Jazz and Jewellery

Don't forget to pop by to the Craft Fair in the Jewellery Quarter this weekend!!! I'll be up by the Big Peg with my felt! Thus slightly dodgy photo shows the flier.

A taste of Birmingham

Naomi and I headed over to Cannon Hill Park to visit the Taste of Birmingham exhibition - many of the brilliant restaurants in Birmingham were showing off their skills. The system was a little weird but we bought a number of crowns (vouchers) that we swapped for taster plates of food - Beef Wellington from Jonathon's, duck suasage from the restaurant in the Hyatt, lemon possett from Opus and Black Forest trifle from Bank! All exceedingly yummy but the favourite was the Black Forest trifle!!

Bunting!

Do you remember the little wooly hats I made for innocent and their supergran campaign? Well now they're looking for bunting donations to smash the world record for the longest piece of bunting!

This is the river Rea - I cycle past it every morning and when we had all the rain it became a raging torrent (left hand side) from its normal quiet self (on the right). Its been yo-yoing back and forthe ever since!

The new Glasshouse at Wisley and the Festival of Speed

What a fabulous weekend - we went to the Festival of Speed at Goodwood - lots of beautiful old and new cars. And only one shower - though it was very heavy with giant hailstones! I even got to go up the hillclimb on a bike - well on a computer simulation anyway! And then to the new Glasshouse at RHS Wisley - fabulous!

Stroud Festival

Saying good bye to Stroud - one last potter around all the fab places and it just happened to be the STroud festival too!

Goat's cheese cannelloni

When I went to the supermarket on Tuesday night they didn't have any ricotta and as I was due to make spinach and ricotta cannelloni for Gloria on Wednesday I had a swift think - what was most like ricotta? With a pot of cottage cheese already in hand I suddenly spotted the soft goat's cheese and thought with a little marscapone that would make a delicious substitute. It did indeed and it was so good we ate it all before I thought of taking in a picture!!!

Rhubarb muffins and Tulband

I was down at the Saturday Farmer's Market in Kings Norton and whilst dodging the rain I picked up some fabulous looking rhubarb for these yummy muffins, as found in the March Olive magazine.
Bake 300g rhubarb with 3 tablespoons of sugar for 10min at 200°C. Drain and cool. Mix together 300g plain flour with 1 teaspoon baking powder, 100g sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. In another bowl beat together 2 eggs, 200ml milk and 100g cooled melted butter. Once cool add the rhubarb to this mix then fold it all into the flour, taking car to just incorporate everything but not to mix too vigorously or it'll make for very rubbery muffins. Spoon the mixture into 12 muffin cases or a silicone muffin pan and bake at 200°C for 25min.


In fact this is a Kersttulband, or Christmas turban, a recipe I found in an ancient copy of Allerhande. Its fantastically tasty, very buttery and fruity.

100g raisins
100g sultanas
100g dried citrus fruit
250g self raising flour
250g soft butter
200g cater sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
4 large eggs
Cream together the butter and sugar and beat until pale. Then work in the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla essence and then sift and mix in the flour a third at a time. Finally stir in all the fruit and pour into a Tulband mould (aka kugelhopf mould) and bake in a preheat oven at 175°C for 1 hour. Once cooled turnout and dust with icing sugar before serving.

Spinach Gnocchi

My first foray into the world of making gnocchi was very successful and delicious, a pre-eurovision treat. The recipe came from The French Kitchen by Joanne Harris and Fran Warde.

For 6 people, though three of us managed to eat them all!!!
600g potatoes, peeled, boiled and mashed
350g spinach, washed and dry fried til wilted, chopped
150g plain flour
1 egg yolk
75g butter, cubed
100g blue cheese, I used Saint Azur, crumbled
basil

Mix together the mashed potatoes, spinach, flour and egg yolk with some seasoning. Then divide the dough into 64 little balls and lay on a floured surface. Squash each one with fork and then cook themin batches in boiling water for 2min. Drain them well and layer them in a baking dish with the butter and cheese. Then bake at 180°C for 10min until the cheese is bubbling and browning. Strew with torn basil leaves ansd serve. Delicious with a green salad.

