Love, Lemons and Lenses

Joshua and Hannah: Love Me Do

2010-05-14T14:56:00.000-07:00

As promised, here is my second ever couples shoot. I did this shoot the day after Danny and Mary's shoot, and we went to locations only five minutes from those used for the previous shoot. As a result, I really wanted to try and avoid having similar looking photos and thanks to Samuel we found some stunning spots. But let me tell you, a lot of the locations were quite a challenge to get to and a lot of love and effort went into capturing the images; on many an occasion I risked not only my neck but my lenses! I will tell you about the trials and tribulations as we go through the photos!

Joshua and Hannah met in November of last year; according to Hannah they had known of each other for many years but had never met. One night they were both in the same pub when Hannah saw Josh and immediately decided to speak to him. They hit it off and the rest, as they say, is history. Josh and Hannah were lovely to be around and seeing them together it was clear that they were still in the early and exciting stages of new love. Although Josh is my brother-in-law, this was the first time Samuel and I had met Hannah. They are a perfect match; both up for anything and everything, bubbly and full of life. They have a lovely dynamic and constantly laugh together; I was laughing the whole way through our shoot. Hopefully the pictures show this! I never tire of seeing people in love, and catching it on camera is simply wonderful. I hope they love the pictures and feel that they capture the love they share for each other.

You may have noticed that I have now got borders and a logo! Well I decided it was time to have my name somewhere on my photos and I feel that the frame sets them off nicely. And yes, I am using my maiden name; it feels more "me" if that makes sense and I suppose I find it hard adjusting to a new name. Samuel also thought it was a good idea since it is more unusual!

I'm constantly learning and growing on my photography adventure and I can honestly say I have never done anything that has captivated me and inspired me as much. I can't really put into words how much I love taking photos and I challenge myself everyday to move forward and do better. I struggle with being extremely critical of myself but I am trying to focus on how far I have come not how far I have to go.

I thought I would start with this shot because it really shows the stunning locations around this part of West Yorkshire, and I love the way they are looking at each other. Also, I love it because just as I was about to press the shutter, Rhoda the family greyhound, entered the image and stayed in the perfect position while I took the shot!

I really love simple close ups!

We were walking down to the reservoir when I saw Josh and Hannah walking ahead and I took this shot. I can't get over how beautiful it is around there!

I really love simple shots like these take between two tree trunks.

We then went down into the over flow for the reservoir; I took these first shots from above before getting in myself! I had both Samuel and Josh pick me up as I was too scared to slide down the side! Their expressions in this photo just make me smile. I love how cheeky it is.

Here I am finally down there myself!

We then walked through the narrow middle part of the overflow and up the steep sides to get these shots!

I love how happy and in love they look!

I then walked along a really narrow bridge across the reservoir to get this shot. I even changed lenses on the bridge!

We then took a rest and got some natural, close up portraits.

I love Hannah's expression here.

We then headed to Samuel and Joshua's home for some pictures with the lovely spring flowers which are in bloom.

Thanks for reading, I hope you like the photos. Feel free to comment below!
xx

Love Me Do: Mary and Danny

2010-05-10T14:12:00.000-07:00

On the weekend Samuel and I travelled up north to Yorkshire to visit Samuel's family. I decided it would also be a perfect opportunity to annoy some of his family with photo shoots! I was lucky enough to be able to do two couples shoots over the weekend and these were the first I have done. It was great fun learning how to capture the dynamic between two people in love and capturing those natural moments and hopefully it comes across in the images.

Danny and Mary (Samuel's sister) are just 17 so this shoot was definitely about young love. Love blossomed between Danny and Mary while playing table tennis; both of them have played since they were very young and they have been doubles partners on several occasions.

There are so many stunning places around the village where Samuel is from; I have to admit I got quite excited every time I found a fun stop to do some pictures. I absolutely love taking pictures; I love looking for inspiration around me and capturing people's expressions, it has become a real passion of mine. As this was my first couples shoot I realized how much I enjoy capturing the interaction between two people; the little intimate moments, the smiles, and the laughter. I hope I get the opportunity to do many more and I will definitely keep posting them as I go. If you fancy a shoot let me know!

I have to say a big thank you to Mary and Danny for putting up with me not just during our shoot but all the time!

My second shoot was with Joshua and Hannah, a newly in love couple and I will be posting that soon so keep a look out.

P.S. I am really pleased to have figured out how to have images side by side; well if I'm honest it was Samuel who figured it out but as we're married I can take the credit...

So I thought I would start with one of my favourites from the day...

These next few shots were taken near a reservoir nearby to their house.

Then I whipped out my massive zoom lens and had them climb up this hill! As you can see it was quite an overcast and dull day.

Then we met up with Rhoda, the family greyhound!

Then I wanted to get some lovely simple close ups of them both.

Love this one!

I love how angelic Mary looks here.

And how naughty she looks here...

Mary had some great boots on, they went so well with the location.

Mary giving us a great pose!

Love these two!

Thanks for reading and feel free to leave a comment below!
xx

Attention Deficits and Exam Revision: Looking for a distraction?

2010-04-26T11:33:00.000-07:00

I'm revising for exams right now and that means that anything and everything distracts me. It seems that when revision time rolls around everything in the world appears more interesting than what I happen to be studying. Let's see; revision time is the only time when tidying up, washing my husband's sweaty gym clothes, and emptying the dishwasher seem extremely exciting and appealing activities. Even worse, my attention span seems to lie somewhere between that of an amoeba and a goldfish. Speaking of goldfish; I remember hearing once that goldfish have a memory span of something like seven seconds. Apparently it's so bad that if there is something inedible floating in their tank they will repeatedly try to eat it, for the simple reason that seven seconds has elapsed and they forgot.

