Omonelove blog

Forever Nigella Blogging Challenge

When I caught wind of this blogging event, hosted by Maison Cupcakes, I knew it was  going to revive my weary recipe blogging spirit! http://blog.maisoncupcake.com/forever-nigella/

There is certainly no doubt that chocolate delivered via the delectable Nigella is always a good thing. Before you roll your eyes, I promise I won't, on this occasion, go into one of my Nigella devotions again  ( http://omoneloveblog.typepad.com/blog/2010/10/for-the-love-of-nigella.html ) but suffice to say that I am now tapping away happily and excitedly at the prospect of entering the challenge.

As it happened, it was my mother-in-law's birthday recently.  A family lunch was planned and I decided to bring a chocolate cake for desert.   So I presented a Chocolate Pavlova with Raspberries and Pomegranate served with a coulis for added decadence.  

You will note that the photo I have shows that the Pavlova has been greedily attacked before I got the camera out.  I can tell you quite gleefully that the rest of the decadent pavlova was consumed the following day which happened to round off an outstanding Valentine's dinner for two (please insert endless variations of lingerie wearing Nigella-esque finger-licking mental images of your choice here)! 

The basic recipe is from Nigella (http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/chocolate-raspberry-pavlova-200).  But as with all things that come my way, I have tinkered and fiddled to make a great recipe, in my opinion, a little bit greater.

Chocolate Pavlova with Raspberries and Pomegranate served with a Coulis

Ingredients for the Meringue Base:

• 6 egg whites
• 225g unrefined caster sugar
• 75g soft brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder, sieved
• 1 teaspoon balsamic or red wine vinegar
• 50g dark chocolate, finely chopped

 For the Topping

• 500ml double cream
• 500g raspberries
• Seeds from half a Pomegranate
• a mix of dark, milk and whitc chocolate curls to decorate

For the Coulis

• 100g raspberries
• juice of 1/2 a pomegranate
• 2-3 tbsp icing sugar

Method

Tips:

To achieve the very best meringue make sure that your bowl and mixing equipment is completely clean and free of grease, this will ensure that your eggs do not fail to whip up into stiff peaks. Another good tip is to separate the egg whites whilst the eggs are still cold from the fridge and then leave them covered in a bowl for around 30 mins to come up to room temperature.

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C
2. Drawn a circle of approximately 23cm on some baking parchment using a a non toxic pencil to trace around an inverted plate or round baking tin.  Place the parchment  on a baking tray and set aside. 
3. Combine the 2 sugars and mix together so that the caster sugar loosens the dampness of the soft brown sugar, set aside
4. Whisk the egg whites until satiny peaks form, and then gently whisk in the sugar a spoonful at a time until the meringue is stiff and shiny. Sprinkle over the cocoa and vinegar whilst continuing to whisk, and then gently fold in chopped chocolate.  Continue to gently fold until everything  is thoroughly mixed.  Scoop out your now stiff and shiny chocolate meringue mix on to the baking sheet using the drawn circle as a guide, smoothing into a fat round mound. Place in the oven, then immediately turn the temperature down to 150°C and bake for one to one and a quarter hours. When it's ready it should look crisp around the outside and marshmallowy on the inside. Turn off the oven and open the door slightly, and let the chocolate meringue cool completely.  It may develop some cracks but don't despair as that is the nature of pavlova an in any case t will be crowned beautifully with the topping.
5. For the coulis combined the raspberries, icing sugar and  juice squeezed out of  1/2 of a pomegranate and blend to a smooth puree.  Pass the puree through a mesh sieve to completely remove all raspberry pips.  Mix in more  icing sugar if needed and pour into a serving jug.
6. When you're ready to serve, invert meringue on to a cake stand or flat serving plate. Whisk the cream till thick but still soft and pile it on top of the meringue, then scatter over the raspberries and then the twinkling pomegranate seeds. Tip: pomegranate seeds can be easily remove from the halved fruit by bashing the outside of the fruit with a rolling pin whilst holding it over a bowl.
7. Finish off with a careless scattering of luxurious chocolate curls
8. Serve at once with the raspberry and pomegranate coulis to drizzle over

The completed pavlova is best eaten straight away or keep in the fridge and consume within 1 day. However, you can make the meringue ahead up to 2 days and store it in an airtight container until ready to use then just add toppings and make coulis before serving. 

