Monthly Archives: September 2011

Tweets on 2011-09-05

  • Phew. Almost all the party washing up done and the table linen all in the machine. #
  • @dr_nick dinner party! in reply to dr_nick #
  • RT @poddelusion: A Sunday evening treat for you all… @PodDelusion LIVE in #Leicester http://t.co/P9xL7bt << featuring ME! 🙂 🙂 #
  • @mithomas20 thermal socks would be cheaper in reply to mithomas20 #
  • Evensong ringing. (@ St. Peter's Church) http://t.co/H5WEzj9 #
  • Going upstairs on the bus #simplepleasures #easilypleased #
  • They're taking down the beach in Old Market Square. And why are they flying the Red Ensign from the Council House? #
  • @DrewCR2 I save that for the rare occasions I frequent the DLR. in reply to DrewCR2 #
  • @enitharmon ah, I knew it was their flag, but I didn't know they had a day. in reply to enitharmon #
  • RT @journodave: Now convinced that churnalism is no longer greatest threat to news. SEO optimisation is fast catching up. #
  • RT @journodave: p.s. STEVE JOBS JUSTIN BIEBER CAR CRASH IPHONE 5 LEAKED LEFT IN A PUB BEYONCE PREGNANT FREE IPAD. #
  • (I retweeeted that because I want to see how many spammy @s I get) @journodave #
  • @Alexander_Ball at least it wasn't OJ! in reply to Alexander_Ball #
  • Fulfilling my six-weekly "empty box in attic" to do. Finding weird CDs: Schubert, Elgar, Anna Russell and… Curtis Stigers… #whohe #
  • I think this box dates back to around the time Anna Russell died. #
  • @Psythor something about overcoming the initial hurdle "we're nice people really, you don't have to be perfect, give it a go" in reply to Psythor #
  • Surely, I didn't buy this CD because the singer is cute? *plays* Urgh! Jazz! *later* aaah… covers a Stephin Merritt song… badly. #
  • @Psythor "it's hard to describe" – unhelpful! and repeated… in reply to Psythor #
  • Right, enough of the Stigers. Back to the Schubert. #
  • Interestingly, the Schubert CD I just found in the attic is the one whose empty box has been on my bedside table for the last 4 years… #
  • There's still another empty Schubert CD case… with piece of music I actually wanted… CD still lost… #
  • OK, now booking flights to Dublin for christening of latest nephew. Ryanair have a new "Oxygen Reservation Fee" … #
  • So when you fly with just hand luggage, do you have to decant toothpaste into one of those little bottles too? #
  • Just had email urging me to support conference motion on Heath. Not sure whether it's about the late former prime minister or common land. #
  • @dr_nick snigger in reply to dr_nick #
  • So… who's going to win #gbbo Is it, perhaps, the guy on the cover of the TV tie-in book? http://t.co/HoIqtqR @robertbillingto #

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Tweets on 2011-09-04

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Tweets on 2011-09-03

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Photos: third attempt at pear and chocolate tarte

Sadly the middle attempt looked a little better than the first and third, but hopefully our guests will be so blotto by dessert it won’t matter all that much.

Recipe here, and the improvements I made last time were definitely worth repeating – ie make a vanilla mascarpone and rather than glazing the tarte with apricot jam, slightly reduce the spicy red wine used to poach the pears, and paint that on with a pastry brush.

Third attempt at this tarte. Prettier than first, but not as pretty as second.

IMAG0414.jpg

Tarte borguinione

It’s one of the last weekends before term begins, so we are having a little soirée and I’ve gone completely over the top with the food.

  • Peach Kir royale on arrival
  • Canapés – roasted tomato tartlets and fig and goats cheese mini-croissants (*)
  • Chicken liver mousse topped with parsley jelly with home made bread
  • Pulled pork with mustard mash and green veg (*)
  • Pear and chocolate tarte
  • Coffee with home-made after dinner mints, earl grey truffles

In a sign of how badly behind with my reading I am, the starred recipes are inspired by September Olive magazine. That’s September, 2010.

The earl grey truffles are recovered from the hateful ganache made to top the awful cake I made last weekend that no-body apart from me would eat. Half of it went into work with P and has been eaten by his colleagues, and I ate the other half myself.

Cooking for dinner parties is so much more fun a) without a camera crew and b) when you can spread it out over several days.

Tweets on 2011-09-02

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Tweets on 2011-09-01

  • @Meryl_F yeah, I've had dozens of wine vouchers acksherly, just this one seemed more appropriate 🙂 in reply to Meryl_F #
  • Mining the clutter for carpet. Not seen for five years. #
  • Ooh, found a long lost cd. "I spent all day… dreaming of the way I'd like to hold you." #
  • I actually wanted to find this CD for a different song, but strangely it's this track that's sticking with me. #
  • In Chinese takeaway with two 50 year old skate boarders with ratty long hair. #
  • Hmm. My Nottingham Road Chinese has a bilingual English / Welsh food hygiene certificate. #
  • @lordbonkers it's not awful, but it's a fairly massive change to have made for you unasked… in reply to lordbonkers #
  • @ChristofHughes ooh, many happies 🙂 in reply to ChristofHughes #

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Vegan pop-up in Nottingham: fotos of phood

As previously mentioned, we’ve signed up to host a pop-up vegan restaurant night on 26th November.

Our chef-partner has begun setting up a website for the series of events she is cooking for this Autumn, including a sample menu page. And whilst the dishes there are not necessarily those she will be cooking on the night, as seasonality is an important factor, they do look pretty damn amazing.

My only concern with the Stripey Cat diet is that I know our hostess is much more able to eat chilli and garlic than we are – we are fast turning into People Who Like Garlic But It Doesn’t Like Us. (of which, another blogpost sometime soon)

Less vegan, we’ve also secured tickets for Clarkies in October, so we will be able to see how the only supper club in Notts does things (although their style – including a choice of three dishes for each course – seems to me to be pretty hard work!)

EDIT: Clarkies have got in touch on Facebook to say they DO do vegan food too – my apols for missing their link!