Lazy Saturdays and Other Tales

As you, my wonderful readers, have become my sounding board, I'm going to tell you I've had one of THOSE weeks; a week where even refilling the toilet roll holder has become a chore worthy of palming off on my poor husband (actually I do this every week). This week I have felt as though all the momentum that pulls me through life's chores has dissipated into thin air; imagine a half empty, lumpy sack of potatoes, still upright, but flopped over in a most sad and miserable fashion, or a wilting house plant on a dripping window sill and I think we're on the same page.

To top it all off I reached very high levels of frustration and craziness on the London underground; believe me when I say anyone within three inches of me was at risk of my fist. As a matter of fact, the only reason I didn't punch someone, was simply because, I could not raise my arm for the sheer volume of human bodies encasing me. You see, I am not a sardine, nor do I look like a sardine, nor do I want to be a sardine for that matter. Therefore, when I end up as a sardine every week day morning, I tend to be somewhat annoyed, irritable, and grouchy and possibly even a force to be reckoned with (I like to think so anyway).

So on this particular week day morning, I had a very unattractive man's crotch mercilessly bumping and rubbing up against my backside (to be precise, between the two cheeks) all the way to King's Cross. It was wrong on so many levels and it made we want to write a letter to London Transport, saying that in any other situation I could sue such a person for indecent behaviour: all you dirty minded people out there, if you want an opportunity to freely grope someone, hop on the Victoria line at rush hour and you're sorted. Trust me when I say, that when your day starts off with relentless crotch to bum contact from a smelly stranger, downhill is the only place it's going.

Lastly, I have had four, yes four, burritos in 10 days (not that I'm counting or anything). I'm not ashamed nor have I been weak in restraining myself, but rather these burritos are so good they are worthy of my love...and guilt. With every bite of these tantalising burritos I fear my booty bustling before me, but boy is it bliss. Anyway, this has left me welcoming the weekend feeling somewhat pig like and not too sexy.

It is weeks like this that are the reason I live for lazy Saturdays. You know those days when the world looks to be a better place; if you're a really optimistic, happy person you may even notice the birds chirping or the leaves glistening in the sun, I, however, am not of this persuasion, but I do appreciate that for a few days there is no dark cloud of deadlines and early mornings, incessantly lounging above my head, only pleasures awaiting me. For me, this perfect day starts with the warm, soft feeling of being wrapped up in my cozy duvet, no alarm sound worthy of a violent smash, and Samuel sleeping soundly next to me (generally with his mouth wide open, and possibly some drool). It is generally on lazy Saturdays that I am able to cuddle up to Samuel and either find a delightful spot on his chest or nuzzle his neck and really appreciate how lucky I am to have him. I will admit I often forget this during the week.

This lazy Saturday really was my perfect Saturday. We started with said snuggling, followed by a sleepy breakfast of porridge oats with banana and honey, laced with spicy cinnamon, and generously doused with ice cold milk (just to note, I find porridge far more tasty with cold milk, as it's more like a thicker cereal than a gloopy warm porridge). After I enjoyed my oatily delicious delight we decided to give the camera some loving and take it for a walk (it has been neglected during my hellish week). So we had a lovely walk in the park and I took lots of pictures of Samuel which I will show you later in this post. He reluctantly obliged to be my model for the day; as a result, many a smile was accompanied with profanities along the lines of, "will you hurry up and take the bloody picture, I look like a d**k". I convinced him that if he didn't pose for me then he wasn't encouraging my hobby. This psychological bribery seemed to work a treat and I now have lots of pictures, some with genuine smiles, others not so much.

I thought I would share some of my photography adventures with you and I thought our lazy Saturday was a most fitting place to start. I adore taking pictures, but I particularly love taking photographs of Samuel because I find myself really seeing and recording all those little things I love so much about him, all those lovely details that make Samuel mine;

• The way he gets cute, elephant worthy wrinkles around his eyes when he laughs (although, I find his wrinkles delightful, I like to make fun of Samuel by telling him you could use that excess skin to make a hand bag),
• The way his upper lip is lopsided when he smiles (I have to mention how much I love his lips, it's one of the first things I noticed about him. They are gorgeous, I wouldn't mind a pair like his. When Samuel was in pre-school his teacher actually called him luscious lips. I agree wholeheartedly with this description, although I think everything about Samuel is luscious)
• The little bit of hair that flicks out at the nape of his neck and the way it only seems to do this on one side.
• The white dotted scars on his top and bottom lip (he burnt them when was young)

When I look back at these photos they are true representations of Samuel through my eyes. Here are some of the photos I took. They may not be great, but I'm learning and practicing, and I'm happy for you to come along with me.

After our photo session we headed to one of our favourite little bakeries called Euphorium Bakery. Just before we went inside, Samuel noticed, in a non girly way of course, these really gorgeous flowers so we stopped and I took some snaps. That's the funny thing about having a camera, you notice lots of details all around you, all worthy of a moment.

So back to the bakery; after taking a moment to enjoy the little things in life, we went inside and had a cake or two, it could have been three but I just remembered the four burritos and I lost the urge for a third. I had this amazing white chocolate mousse cake; it was like the most sumptuous, sweet, creamy vanilla scented white chocolate bar you have ever eaten, melted down into a sloppy, silky mush that just played heavenly games with your taste buds. It was divine (in case you didn't get this from my previous description). For a moment I was in my own world, so I forgot to take a picture. But I did take one of Samuel's banana cameral tart, which I have lovingly posted for you below.

We followed our culinary delights with a trip to the cinema to see It's Complicated with my favourite actress, Meryl Streep. It was really funny and although Samuel was reluctant at first, he did burst out laughing, rather loudly at one point in the film (I won't give away which part).

The lazy day was rounded off with that fourth burrito of the week at Chilango's. If you are in London, go before I eat them out of business. Just imagine everything truly stunning about Mexican food wrapped up in a massive fajita wrap and served to you in an elegant piece of tin foil. These babies are the size of bricks; I reckon one of them weighs the same as both my boobs together. But they are so good. It's not elegant dining, the sauce dribbles down the cracks of your fingers, your pinto beans fall on your lap and you get onion breath; but what are you waiting for? I always have chicken, Samuel has steak. Although if I could have steak and chicken together I probably would.