So when it comes to remembering all the ligaments in the larynx, I am that goldfish, except not only is my memory span seven seconds, so are my attention capabilities. Here is my studying routine (I strongly advise against following my lead); I read one sentence then surf the internet, read one sentence, look out the window, read one sentence, decide to squat down in front of my fridge and see if something enticing jumps out at me and so on and so forth. This cycle repeats itself until I look at the clock and it's time to cook dinner...or send Samuel to Chilango's for a Burrito (trust me when I say burritos have become my security blanket and only source of excitement over the past few weeks...we just had one for dinner by the way).

Revision has caused me to look for plenty of distractions in all kinds of places, so much so that yesterday afternoon I decided I needed to take some photos of my husband because the light was just so nice on the balcony, and well I couldn't face reading about cranial nerves anymore. So here is the photographic evidence of my distractions.

Did I mention that I am simply writing this blog as a means of putting off revision?

I know he's my husband so I have to say this but I really think he looks pretty darn good...

At least Samuel has something to smile about right now!

Here is a recipe for a snack I've eaten during my revision; maybe it will help you with yours! It's a really simple and healthy dip (the last thing I need right now is extra calories) made with non fat Greek yogurt. You could use regular yogurt as well. Just beware if you plan on getting lucky or having a conversation with someone who is within ten feet of you then be warned, the raw garlic ain't so sexy. I really like this with raw carrots but it's just as good with celery or peppers. Be creative with your vegetables, it makes for a great distraction. In fact, you can make your vegetables super distracting and time consuming (so great for putting off revision) if you think of really crazy ways of cutting them up; I mean have you tried cutting a piece of carrot into the shape of a heart? You'll be there till January.

Garlic Dip

Serves 1 depressed student or two normal people

150g Greek yogurt or regular natural yogurt, not the sweetened variety please. I always use non-fat as I'm depressed enough.

1 fat clove of garlic or 2 smaller ones-this is really to taste.

1 mild red chilli-again to taste.

A small handful or chopped coriander or chives depending on what you prefer.

Tiny tiny pinch of salt.

Raw veggies chopped into fingery sized chunks; carrots, celery, peppers etc..

If you are revising right now I wish you all the best of luck!

Sunny Shoot in Epping Forest

2010-04-20T10:28:00.000-07:00

Firstly, I have done some changes to my good old blog; the pictures are now quite massive! So feel free to take a look around at some of the old pics which are much bigger now.

On Sunday I met up with my cousin's wife Sophie (she informs me that as they are now married she is officially my cousin) for a photo session! Sophie is an aspiring photographer as well and was keen to both practice together and I was more than happy to do so. Sophie also wanted some photos of her for her new website and in particular she wanted some photos with her camera in the frame!

We were blessed with the weather on Sunday; the sun was shining and it was blissfully warm. Sophie is a really outgoing, bubbly and fun girl and so this shoot was a bit different to the one I did with Damien; we wanted it to be fun, easy going and playful, and so we tried ever so hard to channel this with our poses, props and photos.

After learning about light on my photography course, I am always on the look out for open shade and gorgeous back light. Sophie did make fun of me as I was constantly looking for this beautiful back light coming through the trees! I have learned that when photographing people you always need to lose the top light to avoid shadows and contrast on the face and back light is the most stunning light which leaves a lovely rim effect, almost like a glow on your subject, I hope so anyway!

Sophie was an absolute pleasure to be around and so natural and creative with her poses! I loved being in her company for the day and can't wait for our next shoot!

After my photoshop course I finally know how to make the black and whites I really like. I have worked quite hard to figure out how to get a look that I like, so hopefully you like them too. You would be amazed at how different black and white images can look, as it very much depends on how different photographers want them to look.

Here is the lovely Sophie.

So here are the photos of Sophie and her camera, especially for her website! It was hard to think of poses which involved a camera.

I really like this next series, so much so that I included one of the photos in both colour and black and white because I couldn't decide!

I love the playful feel of these.

This next shot is one my favourite shots of the day.

I love Sophie's beautiful ring and scarf. They look extra nice next to her camera!

For the next few shots we found the most beautiful stream of light coming through the trees which gave an almost misty, romantic feel. Shame we didn't have our husbands with us!

Love these next two.

As this blog is also about my love of food and cooking, I thought I would incorporate one of my old recipe books. I love collecting recipe books, particularly old ones as I can never have too many recipes to try. I saw this light on our way back to the car and knew we had to get some shots here.

Sophie's beautiful engagement and wedding rings.

Thanks for reading and if you fancy you can leave a comment by clicking on the comments link below.

Eye Spy: A Collection of Random Thoughts and Photos

2010-04-15T09:25:00.000-07:00

Okay so I'm going with the flow, albeit a random flow for this post.

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.

Going Solo: My first proper shoot!

2010-04-08T09:35:00.000-07:00

I have just got back from two days of photography training in the Cotswolds with Damien Lovegrove and his picture editor Marko. Not only was this an amazing experience but it was also quite a big challenge going away on my own. Samuel and I have been together for nearly five years and for the last three of those years we have not spent a single night apart except the night before our wedding. However, Samuel and I decided that as soon as I got to the hotel we would go on Skype and spend the evening together cyber style! So as soon as I settled into my room and my room service arrived, Samuel and I sat down and had dinner together over Skype. If you're interested, I had the most delightful lamb shank with pea and potato mash and lovely thick gravy. Following this we watched the Masterchef Semi Final together tucked up in bed with our laptops.

