The Big Question

Okay, so I've misled you. This is not THE big question, but ít's the one that's been perplexing me for the past few minutes, and I think it's important.

Once upon a time, labels on jars and bottles needed a mere soak in water to smoothly, most often in one piece, slide from the glass, without leaving a nasty residue. When did this change?

I am sure there are some people out there who collect labels. If they live in the Middle East I am sure they create designs of the UAE flag or the president, or some other illustrious personage, with them (why not, they do it with matchboxes!). How these people must be suffering from this 'difficult-to-remove-label' trend?

Some weeks ago I made the decision to cook Indian food. Anyone who does this will know that you end up with a ridiculous number of different spices. In the UAE many of these come in plastic bags, rather than jars. But jars are better for storing them. So instead of taking glass jars to the recycling bin, I decided to remove their labels and reuse them.

Now I regret this decision.

I have one particular jar that I have soaked for hours - twice! Yet the residue remains.

If anyone reading this blog is a label collector and has an elegant solution to this problem, please post a comment.

Not about football

Dear blog readers,
It's World Cup time and the world, or at least Dubai, seems obsessed by it. So, in protest, that is all I am going to say about it.

I often hear how smells are very powerful at triggering memories. I don't know about smells, but for me, it's words and music.

Every now and then I think back to moments or words that have special meaning for me. In particular I remember one poem and one song that hold beautiful memories. My then "best friend" at high school wrote some verses from the Stones song "Wild Horses" on a birthday card. I remember her each time I hear that song. Recently we have connected again, and I wonder if she remembers writing those words so many years ago.

A couple of weeks ago I finally tracked down a poem I had loved when I was a teenager. I can't remember how old I was when I first read it - maybe 16 or 17 and a group of us had gone to a drama camp at Sydney Uni. I met a person there who really brought this poem to my mind. A couple of years back I met another but I couldn't find the poem. Now I've found it. I guess I can't quote it in its entirety - copyright and all that. If you want to look it up, it's e e cummings - Number 30 in 73 Poems.

... but a few lines should be safe.

...
Nobody,it's safe
to say,observed him but

myself;and why?because

without any doubt he was
whatever(first and last)

mostpeople fear most:
a mystery for which i've
no word except alive

-that is,completely alert
and miraculously whole;

with not merely a mind and a heart

but unquestionably a soul-...

it is my dearest wish for you all that you know at least one person like this.

Do you get loads of emails from friends with attachments designed to make you feel good? You know the ones. PowerPoint presentations with calming music, and either photos or paintings. And usually at the end there is a message telling you that if you don’t forward the message immediately to at least ten people, your wish won’t come true. Sometimes they even threaten that something bad will happen to you.

Much as receiving these emails annoys me, I admit that it is nice to know that people care about whether I have a smile on my face or not. But, surely there are much easier, and even much more personal, ways to bring about that smile.

My latest purchase is an iPhone. Yes, I am addicted to the gorgeous gadget, and am longing for the 2nd or 3rd iteration of the iPad and my next bonus cheque.

One of the “funnest” things about the iPhone is, of course, the apps. Now I’m going to admit to something very personal here. I am the proud owner of a virtual fish named George. And George, or rather that app that runs George, knows just how to put a smile on my face. Every now and then, after I’ve visited George and played with him, I get messages. “You are the owner of one happy fish.” “Your fish has a smile on its face.” And, regardless of how bad I’m feeling, these simple messages, from an electronic gadget, make me smile.

Again I ponder, if it’s this easy for a gadget to make me smile, how much easier for a real person to do the same, and for me to do the same back.

So my resolution for today is to spend more time making people smile (but I warn you, I’m not giving up George!)

I will never be "regular blogger of the year"

So again it's been a while. No excuses. I just haven't got around to blogging.

Yesterday I found something I haven't seen for a long time - rhubarb. So many of us have been talking about it, but no one knew where to find it - Choitrams Safa Park - but beware, it's not cheap.

So today I chopped it up, stewed it with a cinnamon stick and a little sugar thinking I'd make a rhubarb crumble. Sadly there wasn't enough so I added apples (always a great combination). My crumble topping was fairly standard but I added some quinoa flakes (instead of rolled oats) and an Aussie touch - some wattle seed. So there's a treat for the office tomorrow.

First course is going to be lentil fritters - make a standard batter (flour, egg, milk), but add egg yolks first and whip up whites and fold them in. Flavour with chilli powder, cumin, cardamon, salt, pepper. Fry, flip, fry other side. Serve with chopped tomato, rocket and labneh.

