Bowmore, Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain, Caol Ila, Lagavulin, Laphroaig, Kilchoman, Arran, Highland Park, Talisker, Tobermorey and Glenkinchie. 30 distilleries. That is too many.

Edradour is my favourite. See picture above.

All a bit Woolly

2009-09-17T06:01:00.000-07:00

This is where I stayed recently in the Alps. It is a brilliant, brilliant place. Anyway...

I think I may have caught the knitting bug. It only started 2 days ago, but I am already trying to find patterns and lusting after yarns (and buttons too for some reason - I do like a good button). I was gifted with the means to start my quickly accelerating obsession on Saturday, by my very generous mother in-law. My better half meanwhile, was gifted with a 2000 piece jigsaw and now has his own jigsawy problems. The two fixations complement each other pretty well actually, and keep us away from our other addiction - the humble public house. Not bad for the bank balance either, which is seeing hard times.

Anyway, I began to knit fairly randomly, casting on a random amount of stitches (let's say between 20 and 30). Random. This took me about an hour. I don't think I'm a natural. Or maybe the self-patterning yarn confused me in it's fury of yellow, orange, turquoise and white. An interesting combination. Still it was free and it got me going. Several rows later my "square" got wider and wider and grew holes and got tangled. Several rows later again, a pattern emerged from the chaos that went before and then I became a very happy person indeed. Like finding that piece of jigsaw with a hairy chest and a tiny part of a flag on it.

Tenuous Top 5: Hot Liquid Things

2009-08-30T07:08:00.000-07:00

In reverse order, my top five hot liquid things are as follows:-

5. Gravy. It's very tasty and meaty.
4. Baths. Cleansing, relaxing and they smell nice.
3. Hot Toddy. Whisky, honey and lemon heaven.
2. Lava. Scary but cool, though at 700 °C to 1,200 °C it is hot, hot, hot!
1. Tea. Tea is just more drinkable than lava and it makes you feel good.

Didn't make the list - geyzers and hot springs, coffee, hot water bottles, hot chocolate and curry sauce.

2009-08-13T12:11:00.000-07:00

It is Thursday. I am on the sauce but I am good. I have work tomorrow but what was five days a week is now only three. This was to be expected but I'm a little disappointed. I will need to find alternative/additional work which is scary, exciting, nerve-wracking, opportune and brings out the indecision in me. But I will try to be bold, steady and decisive. I will try.

Still, I have been up to good things including: exploring my family tree (addictive), making mince pies (off-season), enjoying the Fringe (uplifting), being x-rayed and ultrasonographed (I am fine - see next item), discovering I have an accessory parotid gland (along with a quarter of the population), studying changes in planning policy (dull), enjoying Mardi Gras and Jazz on a Summer's Day (Edinburgh), on the Black Isle (wet), attending Dave and Kaki's wedding (good times), camping in Speyside (invigorating), supping whisky (nostalgic) and watching Desperate Romatics (desperate).

Oversized Sea Turtles & Erotic Displays of Apple Juice

2009-06-30T08:43:00.000-07:00

Just your average Hammer film really. I've seen a few, mostly horror, but One Million Years BC and The Witches are the most recent additions to the list. I'm really not sure whether they are horror or not.
One Million Years BC. 'This is the way it was', apparently. Groups of dark-haired savages wearing extra-hairy waistcoats with their bums hanging out, are extra stupid and constantly try to kill each other and only eat meat. Meanwhile groups of blonde-haired slightly-less-savage savages wear slinky taupe numbers with their bums and tits hanging out, and like to paint pictures and eat vegetables. One of the former groups of people runs off after his reward for wrestling a pig in a pit is to be thrown off a cliff by his Dad (who incidentally looks like Bobby De Niro crossed with Eric Cantona). He manages to escape a truly terrifying jumbo iguana (above), only to be attacked by similarly disproportionate and scary sea turtle (below) and has to be rescued by Raquel Welch and her prehistoric hand bag.