Imperial Chinese Robes from the Forbidden City - Victoria and Albert Museum

 

This exhibition shows three centuries of beautiful and historic royal robes worn by the emperors and empresses of the Qing Dynasty, the last ruling dynasty of China (1644-1911).

via www.vam.ac.uk

I was completely inspired by the stunning robes on exhibition at the V and A showcasing three centuries of beautiful royal attire worn by the emperors and empresses of the last ruling dynasty of China, the Quing Dynasty. Some of these robes date back to the 17th Century but their preservation is astonishingly pristine. I highly recommend, as this is a rear opportunity to see truly amazing handcraft.

Janelle Monáe - Tightrope

via www.youtube.com

"Tip, tip on the Tightrope!" - I'm still digging this gorgeous and talented chic! Love her androgynous style- no cleavage or bare leg in sight. Just great vocals and moves to make the late great James Brown proud. O x

Ai Weiwei's Sunflower seeds at the Tate

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7UcuYiaDJ0

Sunflower Seeds is made up of millions of small works, each apparently identical, but actually unique. However realistic they may seem, these life-sized sunflower seed husks are in fact intricately hand-crafted in porcelain. 

via www.tate.org.uk

When Tate Modern announced that it was restricting access on to the the Ai Weiwei exhibition called Sunflower Seeds 2010 for health reasons I was instantly put off going as I felt it would ruin the experience for me.  However, last night I caught Alan Yentob's Imagine on BBC  and got a real perspective of what the artist really represents and his passion for freedom of expression as an artist in a repressive regime.  He has suffered persecution at the hands of the Chinese authorities and endangered his life for his art as did his father before him.   It is understood that Weiwei is under house arrest at present.

My initial interest has been keenly reinvigorated and even though I may not get the chance to wade in the 100 million hand made porcelain sunflower seeds, I shall go and get as much enjoyment as I can and take in Gauguin as well.

 

Utilitarian Chic just got Chicer with Gap and Valentino Partnership

The trend for fashion designers to partner with high street brands shows no sign of letting up.  Gap has been doing its fair share having collaborations with Alexander Wang and recently a shoe line with Pierre Hardy.  However, in my opinion, the master stroke has been a partnership with haute couturiers Valentino, its almost too good to bear.  In my view this even beats Lanvin's teaming with H and M.  Bringing the extreme elegance and femininity Valentino is renowned for to the classic functionality and comfort of Gap is a dream come true for a girl like me.  

Having heard the news of the collaboration a couple of months back, I've been dying to see what the offerings would be.  Well, trolling through the recent edition of Vogue gave me my chance to get a preview (see above picture).  Feminine frills and bows look just the part on khaki combats and tees. So to my fellow fashion fiends, get your debit cards out.

 

Macs, Lanterns and Pumpkin Pies

They say you don't miss your water until your well runs dry.  I really came to appreciate the saying recently as my MacBook Pro needed to go into the Apple Store for what I hoped would be a quick fix. As it turned out I was not going to be able to take it back home with me, despite giving the techno-geek, who served me at the Genius Bar, my best impression of an overwhelmed damsel in distress. "I cannot survive without it, how long will I have to wait?", I said with my arm dramatically thrown across my brow."Waiting time is is up to four weeks now I'm afraid but your problem is a quick one to fix and shouldn't take more than a couple of days normally.  I perked up saying rather enthusiastically, "so great, I can pop back within the week..."  My response was met with the sort of expression people in customer service usually reserve  for simple people, a perfectly polite smile with a light sprinkling of condescesion.   "As I said... waiting time is up to four weeks now but your problem can be fixed on site", geek replied calmly.  Hmmm... scratching my head, I decided to drop my wasted attempts at getting a special service and resigned my fate to a four week wait.   Clearly I was misunderstanding the cryptic geek lingo of the Apple Genius Bar people.  As further proof of this, the geek said, "please sign here and don't worry, you won't be charged" as he presented me a bill for over £700 with a clear acceptance of terms column marked for signature.  I could see he had obviously mistaken my damsel in distress impression for a simpleton who would sign a document committing to pay large sums of money on the basis that I had a verbal assurance that my Mac would be returned to me payment free. Unsurprisingly, I snapped into lawyer mode! By the time I finished at the Genius Bar I was holding no less than two documents countersigned by geek himself in confirmation that I was NOT going to be paying £700 odd for a repair that should be taking less than two days on site but will be returned to me in a leisurely four weeks or so!  Anyway huff and flurry over, I attempted, rather successfully, on the way out to distracted myself with the observation that there are some truly stunning geeks in the Apple Store.  One in particular looked like he just stepped out of a Dolce and Gabbana ad campaign.  This I concluded was an attempt by Apple to demonstrate their equal opportunities policy where they welcome minorities (ie gorgeous people into geek world).  But then again, you'd expect that from Apple. 