Looking forward to lunch tomorrow.

'Til next time...

Things to do with egg yolks

Dear trainee housewife,

First confession - I am feeling stupendously guilty because I haven't solved your egg yolk dilemma yet. I sleep at night and dream of large quantities of egg yolks piling up in your fridge, leaving scant room for other foods. Sorry. I did plan to provide a list today of things to do with egg yolks, but sadly work has been taking over my blogging time. I did however drag out the recipe for bread and butter pudding for you.

Now, another confession. I don't follow the recipe exactly. Experimentation is part of my cooking style. But I will provide the basics and you can go from there.

Raisin Bread and Butter Pudding

50 g butter
400 g raisin loaf (keep the crusts on - they make your hair go curly - or so my mother says)
750 mls milk
142 mls double cream
grated zest of 1 lemon
4 eggs (here I would mess around and use maybe 1 full egg and five or six yolks)
50g caster sugar
2 tbspns brandy or 1 tspn vanilla extract (no prizes for guessing which I prefer - if you do decide to go for vanilla, make sure it's a quality extract and not synthetic essence)
2 tbspns demerara sugar
2 tbspns chopped nuts
1 tspn ground cinnamon

1. Butter a shallow ovenproof dish, about 2 litres. Butter the slices of bread and halve them diagonally.
2. Put milk, cream and lemon zest in a saucepan and het slowly to boiling point. Cool to lukewarm.
3. Beat eggs and sugar. Add brandy (or vanilla) and warm lemon milk.
4. Arrange half the bread over the base of the dish. Pour over half the milk/egg mixture. Repeat the bread and milk layers. Let it soak for about 15 minutes.
5. Preheat over to 180C.
6. Mix demerara sugar, nuts and cinnamon and sprinkle over pudding.
7. Bake for 40 - 45 minutes until golden brown and firm. Leave for 5 mintues before serving.

Keep checking for more ideas on what to do with egg yolks...

Mushrooms

After breakfast of mushrooms and scrambled eggs at Carluccios I decided to repeat a recipe I made earlier in the week - actually part of a recipe. For a pot luck lunch at the office I made crepes filled with a cheesy bechamel sauce and a fabulous mushroom concoction which proved more delicious than I thought possible.

So today I am repeating the mushroom part.

Saute some chopped onion in oil until brown and caramelised. Add torn up mushrooms - as many as you want. Soak some dried porcini in boiling water. When they are soft, drain them and toss into the mushroom and onion mix in the frypan. (My hot tip: if you want the porcini in smaller pieces, rather than cut them when they have soaked which can be really messy, rip them up before you soak them.) Add some red wine, some tomato passata, salt, dried chilli flakes, strained porcini liquid (strain this to remove any dirt) and simmer until the liquid reduces and mixture is thick.

I'm not sure what I'm going to serve this with this time. I think it will go nicely with some brown basmati rice, and it should be great with some pasta - maybe tagliatelle. Only problem is, if I have it for lunch at work, I can't enjoy a glass of red with it...

A fairly lazy Friday

After a few nights of not sleeping well, it was a relief to roll-over at 6 am and continue snoozing. Then it was to Carluccio's at Dubai Mall for breakfast. The scrambled eggs and mushrooms were the best I've tasted. I'll definitely be doing that again.

On Tuesday we plan to celebrate arrivals and birthdays at the office and as it's Shrove Tuesday, I thought my contribution to the pot luck lunch would be pancakes. I have been wanting to try a new recipe (picked up at Organic Foods and Cafe) for some time and thought I had better try it out before I inflict it on my unsuspecting colleagues.

Orange and Ricotta Pancakes
(makes about 8)
250g Ricotta
4 tbspns sugar
3 eggs separated
1 large orange
50g plain flour
2 tbspns butter

Combine ricotta, sugar and egg yolks. add grated orange zest and flour and mix well. Beat egg whites unil stiff then fold into ricotta mixture (remember, you want to keep as much air in them as possible, so don't beat the mixture too hard - cut and fold with a metal spoon is how Miss Searle taught me to do it in Home Science classes in the 70s). Melt butter in a non stick pan. Drop heaped tablespoons of batter into the pan (don't try more than 3 at a time). Cook over a medium heat until coloured and turn to cook other side. Eat.

Now I'm spending today thinking about what to serve them with. Tried honey and jam (separately!) yesterday and they were quite nice. Looking for something a little more exotic today...