suggestions

happy valentines!

1. make this apple puff pastry tart. everyday can be valentines with this treat! this recipe makes 4 tarts.

pack of puff pastry at room temperature
flour for dusting
1 pink lady apple
4t of caramel sauce
1/4t cinommon
1T icing sugar
whipping cream (optional)

preheat the oven to 200C/390F.
roll out the pastry until 4 8x10cm hearts will fit. the recipe suggests making a template but i just guessed.
quater and core the apple and slice each quarter into 6 pieces.
lay out 6 apple slices in a heart shape on the pastry.
cut around the apple heart leaving a good sized (1cm) boarder (repeat for all 4 tarts).
spoon 1t of caramel sauce over each pastry heart and spread around leaving the boarder free of sauce.
arrange the apples on top of the sauce.
dust all 4 tarts with the the cinommon and icing sugar.
place on a large baking tray and bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

whip some cream and swirl with some more caramel sauce, if you want.

eat warm! yum.

2. if you live in london go and see la clique, a melange of cabaret, new burlesque, and circus sideshow. for your pleasure are the talented..

Captain Frodo, Norway’s outrageously bendy man, hula hoop’s finest exponent Yulia Pikhtina, the PVC-clad Miss Behave who has a penchant for swallowing pointy objects.

not mentioned was my favourite guy, mario queen of the circus. a leather clad, juggling, queen fanatic. and miss behave didn't swallow anything for our show, but she did reveal some lovely crystals she had been hiding upon her person at the end of the act. she was naked save 3 small strategically placed hearts, a treat for the valentine's show. there's also the wet rope dancer as pictured above. yum.

la clique was fantastic! i would like to go again as i think each show is probably a little bit different.


3. if you live in bath go to jamie's italian, jamie oliver's new restaurant. i cannot gush enough about how much i enjoyed this restaurant. it was a tough decision on what to eat as the whole menu made our mouths water. there are a few locations, if you live near one you must go! if you're visiting england factor this restaurant into your plans. check out my flickr for the meal play-by-play.

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.

swanage: part 2 - the meal

our valentine's meal at ocean bay restaurant was not as good as it could have been but the atmosphere and occassion were perfect. an evening stroll along the beach, me wearing a new dress....alex looking smart in his suit. the restaurant was beautiful and cosy and romantic. the tables were dressed simply with a single red rose and cupid confetti. everything was wonderful...until they showed us the special valentine's menu. i guess it was foolish of me to check out ocean bay's website in advance as i was then anticipating their regular menu, which sounds fantastic!

tuna sushami - pickled beetroot, cucumber & peppers – soy & honey dressing - yes please.

roast fillet of salmon - lobster & shallot potatoes – lobster bisque - tempura tiger prawn - house salad - bring it to me.

rhubarb crème brulee - coconut & papaya shortbread - yum-o.

but none of that was to be.

the menu started out well....complimentary cocktails and hor d'oeurves.

some sort of mouse/pate on heart shaped toast topped with a red current. roast vegetables in a won ton cup. smoked salmon topped with creme fresh and cavier on a cracker. my cocktail was champange and orange juice. it was all very tasty.





alex and i both started with seared scallops on a bed of pureed cauliflower with a balsamic and bacon reduction. balsamic, bacon and scallops? a stroke of genuis. the bitter and too smooth cauliflower puree? blech. the scallops were perfectly cooked, and almost melted in your mouth and the bacon was every so slightly crispy, it was a great contrast. i suppose the bitter flavour of the cauliflower is the contrast to sweet and salty of everything else, but i would have much preferred either no bed or a different bed for my scallops. maybe something with a bit of bite or chunk.

next up was a steak with pureed butternut squash, roasted root vegetables and red wine jus. the roasted vegetables were overcooked to mush and the butternut squash was once again pureed until baby food smooth. it was piped onto the plate in a distinctly 'dog crap' shape. how unfortunate. the steak was cooked perfectly but was a little chewy. everything tasted good but felt the same in my mouth...i'm a fan of texture to my food.