This may sound a bit silly but I suppose over time I have grown very used to always having someone there with me when I get home from uni and it was most strange sleeping alone in bed and not waking up to someone. I realized while I was away how much I depend on my husband to look after me and keep things in order for me....he even texted me during the afternoon I was leaving to remind me to change trains and what time each train was, even though I knew all of this already!

The first day of the course was a camera skills workshop combined with a shoot with teenage models. We started off at Matara (a wedding venue); it was such a stunning place for a shoot with lots of open fields and gorgeous light. One of the main focuses of the shoot was learning how to find the best light for portraits. It's amazing what beautiful light does for a picture! The second day was a 1:1 with Marko to take me through the ins and outs of how to edit and archive my photos. I learned so much and I've included different variations of pictures which I edited so you can see different ways of processing them.

It was definitely a challenge shooting models with other people around you; the model doesn't know where to look! But I am quite pleased with how they came out and feel that I am armed with new skills for future shoots! One things for sure, I LOVE LOVE taking pictures, and when I get everything right in camera, I feel very proud.

All of the following photos were taken by me and you can click on them to enlarge, you get a much better view!!.

I also learned on my course how the profile settings of your photo file effect the way the photos look on different computers. If you don't have a universal colour profile then different browsers degrade the colour. So I have now made the colours universal. Thus I have also re-uploaded the photos in my last three posts so they should look better if you have been viewing in a non-Mac internet broswer. You can have a peek if you fancy. If there's no difference, I did try!

There were two models, this is Emily. I loved her reflection in the glass doors and the light coming from behind her was so lovely. I also learned how to make my own black and whites starting from a simple conversion and then tweaking and hand crafting to get it right so I was quite proud to do this one all on my own!

Damien opened these doors and showed us how to capture the light that was coming through them and lighting up the model's face. This is Henry and she has the most gorgeous lips!

I saw the wind catching in Henry's hair and was so glad I caught it! This is one of my favourites that I took on the day.

I love her expression in this one.

Here is a black and white I made of one of the photos above.

Giving us that fierce look!

Henry stood between these two big trees and it made for some interesting pictures!

I love her expression in this one especially through the two trees. Another favourite.

The shapes and lines of the trees was fun for pictures!

Here it is in a moody black and white!

Feel free to leave a comment and I hope you like them. I'm hoping to do another course with Damien Lovegrove soon, one that involves shooting all day long! I thought I'd keep this post about the photos so a recipe will follow in my next post!

xxx

A Model Husband

2010-04-03T11:20:00.000-07:00

One of the perks of being married is your other half is obligated to support your hobbies and in my case I take full advantage. I wouldn't say that Samuel likes posing for me but being the loving and supporting husband he is, he does so without complaining. Yesterday afternoon we went into the garden so I could practice some portrait photos. I happen to think my husband looks rather snazzy. Samuel has asked me to inform my readers that all of the poses below were directed by me and he takes no responsibility....I take it as a good sign in our relationship that I still like eyeing up my husband! Random fact: these are my Dad's sunglasses...

I don't think Samuel was intentionally channelling The Terminator here...I blame my Dad's glasses.

Samuel says he looks a bit odd here but I have to say this is one of my favourites.

Yes Samuel does happen to sit like this everyday...

So I must say a big thank you to my gorgeous husband who supports me in every way imaginable and encourages me to pursue my dreams. I couldn't ask for anything more in a partner and I feel lucky to share my life with him.

As I'm at home with my parents, here is my Mum's recipe for potato salad. We make it with light mayonnaise to maintain the waistline, but of course it would be that much better with the full fat stuff. We also cook the bacon in the oven to crisp it up, as opposed to frying it in oil.

Mum's Potato Salad

Serves 6

1kg peeled potatoes (maris piper would be a good choice) cut into big chunks

5 rashers of smoky bacon

3 big pickled cucumbers from a jar (if your using little ones I would probably triple) finely chopped

1 medium red onion or 2 small ones finely chopped

125ml or 1/4 cup of light Hellman's mayonnaise (you could use more or less according to taste)

Sea salt

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius

1. Boil your chunks of potatoes in boiling salted water until cooked but with a bit of bite- approximately 5-7 minutes, but keep an eye on them so they don't turn to mush.

2. Lay the bacon on a baking sheet and cook in the oven at 200 degrees celsius until crispy.

3. Drain the potatoes and allow to cool. Then add the chopped bacon, chopped pickles, chopped onion and mayo. Mix together and add sea salt too taste. Adjust mayo as necessary.

Enjoy! This goes well with hot or cold meat dishes or as part of a salad selection.

Feel free to leave a comment and I hope you enjoy the pictures! I am off on my photography courses next week so wish me luck!

xxx

Our Boy: A Series of Tickly Tales

2010-04-01T12:06:00.000-07:00

To say we are a family of dog lovers would be the understatement of the century. In fact if I were to sum my Dad up in any two words, it would be "dog lover". Toffee joined our family on 11th July, 2009 and he has brought us nothing but joy. Well that would be a lie; he has brought us joy and craziness and hard work and drool and many other things, but he has most definitely brought us joy and love, lots of love. This was the first photo I ever saw of him (courtesy of Nissa Bella Farm); the breeder sent it to us before we met Toffee and I just knew he was for us. I think it may have been his cone head or the fact that his ears were sunshine yellow.

