i don't know if this really worked

lydia is always posting pictures of her yummy, pastry school treats on her flickr. this lemony pinwheel caught my eye.

i don't think mine turned out all that well. the first major difference is lydia made her own puff pastry and i used the ready made puff pastry in my freezer. lydia made her own lemon filling, i used the blueberry and cherry jam in my fridge. lydia sprinkled hers with course sugar, i had none. my attempt wasn't never going to win out.

i enjoyed making these though, the geometry is pleasing, and by using all the ready made bits these took me about 5 minutes from start to finish.

they could have used a few more minutes on the oven as the centres, under the jam was a little doughy still. and my cherry jam was apparently too runny and didn't stay in the middle. my next try will be more successful...i'll keep you updated.

these were pretty tasty even with the runny jam and slightly under cooked centres.

the festival of lights

happy diwali!

i got the joy of fireworks over my house tonight. i love fireworks! it's still odd to me that you can buy them in grocery stores and let them off in your backyard...or the street.

i do believe the credit crunch has hit the firework industry though. usually the cacophony starts about a week before diwali with fits and stops and it reaches a crescendo on diwali. the light displays then slow down before reaching another fevered pitch for halloween. there is another dip in activity before the final climax of bonfire night.

this year, there was no build up to diwali and the night itself has been fairly quiet. i only counted a hand full of small displays. i hope the bonfire night display i'm going to next weekend isn't going to be holding back.

alex is in peru for 3 months...in case you didn't know and he sent me some pictures. he helped turtles hatch out of their eggs and will help to release them into the rivers in a few weeks (amongst other jungle adventures).

i'm so proud of him.

i won't post the photo of the big hairy tarantula that was found in the toilet as it's freaking gross. check out his facebook page for that little gem.

look what i bought

this my friends is a spider catcher. i am irrationally afraid of spiders. i cannot even play with fake plastic spiders during the 'minibeast' topic at school. i cannot bring myself to kill them or catch them, choosing instead to quake in fear if a see one. but those days are past me now!

you simply pull the trigger which opens up the plastic bristles at the other end. you place the bristles over the spider and release the trigger. the spider is caught and easily released outside as the bristles hold but don't squish. and it's all at arms length.

they give you a fake plastic spider to practice on, but i threw it out as i didn't like it. so i practised on my snail door stop. luckily i haven't had to use this on a real spider yet but i know there are 3 big ones lurking somewhere in the depths, i've seen them.

another page

these were pretty good books too. the looking glass wars, frank beddor. these are the 'real' stories of alice in wonderland.

lewis carroll twisted the stories princess alyss of wonderland (user of white imagination) told him. he turned them into the fanciful drivel that sold millions of copies and she never forgave him for it. there is no white rabbit, there is alyss's tutor, bibwit harte. there is no mad hatter, there is the royal bodyguard, hatter madigan. the queen of hearts is actually alyss's black imagination using, insane aunt who tries to usurp the thrown and forces alyss to flee wonderland and take refuge in our world.

these books are not particularily well written but they are an interesting and fun read. they can drag a little bit and don't attempt them if you really love the lewis carroll stories as they'll probably make you mad. apparently this is a trilogy but the third book isn't out or i haven't looked hard enough for it. start with the looking glass wars and then move onto seeing red.

taking a page out of lydia's book

i recently found a book at the library and i loved it. i consumed it in a week. the book of lost things, john connolly.


it's about a young boy during wartime london who looses his mother. he's angry, sad, a little obsessive compulsive and starts to take comfort in the fairytales that he and his mother shared. through an accident, the boy finds himself in an alternate world where the 7 dwarves are communists, little red riding hood helped to breed a new brand of scary wolf and a valient knight is on a quest to find out the fate of his 'good friend'.

the story is a tad predictable but it's a very enjoyable read. i highly recommend it, if you enjoy grimm-esque fairytales.

left overs?

i had some left over chili and a half of a butternut squash to make into a dinner. what a happy accident this turned out to be!

roast the squash until soft, top with the chili and put back in the oven until hot, grate over some cheese and serve with a dollop of sour cream. i wasn't expecting to be as tasty as it was...that's why i only have the 'after' picture.

the proof of the yumminess is on the plate.

an interesting read

UPDATE: the times just won't work as a hyper link so try copying and pasting the full address.

here's a full link for you of a different yet related article, still humourous...

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article4855164.ece

and here's the intended article....

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/carol_midgley/article4909825.ece

jamie oliver has started a new program - jamie's ministry of food - where he wants people to give up the fast food lifestyle and learn to cook basic meals. then those people them pass on the recipes to friends who pass on the recipes and so on and so forth until thousands of people are cooking.

he's been criticised after his first episode for portraying a typical english village as thick and slovenly (this is the same village where mothers were pushing macdonald's into their children's outstretched hands through the school gates when chips and burgers were banned from school dinners in favour of healthy eating - thanks to jamie). this article from the times was a very amusing read. i like how they censored 'wanker' in the opening paragraph.

recipe of the week: squash and prawn stir fry

half a butter nut squash, peeled and cubed
handful of prawns, cooked or raw
2T fish sauce plus some to splash
1T sugar
2 garlic cloves, grated or minced
cooked rice to serve

cook some rice.
boil the cubed squash for 6-10 or until just cooked.
mix the fish sauce, sugar and garlic.
splash some fish sauce over the prawns.
heat the fish sauce mixture in a large frying pan until the garlic begins to sizzle and add the cooked squash, stir fry for 5 minutes or so.
add the prawns and cook through.
serve with rice.

yum.