Yesterday our toilet broke right before I had to head off for my first day at a new job. Now it's been playing up for a few weeks and Samuel believes that he magically learned the art of plumbing simply by being a toilet user for the past 25 years of his life. Can I just say that cellotape does not technically fix a toilet, and maybe just maybe, this is why plumbers don't tend to keep cellotape in their arsenal. Similarly, "moving the tank lid back and forth" (yes these are Samuel's words) to allow the tank to refill also does not successfully resolve the root of our plumbing difficulty. However, we have refrained from enlisting the help of a 'real' plumber because, in Samuel's words, "why pay someone to do something you can do yourself". Fair enough, but can I just repeat the word "cellotape" please. Suffice to say, Samuel and I did have a fairly agitated conversation while he was at work and he came home and sort of fixed it during his lunch hour. The moral of the story...not quite sure, still working on that one, maybe it reaffirms the theory that men never want to ask for directions or ask for help...or perhaps if toilet problems really get me fired up, I should think about getting out more.
On another note I have a shoot planned for Sunday. The shoot is with my cousin's wife who is also an aspiring photographer and she had the genius suggestion of practicing our shooting skills on each other. We've planned to do the shoot in Epping Forest; I've never been there but she assures me it's a beautiful location and I'm very much looking forward to it. Samuel has also been roped in, not sure how he feels about this but as I've mentioned before, he's always the supportive husband. I will hopefully blog the photos next week!
Now onto a tastier thought; there are some great food programs back on the television! Last night we watched "Jamie Does Marrakech". Now I know people have mixed feelings about Jamie Oliver but I happen to love him. I particularly like his no nonsense approach to cooking and I think he is unbelievably creative when it comes to his own style of cooking. I also like his cheeky nature! The way he puts his own spin on dishes, eats with his hands, and leaves his food looking like real grub, warms my heart. His "spicy butternut squash" recipe in one of my earlier posts is eaten almost bi-weekly in our household, so I owe him for many of the recipes in my repertoire. Have a watch of his shows; he really advocates the fact that anyone can cook and I feel he makes yummy recipes accessible to the average population with his easy to find ingredients and straight forward cooking methods. All in all, a guy after my own heart. It's on Channel 4 on Wednesday nights at 9pm.
Samuel has become quite hooked on Sophie Dahl's new cooking show "The Delicious Miss Dahl". Now she's not a chef or even a food writer, in fact she's an ex-model but she has somehow landed a cooking show. I haven't decided exactly what my thoughts are on the show but if I'm honest, I do actually enjoy it. She's most definitely passionate about her cooking and so I can't really knock her for it, especially with my obsessive foodie nature. So last weekend we tried her recipe for "Twice Baked Potatoes" and they were scrumptious. The recipe is included at the end of this post.
As this post is a collection of random thoughts I decided to include some somewhat random photos I took on my last trip home to France. I went for a bit of an "Oldie" feel (if that's a word) on some of them. The purpose of these photos was really to start challenging myself to "see" things all around me (hence the "Eye Spy" title), whether I was successful or not I don't know, but I enjoyed myself in the process!
So here it goes. This first shot is of the thirteenth century village up the road from our home, it's called St. Paul de Vence and well worth it visit. It's where we had our wedding photos taken so I have an extra soft spot for it now. If you're ever there the restaurant "Le Tilleul" is well worth a spot of lunch. You can click on the photos to enlarge.
I liked the features of this gate!
A slightly moody shot!
The walk up to the village has lots of lovely little streets.
An old water wheel near the entrance to the village.
A father and son playing boules on the boules patch of the village cafe.
The village has these great statues!
A statue on someone's gate I saw on the walk home.
Here is Sophie Dahl's recipe for the potatoes. I suppose a simpler name for them would be stuffed potato skins, but it doesn't sound as fancy! You can use any kind of cheese; we stuck with her suggestion of soft goat's cheese for one half of the potatoes and cheddar for the other half. Thus we made two mixtures; one with goats cheese and one with cheddar. Both were delicious but I favoured the goat's cheese. We also used low fat creme fraiche which worked really well. We had these with grilled steaks and a tomato and mixed leaf salad. All in all a lovely meal that would be great for a summer BBQ. You can catch Sophie's show "Delicious Miss Dahl" on Tuesdays at 8:30 pm on BBC2.
Here is the link: Double Baked Cheese and Chive Potatoes. Sophie serves them with a tomato soup, which might also be worth a try.
Have a lovely weekend everyone. Feel free to comment by clicking on the Comments link below.
xx
2 comments:
Another great post sweetheart, with some excellent photos of our lovely home village. The mood of the pictures is particularly good, and you have captured some of those hidden nooks and crannies on the walk which our Boy loves so much xxxxxxxx
Like the way you write Dominique, It makes me feel you are actually talking to me. Having recently been to your home and St. Paul and eaten in the restaurant you mention, I can only reiterate what a beautiful place it is. The photos are good and really do it justice. I see new things each time I have been there.
Enjoy your shoot with Sophie. Look forward to seeing pics.
xxxx Mal
Post a Comment