These are my favourite kind of days, that's why I think about them all week. Maybe next week won't be great but at least I can always count on my Lazy Saturdays with Samuel and possibly a Burrito.

I will end by giving you a great chicken recipe from my Mum. My Mum got this recipe from her friend Joy over ten years ago and we've been eating it ever since. In honour of her we have called it Joy's chicken. This dish is a mix between BBQ and sweet and sour flavours. It's incredibly easy and a real crowd pleaser. If you like more sauce just double the recipe. I think the more sauce the better and it's a great gravy for vegetables and mashed potatoes to serve alongside the chicken.

Joy's Chicken

Serves approx 4

12 Chicken Drumsticks or Thighs at room temperature (breast is boring, but if you prefer go for it, I would then cook for about 15 minutes and keep checking there after, because dry chicken breast is just wrong)
2 Onions Roughly Chopped (if you like lots of onions you can use
more)
1kg carrots peeled and sliced (optional)

SAUCE
2 Cups tomato ketchup
2 Teaspoons Chilli Sauce (add more if you prefer it hotter)
6 Tablespoons lemon juice-again add more if you feel it needs it
2 Tablespoons white vinegar-you could add more if you want a bit more tang
4 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
4 Tablespoons Sugar
6 Cloves Garlic Crushed

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius

2. Put all the sauce ingredients into a saucepan and heat up until bubbling.

3. If you are using the carrots, slice them and parboil for five minutes.

4.  Place your onions and carrots (if using) in the bottom of the tray and lay the chicken in an even layer on top. Pour over the sauce ingredients and put in to the oven for 35 minutes. Check to see if the chicken is cooked after maybe 30 minutes,  if not return to the oven for a further 5-10 minutes. If cooking drumsticks instead of thighs, they may take less time so check after 20-25 minutes

Serve with creamy mash, and corn- on- the- cob or cabbage and of course the lovely sauce!


Hope you have had a great weekend, feel free to comment or share your weekend adventures.

xx

Blogging is the best medicine

I've been a resident of the blogosphere for just over a week now and I feel it's time for me to stand up, proud and tall, and say "I'm Dominique and I'm a blogaholic". It feels good to get that out there. True to my usual form, blogging is becoming a pleasurable obsession for me, so much so that not only am I a blogaholic, but I am also a sleep blogger. I have never been a sleep walker or a sleep talker but it seems I am a sleep blogger. Well, I'm not exactly asleep as such, I'm sort of in between, the slow drifting and the wide awake, the alert and the dreamy; it seems that my mind enters a blogging state just as I want to call it a night.

As I'm slowly teetering on the edge of deep sleep, my racing thoughts and ideas give me a gentle nudge, and hastily awaken me. I then turn to my bedside table where my blog diary sleeps, and I rustle the pages to find a blank page. I then quickly jot down whatever groundbreaking idea has come to mind (generally these are not so groundbreaking, merely silly sleepy thoughts of a nut job who blogs in her sleep). This however, wakes up my poor husband, who tends to say something along the lines of "oh my god will you stop blogging Dominique". So my solution to this problem: blogging in the toilet. Yes that's right in the toilet, well actually on the toilet (a girl does need to sit while she's blogging) but let me assure you I'm not 'doing' anything on the toilet; it's just me and my bare bum awkwardly perched on a toilet bowl, pen and diary in hand, eyes barely open, scrawling silly blog ideas. This must mean only one thing, I'm a nutcase. Actually, what this definitely does mean is that many a post you have read has been lovingly created and written on the bog, but when the ideas come you have to let em roll (I think by admitting this, my readers may never take me seriously again, but I'm willing to take the chance). I think after the toilet story I owe you some further explanations for these obscenities.

I didn't know what to expect when I started blogging. It had been some crazy idea that I came up with together with Samuel, who was already blogging, and my Dad (who was soon to be a blogger too). I love reading blogs of all sorts and so I thought that I too could write one. I didn't know what I would write about, whether it would be interesting, and more importantly if anyone would read it. But I decided to just start one; I have never been very adventurous or exciting for that matter, so I thought I would just take the plunge, a bit like I did with cooking, and lucky for me, just like the cooking, I am so glad I did because I truly love it. I knew I had to start going for things more, and stop being so worried about what may happen and what people might think. What I have come to realize throughout my blogging initiation is that if feels really great to be inspired everyday; to constantly look for ideas to write about, reflect on what you're doing, what you're learning, and to just have something you truly enjoy doing. And it's incredibly cathartic.

I am also truly grateful for the way this blog has reconnected me with people I haven't seen for many years. Life passes you by so quickly and unfortunately you lose lots of people along the way; as you reach different stages of your life, you find yourself living and experiencing those stages with different people. But this blog has brought me back in touch with so many people from my past and I am reliving so many great memories as a result. I never thought that would happen and it's been an amazing outcome of this blog.

I encourage you all to try this highly addictive and exciting form of expression; although I don't encourage toilet blogging, it's quite weird. I also don't encourage saying, "oooohhhh I can blog about this" when you're significant other is kissing you; apparently it's offensive but I don't see why. Molly Wizenberg, the blogger behind Orangette, sums it up perfectly in her book "A Homemade Life". She says, "And like the human-to-human kind (of relationship), the human-to-blog kind is oddly addictive. It's hard to beat the rush that comes when you press "Publish", sending your words out into the ether, or the satisfaction that stems from someone leaving a comment on your site. There's always a twinge of fear-Will anyone read this? Will I alienate all my friends?-but so long as it's only a twinge, it's tolerable. Delicious, even".