Fast forward to now, my much missed MacBook Pro is back just over 2 weeks later.  I can download photos of my baking and cooking exploits, Yipeee!!  I had wanted to share my Halloween Pumpkin adventure a few weeks back but alas it was not to be thanks to the Apple Store.  But better late than never as it could still be relevant for Thanksgiving for those across the pond.

My Darling little 3 and a half year old was getting into the spirit of Halloween and there was no escaping it.  London seemed to have taken to the Halloween festivities with a vengance to make up for the poor show during Valentines earlier in the year.  My local shops were awash with pumpkins of varying varieties and sizes and and other Halloweeny things.  Halloween party invitations were aplenty.  So I decided to get into the spirit myself and pick up a medium sized pumpkin in good time.  Last year at the last minute and a mad dash, I bought the very last one in the shop which was what appeared to be the largest pumpkin known to mankind.  I drew a scary face on the vast vegetable with marker pens to satisfy my then 2 year old but I knew that such lame efforts wouldn't wash this year.  So I braced myself for my first attempt at carving a proper Jack Lantern expecting to lose several digits in the process.  It was suprisingly easy and quite satisfying in the smugness sense.  I scooped out the seeds and discarded them.  Then scooped as much flesh as I felt I could get away with , I had plans to ensure that the pumpkin earned its cost.    See below picture below for my very first attempt at the Jack Lantern, next year's will be much better.  I am aware that you can get special carving tools in the supermarket but then again having done it manually, I think that it is quite unnecessary.  My audience being the sum total of a pre-schooler and a toddler.  I steamed the pumkin flesh and set it aside for my exceptionally good pumpkin pie, even if I say so myself (See picture below).

Pumpkin Pie

I was converted to Pumpkin Pie rather recently by an American lady living in London.  The thought of it never really appealed to me but I am quite an adventurous eater and decided to give it a go.  I have to say that I felt rather embarassed to have expected it to be anything less than delicious knowing how beloved this dish is of the Americans at this time of the year.  

In this recipe, the sweet and spicy velvety filling sits on top of a sweet shortcrust pastry which is lined with a pecan and gingernut biscuit layer.  The layer sits on top of the crust and acts two fold.  Firstly to exclude the need to blind bake the crust which is normally done to ensure that it does not become soggy with the filling.  The nut and biscuit layer cushions and absorbs the filling that would otherwise seep into the base.  Secondly, it adds an extra layer of deliciousness.  I have combined a couple of recipes here and tweeked them to my taste and desired outcome so credit to JoyofBaking.com and Simon Rimmer and Anthony Worrall Thompson for the inspiration.

I am no sucker for punishment so were I feel I can take a short cut I do, provided quality is not compromised. I have used a ready made sweet short crust pastry from Dorest Pastry  (www.dorsetpastry.co.uk). It is organic and completely nasties free.  It is also, in my view, of superior quality to others I have tried.  I often use their various ready made pastry to save valuable time in the kitchen.

A bit of butternut squash is added purely to give a bit more richness of flavour to the pumpkin.  I suppose you can use some sweet potato instead.

Recipe 

Ingredients:

1 pack of sweet shortcrust pastry (Dorset Pastry brand if possible otherwise any other good brand)

2 tbsps semolina/plain flour for dusting (if not using sweet pastry- icing sugar for dusting for sweetness)

25g gingernut biscuits crushed

25g toasted pecans (toast pecans in the oven at 180 degrees centigrade for 8 mins)

For the filling

500g of pureed pumpkin and butternut squash (approx.450g pumpkin and 250g butternut squash peeled, cubed, steamed for 20 mins, drained and pureed) 
50g soft dark brown sugar

25g golden caster sugar

150ml double cream

1 tsp clear honey
1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger
pinch freshly grated nutmeg

pinch ground clove (optional)
pinch ground allspice

2 free-range eggs and 1 egg yolk, beaten 

Method

1. Follow instructions on pack of pastry to get it set for use i.e. defrosting or otherwise.   Sprinkle the flour or semolina on a clean surface and gently roll out pastry to a size that fits a (preferably loose based non stick) flan dish/tin and dust with more semolina or flour as required to reduce sticking if necessary . I find the semolina adds an added crunch so is worth while using if you have it to hand.  Also, you can roll the pastry out between the heavy duty plastic sometimes used in wrapping the ready made pastry, it makes for tidy work.  In which case, just sprinkle on the semolina (if using) whilst rolling pastry, no need for flour.  Line the flan dish/tin with the pastry, cover with cling film and place in the refrigerator.  