These following two photos are courtesy of the breeder.

Toffee has the most beautiful face in the world. So much so that I have "squeeze to death" urges that have to be repressed every time I look at him. His nose is like that of a teddy bear or a dark chocolate button, except his is a much more unique version; it's charcoal black around the edges with a sweet little splash of pink in the middle. His coat is a delicious shade of sunshine and toffee (hence the name of course) and he has a splendid tufty patch of hair on his chest; it's a lovely cross between a beard and a lion's mane. All other photos are by me of course and you can click on them to enlarge!

Here you can see the splash of pink on his nose!

Our handsome boy has the most lovely floppy ears. When he's calm and looking for cuddles, they flop back and when he suddenly hears a sound they perk up in a most assertive manner, followed by a swift tilt of his head and a puzzled look on his face, as if to say 'huh'?

Huh?

I love his paws!

Oh and did I mention he has the longest doggie tongue known to man. It's so long you could probably use it as a leash when walking him.

Samuel grabbed this shot!

Samuel got this one too!

He has lots of flabby skin around his mouth which tends to collect his ever mounting supply of drool. Often his drool will dangle from the side of his mouth like chewing gum; as he prances around, it tends to sway about in a most amusing fashion. Random fact: Samuel has found that if you push all the loose skin forwards on his face, he resembles a shar pei.

Toffee likes to smile, especially when you give him a back rub. However, his smile tends to leave him looking somewhat hyena like, see below.

When Toffee first joined the family he had a bit of a doggie poo obsession (refrain from reading if you're squeamish). I remember one day I was inside sitting on the sofa when Toffee charges in from outside to sit next to me for a cuddle. He goes in to kiss me when all of a sudden I am repulsed by a most disgusting waft of doggie poo smell emanating from Toffee's mouth. I realized then and there what he had just been snacking on...suffice to say he got no kisses!

Samuel and Toffee are very close, this picture makes me think of a "Wish You Were Here" postcard.

Toffee once ate a dead bird, whole. We were worried he would be ill until the next day he pooped out the bird, feathers and all (yes really)...

Toffee burps ALL of the time. He drinks then burps, eats then burps, oh and burps for no reason.

He loves the beach!

My Mum is currently training Toffee with a professional trainer and I have to say, what a genius dog we have. I actually think he could be a Mensa candidate. He knows hand signals and verbal commands for sit, lay down, jump up high, paw, roll over, through your legs, jump on the box, leave, stay, and many more. Did I mention he could be a Mensa candidate?

Toffee likes to watch TV, but not just any TV, he likes the Dog Whisperer. Yes that's right. (This photo is courtesy of my Mum, thanks!)

This photo is courtesy of my Dad!

Toffee really is the light of our lives; I don't think it's possible to put into words how much we love him. But I can't mention Toffee without remembering our lovely two doggies Brandy and Patch who we lost last year. We loved them dearly.

As I always leave a recipe at the end of my posts, here is one for dogs! This is a Doggy Cake recipe courtesy of our trainer. It's also suitable for cats. In this case, please don't taste for seasoning...

Yummy Cake for Dogs and Cats

Recipe from Victoria our trainer

450g of Bacon/Tuna/Chicken (make sure there are no bones)

2 eggs

1 whole garlic clove

340g self raising flour

280ml water

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius and using a food processor or blender mix the meat, garlic, and eggs together.

2. Next mix in the flour and then mix in the water.

3. Line a baking tin with butter and grease proof paper and fill the tin with the mixture.

4. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until cooked (I doubt your dog or cat will notice if it's overcooked). Leave cake to cool.

5. Once cooled, slice the cake into cubes and use as treats for training or whenever you want to give your dog a treat.

You can freeze the cake if you have left overs!

Thanks for reading, feel free to share any comments or stories about your pets.

Spring Cleaning

2010-03-28T06:43:00.000-07:00

Here in France, spring is gloriously peering around winter's corner even though in England spring remains lurking in a dreary disguise. With the dawn of spring's arrival comes new changes and new directions for me. It has been a busy and stressful few weeks finding the courage to take this new direction towards something I love, but I'm happy to say that I'm excited and ready to embark on a new adventure. I'm throwing myself into the world of photography and fortunately I have been given a wonderful opportunity, an opportunity which has truly made me feel that life has handed me a piece of gold, a door leading to my dream. I have a long way to go but these are those first steps and perhaps life has some great things in store. Indeed I hope so. But I do believe that to a large extent you make your own luck and so in pursuit of my dreams, I am determined to work hard and give it my all, and hopefully, fingers crossed, success will be given in return.

I have come home to France to spend some time with Samuel and my family. It's a long needed break and within the 24 hours I have been here, I feel a huge weight has been lifted; a weight of stress, worry and a mountainous workload. Perhaps an escape every once in a while is what is needed to gain some clarity, clarity that things are not always as confusing and stressful as they seem and that I need not be afraid.

When Samuel and I touched down in France we were greeted by my Mum and Dad and of course our boy Toffee (I have decided to dedicate a later post to Toffee as I truly feel that a dog so unbelievably gorgeous, odd and nutty deserves a literary dedication, even if only in blog form). Within minutes of arriving at our house I just felt a warm, cozy blanket of comfort wrap around me and I was happy to be home. Later on in the day, my family and I took our boy for a walk along the sea front and thus the inspiration for my post was born. It was an afternoon enjoying the small things; walking our dog, spending time as a family, taking photos and noticing those little things, although small, still worthy of a look in, and perhaps a quick snap with my camera.