When I read this, late last night in bed, I got the inspiration for writing this post. I was so excited as I read these words, I almost shouted out "Yes, yes this is exactly how it feels!" I will confirm that I too got irrationally excited when people started commenting on my blog; although I'm sure all bloggers experience this thrill and overexcitement when they lose their blogging virginity. I can often be seen slouched on my sofa, laptop on my lap, bobbing up and down like an overexcited puppy when I see comments in my inbox. I will say; "Look Samuel, I got another comment! Somebody's reading!" I now think Molly and I are kindred spirits, though I doubt she feels the same. Following this life changing revelation, I'm sure you can guess what I did next...I let out my excited energy on my blog diary. And now you're suffering it.

Because Molly and I are now kindred spirits, here is her book. If you love people, food, recipes and heartfelt writing, you will love this book. I took this to practice my still life photos. Taken with the 50mm 1.4.

And here is my latest heavy pile of inspiration. As you can see when I say I'm looking for inspiration, I really am clutching at straws...but you never know where the big ideas will come from and these books are great.

My aim for this post was to show my appreciation and to say that you, dear readers make it all worthwhile and why I constantly strive to find the best ideas for my posts and hopefully you will enjoy what I have in store for the future. So I want to end this post by saying a huge and bloggly THANK YOU for all your comments, support and encouragement. Every single comment makes me feel wonderful and puts the biggest smile on my face; it really helps keep my positive outlook and enthusiasm and so I wanted to say a big thank you for this. I hope this post has illustrated what this blog means to me and how much I enjoy writing it. I fear I have probably revealed that I take this blogging far too seriously.... I promise to keep up my posting and I hope you keep reading! If you think you might like writing, try it, blogging really is the best medicine. All I hope for now is that you don't picture me on the loo whenever you read my blog.

To end here is a really simple recipe for my favourite way to roast carrots, parsnips or any other root vegetable. It's so easy and it makes a boring vegetable super nice! The trick is to get the seasoning spot on so that have lots of flavour. You can also throw in some herbs-rosemary or thyme would work quite well.

Yummy Roasted Vegetables

1 kg of root vegetables such as sweet potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, parsnips, and regular potatoes.

5 red onions cut into wedges

Handful of garlic cloves skin left on (these will taste lovely and sweet when roasted)

Olive oil

Salt and Pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius

2. Peel the vegetables (you don't have to peel the butternut squash or sweet potato if you don't want to ) Cut up whichever vegetables you choose into equal sized chunks

3. Toss in a good pinch of sea salt and pepper and a guzzling of olive oil (this is key to making them taste good)

4. Roast for around 45 minutes or until soft, golden and yummy. This could be an 1 hour even or perhaps even 4o minutes.

These are great with a roast dinner.

P.S. To make sure I don't violate copyright I have provided a link for recipes where I have not adapted the original version. If a recipe has been adapted by myself then the text will be on the blog. If you have any questions about any recipes please do ask, especially if it's about the linked version! Happy cooking

I have a few posts lined up for the coming days that I hope you like! Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave comments, you know how I like them!

xx

Is that love you're cooking?

There was a particular moment, about two and a half years ago, when I decided I was going to learn to cook; it was one of the best things I ever did. Samuel was finally moving to London to move in with me, and we were going to build a home. I will admit that before this, I used to live off those fancy shmansy Marks and Spencer ready meals: I used to convince myself that as they contained no artificial flavourings, additives or chemically things, it didn't matter that, in order to eat, I had to punch holes into plastic every night. But somehow I had an idea that cooking would suit me; I would wear an old fashioned apron and have really snazzy kitchen gadgets, and whenever people would come to our home, they would be greeted by the sweet scent of buttery baked treats. In the words of Nigella Lawson, I would be a domestic goddess! And so armed with "Nigella Express", I braved the unknown and learnt to cook. The first recipe I ever cooked was her 'Rapid Ragu' and boy was it good. In retrospect, I think it was so good, simply because I proudly made it, with my own bear hands. I served it to Samuel with deep felt love and a beaming smile; I was a grown up!

With every recipe I tried, saucepan I bought and onion I chopped, I felt myself becoming more and more of a grown woman. As I finished cooking each meal, I would test my dish for seasoning; feeling like a true chef as I added a crushing of coarse sea salt, or a meaty grinding of pepper. I loved it! I knew I'd made it big (in my own kitchen at least) when I could finally juggle the culinary complexity of a roast dinner and its many accompaniments. I may have done it with the elegance and grace of an elephant, but I did it, and I was addicted!

Looking back, it was only a matter of time before I discovered the enthusiastic cook in me. You see, it was and is in my DNA. For decades, the age old question in my house has been "what do you want for dinner tomorrow?" It's a simple question that MUST be answered every night before going to sleep. So much so that my family are usually engaging in a deep discussion on what to have for tomorrow's dinner while still munching on tonight's. It is most ridiculous! My mother has always been concerned with feeding people; she likes to err on the side of caution, and therefore, always cooks far far too much. However, I will have to admit I am exactly the same. When people come over for dinner, they usually end up slumped on our sofa in a most ungraceful fashion, with their top trouser button undone. But you see, it's all done out of love. I suppose my family, myself included, equate feeding people with showing we care or showing affection. There is nothing nicer than giving someone you love their favourite meal, seeing their excitement as you serve it to them. Similarly, there is nothing more comforting than feeling all cozy and loved while your favourite meal is cooked for you. For me that's what cooking is all about.

Writing about this brings back memories of my maternal grandparents who I miss very much. They never had two pennies to rub together but there was always a home cooked meal on the table every night, made of the best ingredients they could afford. Granted you needed a chainsaw to cut through the meat and the vegetables could very easily be packaged in baby food jars, but this didn't matter; every night a meal was lovingly prepared and everyone ate together. My Nana made the best chips in the world; they were hand cut potatoes deep fried in dripping, basically a heart attack waiting to happen, but so very drool worthy. Growing up I used to call them Nana's chips and to this day I always think of her when I see a fat, greasy chip (I'm not sure she would be too pleased about this). Likewise, my Sicilian grandfather, made the most gorgeous, scrumptious Bolognese. It was rich and meaty, intense in flavour from the tomato paste, and the sheer volume of olive oil used, gave it a most pleasing glisten. It was lip smackingly good.

