Tuesday 23 March 2010

Iron girl

It's almost payday. TFFT.
My cupboard is almost bare and am frankly fed up of pasta. Tonight, however, that's what it'll have to be. Probably with a tomato sauce heavy on the onions and garlic (is it obvious that I'll be eating alone?) partly because that's all I have and partly because it is, happily, what I need.
There may even be a tub of Marscapone in the fridge. Frugal shmoogal.

Come Thursday however it's off to the shops! I'm thinking of chicken livers (naturally).
Feel like I could do with a boost of iron so will have them with some curly kale and a little buttery, balsamic sauce. And red wine.

The other dish on my payday wishlist is proper savoury mince. I use Simon Hopkinson's recipe which calls for a can of beef consomme to be added. Genius. I could happily live off this for days and probably will. It's great hangover food too, which could be why I'm longing for it so today...last night's dinner consisted only of crumpets with cheese.
And red wine.

Thursday 11 March 2010

Hoping for artichokes

Veg box day! With any luck, today it will contain Jerusalem Artichokes, so underrated and misunderstood. By me, actually, so it is my mission to open my mind to their wonders.

There will almost certainly be leeks and potatoes too, but I'm already well-versed in the wonders of those two. Whatever the box of organic delights holds, however, I'll be putting it to good and (hopefully) delicious use - recipes/culinary adventures to follow!

Tuesday 9 March 2010

Mind in neutral...

Needless to say, two of my favourite things in life are cooking and clothing.
I often feel at odds with myself when some days I'm yearning for a vegetable patch and a large country kitchen (hold the Aga, please) and others for a pair of Louboutins and a martini. Good grief, if only all life's quandaries were so shallow. However, there is no reason not to have both (well actually, there are currently a litany of reasons, but hey). Why not embrace both glamour and grit? After all, food can be sexy and an outfit can consist of an old towelling dressing gown with Marmite on the sleeve. See? The two are interchangeable!

Recently, I'm sad to say I've been distracted by beige. Also taupe, camel, ecru even... the Spring/Summer 2010 fashion trend for neutrals has snagged me. I rarely bother with trends, being much more interested in examples of classic style and individuality don't you know, but every now and then one swans along that I really like and enjoy attempting to carry off.
There seems to be something impossibly luxurious about these shades. It could be that they state: 'I am someone who never gets Marmite on their sleeve' - they are plush and elegant.

I have a very useful straight, short skirt from H&M (I like my impossibly luxurious items to be mass-produced and affordable) which could well be called pale ecru and which I like to wear with nautical stripes and brown leather boots. I just wish I could pull of a camel-coloured dress (with big hair and red lips!) but being (very) pale ecru myself, this doesn't seem to work. Aw shucks, maybe black will be in again by Autumn, that'll make life easier.

But what if this trend spills into the kitchen??! The butter beans are on me!