Following our lovely afternoon stroll came the most amazing home cooked dinner courtesy of my Mum. We had roast turkey (we are probably the only family who eat this after Christmas day), Mum's famous roast potatoes (recipe is in an earlier post), roasted parsnips with honey (recipe included today), roasted cauliflower and broccoli cheese, and brussel sprouts with pancetta and chestnuts. It was amazing, nothing beats a home cooked meal, so much so I ate far too fast and left myself feeling like a heffalump. However, I am a firm believer that sometimes it is simply wonderful to just enjoy a meal to the point when all you can physically do is lie on a sofa and ask your other half to rub your belly.

So here are some photos from our lovely day. You can click on all photos to enlarge them! On an exciting note (well an exciting note for me!), all of these photos were taken on my new 85mm lens. This lens makes me so happy, the colour rendition and sharpness is just lovely!

I know it sounds somewhat corny but I really encourage you to go out with a camera, any camera, and you will be amazed at how different the world looks. You will start to see things you wouldn't normally notice, colours will pop out at you, shapes will grab you, and you will look for the most beautiful and interesting angle in everything you see. I may not be a photographer yet, but I can appreciate the wonders that come along with taking photos and seeing the world through a lens.

I knew spring had arrived when I saw these in our garden, the colour is amazing.

These kids were out playing on the rocks; I love how all of them are in motion and in a straight line!

While having our stroll we noticed lots of older couples sitting together looking out at the sea. It was nice to see people taking the time to sit together and enjoy each other's company and perhaps the smaller things in life.

I hope these two still have something to say to each other!

This just made me relish in the anticipation of summer's arrival.

Samuel noticed this love heart sand castle.

Samuel may have felt like a plonker while I took this photo, but I love it. Summer in your hands!

Our beautiful boy! I have lots of photos of him for a later post but I couldn't resist this one.

The love of my life!

Probably one of my favourites from the afternoon.

I felt a bit sad that this man was sitting all alone. I'm one of those people who will become overwhelmed with sadness when I see an old man or woman alone somewhere, without a partner. I always hope there is someone at home waiting for them...

I liked the shapes on this wall.

I wonder what he was sketching? I like to take pictures of people while they are unawares.

So I encourage you all to have some time with your family and enjoy those days when you have time to notice those little things which become lost in the midst of our hectic lives, and of course, preferably with a camera!

Here is the recipe for the honey roasted parsnips I mentioned earlier. I am a firm believer that vegetables are boring and will remain boring unless you know how to bring them to life with your culinary charm. Vegetables are a bit rough around the edges and need your love and care; in turn your taste buds will be overwhelmed with surprise and you will love them! Roasting vegetables is always much better than boiling. As parsnips are naturally sweet, adding honey or even maple syrup really brings out that sweetness and it works so well. This recipe would also work with carrots or half carrots, half parsnips. You could throw in some sprigs of thyme if you fancied.

Honey Roast Parsnips

Serves 4-6

1kg of parsnips or carrots or both

2 tbsp honey or maple syrup

1-2 tbsp olive oil

Sea salt an black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 200 celsius

2. Peel your parsnips and chop off the rooty tops and ends

3. If your parsnips are small, slice them in half. If somewhat bigger slice in half then half again. You want thickish fingers or chunky strips of parsnip!

4. Parboil in salted boiling water for about 3 minutes so they have lost some hardness but are still firm.

5. Place them in your roasting tray and pour over the olive oil and honey or maple syrup and season with sea salt and pepper. Then place in the oven.

6. Roast for 20 minutes or until golden and browned. Turn them every so often. Just keep cooking until they look yummy! Towards the end you could turn the oven up to 220 if you want to colour them faster.

Enjoy!

Thanks for reading and wish me luck on my new adventures. I promise to keep you posted! Feel free to leave a comment, I love comments!

xxx

Snapshots of Darband

2010-03-17T16:55:00.000-07:00

I was pondering about my friends the other day and I realised that despite being English and living in England, only a few of my close friends are actually English. Now this is not to say that I dislike the English in any way, but rather it appears that my earlier lifestyle as a fully fledged globe trotter seems to be reflected in my multicultural group of friends. Perhaps my peculiar, somewhat Americanized English accent repels them, indeed I hope not. However, I am really grateful for my multicultural group of friends; it means I am constantly learning about other cultures and this never ceases to interest me. The other week I experienced a Chinese New Year festival and this week my Iranian friend Asieh took me to an Iranian cultural event called Darband. Asieh and I met about 15 years ago when I moved to Malaysia and our families have stayed in touch ever since. It was great to see her again and I am very happy that so many friends from my past still have a place in my life today. I really believe that the friendships you make over the years and the people with whom you develop close relationships, become a big component of who you are and how you see the world.

This event was a mixture of live music and the arts and it was a great opportunity for me to get rather camera happy! The lighting and atmosphere was crazy; multicoloured, flashing lights, red walls, you name it, it was there. It was a great challenge and I hope you like the photos. Before I get to them I thought I would tell you a bit about this event and what it represents. Thank you to Asieh for providing the info! Also thanks to Asieh for letting me sneak in a few photos of her, she looks stunning. You can see these towards the end of the post.