Even when my Nana was terminally ill and we were looking after her, she would always worry that there was food in the fridge for us every night. She couldn't cook, she was too ill, but that didn't matter. She needed to know that we wouldn't go hungry. Feeding us was her way of loving us and taking care of us. I am proud to say that she passed this onto my mother and now onto me.

Cooking together as a family is one my favourite things and I seriously urge you to take it up if you haven't already. My family start thinking about Christmas dinner almost as soon as New Year's comes around. It is the most important cooking day of the year and we don't half go to town. In the weeks before the Christmas period begins, my Mum begins to hoard in her usual style. She stocks up in batches every time she heads to the supermarket; if we ever happened to be snowed in and unable to escape, I assure you we would be fine until the first leaves of spring arrived. When Christmas morning arrives, the kitchen is overcrowded, hot and full of over eager foodies desperate for dinner. My Dad takes charge of the Turkey, which is a most amusing site to behold. You see, he starts with an oozy herb butter rub which he massages over the bird in a gentle and delicate manner; my mother is most jealous. As my Dad continues to fondle the turkey, my Mum prepares her famous roast potatoes; rich and sweet with goose fat coupled with a crunchy crisp coating of semolina. When we finally sit down to dinner, exhausted, hot and sweaty, a homemade, lovingly prepared feast beholds us. It is the best day of the year, not just because the food is culinary heaven but because the tradition of it all, is extremely special.

I have come to realize that food anchors my memories of my childhood, of my family and is now a big part of my marriage. There is something to be said for traditions; for passing down those special recipes (my Mother still cooks my Jewish Grandmother's Lokshen pudding). When I stand in my kitchen, lovingly roasting, stirring and baking, I realize I am my mother and my grandmother and I feel proud of that. As soon as my kids can sit, they are going to be on the countertops covered in flour, baking with me! I urge you all to become a domestic god/goddess and enjoy cooking for the ones you love. There is no warmer, cozier, yummy feeling than this.

As my Mum and I continue to share our love of cooking, I thought I would share her latest foodie gift to me. A hen for my eggs. I took these on my D90 with my 50mm lens.

For this entry, I had to tell you about my Mum's roasties. She got the idea for Semolina from Nigella Lawson, but to be fair, she's always cornered the market. I asked her to email me the recipe and here it is. The semolina gives them extra crunch, which goes so well with the buttery, squidgy middle. These potatoes will make you die and go to heaven; well there is so much fat in them you probably will.....

Mum's Roast Potatoes

Serves 6

1.5kg potatoes
6 tablespoons goose fat (if you're veggie you can use Toma-a nod to my Jewish roots)
3 tablespoons semolina
1 large onion cut into thick slices

Preheat oven to 200C

1. Put fat into a large roasting tin and then into the oven to heat up until very hot and smoking.
2. Put the potatoes into salted, cold water in a saucepan, and then bring to boil, letting them cook for 4 minutes
3. Drain the potatoes in a colander, then tip them back into the empty, dry saucepan, and sprinkle the semolina over.
4. Shake the potatoes around to coat them well and, with the lid, on give the pan a good shake
5. When the fat is hot take the tray from the oven and pour it into a jug. Put the potatoes into the roasting tray, and pour over the fat and place in the oven.
6. Cook for half and hour and turn the potatoes over and continue cooking until golden brown all over. Pour off the fat and give them 5 more minutes in the oven to finish crisping up. You may need to whack the oven up.

P.S. Our photographer has blogged a few layouts from our wedding album and she has included my blog link, how exciting! Have a peek if you like http://www.annarosell.com/blog/.                    

Thanks for reading and please leave a comment if I haven't exhausted you. I bet you want to eat now don't you?

xx

Some of Life's Defining Moments, in Pictures

Samuel is frustrated. Every time he comes home from work I have to listen to him complain about how someone at work nearly dropped dead on the floor when he told them he was married. According to all outsiders he looks young for his age and consequently, when he mentions he is married they either collapse on the floor or ask "wait, how old are you?" This happens a lot and as result I hear about it A LOT. "Do I look young Dominique", "Why do people think I look so young?", he will often say to me. Followed by, "Maybe if I could grow some facial hair...." As a result, Samuel has endured many attempts at growing a beard, but to be brutally honest it looks like he's trimmed some pubic hair and stuck it to his face in random patches. Needless to say, its not a good look and when we kiss it just feels like he is repeatedly sandpapering my face, hence less kisses for him. All in all not a winning combination.

There have been many people who have remarked on how we are young to get married in this day and age (I was 23 and Samuel 24), especially as none of our close friends are married. Many people have asked me out of curiosity why I wanted to get married young, and why I did not want to experience more first. Therefore, I think young marriage is a timely topic to discuss on my blog.

I know for many people marriage is just a piece of paper and that to commit to someone and give yourself whole heartedly you do not need a marriage certificate. I understand this and to a big extent I agree. But getting married for me meant more than that. It not only meant committing myself to the man I love and beginning the next chapter of my life, but also sharing this with the people who mean the world to me. I wanted that piece of paper, that wedding ring as a symbol of the certainty I felt for my future with Samuel. And very importantly, I wanted to be a bride and I wanted a dress!

Marriage has fulfilled so many facets of my life. I have the comfort and security of having that one person whom you truly love with you for everything you do and will do. And of course, there is something to be said for waking up to cuddles every morning accompanied by the gentle poking of his morning 'excitement'....there is comfort in that certainty, it shows I've still got it! Yes, there will be no more experiences of exciting dates, or the lust filled, butterfly inducing stages of an early relationship. But what I've got, true friendship, companionship, and love, well I wouldn't trade that for the world, whether I'm 23 or 43. Would you? I mean how lucky am I, I have a man who will stand in the supermarket queue with nothing but a box of Tampax just so I don't run out!

Of course, marriage is not always romantic and perfect; last night Samuel and I were engaged in a romantic embrace when he looked deep into my eyes and asked, "did you just eat a hob nob". Thus the embrace ended and we resumed cleaning up the flat. Combine this with the laundry, peeing with the door open, periods, stomach upsets, armpit hair, burping during dinner, spots on your face, ingrown hairs on your bikini line and arguments about housework and you have a bed of thorns not roses. But in the end it's worth every second.

