Friday 10 September 2010

I heart these...


I have always had a bit of a 'thing' for enamelware and I was in a bit of sulk recently as this enamel mug from John Lewis had been sold out before I could get my hands on one. But they are now back in stock and I will definitely be purchasing some. Yes, such simple things give me joy! Particularly as it is also Friday and nearly the weekend, hope you all have lovely ones...

Friday 3 September 2010

Organic Fortnight starts today....

Organic Fortnight (3-17 September) kicks off today. I have previously blogged about my feelings on organic food and other products [Organic debate (en)rages] so I won't go into it again. Generally though I am definitely a supporter and Organic Fortnight is an excellent way of getting involved in celebrating 'all things organic', to quote the Soil Association's website.

The website gives a number of simple ways to get involved. Those of you near Bristol Habourside on the 11th and 12th of September could head to the 10th Organic Food Festival. Another idea is to visit an organic farm or host an organic dinner party. The website also has an excellent section on 'Organic on a budget' which addresses a concern that I often encounter among those who would ideally like 'go organic' but are concerned about the increase in costs.

Thursday 2 September 2010

This, that and homemade pasta...

So my Bank Holiday weekend was as wild as anticipated! I delved into Gordon's 'Great Escape: 100 of my Favourite Indian Recipes' and made a delicious (in my humble opinion) Badami Chicken Curry and Sag Aloo. Badam translates to Almond in English but the curry had a very different flavour to a Korma, less sweet. Both recipes turned out well although I would modify the curry slightly the next time by adding some extra chillies, it was spicy but a bit mild for my taste. The book seems great so far though. There are a number of other recipes I'd like to try and many that are a bit different from what you might find in a standard Indian cookery recipe book.

The other culinary adventure of the weekend was totally instigated by the OH who bought a pasta machine (this one actually) from a charity store which we were browsing for books. I was, it has to be admitted, a little unenthusiastic. I love cooking of course but it just seems so much easier to buy pasta from the shops. But we followed (well the OH followed and I observed) the recipe in the recent Guardian article 'How to make perfect pasta' and after a bit of trial and error with the rolling and the folding it turned out wonderfully, although we made far too much. Served up tagliatelle-style with a carbonara sauce the pasta was honestly so different from shop bought that it was well worth the effort (probably not for every occasion on which I fancy pasta though). Next we are going to use home made pasta in lasagna and I have a feeling it will be a bit special.

Leaving food matters aside, I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my Liz Earle shampoo and conditioner. I have pre-ordered their new haircare range which officially launches today. Finding a decent shampoo that contains no sodium lauryl/laureth sulphate can be a struggle for natural beauty product fans so I am excited to see whether the range lives up to the Liz Earle high standards which I have always found with their face and body ranges.