The event was taking place on Chaharrshanbe Suri; this is celebrated on the last Tuesday night of the Persian year. The Persian year starts on the first day of spring (21st March). This celebration dates back to 1700 BC and is a Zorastrian tradition. The name of the event is composed of two words; "Chaharrshanbe"meaning Wednesday and "Suri" meaning crimson. Crimson because for this occasion, people make fires (fire symbolizes light) and jump over them while saying "take my yellow (pallor, sickness) away and give me your crimson, which symbolizes health, life, and joy. This feast of fire is a prologue to spring and therefore, Nowruz (the Persian New Year). Asieh explained to me that Darband was simply a fun way to gather together Iranians in London to celebrate this occasion and we were really happy to go along with her. This is the first event I have covered and Asieh is kindly using some of my images in a report she is writing! I thought I would keep this as a somewhat shorter post as there are so many photos included.

You can click on the photos to enlarge them.

This is Radio Tehran, they were a huge hit on the night!

I loved this cellist; she was really great and had some wonderful expressions! I think I got carried away!

Check out the crazy red lighting!

You can see what a huge hit Radio Tehran were!

I love looking around at people and capturing their expressions. The atmosphere here was great.

The bassist in the band. I love the way the camera man looks hidden in the light.

A bit of still life!

I couldn't resist another one, she's so photogenic.

After Radio Tehran finished there were other live events. This guy was really into it!

I will end with this photo of Asieh, I love it! We took it on a London Underground platform, waiting for our train home.

I hope you enjoyed the photos, feel free to leave a comment. I am rushing to get this post up for my good friend Asieh so she can choose photos to include in her report, so I won't include my usual recipe. I promise there will be one with my next post!
xx

Baby Steps

2010-03-11T08:25:00.000-08:00

I thought it was about time I filled you in on what has been going on since my last post. If I'm honest I have been having quite a hard week; I have a lot of work on, deadlines looming and I'm feeling rather deflated. Sometimes life just sucks the air out of you and you just drearily flop your way from one week day to the next. Yesterday was quite a low point. You see I found myself getting excited about a falafel sandwich from Pret a Manger. Quite frankly I could have made a better sandwich myself and I'm not even that big a fan of brown bread nor am I vegetarian, but for some reason the chickpea and falafel filling got me somewhat excited, so much so I took a picture for you all. Before you say it, yes I do realize that my days are starved of excitement at the moment but please do not pity me, I have a plan of action. Upon looking at this picture, I noticed a random, lonely basil leaf clinging for dear life, to the edge of the bread; perhaps this was an arty food metaphor for my feelings that day. Oh dear. (you can enlarge the image if you wish to take a closer peak at said basil leaf).

Anyway, what excites me most about this picture now is just how much I love my 50mm lens. It's my little photo friend; light, reliable and it gives me sharp images with great smushy backgrounds. It's going to be most jealous when my new 85mm lens joins our family in a few weeks. This brings me on to some exciting news in my photography adventure!

I assisted at my first wedding on Sunday! I, of course was not second shooting, as I am nowhere near ready, but it was a great learning experience. I was assisting for a photographer who unfortunately (for me) has an assistant already but needed a back up/stand in for this particular wedding, so of course I happily obliged! This was just a one off opportunity so I'm not sure when I will find more assisting opportunities (soon I hope!). However, I must say I am being a bit choosy as I really want to assist a photographer whose work I admire and inspires me.

One of the most important things I got out of this experience was a reaffirmation that this is what I want to do, that I love it with a true passion and will put my heart and soul into it. You see, there is something so special about a wedding day and everything it represents; two people in love who are committing to each other, the joining of two families, the pride of a mother and a father, the next chapter in two people's lives, the start of a bright future; of new families. It's a lovely and emotional feeling that sets the tone and atmosphere of the day and without sounding like a mature and cheesy cheddar, I really loved being a part of that. It was really special being at the brides' home while she got ready with her family; seeing her full of anticipation and excitement about what was to come. I'm sure as a photographer, it's a great pleasure to be invited to share those intimate moments, and if it's something that I am lucky enough to do one day, then I will never take it for granted.

Following the preparations we headed to the venue for the ceremony. I have to admit I did cry a bit during the ceremony; not only because it was lovely, but it also brought back memories of our wedding day and the rollercoaster of emotions that went with it. What I love most about weddings, is that unparalleled feeling of happiness and love from everyone that is there. There aren't many occasions in life when everything is so positive, uplifting and simply a celebration of two people and their families. It's most definitely a warm and fuzzy atmosphere and I love that. More than anything, I would love to one day be able to document these special moments with my camera and pass them onto others who will hopefully cherish them for a long time. I guess I'm in love with love!

On a photographic side I realised how fast paced and down right exhausting shooting a wedding is. There is so much pressure on a photographer at a wedding; they have to get all those key shots in limited amounts of time, and they must do so amidst an obstacle course of staff, guests and changing venues. But all that excitement excited me and I loved the fast paced feeling of it all. I can't wait for the time when I am ready to tackle a wedding; for me it has become a sort of personal Mount Everest to climb and I have a lot of training to do before I'm ready, but I am so very determined. With that determination comes obscene impatience. I am having to learn to take baby steps, not to rush my progress and my learning, not to expect to be great straight away, and to take my time (I will have you know, I say this with gritted teeth). It can be quite frustrating trying to find opportunities to assist at weddings and practice at shoots, so hopefully along with my hard work will come a dose of luck and good fortune. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

In keeping with my photographic excitement, here is my new Kelly Moore camera bag. Well actually it's a shooting bag with compartments for your lenses and camera body and it makes me most happy to have a bag which I can carry all my lenses in.