 2. Place the cooled pecans in a food processor and process until finely ground. Combine the ground pecans with the crushed gingernut biscuits. Retrieve the flan tin from the fridge and  press this mixture evenly onto the bottom and up the sides of the unbaked pie crust. Re-cover and return the pastry to the refrigerator while you make the pumpkin and butternut squash filling. 

 3.Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees centigrade.  Meanwhile, place the cream, honey and spices into a saucepan over a medium heat and bring to simmering point. Place the beaten eggs into a clean bowl and pour over the cream mixture, whisking constantly. Add 500gms of pumpkin mixture to the pan, stir well to combine, then pour into the tart case. Transfer the tart to the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the filling has set. Remove and leave to cool before gently dislodging from the tin if using a loose base tart tin.

Serve with either cream, creme frachie or vanilla ice cream. 

Fast rising jazz star Esperanza Spalding plays in London

 
One of the hot tickets for the London Jazz festival is young American bass player and singer, Esperanza Spalding.At the age of 26, she has succeeded in bringing her music to a wide audience and yet jazz fans also say she is "the real thing". Perhaps one of her biggest admirers is Barack Obama himself. David Hannah reports.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11748686

Digging this chick and her music!

Shadow Catchers: Camera-less Photography - Victoria and Albert Museum

Sponsored by Barclays Wealth13 October 2010 - 20 February 2011Book ticketsFloris Neusüss, 'Untitled, (Körperfotogramm), Kassel, 1967', 1967. Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel, Graphische Sammlung, Germany, © Courtesy of Floris Neusüss

via www.vam.ac.uk

I am looking forward to seeing this intriguing exhibition tomorrow at the V and A!

To Ugg or not to Ugg: That is the question

via www.jimmychoo.com

It is that time of year again when the clocks go back and you find the night time closing in on you as you just about finish off your lunch.  One is surrounded by such miserable weather that conjours up joyless sensations of damp and chill.  I am particularly agrieved this year because I have found myself longing for comfortable cosy footwear (as opposed to uncomfortable glamorous impractical footwear, like the gorgeous Alexander McQueen Buckled Shearling Ankle Boots pictured below).  I need these to help me conquer the elements whilst I am about pounding the pavements of  the urban jungle dealing with the minutia of everyday life.  The current fashion for riding boots and wellingtons doesn't quite cut the grain here.  This need for comfort is not a very youthful sign but I am afraid good sensibility is now in residence within me. I am however resolved to marry fashionableness and function in my pursuit.  And so the challenge is shoe shopping for practical reasons without losing my sense of fun and aesteicism. 

 

Recently I received Jimmy Choo's usual mass e -news letter, swiftly followed by their postcard through the letter box announcing the arrival of the latest footwear. It is the love child resulting from Jimmy Choo's collaboration with UGG (one from the collection pictured at the top).  I am still pondering what to make of it!  The original Ugg Boot, despite its rather unfetching appearance has recruited itself dedicated followers accross the globe, I am yet to join in the Ugg revolution but if any one can convert me, it would be Jimmy Choo.  I admit that in its commonly known and original guise, it is one form of footwear which seems to have endured  swift changing fashion trends but I have always deemed them to be simply as ugg-ly as the name suggests.  Having been pimped up by the glamour that Jimmy Choo is renowned for, it certainly fits the bill for my comfy footwear quest.    

To try to understand the Ugg Boot craze,  a while back, I took to interviewing random stangers in the street or in the supermarket checkout queue.  Asking, are they comfortable? Are they good in the rain? Are they durable?  By and large the feedback was that the UGG brand of the Ugg Boots were super cosy albeit that they did not like the rain and rather dangerously, they became ice skates in the sleet or snow.  So the summary from my "very detailed and scientific" straw poll was that the boots are not quite suitable for the British weather and would be better served as indoor boots.  I am sure there will be those who disagree with me and I welcome any corrections from seasoned UGG fans.

