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Thursday 17 January 2013

A super-speedy sort-of pizza

pizzaininvertedcommas

An ABSURDLY busy week at work this week, but on the whole not a bad one. I can't wait for the weekend to relax and breathe though. Only one day left.

When I'm busy and late home from work, dinner is usually just whatever can be thrown together in the quickest time. So thank the powers of food-production for that ready-rolled puff pastry you can buy in the supermarket. I love to just chuck stuff on it, shove it in the oven, and devour the resulting feast.

Just shove it on a tray and score round with a knife about in inch in from the edge. Brush some milk over it and bake for 15 mins or so, so it puffs a bit. While this is happening, chop up whatever you want on top. Get the pastry out and squash down the middle (within the lines you have scored) with a fork. Chuck toppings on. Bake again for 20-30 mins (depending on what you've put on top, some things need a bit longer). Favourite toppings include courgette, tomatoes, aubergines, peppers, feta cheese, halloumi, spinach, mushrooms...pretty much anything goes!

Tuesday 8 January 2013

Winnie ille Pu

One of my favourite surprises I got for Christmas was this copy of Winnie the Pooh in Latin, from Mark's mum.

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My 2 years of secondary school latin have not really equipped me to understand very much of it, but I can't stop reading it for its endless joyfulness! The joy of Winnie the Pooh is enhanced by the Latin language, I'm sure. Such as in this scene, where Piglet (Porcellus) dreams of the Heffalump (Heffalumpus...of course):

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Some parts, however, do not need translating...

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Monday 7 January 2013

A little brown stew and some healthy living

Happy New Year!

It seems ages ago now, but New Year's Eve passed in a cheerful and relaxing way in our house. We cooked up a lovely stew from mushroom and pearl barley (thanks to Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries vol.2!), eaten with a little crusty roll I baked in a hurry (and therefore wasn't perfect, but hey!), and a bottle of the perennial favourite wine of our household, Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

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I baked a quick apple cake, which went from nought to oven in less than 15 minutes thanks to the wonders of the Magimix, and Mark delved into the Nigellissima book and came out with 'Tiramisini' - a sort of rudimentary tiramisu and utterly delicious.

We watched On Her Majesty's Secret Service and then Jools Holland, and danced along to perennial favourite band of our household, Dexy's Midnight Runners.

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Back at work, I was scoffing my leftover mushroom stew with some colleagues, who had salads from our little office cafe. One commented that it had been some time since she had seen a salad and I had to agree. And all of a sudden I was craving fresh, simple food.

tuna

I came home that night and tossed quinoa, spinach, beetroot and grated carrot in a bowl with a bit of lemon juice, honey, olive oil and grated manchego. We ate it with great big tuna steaks, just slightly seared so they were deep red and rich in the middle. A healthier start to 2013.