I have a lot of blog posts planned for the coming weeks with lots of photos along the way, so stay tuned!

I thought I would end with a recipe for a great way to roast chicken. Obviously I am not the inventor of roast chicken but I do find this to be quite a reliable way of roasting it and it's loosely based on a recipe for roast turkey by Jamie Oliver. I am partial to the dark meat and work to keep it nice and juicy. If there is one rule I live by: there is nothing worse than an overcooked, juiceless chicken. It's a most sorry and unappetizing sight. I have varied this recipe with different stuffings etc, but I thought for the first version I would keep it simple. If you are feeling at all animal friendly and aware, please opt for free range. Not only does it mean the chickens were much happier before they copped it, but it also means the meat will have much more flavour. Better yet, try organic; we weren't meant to eat antibiotics with our food (I am starting to sound like Jamie Oliver here). I have to admit, I don't always practice what I'm preaching!

Roast Chicken Fuller Style
Serves 3-4
1x1.7kg free range whole chicken
2 big knobs of butter softened
Handful of hearty herbs such as rosemary and/or thyme finely chopped
1 lemon
Generous handful of dried cranberries and apricots (or even one or the other, just chop the apricots)
Handful of whole garlic cloves unpeeled
Sea salt-seasoning is key!
Pepper
Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius
1. Pat the chicken dry with kitchen towel (this will help the skin crisp up)
2. Add your cranberries, apricots and finely chopped herbs to the softened butter and add a good pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper (this will help the flavour of the meat)
3. Very gently put your hand under the skin and rub the butter over the meat. You can rub whatever is left over the thighs, leg and skin. Be careful not to rip the skin as it will peel back while the chicken is cooking-a back of a plastic spatula may help to loosen the skin
4. Cut a lemon in half and add this to the cavity of the chicken along with the unpeeled garlic cloves and even a few whole sprigs of thyme or rosemary
5. Drizzle olive oil onto the skin to help colouring and sprinkle with a good seasoning of salt and pepper
5. Season the inside of the cavity really well with salt and pepper
6. Cook for 1hr and then check the meat. I find chickens don't need as long as you think (this size will probably take 1 hr 5min or so). Check by poking the thickest part of the bird (generally between the thigh and body) and see if the juices run clear (holding a spoon under the juices helps you to see them). If very pink, put back in the oven for another 5 or so minutes, if only slightly pink remove.
7. Cover the chicken loosely with tin foil and let it rest for around 10-15 minutes. This is SO important in keeping it juicy and allow it to finish cooking.

Enjoy!

Feel free to leave a comment and I hope you have a lovely weekend!
xxx

The Little Things

2010-03-03T14:01:00.000-08:00

The other night Samuel and I went to our favourite restaurant Hakkasan and because we are such massive food obsessives we decided to go all out and order two starters, three mains, one stir fry veggie dish, one fried rice and one steamed rice (later followed by dessert). We should have realised that this was pure gluttony and stopped ourselves, but we were floating in food heaven and it was simply impossible to resist. As I gave my order to the waitress, I noticed her eyebrows moving higher and higher before she exclaimed, "this is too much!". I assured her, "don't worry we'll eat it". And we did.

Samuel and I were in deep conversation when the waitress walked over and started pushing another table up against ours so we were now sitting at a table for four. It suddenly clicked that this was to accommodate the sheer volume of food we had ordered; basically it was a subtle way of saying we were eating for four people, not two...how rude. Samuel and I just turned to each other and giggled about what massive pigs we are and for a moment I just remembered how much I have truly met my match in Samuel; he loves food with the same immeasurable passion as I do, he finds it endearing that I eat like someone who has just come off hunger strike, and he's the only person who can eat me under the table, or in this case tables....all those little things that mean so much.

I have learned not to take for granted those little things; how Samuel has a drink waiting for me when I get home, how he surprises me with my favourite white chocolate buttons, how he pulls off my boots after a long day, how he declares how good my bum looks in my oversized PJ's adorned with little white dogs, how he never leaves the house without kissing me goodbye, how he texts me to say be careful if the road is slippy, how he fries the perfect eggs for me, how he lets out bellowing laughs when I break wind, how he will wait patiently in a never ending line at the post office just so I don't have to, how he makes sure to wash all his fruit at work for the simple reason that he knows I worry about him eating dirty fruit, how he always puts me before himself, always and without exception.

Now more than ever I know how much these gestures matter; those little things you do for the one you love without thinking, without questioning. Those gestures that are a natural extension of your love for the other person, done with the simple intent to love and care for them. In my eyes, they are a window into Samuel's feelings for me and because they are unplanned, natural and completely effortless, they are that much more meaningful than any grand gesture I could ever receive. I admit I can often lose sight of how special these gestures are, how lucky I am, and so I am promising myself that I will never take them for granted, or forget to show Samuel how much I appreciate him. I think everyone we love deserves this much, especially as often they are loving you when you are at your most unlovable (PMS comes to mind).

As Samuel is my half full when I see the world as half empty and my everything in every way, I couldn't not post a photo of him. I took this a few weeks ago and I'm not sure why, but I just love it. It captures how I see him and it's a typical Samuel look. (you can click on it to enlarge).