I want to share with you some of the defining moments in my life thus far, together with the photos that tell the stories of those moments. I hope it will help to show what getting married meant to me. All of these photos were taken by our photographer Anna Rosell (quality reduced for the blog). The instances captured here were merely fleeting moments, gone within seconds, but when I look at these photos I am transported back in time and I remember every iota of emotion I felt in that moment. How amazing is that!

In my eyes, these two photos are a representation of what my wedding day meant to me; here I am being given away by my Dad, stood next to the two great men in my life, caught between my past and my future, making choices and commitments that will define the rest of my life. In that moment I felt true happiness and certainty. These photos reaffirm the wonderful storytelling abilities of great photos, and Anna has told that story perfectly.

And of course, here we are making that commitment to each other. I love the way Anna has composed this photo and her choice of black and white really draws you in. I aspire to capture moments in this way. You can see how much I love photography!

This photo shows those first few moments as man and wife. My father is proudly looking on in the background and all our family and friends look so happy. This is one of my favourite photos of our wedding day.

I hope some of my passion for photography has rubbed off on you. A big thank you must go to Anna for capturing these moments. She is a fantastic photographer, lovely person, and has been so helpful and encouraging with my photography. She was also extremely patient on our wedding day, and gracefully dealt with the nut jobs that make up my family. I owe her a big thank you. Anna has a real talent for capturing the true essence of people in her photos, and she makes everyone look beautiful. If you fancy indulging in some more photography, take a look at her blog: http://www.annarosell.com/blog/

And as for getting married young, the answer is simple. I got married when I did because I knew I had everything I could ever want, that I could never feel happier, and that I had something I would never give up. If you are lucky to have found that, then what else do you need, and what is there to wait for?

And so for the delightful dish of the day. I have chosen this dish for the simple reason that Samuel just loves it. . It's from Jamie Oliver and it's absolutely delicious while being really good for you, minus the fat in the sausages. The roasted tomatoes make such a great chunky sauce. The trick for this recipe is to use good quality sausages, as they will naturally have less fat and more flavour, compared to bangers with loads of flavourings and fake meat!

Sausage and Cherry Tomato Bake

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pork-recipes/sweet-cherry-tomato-and-sausage-bake

Serve with mashed potato, root vegetable mash or whatever takes your fancy!

Have a lovely weekend and thanks so much for all your support during my first blogging week. If you feel like leaving a comment, please do.

xxx

Giving Back

I love people, I love everything about them: their quirks, foibles, anything really. I truly enjoy meeting new people and discovering who they are, and I am frequently told I ask far too many questions (if any of you dear readers have been subjected to one of my interrogations then you have my deep felt apologies). The truth is I am just genuinely interested in anyone I meet and would gladly spend hours chatting and getting to know them. So together with my love of people, I have always had an overwhelming desire to help people, even if it only means making a difference to one person. Now this may sound trite but it is a big part of what makes me me. As most of my previous posts have discussed my nutty experiences, I thought I would share with you some of my more serious adventures.

Every Wednesday afternoon I volunteer at a centre for adults with learning difficulties. I help run a life skills and numeracy class for the service users. I will be the first to admit that this role is both frustrating and heart wrenching, but it is also highly rewarding. Every week there are around 6 of us including the teacher and we gather around a table together for the 2 hour class. Each week the teacher aims to improve some of their life skills such as using money, counting, reading etc. The ages of the students range from 25-50 and they have varying degrees of learning difficulties.

Last week we were working on telling the time and I took over for some of the lesson. Our aims were for them to identify the time when it was on the hour, half past the hour and quarter past. I spent 30 minutes up at the board working on these concepts over and over again but I was hitting a brick wall and I felt totally useless. No matter how I tried to explain it, I felt their was a barrier I just could not overcome. You see, it is exceptionally hard to teach concepts that come so naturally to you such as telling the time. I mean, think about it, how do you tell the time. You don't. You just know. So I drew 3 clocks showing 1:00, 1:15, and 1:30 and explained that when the big hand was on 12 it was on the hour, when the big hand was on 6 it was half past the hour and so on. But I felt they didn't understand me. The teacher told me that it wasn't how I was teaching and that all I can do is try, but I felt like I wasn't making a difference. It makes you realise how all those little things that you do every day such as speaking, paying for things, telling the time and getting the bus are barriers for so many people.

On one occasion I was helping out with the concept of using money and I put an array of coins out for one student and asked her "okay lets make a pound", but it wasn't possible for her without me showing her how to do it. I worry that she will get taken advantage of when she goes out to buy things. Similarly, I remember having a lovely chat with one lady while reading the paper and at one point in the middle of our conversation, she turned to me and said "it's so great that you canread like that, it's such a great thing to do. I wish I could read". All I wish is that I could teach her to read.

On a positive note, I love working there. When we are in class everyone is having fun, we love it! We have parties, discuss our weekends and what we enjoy doing and we have a great time. Even if I can't teach them everything, I hope I have made a little difference. I like to think that the fun we have in class is worth just as much. In the meantime I will continue to try and break down those barriers and maybe just maybe I will.

Now I encourage you all to cuddle up with a cup of something hot and read a great book, for the simple reason that you can and we should be grateful for that.

So in honour of my classmates here is a photo I took with my new lens which I will introduce you to later. What I love about this lens is how you get this mushy, sloppy background you could just dunk your chips into! You get this by using a lens with a wide aperture, this was at f 1.4, as it gives you a really narrow depth of field, which I love. It makes your subject pop!

If you're struggling with dinner ideas , have a crack at this amazing rice dish. Now obviously you need to have something with your rice. But this recipe takes rice to a whole new level. Rice will never be boring again! Saffron is an expensive spice, well expensive for a spice, but you only need a pinch and it really adds great colour and fragrance to dishes, in particular Middle Eastern or Spanish ones. This recipe is an adaptation of a recipe in Nigella Lawson's book "Forever Summer". She is my cooking hero!