Well, I have been shopped around since Jimmy Choo's near successful attempt to ensconce me in the uggg-ly fashion trend.  The Celtic Sheepskin Company is a great find.  Interestingly, the website explains the origins of the Ugg boot and how it came about. The Celtic Sheepskin comany where also  the original producers of what is now the massive brand UGG  (http://www.celtic-sheepskin.co.uk/about-us/ugg-boots/).  Anyway, much more importantly, the Celtic Sheep Skin company have actually succeeded in making the Ugg Boot very appealing to me (see picutre of their Ribbon Boot below). The general concensus is that they are better made and the soles are quite thick.  I think I may have found my comfortable cosy footwear and seeing that for the price of one pair of Jimmy Choo UGG boots, I can get four from the Celtic Sheep Company. My mind is rather made up already.

 So I am considering the Popper Boots below or these Ribbon Boots. I shall report back on their appearance,cosiness and comfort factor in due course.  

 

 
 

Time for the written word and time for the spoken word

via www.youtube.com

I like to call myself an avid reader, but in reality it is more accurate to say that I am an average reader. So in the midst of my all important family life and general rat racing around, I decided to ensure that I, at least, maintain my average relationship with the written word by joining a book club. Almost two years in and I must say, its going really rather well. Its a monthly meet up within my locality, a mix of women from across the world all living in the same patch of London - professionals, academics, thespians, businesswomen and stay at home mothers all who enjoy a good book. We take it in turns to host and the host has the task of choosing the book. At the meet up, we discuss the book, sharing our take on the author, writing style, plot etc. Its not all about the book though, as much time is also devoted to swapping useful tips on kids, beauty, interiors, dining out as well as intellectual debate and the usual tittle tattle that women so expertly engage in. I have to say that amongst other things, its a good excuse to have a nice glass of wine (or two) in jolly good company. We all get to read books that we may not naturally have considered reading and have become much richer for the experience. I have included a list of just a few of our historic favourites below by way of suggestion.

A couple of months ago at the book club meeting, I decided to up the ante by suggesting that we include poetry. I was met with a mixture of unconvincing encouragement and mild uncertainty. We will give it a go and if it doesn't flow we will let it go, was my response (note my ghastly attempt at achieving an iambic pentameter here). Having suggested it, I was swiftly charged with finding a suitable poem. So I promised that whatever it was, it would certainly be a case of enjoyment over intellectual pontification.

I scratched my head a little but not for long. The perfect poem came at me rather quickly. It was apt for many reasons. We were women and we had recently read a number of books that harked back to times of sadness and oppression. My choice was Maya Angelou's Still I Rise.

Yesterday, I had to recite it, so I read it out loud a couple of times at home to get a feel. At the book club I felt rather self conscious when the time came to recite.  At that moment I slightly regretted the suggestion of introducing poetry. Anyhow, I meant to give it my best performance and started off accordingly but something almost magical happened. As I began reciting, the poem took hold of me and I could hear myself embodying that very person who had reached the complete realisation of their inestimable self worth, taunting their oppressor and finally refusing to be defeated but instead rising , like air, like dust from under the oppressor's foothold. It was quite moving and I received an unexpected round of applause. It was a good feeling.  And so it seems, Poetry is here to stay in my book club.

Here is Maya Angelou's wonderful (yet accessible poem). I've included a link of her reciting it in her distinctive throaty voice. I totally commend it to you :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqOqo50LSZ0

Still I Rise by Maya Angelou

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
-------------------------------------
Some of the books we've read:

1. The Help by Kathryn Stockett http://www.amazon.co.uk/Help-Kathryn-Stockett/dp/0141039280
2. Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shantaram-Gregory-David-Roberts/dp/0349117543/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1287773706&sr=1-1
3. Alone In Berlin by Hans Fallada http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alone-Berlin-Penguin-Modern-Classics/dp/014118938X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1287773743&sr=1-1
4. The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde http://www.amazon.co.uk/Picture-Dorian-Gray-Penguin-Classics/dp/0141439572/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1287773774&sr=1-2
5. Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls http://www.amazon.co.uk/Glass-Castle-Memoir-Jeannette-Walls/dp/1844081826/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1287773822&sr=1-1
6. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mann http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wolf-Hall-Man-Booker-Prize/dp/0805080686/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1287773874&sr=1-1-spell