With the incredible care they were taking not to misinform the viewer on the topic at hand, the groups of people have no language and resort to charades for most of the film. There is a narrator at the beginning but he disappears and after a while you are too busy being wowed by the very special effects to notice. Then a volcano erupts and natural selection favours only the one that ran away and the one that saves him. Everyone else is assumed dead and now they can start making a race that like wrestling pigs and like painting. 'This is the way is was'? I don't know what it was like one million years BC but I'm pretty sure this is the way it wasn't.

And so to The Witches. The scene pictured above has made the rest of the film pale in comparison, but then this scene wouldn't be this scene without the run up to it. What you see here is a supposedly scientifically-minded super-dyke wearing horns made of birthday candles feeding mud to villagers who have lost their collective mind. It must be magic. Or voodoo. Or something in the water. This is the latter part of the same scene involving erotic displays of apple juice, whereby the lighting of the candles on the super-dyke's head spontaneously causes the villagers to burst open apples above their heads, rub the juices all over their bodies and then rub up against each other. Obviously. If you don't believe me see below. For further explanation you should watch the film, it is amusing.

Tom & Barbara Would Be Proud

2009-06-27T08:51:00.000-07:00

If Tom and Barbara were real people they would be proud. This year we are growing courgettes, baby sweetcorn and chillies (same as last year), plus lettuces, radishes, tomatoes and potatoes. And a bunch of herbs - basil, thyme, oregano, dill and mint (the bastard). Mint steals the candy from all my babies.

So on the herb front mint is going for it, albeit in a very scatty, unorganised and disruptive way. Dill was doing fine until mint came along. Basil is doing fine, though not as good as last year, and we have loads of oregano and some good stalks of thyme. In terms of veg things seem to be going okay. Last year was a bit mixed and while we had quite a few courgettes, we only had one unripe cob of baby corn from several over-sized grassy-looking plants. I don't think Scotland is the place for baby sweetcorn or any corn for that matter. We don't have a greenhouse. We don't even have a vegetable patch - just bags of dirt in a shady garden and a bunch of things in miniscule pots indoors. Anyway, like I say things this year seem to be going okay.

So, to our first crop of the season, the radish, that lovable little magenta brassica. Apparently, we are not good at growing them. From five plants we have one radish, pictured above. This is our punishment for having little faith in our shady garden and Scottish weather, and for not doing any research whatsoever. We only put one plant in our garden and this is it. It went from being a very sad and limp seedling into a bushy 20-30cm plant in such a short time that we weren't even sure it was the radish. It wasn't until I was out resuscitating our potatoes (not mouth-to-mouth thankfully) from their battering by the wind that I noticed a big pink thing poking out of the ground that I knew we had some degree of success. We ate it a couple of days after and as predicted it was rubbery and old, but also hot and peppery, just the way my new husband likes them.

Our second success is hopefully going to be with our 'Catriona' potatoes which have shot up pretty quickly in one of those bags which you just keep adding soil to. They have been growing pretty steadily since we planted them, until a week or two ago when the wind broke every stem. They were just coming into flower and although we probably should have supported them with some bamboo ages ago, I'm of the if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it persuasion. Well, they broke and I fixed it. I've been out watering them today and checking they are still standing and whilst I was at it and I decided to have a root around in soil and see if I could find a potato. It took some digging, but this is what I found with it's "attractive purple eyes" just like the packet said it would. Now I'm wondering whether or not it's a waste of electricity to boil just one bite-sized potato. I don't think Tom and Barbara would like that.

Bloggie Bloggie Bloggie

2008-11-11T12:03:00.000-08:00

I wish my choice of title didn't bend my mind towards Mr Blobby but it's too late. Big pink monosyllabic fart. Now I can't remember what I was going to write about. All I can think about is that blobby polka-turd. Update later perhaps.

Food Diary Part 1: Eating Morgan Freeman

2008-07-08T01:29:00.000-07:00

Most memorably I recently ate Morgan Freeman. No, I am not a cannibal, it's just this baked potato looked so much like Morgan Freeman that it could well have been the man himself... or should that be potato himself? If potatoes are hes and shes?