Speed

Last week was all about moving, sometimes at high speed, sometimes very slowly! It all began on Sunday when I took part in the Shakespeare half marathon in Stratford upon Avon. It was a gorgeous day, not too hot not too cold at the start, though by the time I was running it was toasty and I had to have water at every station. The course was good, even the hill between miles 7 and 8 was managable. I was exhausted by the end but managed a time of 2h and 4min. Just about spot on. Then it was all about speed on Tuesday night when I took part in the Coroporate Relay for Mencap at the University. Our team, 'the dentists' (I was an honorary dentist for the evening) were pretty good - all the lads ran around a 6min mile and I managed to squeeze a 7min mile out of my tired legs! And we came in 5th out of 30 teams - not bad at all!!! And finally the big move spread across several days - and now I am settled into my new abode!

Opus

On Saturday night Mum, Dad, Dougal and I went to a fabulous restaurant Opus - not new to the city as such but certainly new to us, and me in particular as I'm the one living in Birmingham. In the week I'm sure that Cornwall Street is part of the thronging business district, and there was certainly a lot of noise on the phone when I rang for a reservation on Friday lunchtime, but on Saturday night it was pleasantly quiet, though the restaurant was nearly full by 9. The waiters were attentive and knowledgeable, explaining the things we didn't know on the menu (rotollo). The menu itself made choosing hard but eventually we all settled on something different. I had exquisite scallops and monkfish followed by banana bread and rum butter pudding. All were exceedingly delicious. I would heartily recommend this place!

On Sunday Maggie came to visit us and we all went to see Madeleine Peyroux at the Symphony Hall - what a fantastic voice she has! We had songs in French and in English, and her band are pretty darn good too!!

Easter with Whistler

I squeezed Whistler, my bike, on to the train at New Street, ousted a chap from my reserved seat, and was then on my merry way to Edinburgh. The cabin I was in was alternately freezing and roasting as a mini battle played out between the passengers who liked it hot or cold! My excitement started to rise as we got to the coast and I glimpsed Alnmouth and then Berwick from the train. In two days time I would be peddling down this stretch of the coast. In Edinburgh I hoiked my bike up the steps and out on to Princes Street and wandered down to the youth hostel in Haddington Place. This has got to be the most swanky YHA I have ever stayed in! With a beautiful evening going on I didn't linker, though. I wandered up to the castle and then found fabulous little thai restaurant for a spicy thai green curry.

Getting up the next morning I bumped into a fellow cyclist and we chatted for ten minutes before going our separate ways - he was off to Gretna, which sounded suitably distant, and I was off into the Borders to Galashiels. The sun was shining again which was great until I realised I was turning a pretty shade of pink! And it took 3 days before I found a shop selling suncream!! I peddled merrily out of Edinburgh on mostly traffic-free routes seeing loads of birds and even a stoat (I think). As I came into Dalkeith I was pointed down a cycle route that was being retarred and when I shouted to the road crew if there was an alternative they said they'd carry the bike over the tarmac being poured and I could sneak across!! Just outside Dalkeith the the road began to climb through the Moorfoot hills and I looked out across a long plain to Edinburgh and the coast. I was soon into the Borders and it was so beautiful. In the autumn it must be even more breath taking with all the heather in bloom. I lunched, propped up on a fence next to the sheep and watched the speed demon cyclists in their lycra whizzing by. Down near Innerleithen I saw a sign advertising afternoon tea at Traquair House and decided it was that time of day. Traquair House is, apparently the oldest inhabited house in Scotland, and has not only its own maze and brewery but also makes jolly nice scones! My final route of the day took me alongside the beautiful Tweed river as it wound its way towards the sea, I was to follow it on the next day too. The B&B in Galashiels was a welcome sight and I headed into the highly recommend Salmon pub for Good Friday Salmon in a chilli and lime crust.

The bells started at 7 and I was out onto the road filled with scrambled egg by 9, pottering alongside the Tweed again towards Berwick-upon-Tweed. The cycling was undulating and it made for fine views and a hungry cyclist. I found another field for lunch and bathed in the sunlight. The route wound in and out of the border, just as well I didn't have to have my passport checked ;) and at Horncliffe exiting Scotland for the last time I sneaked across the closed Union Suspension bridge, only closed to cars really and pedestrians were using it so I didn't have to don my invisibility cloak. At the top of the last hill into Berwick I was greeted by a sign welcoming cyclists and also a chilly wind blowing off the sea. The town centre was thronged with people and I took refuge on the beach just round the corner from the B&B before dinner of as many carbs as I could lay my hands on.