alex picked the better dish....oh why must i hate mushrooms? he had a quail (or was it pheasant?) stuffed with wild mushrooms on a bed of sweet chestnut risotto with a sauce of something and some sort of roasted vegetables on top. sorry i don't remember the details. his dish had contrasting flavours and textures. buttery fowl, slightly spongy and firm risotto with crunchy bits of chestnut and squishy vegetables. it was yummy.


i forgot to take pictures of the desserts. and i cannot remember what alex had, there were many components. i do remember fresh strawberries and ice cream in a crunchy waffle basket. i had the local cheese platter and it was very enjoyable. a sharp cheddar, creamy bree, a stinky blue, and a hard and soft goat's cheese. there was a local ale apple chutney the likes i've never tasted before along with a variety of interesting biscuits. the cheese plate was really the highlight of the whole meal.

it was valentine's day and i was with the man i enjoy most and i can't ask for more than that but the meal was just not as good as it could have been.

chivalry is still alive in my bedroom

how wonderful is my boy?

anyone who knows me is aware of my intense fear of spiders indoors. it's an irrational and overwhelming phobia. alex knows this and he overcame his own shock and horror when faced with an 8 legged monster in the middle of the night. he protected my sleep from the nightmarish reality that a gargantuan spider probably walked right beside my head while i dreamed. i woke up in the end to the whirr of my wind up torch but was truly unaware of his bravery until i saw the pictures last night. read all about it!

felizes dia dos valentine

happy valentine's day

i wish i could say that i made these cookies, but i can't.

i'm spending my valentine's going to see the bawdy musical, avenue q. it's basically an adult version of sesame street. FUN!

doctor, doctor! i have a shooting pain in my head!

  

i love dressing up for halloween. it really might be one of my favourite holidays, after my birthday and christmas of course.






but nothing beats dressing someone else up as well, even if they were being a whiney baby and complaining i was getting makeup in their eyes when clearly that was not the case....not that i'm naming any names....


 

i like to call this bonnie and clyde ride again.

please bear with me...

i just need to gush for a moment.

this is alex.








he's from england, higham in kent to be exact. i like him quite a bit.

i just found out this morning that he's officially coming to visit me in victoria. HURRAH! he'll be here on oct. 4th for a month.

anyhoo. the point of this was to tell you all how great alex is and how wonderfully he treats me. i got a little package in the mail a few days ago and discovered the cutest thing inside.he sewed me a heart, with his own hands, and filled it with lavender that he collected from around his village. there was also a verse from a lavender inspired poem accompanying it.

it might just be the sweetest and most romantic thing a boy has ever done for me.

*swoon*

thank you for your patience.

holy hectic week batman!

first of all, cheers to ben for these 2 lovely photos! and happy summer solstice to you all...sorry it's a little late, but i've been a wee bit busy.

i went up to stonehenge for solstice with ben. it was good fun, staying up all night and driving into the early hours of the morning. once the rain stopped the sunrise was looking to be fantastically beautiful but unfortunately the clouds soon moved in and obscured the colours.
then last weekend, i went to shropshire (somewhere in the midlands) for play, a juggling/camping/festival. it was the best 2.5 days i've had in a while! i've learned how to hoop. and i don't just mean swinging it round your hips....which is a feat in itself, believe me...but hoop tricks that involve arms and necks and knees and thumbs. it's such fun and i have the bruises to prove it. i'll post some pictures of the festival soon.

and last night ben and i went to victoria park (my local ghetto park) for some opera. the marriage of figaro was beamed live (and free) from the royal opera house in covent garden to a large screen in the park. we had a picnic, wine, summer sun, and opera. how very civilized. we're going back for turandot on the 7th.

and the prelude to all this excitement of the past week? i met a boy...he accompanied me on my adventures...swoon. his name is alex.