Oh dear… I am an official addict!!
Tags: limited edition, marmite
delicious dinnertime
18 May
We just made (and ATE) this delicious recipe for our dinner. Fresh asparagus from Leather Lane Market and a little bit of salad and it was deeeeelicious. Here’s the recipe from The Forest Feast…
bertrand the bike
25 MarThe boy very kindly fixed the gears on my beautiful Pashley today. Since I had already carried it up four flights of stairs it seemed a good time to give it a proper clean, so it’s looking marvellous.
I know I complain about how heavy it is but it really is the most delightfully comfortable bike to ride and would definitely recommend one to anyone who was willing to fork out the money.
Alas, some meanie stole my Brooks saddle so I’m going on the hunt for a new one, and maybe will make myself some of these fab panniers, that the lovely Lloyd sent me a link to.
You may think it strange, but I have always named my bikes, this one is Bertrand which means “bright raven”.
delicious… jamie’s simple stuffed veg
20 MarWe have TOTALLY fallen in love with this recipe, it is so delicious that I had to share it with you all. Its from Jamie Oliver’s book “Jamie Does…” and tastes so good that we’ve even taken to making the rice on its own to replace the times we have potatoes. The recipe below serves 4.
You will need:
2 large firm beef tomatoes
2 large yellow bell peppers
2 large red bell peppers
100g shelled pistachios
4 cloves garlic – chopped
200g long grain rice
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 fresh red chilli – deseeded and finely chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
600ml vegetable stock – stock cubes will do
200g Greek feta cheese, crumbled
small bunch of mint leaves – picked and finely chopped
small bunch of flat leaf parsley leaves – picked and finely chopped
1 tablespoon of tomato puree
Preheat your oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6
To make:
Cut the tops off the tomatoes and put then to one side. Use a spoon to carefully hollow out the inside and get rid of that bit. Halve the peppers lenghtways, keeping the stalks intact. With a sharp knife and a spoon, carefully get rid of the seeds (if you could only find small peppers like us cut the tops off, like the tomatoes, but you may want to include a couple more peppers). Place all these vegetables into an appropriately sized deep sided oven dish. You want them to fit nice and snug.
Toast the pistachios in a dry frying pan, keeping them moving so they don’t burn. When they’re done tip them into a pestle and mortar and roughly crush, then put them to one side.
Add a glug of oil to the pan, put it back on a low heat and add the onions and garlic. Cook for about 10 minutes, until the onion is soft but not coloured.
Add the rice, oregano, chilli and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Pour in half of the stock (300ml) and cook for around 7 to 10 minutes, stirring constantly, so the rice gets coated in everything and doesn’t stick to the pan.
Remove from the heat and stir in the crumbled feta, fresh herbs and bashed up pistachios.
Carefully stuff the hollowed-out peppers and tomatoes with the hot rice mixture so it comes just to the top. Don’t over fill them as the rice will expand when it cooks. Put the tops back on the tomatoes and drizzle a few glugs of oil over the lot.
Mix the tomato puree/paste with the remaining stock and pour into the baking dish, around, not over the veg.
Cover tightly with kitchen foil and bake in the hot oven for around 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer to serving plates.
Serve straight away with some yummy salad and fresh crusty bread.
Voila, the finished article! It may sound too tricky, but trust me it’s not, and all your hard work will be well worth it.
Tags: delicious, food, jamie oliver, make, peppers, recipe, stuffed, veg
pumped up kicks
19 Mar
Littlest brother, another creative one, has been working hard helping to put together Pumped Up Kicks, an exhibition put together by the Leeds Young Curators. The exhibition explores behaviour and perceptions of young people in today’s society.
They’ve put together an awseome collection of artist’s work, here’s just a few bits. Above, Guy Tarrant’s installations reflect the rebellious nature of school children, this piece, ‘Boys Confiscation Cabinet’, contains a great selection; classroom missiles, porno playing cars, a fantasy football league.
Mike Ainsworth’s large scale printed pieces.
Louise Burrows’ collages use black and white photos and colourful postage stamps. And finally Emma Gamble’s monochrome drawings, created in biro and indian ink, is the content as dark as it appears? The style is amazingly detailed, they are almost like photographs.
Hopefully this will be the start of an amazing curatorial career, great work Kai!
Pumped Up Kicks is open daily at the Concourse Gallery, Leeds Met University until the 24th March.
Tags: art, bainbridge, curator, exhibition, leeds, young
new necklace
6 Mar
Hurrah! After 3 trips across the Atlantic and a brief jaunt around post offices of the United States my lovely birthday necklace has finally arrived! And it’s gorgeous!
Made up of copper, wood, stainless steel and brass it has some lovely colours to it, thinking it’s going to get a lot of wear.
ooh i right fancy a cup of coffee
9 Feb…maybe I’ll pop down to “most fashionable” soho. Fortunately they don’t make them like they used to.