I had checked the tide times and knew that I could get out to Lindesfarne from about 9 so I didn't dally in the morning and was off on Whistler down the coastal path. But even then as I got to the causeway I could see a steady stream of cars heading onto the island. It was easy getting out there, I thought because it was so flat but on the return with the wind in my face I realised the real reason. With a long ride to complete I chose to visit the priory over the castle and really enjoyed wandering through the ruins and round the exhibition. The boat hull sheds at the harbour tickled my fancy too. By the time I left the place was hopping, not quite the calm atmosphere I had envisaged. Back on the mainland I was confronted by a series of nasty little hills that were particularly precipitous and after battling away for a couple of hours I decided to take the coastal road from Bamburgh, busier but much less vindictive! My next stop was just under Dunstanburgh Castle on a wonderful sandy beach complete with paddlers and cricket teams. Then the final leg on the coastal path, possibly the best cycling ever, from Craster, past Howick to Boulmer and then on the road into the beautiful Alnmouth.

Filled with scrambled eggs again I pottered off down the coastal path through dunes and past daffodils. Over looking the sea at Ashlington I shared my spot with a couple of bumble bees and a goodly quantity of fig rolls were consumed to keep the energy up. Coming through Blythe I played cat and mouse with a couple also touring but eventually lost them, when I actually found a shop selling suncream, and never did find out where they were off to. In Whitley Bay I started on the 'shared use path', which was basically the footpath and seeing as I didn't fancy weaving in and out of the tourists I pottered down the road, managing to miss some of the signs and picking them up again as I got to the very edge of the mouth of the river Tyne. There I found a fantastic visita served by the largest number of benches I think I'd ever seen. Following the river inland I cycled past Segedunum at the end of Hadrian's wall and some of the old ship yards. My temporary destination was the centre of Newcastle as I wanted to see the new Millennium bridge and the Baltic Arts Centre. I wasn't disappointed even though I was on my last legs by the time I stopped. A few photos and a celebratory fig roll and then I peddled over the bridge itself and off to the B&B at South Shields.

It was a scrambled egg day again and then in overcast conditions I cycled past the coast park where we had finished the Great North Run 3 years ago. In Sunderland I wound around the marina, which was very beautiful, and toyed with the idea of visiting the National Glass Museum, but with only 10miles under my belt I wanted to push on. The route was pretty much traffic free but punctuated by A frame barriers that I could hardly squeeze the laden Whistler through. But it was worth it as I went along the East Durham railway route straight across the countryside. I stopped in Thorpe Thewels for an ice-cream and promptly lost the route, having to remove all the bags from the bike and get it through a kissing gate. But I found it again shortly after and weaved my way through the broken glass in Stockton-on-Tees and into Middlesbrough. Waiting for the B&B to open I ate lasagna and chips in Albert park and watched the first ducklings I had seen this year. There appeared to be 24 of them all belonging to one mother duck.

The B&B had a strange atmosphere and I was very glad to see fellow human beings at breakfast the next morning. But I still had no desire to linger and was out on the cycle path at 8.30. I had decided to go a bit more cross country through the North York Moors and so I took the road down to Stokesley and then a tiny little road into the National Park itself. The views were beautiful and I was just about enjoying the giant hills. One particularly memorable one was labelled 1 in 6 and I hurtled down it only to grind to a halt about 5m up the other side of the valley. The lorry in front of me was struggling too and I admitted defeat and walked to the top. But it gave me the chance to see the lapwings displaying as they wheeled about in the sky, dive bombing the ground only to soar back up again with a few centimeters to spare. I'd just joined the off road route to Castleton when disaster struck - my saddle was suddenly on the ground. The bolt had sheared off an I didn't have a spare with which to fix it. Luckily I was near the train station and I walked the remaining two miles and waited to take the train home, there not being a bike shop near by. Having cover 300miles in 6 days I wasn't disappointed and Whistler got a well earned rest. Whitby, Scarborough and Hull can wait til later in the year.