Saffron and Lemon Rice

Serves 4-6 generously

500g basmati rice

1 litre of chicken stock (I use Knorr Touch of Taste Chicken Stock Concentrate and add to hot water according to the instructions)

Good pinch of Saffron

20g butter

60g pine nuts

Zest and juice of 1 big lemon or 2 little ones

1. Let the big pinch of saffron steep in the chicken stock for around 15 minutes

2. Heat a saucepan and gently melt the butter

3. Add the rice to the pan and stir for a minute

4. Pour in the chicken stock and saffron, the lemon juice and the zest (make sure you only zest the yellow part and not down to the bitter pith)

5. Turn the heat up and bring the rice and stock to the boil, once it's bubbling turn the heat down to low and bang on the lid.

6. While the rice is cooking, heat a frying pan and toast your pine nuts in the dry pan (no oil). Keep turning them as they can burn very quickly. They are done when they are nice and golden

7. Cook for around 15 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is cooked

8. Stir through the pine nuts

If you have anything you'd like to share, or any great recipes please do leave comment!

xx

We're barmy but I love it!

My family is totally bonkers, I mean embarrassingly so. Enter my final main cast members; Mum and Dad. I truly believe if you are going to follow this blog and understand my quirky, slightly odd ways then I must introduce my parents. My Mum is many things; kind, caring, nurturing, supportive, and a clean freak. However, she is not just any old clean freak, let me explain. My family and I took our lovely golden retriever Toffee for a walk along the seafront promenade one wintery afternoon, when all of sudden our dear boy decides its toilet time. He does a big poop on the pavement next to the road, and my mum politely uses her plastic bag as a pooper scooper (totally normal up to this point), however, in full view of many afternoon strollers, she whips out a bottle of Evian and rapidly squirts water all over the remaining poop stains, dispersing it around the pavement. Following this she takes out some kitchen roll and proceeds to wipe said pavement until its brand spanking new. If you know anyone else who actually voluntarily wipes down public pavements do let me know...

To put it bluntly, my Dad is embarrassing. Here are some of his random acts of barmyness.

* He likes to fart in the lift just as he is getting out so the next person gets a nice treat...he thinks this is hilarious.

* He is so obsessed with his camera(s) that when we got to restaurants he asks the waiter to bring a chair just for his camera, oh and his 'man' bag.

* He would rather sit on a hot poker than go to a party and make small talk-at a recent dinner party he declared to a table full of new acquaintances and potential friends, that he "doesn't like people very much". Suffice to say my Mum has banned him from all voluntary social interaction where she is present. She still lets him go to the shops though.

* He is a creature of habit, so much so, that he ate in one Chinese restaurant so often, they presented him with chopsticks with an engraving of his name.

* He will go to restaurants and order a big piece of cake after a meal but the asks for no ice cream because he thinks it would make the dessert too fattening....

* He can't dress himself. My mum has to lay his clothes out on the bed for him. You would never think he has a Phd or runs major transport projects.

This pic just about sums my Dad up:

On a more serious note, my parents are my backbone. I speak to them everyday, sometimes several times a day and I never make a decision without them. We are extremely close and they are my best friends. I think a big part of our relationship is down to the fact that we were our own little nomadic herd. We moved to 5 different countries throughout my upbringing and let me tell you, it is hugely challenging both physically and mentally to uproot your life and start all over. But we did it, many times and I wouldn't change it for the world. It has made my family stronger and ultimately closer. As a child and young adolescent I didn't have many friends at school (enter violin strings here). To be honest, now don't laugh here, I used to go to the library on my own every lunch time, and you could often find me in a corner reading a copy of "What's Happening to my Body Book for Girls" (I started puberty pretty early, not that you needed to do know that). As a result, I became extremely close to my parents and spent all my time with them, which I still do. My husband and I may be in our twenties but we still frequently go on holidays with my parents and see them whenever we have a break. Never underestimate the importance of spending time with your parents, you will be grateful later on.

My parents have been married for 36 barmy years and here is a portrait I took of them my SLR on a visit to Monaco at Christmas (please note my Dad's super camera: the Leica M8). I have also included a beautiful poem my Dad wrote for my Mum. I love them so very dearly.

Janice and I, married for 36 years,

Lots of laughter and a few tears,

Dominique and Doggies, at the centre,

So far it’s been quite an adventure.

Dominique our beautiful daughter,

Has kept us busy until the altar,

Now married, we’re busier than ever,

But for sure we would never change her.

Red, Patch and Brandy, those beloved babies,

Jan would do anything for those ladies,

Our new boy Toffee has joined our clan,

Keeping Jan on her toes, not quite the plan.

Jan has been the foundation stone for us all,

Through everything she has stood proud and tall,

An incredible strength that’s deep inside,

There’s nothing that breaks her from her stride.

All we’ve achieved can be traced to her,

All that happens, to Jan we must confer,

Telephone calls that number in millions,

Before we’re done it will be in trillions.

Jan is our constant guide and inspiration,

A woman of such infinite compassion,

I struck big and lucky, when I wed Jan,

I am a truly blessed and lucky man.

I love my Jan with all my heart,

Two souls that can never be apart,

Time and space may so often divide,

But our Love keeps us always entwined.

So many adventures still before us,

Blogs and grandchildren in full chorus,

Together we will enjoy all that waits,

With Dominique and Samuel and the fates.

Thanks Jan for never ever wavering,

For all that love and untold caring,

You are a shining and radiant Star,

Thanks to you we are all we are.

I hope you feel like you know my cast members a bit better. And now onto something delicious. This is a great recipe for butternut squash and it comes from Jamie Oliver's classic "The Naked Chef". It's always handy to have tricks for making vegetables more tasty and this recipe is so versatile. It's great with roast dinners or even the chilli con carne recipe in the post below. If you are blessed with an enormous butternut then please do honour it and double up on the spices. If you want to be really frugal you can save the seeds and toast them; apparently they help men keep an erection.

