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.

a horse, a horse! my kingdom for a horse!

i've been meaning to write this post all weekend. go out and see richard III at the Phoenix theatre, UVic. it is amazing! the lead actor that plays richard, trevor hinton, is so talented. this is not an easy character to play and he pulls it off with ease. not to mention his body is a perfectly sculpted specimen...even if he is constantly maintaining the hunched, crippled deformities.

i won't even bother gushing about the other actors, i cannot find flaw with anyone.

the dream sequence when the ghosts of those richard has killed come to haunt his sleep is so magical and eerie.

the battle of bosworth field at the end is stunningly choreographed. if you get tickets, ask for front row so you can be right in the middle of the action! that was the highlight for me.

the times colonist wrote a raving review, read it!

go and see this production, it's only on until dec 2nd. to order tickets call: 250 - 721 - 8000

deja vu

have you ever seen an elephant walking by st. james's palace? well i have! and i saw it sleeping in trafalgar square. twice lucky. this street theatre left me speechless. i was enchanted yesterday just by the elephant's siesta.






but today...there was walking and tail wagging and roaring (what do you call the sound the elephant makes?). there were dancing girls, the sultan, his entourage, live music following behind. it was fantastic! the sun even made a brief appearance.

the elephant would stop periodically to be fed hay by his handlers and he would pick up the bails of hay and throw them at the crowd. he also enjoyed drenching the crowd with water from his trunk (which you can just make out against the cloudy sky in this picutre). i managed to stay clears of the streams for quite a while. but then i got distracted by my camera and got completely soaked. i hope nikon cameras like elephant spit.

won't let the weather get me down

what a pleasant afternoon i have had, even though it was raining. the latest london adventure involved rather large puppets in trafalgar square.

The Sultan’s Elephant is the story of a sultan from far-off lands and his magical, time-travelling mechanical elephant. Forty feet high and 42 tonnes in weight, this beautiful creature will capture the hearts and minds of everyone who sees it.

i was captured by it! i didn't actually see it move, it was too wet to wait around an hour for the parade back to it's bed, but nevertheless, it was a sight to behold. i may go see them stroll through st. james park tomorrow if the weather perks up a bit. it's apparently taken 2 years to organise and negotiate this street theatre production and i'd like to see it in action.