Two little videos

...from our trip to New Orleans. Iain you're famous at last!

This week I have been at the IADR conference in New Orleans. Apart from spending most of our time in a chilly conference centre we have also had a little time to explore the city. On Wednesday Iru and I took a stroll around the French Quarter for the first time - there was lots of live music being played and we sat and enjoyed a quartet complete with their own dance couple!! For lunch we have also been trying out various little spots - one of the best was the unprepossessing Louisiana Products on Julia Street. We got there a bit lat for their usual lunchtime crowd but we managed to have the end of their fried chicken with salad, sitting at the little rickety tables and enjoying the company of the locals.
For dinner we headed into the Crescent City Brewhouse on Tuesday night and I started the trend of having lots prawns for tea - very tasty! And on Thursday we made our way down to Snug Harbour, a fantastic jazz club, to hear Badal Roy playing the Tabala - magic!
Yesterday, in a search for an electronics store, we took a cab out to Walmart and caught the local bus home. We got a little trip through the Garden District, glimpsing the old houses, much like the balconied French Quarter houses but more spread out. Getting off in town I walked up to the Superdome and was really very surprised to see the mall just next door still looking fairly destroyed. Much of the 'touristy' areas seem to be doing fairly well, certainly full of punters. But there is a strange ghostly feel to the whole city and there are many for sale signs on the shops. Even to other Americans, who I talked to at the conference, the city seems strange - a bit like an over looked corner - I can only imagine that the areas that were devastated are still in a fairly bad way and that the people living here are still struggling enormously, which seems monstrous as it has been quite some time since Katrina came to town. I had expected that things would be looking up. We never did find an electronics store selling what we wanted - but we did find several selling what looked like the older models of cameras etc. May be there's a booming internet delivery business here or may be nobody is buying anything.

The Northern Lights

Mum, Dad, Dougal and I were all in Kiruna, Sweden for the most fabulous trip - to visit the Ice Hotel! What a fabulous place to visit - spectacular and so many things to do! We arrived from Stockholm in the afternoon and went straight off to see the Saami reindeer herders, who cooked us up some exceedingly delicious smoked reindeer meat with lingonberry sauce. And that night we stayed in the Ice Hotel itself. Every year a new one is made so its a really unique experience - snuggled up in our enormous blue sleeping bags! And there's also the Ice Bar where the drinks are served out of ice glasses!!! And the ice suites that are sculpted out of ice and snice (thats snow and ice mixed together) by anyone who submits a proposal that gets accepted (a bit like Chelsea I suppose). The next day we did ice sculpting, which is fantastic fun, to the tunes of Moon Dog. And the crowning experience - we went off on skidoos to look for the northern lights!!!! I could hardly believe my eyes as they rippled across the sky, green curtains of light, more spectacular than I could ever have imagined! Having dined on moose stew we had a night in a warm cabin before heading off on a moose expedition. And we saw about 15 without really trying - as they were all basking in the sunshine near the road!!

At the Ice Hotel

Germinating ice plant!!

Stockholm

Divine dining at the Strand Restaurant in Stockholm

I can't believe its the beginning of March already! What happened to February? As we're nearly into spring I thought I'd post a few of the early flowers out in the garden - captured in the gorgeous early morning light.

Nuno felting

This may look like an old hanky but in fact it my first effort at nuno felting. Emma, my tutor down at the Mac, showed me this evening how to felt onto silk - fantastic - just like normal felting but now I have even more felting fun to look forward to!! Those little bobbly bits are called neps and are also made of wool - even more new and exciting things!!

An evening in Manchesterford

I've just got in from the most hilarious evening. Sally, Naomi and I had a trip to the theatre - first dining at the Green Room - and then settling into our seats at the Hippodrome for Acorn Antiques The Musical!!! It was just divine!!! We might not have had the big big stars that first put it on with Victoria Wood but our cast was spot on! Mrs O and her girls were hilarious from start to finish - when we were invited to donate to a charity of Biiirrrmingham and the Black Coun-tray in a faultless brummy accent that went down a storm in the Hip!! Bravo!!!! Who would have known that macaroons were a midlands thing!!! Go and see it if there are any tickets to be had!