Roasted Butternut Squash with Spices

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetarian-recipes/spicy-roasted-squash

Well that's all for today. Coming soon-my Peeves and Pleasures of the week and much more.

If you have a barmy family member or recipe you would like to share, get in touch. Please do leave a comment, thats if you got this far.

xx

Inspiration and Reasoning: Why am I writing a blog?

You see I have this tendency to obsess. I wouldn't go as far as to say I have OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), however, my husband and family would probably say otherwise, but I will take full owernship of the 'O'. Maybe I'm just a disordered obsessive. This obsessive behaviour presented itself from an early age when I had an over the top obsession for Cabbage Patch dolls. I collected them in their hundreds, and to this day I still collect them. I will admit people did find this a bit odd but then one might say I am bit of an oddball. Although the years have quickly passed, my obsessions have never wavered only altered. But one thing has stayed the same; whatever I obsess about is the most pointless and unimportant thing going on in my life. I never seem to obsess about anything that matters. Do you know anyone who obsesses about the seasoning in their evening meal that no one but them is going to eat? Or whether their meat is browning enough-I will often ponder to myself "perhaps I am overcrowding the pan". Anyone who spends time with me knows that wherever I go and whatever I do I come armed with antibacterial hand gel (just to note I find Cuticura, available in all Boots, has the nicest scent). That's right I obsess about germs. I will not eat my sandwich at lunch until I have degermed myself.

I never had a hope in hell of not adopting these behaviours. Let me explain; my mother has an obseesion with overpurchasing in the supermarket for fear that she may run out (god forbid). Some may think she is preparing for nuclear war or famine when she heads out to the shops. As a result, she has to buy everything in threes. One for on the go, one for when that runs out, and one just in case. In case of what, I'm not sure. As my Dad likes to say, "you could stock Tescos with our storage room". As for my Dad, I could write 10 blog posts about his obsessions but one of his main obsessions is with bags, or man bags as he likes to call them (although he will justify this by describing them as not womany). Well actually any type of bag; suitcase, briefcase, camera bag, bags for other bags you name it. He has actually bought the same bag twice without realising. Why you may ask, well it's because no bag is ever quite good enough and I actually think purchasing bags really excites him. In addition to this obsession probably better suited to a woman, he is also obsessed with dogs (in a non wierd way) and in particular our boy Toffee (will introduce you to him later). So much so that my Dad will talk out loud to our dog when he is neither in the same room nor the same country. If you happen to pass the bathroom door while he is in there, you can catch them in conversation, a most bizarre experience.

So as you can see I was doomed from the start. You can only imagine how obsessively excited I became when I had my wedding to plan. I loved every minute of it, Samuel not so much. I obsessed mainly about making it a wonderful day for everyone not just for us, and it became a sort of hobby to occupy my energies. On a side note this all paid off because our wedding is going to be featured in an upcoming issue of Cosmopolitan Bride magazine, I have posted a picture of a past issue below and will of course post when it is out. I will admit the shrills I produced when I discovered this amazing fact were somewhat hyena like so god only knows what I will do when it is published and I go into WH Smiths to buy it.






So while planning our wedding I started to discover photography and in particular wedding photography. I realised what a powerful and exciting medium it is and it completely engrossed me. Hence my new obsession and one of the reasons for starting this blog. Wedding photography (I'm not talking the boring line ups here) in particular, intrigues me because of its powerful storytelling qualities and how meaningful it is to the couple whose wedding is being captured. It is also a special and important heirloom for generations to come. A photographer I really admire is Jasmine Star. She is not only an amazing wedding photographer-take a look at her blog here http://www.jasminestarblog.com/index.cfm-but she is also a great writer and combines the two so well, which is part of the inspiration for my blog. She now has about 25 million hits. I'm right behind her with around 160 hits. Even if you readers aren't that enthralled with photography I have set myself a mission to hopefully get you interested, so I will introduce you to other photographers in later posts.


Further inspiration for my blog came from a great book called "The Gastronomy of Marriage" http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gastronomy-Marriage-Memoir-Food-Love/dp/0812979192/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263824047&sr=8-1; which is so perfectly subtitled with "a memoir of food and love". It's a true story of a woman's relationship and engagement told through food and cooking and is a great read.

Here is some more NON wedding photography inspiration for the more romanticlly challenged These are photos taken on safari in Kenya and they are just amazing. I would love to one day take pictures like this: http://www.neilredfern.com/blog/?p=999 and http://www.neilredfern.com/blog/?p=1082.

Lastly my Dad is another big inspiration for my photography. He is a great photographer and is teaching me and helping me to learn so many things I need to know. He has even handed down his Nikon 70-200mm lens which is not only professional and amazing but I would never ever have been able to afford it otherwise. And in honour of him here is a photo taken by my Dad, of our late dog Brandy who we loved dearly.

So now I need a new obsession to indulge my old obsessions so enter the BLOG! I hope some of my reasons and inspirations for this blog have become a little clearer. If not, you can just humour me.

As Samuel and I have decided to have chilli con carne tonight, I thought it would be fitting to share our recipe. It is adapted from a Nigella Lawson recipe in "Nigella's Christmas", but I like to think I have improved perfection with my version. The secret ingredient is dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids). Now do not even contemplate ommitting this ingredient. It is commonly used in mexican and south american cooking and can really add great flavour to a savoury dish-just don't use milk chocolate or white (as if you would). My version has no kidney beans for the important reason that Samuel doesn't like them, but please do add them. On another note, I served this to my good friend Marimba a few weeks ago and he was horrified that I ommitted the beans, so much so he rang me late one night last week (deadly serious here) just to complain. He explained to me; "Dominique, you can't not put kidney beans in a chilli, I mean you just can't, what's the point of chilli without the beans". However, he did admit that my chilli was very good indeed. So in honour of him, I have made a point to say optional here!

Chilli con carne (kidney beans optional)

500g pack of lean mince beef (you can of course use the fattier stuff)

3 largish onions finely chopped

6 fat cloves of garlic crushed (if they are not fat then add more, it's all about the garlic here!)

2 hot chillis (the smaller they are the hotter they are. Feel free to add more chilli if you like it hot!)