Anyway, he was good. King prawns in Marie Rose sauce (yes, I have escaped from the 70s) and a slither of butter adorned him. I say 'slither' because it it actually was this time. Normally 'slither' might mean 'massive dollop', but I'm trying to cut down. I am a butter fiend.

Neil's baked potato was Franken-tattie. He wasn't made from lots of different baked potatoes, he was just a rather ugly specimen.

Punk in Drublic

2008-06-28T14:49:00.000-07:00

I am punk, but not in drublic. Perhaps more tomorrow. I have not written in a while.

Lupe Pintos es Fantástico!

2008-05-08T09:28:00.000-07:00

Lupe Pintos is so goood. It's a well-stocked Mexican deli just along the road on Leven St and has the best guacamole I have ever tasted. I could eat it like a yoghurt. In fact I have. It is so very good! They also have some rather fine salsa, very fresh tasting and with a good kick to it. Check out my chile dog bag:

They have Desperados too, a fine tequila selection and Sailor Jerry's. Tasty booze. You should go there. Right now.

Speaking of tasty booze it's the Heriot Watt Beer Festival tomorrow and I cannot wait. If the weather is like has been for the last week then it will be extra good. I will no doubt drink far too much beer, pretend I'm going to do a yard of ale and then back out at the last minute for being too drunk. I'll also scribble nonsense on my beer menu pretending that I know something about beer, when actually I'm just drunk and want to doodle. I am a civilized drunk don't you know? It will be good.

Ring

2008-05-01T01:27:00.000-07:00

Photos as requested...

65daysofstatic

2008-04-30T04:06:00.000-07:00

65daysofstatic last night were fantastic as usual. Always so much energy. Bit of a shame about the support band, Pilgrim Fathers, who were OK but were just here-there-and-everywhere and well, a bit boring. King Tut's was good. I hadn't been there before and I liked that we could have a cheeky pint downstairs before heading upstairs to a small but spiritful venue.

Can't help feeling I don't go to enough gigs anymore.

Half-Way There...

2008-04-29T01:29:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm now officially half-way to getting my degree. It has been tough. It is going to get tougher. I'm pretty sure it's tough for most people, but some people take it better than anothers: I'm a weakling from the latter camp. I get all riled up and want to weep. So far so good though, and I was stunned to find out I got 85% for a module I did last term. It doesn't count for much and I strongly suspect that will be my best mark by a long shot, but I'm happy.

The other thing keeping me smiling is all this wedding stuff. At first it was quite stressful - thinking about where to have it, who to invite, how much it costs and so on - but now that things are getting organised it feels pretty damn good. The location is sorted, a registrar is confirmed and finally, last weekend, we found a ring! It's a fairly normal (read 'classic') ring with a white gold band and a solitaire diamond at the centre. It's not at all what I was expecting to go for (I thought I'd go for something quite unusual) but that one somehow stood out from the crowd of other generic De Beers type rings and I love it.

So it's all a bit of a yo-yo at the moment: up and down, up and down. Two months left to go with college. Hopefully after that things will settle a bit.

Nerves

2008-04-14T06:17:00.000-07:00

Argh! I am slowly turning into a huge bundle of nerves. Final term begins today and so, so much still to do! Just need to soldier on through...

Crane

2008-04-07T07:47:00.000-07:00

Origami Crane says Hello... I bought origami paper for my
college project, not for making cranes, but I couldn't resist.

I Must be Lonely

2008-03-12T05:53:00.000-07:00

I wish Neil was here. You know you must be lonely when you start kissing and hugging your books for making you happy. The Penguin Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture is no replacement for the man you love.

I Should Probably Say Something

2008-02-15T02:51:00.000-08:00

Rar. I have revived my blog. Whether or not I'll use it regularly we'll see. As you can probably guess from the header - I change my mind a lot.

As well as 'I should probably say something', I should probably do something. I'm in the final part of my final year (Landscape Architecture) and I'm sitting here listening to synth-pop, which for some reason I cannot get enough off. Really I should be writing my dissertation or preparing for my site visit next week. But no.

I'm going to make some tea and figure out what to do. In the meantime I'll leave you with this - Million Ways by OK Go. So precious, suspicious, and charming, and vicious...