1 rounded teaspoon of ground cumin (make sure these are rounded)

1/2 rounded teaspoon of ground coriander

1/2 rounded teaspoon of ground cinnamon

Pinch of chilli flakes if you like it extra hot

1 x 400g can of tinned tomatoes

125ml chicken stock (again I use Knorr touch of taste and add to water, but if you have fresh woohoo!)

25g DARK chocolate, chopped

2 x 15ml rounded tablespoons of tomato ketchup

2 x 15ml rounded tablespoons of tomato puree/paste

Sea salt, pepper, sugar (sea salt is best and a lot milder but if you are using table salt, go easy!)

1. Heat your olive oil in a wide saucepan and fry your onions on a medium heat until softened and slightly golden

2. Once the onions are soft, add your crushed garlic, spices and chilli to the pan and fry for another minute or two

3. Turn up the heat to as high as it will go and add your minced meat. Fry until it is nice and brown

4. Add your ketchup and tomato puree/paste and stir through

5. Add the tinned tomatoes and chicken stock, as well as a pinch of sea salt, a grinding of pepper and a teaspoon of sugar.

6. Bring to the boil and add your chocolate. Stir until it is melted.

7. Turn down the heat and simmer with the lid on for an hour.

8. Check for seasoning, it's key! You may need another pinch of salt and/or pepper or even some sugar to sweeten it up a bit and bring out the flavours.

Serve with steamed white rice, sour cream and if you have some, guacamole!

Yummy!
Well that's all for today. I will hopefully post again soon.
Feel free to comment if you like!
xxx

First cast member: My husband Samuel

If I'm going to tell the story of my life and loves I thought it would be most fitting to introduce you to the starring cast of my life. Firstly, my husband Samuel. Samuel and I got together in 2005 and true to my new blogger style we met online. I wasn't a teenager who had decided to already give up on love and resort to online dating but rather a mutual friend of ours whom I met at uni decided to add Samuel's hotmail address to my MSN, and so our techy chats began.

I fell for Samuel straight away; he wasn't very cool about things, was honest about his feelings (I loved this about him straight away) and told pretty bad jokes, but I liked him anyway. He was actually interested in what I had to say and explained how he loved romance. We came to realise later that both of us would go online every night to see if the other was on. However, I was so convinced that someone so lovely, empathetic, kind and single had to have something wrong with him. And he lived in Yorkshire. Lucky for me there wasn't and he was and is gorgeous!

We carried on chatting for a few weeks, when he informed me that along with our mutual friend and one other, he would be coming down to London for a weekend. I don't know why but I just felt like offering them a place to stay. I felt I knew Samuel pretty well at this point and of course I already knew our mutual friend. They arrived on the Friday night and we got ready and headed for a night out together. Samuel and I danced together all night and I was trying to give him some signals but he just didn't seem to register them. Either that or he didn't like me! Anyway, we returned home to our flat in the early hours of Saturday morning and went to bed. Samuel slept on the living room floor and when I came in to check on them, I noticed a nice pile of drool collecting on my new cushion. I woke him up and told him he couldn't continue to drool on my cushion as it would be ruined. Some women might have found this an immediate turn off but I still found myself falling for Samuel. To cut a long story short, Samuel and I shared our first kiss that weekend and he asked if he could come down and visit me the following weekend. As I mentioned earlier, Samuel didn't really play it cool, but this is what I loved about him and so I jumped at the chance to spend another weekend with him. From there on in Samuel came down from Leeds every Friday for 2 years before he moved in 2007, the rest is history. We were married on July 25, 2009 after 4 years together. This truly was the most amazing day of my life but more about this later.

Samuel is so many things but here are a few random facts about him:

1. In the very early stages of our relationship, I had a very sensitive stomach and a few food intolerances which, lets just say led to some windy issues. On many occasions we would be fast asleep when I would suddenly have a very loud and windy outburst which would be so powerful that it would wake us from our slumber. Now as you can imagine I was mortified. We had not yet reached the 'farting in front of each other stage' in our relationship (although this did arrive shortly after and persists mercilessly to this day). These incidents continued to happen so often that I contemplated sleeping in the living room. But Samuel being the lovely gentleman he is pretended he never heard it and never mentioned it.....for a while and luckily he continued to fancy me. I knew then I had a keeper.

2. Samuel has known for a long time how much I love photography and how much I want to become a photographer, but neither of us could afford a camera. I never thought in a million years that he would be able to buy me an SLR but he did. He skinted himself for months just so he could give me my dream present this past Christmas. Samuel's hobby is triathlon and I know there are plenty of things he wanted to buy for himself, but instead he fulfilled my dream. It meant so much to me and he has given me a chance to start my hobby.

Here is my new baby, the Nikon D90.

3. Samuel LOVES my cooking, he thinks I'm his own personal Nigella Lawson and he can't get enough of my food. I may not be a super chef but as long as he loves my cooking I'm happy and that's why I labour in the kitchen (with is help) every night. Samuel and I love food and we love cooking so every night we cook a meal together from scratch and it's my favourite part of the day. We plan our meal the night before and Samuel will pick things up on the way home from work. After every meal Samuel always kisses me and says "that was delicious my love" in his broad Yorkshire accent and I feel lucky.

As this blog is also about photography here is Samuel, my gorgeous husband. This is one of the first pictures I took with my new SLR during our xmas holidays (the blog seems to have reduced the quality).

I could go on forever about Samuel as he is my life but I'll save that for later. In keeping with our love of food here is a delightful recipe for homemade Toffee sauce courtesy of Rachel Allen. I use this for so many things as it's so versatile. If you aren't particulary skillful at desserts or can't be bothered then just boil this up and pour it hot it over some shop bought ice cream. The best part about making it is the fact that you don't have to do anything and can just hover over the saucepan dunking and then licking a plastic spatula; I just pretend that because it's not solid it has no calories. Here is the link to the recipe:

Yummy Toffee Sauce

http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/607366

Thanks for reading more to come soon. Feel free to post any comments.

xxx