Speaking of little gestures: in all the years we have been together Samuel has never cooked a meal for me. Although, you can't really blame him; I'm a control freak beyond all comprehensible proportions when it comes to cooking and quite frankly this probably scared him! Also, we cook together every night so I suppose it never really seemed that novel. However, a few weeks ago Samuel decided to cook me a two course meal from scratch and I didn't so much as lay a finger. I, of course, had to catch him in action while he prepared our mega feast with love and care. It was also good practice photographing in crappy light.

Here is Samuel getting his chop on big time. He looks very enthused (he is shirtless because I tend to make this flat a 24 hour sauna).

Check out the seriousness with which he is reading the recipe. I love it!

Crisping up the bacon!

The lovely venison he cooked.

We started with red pepper and basil soup.

The main: Jamie Oliver's marinated venison with creamed broad beans and crispy bacon. It actually tastes a lot better than it sounds...I think it looks pretty darned good, hats off to my husband.

I offered to cook dessert as I had been wanting to try out this chocolate cake recipe from the author of one of my favourite food blogs, Orangette . This recipe sounded simply amazing and it did not disappoint. I have included a description and the recipe at the end of this post. We were so eager to eat that I only remembered to take a picture after it was half eaten! Check out the oozy shmoozy middle.

The last bite is so worth savouring....

The meal was truly scrumptious in every way. I should have offered to clean up in return but I didn't...

So I will end with the recipe for this amazing chocolate cake. Molly Wizenberg is an amazing writer and has some incredible recipes. Her blog, Orangette and book "A Homemade Life", are both worth reading, I love them! This cake has barely any flour in it and therefore, is so dense and delicious. It's almost like a brownie cake; the crust is crackly and chewy and the middle is soft, velvety and truffle like. You need to use good dark chocolate and definitely be careful not over cook it. All the instructions and advice to prevent overcooking are in her recipe and the link is here http://orangette.blogspot.com/2004/08/and-then-cake-came-forth.html

Enjoy! Feel free to leave a comment below.
xx

Wowee, We're in Cosmo Bride!

2010-03-01T08:21:00.000-08:00

If you haven't realised, I am very over excited about this fact and needed to let it out on my blog. Before you ask, yes I have cleared the shelves of WH Smiths, oh and the little corner news agent next to my tube stop. However, I cannot take all the blame; Samuel went into said little news agent on two separate occasions during the same day, and according to Samuel, the vendor gave him a very funny look (I suppose this is to expected when a man buys two copies of a women's bridal magazine). To save embarrassment Samuel declared to the vendor, "I'm in it!". To which the vendor replied, "are you modeling?". This made Samuel very excited, and not only did I have to hear all about it, but I also had to road test some of his model poses (the word turn off comes to mind)...I informed Samuel that news agent vendors were not the most discerning model scouts unfortunately.

Since obtaining the very first copy, I have been ordered by my father to secure at least 6 unopened copies. Consequently, plans have been set in place to store these 6 unopened copies in fire proof boxes ready for our grandchildren (not really!). Speaking of my father; when I rang him to share our Cosmo news, his first question was "Is there a picture of me in it?". "Uh no, why would there be?" was my response. Perhaps he thought he should win the Father of the Bride style awards.

Onto the magazine! Here are some photos I took of my copy, hope you can read it. If you click on the pictures they will enlarge, and once enlarged you can click on some of them again to make them even bigger.

If you fancy indulging in more of our wedding photos (as if you haven't you already) then here is a link to a slideshow of a selection of photos our photographer Anna Rosell put together http://www.annarosell.com/#/w-featured-destination/

A big thanks to Anna for getting us featured and for the lovely words she wrote on her blog! If you want to see her blog feature of the magazine spread (looks a lot better than mine!) head over to her blog http://www.annarosell.com/blog/

In case you can't resist stealing my style....I don't think so!

Okay so instead of a recipe today I thought it might be fun to share some easy cooking tips I have picked up along the way. They may seem a bit obvious but these kind of tips really helped me when I was learning. So I'll start with meat and we'll see how we get on.

Cooking Tips for the Homey and Domestic Type Part 1: Meat

When browning meat of any kind; if you want to get great colour, do it in batches and never crowd the pan. If you put too much in at once, the pan loses heat and the meat will never colour properly.
Before roasting any meat, dab it dry with paper towels/kitchen roll or the skin will not crisp or colour.
Before roasting bring all meat to room temperature first or your cooking times will be off.
To get the juiciest roast chickens, never over cook. Easier said than done! I find for 1.7 Kg chicken 1hr 10 min is perfect. Check the chicken around this time by poking it in the thickest part (between the leg and body) to see if the juices run clear. If they are slightly pink, don't despair. Still take it out (as long as it's not really bloody), cover loosely with foil and let it rest for around 15 minutes. This should finish it off so it's perfect. This brings me to my next point...
Always, always let your meat rest. It is SOOO important. Whether you have fried a steak or roasted a leg of lamb, leave to rest for around 15 minutes or more. When you take meat straight off the heat, all the juices are near the surface and if you cut straight away they will just ooze out leaving it dry. Resting allows the juices to run back into the meat keeping it moist (I hate that word).
When carving poultry such as chicken, turkey or duck it makes life so much easier to first pull of the thighs and legs and set aside. Then cut along the side of the back bone on either side (down the middle of the bird) to remove each breast (do one at a time). Following this, slice across the breast into even strips. Rip up the leg and thigh meat and don't forget the wings. You will find this so much easier than trying to carve slices off the the actual bird.

I am going to stop now as this is starting to sound like something out of a horror film...please still cook meat.

Feel free to leave a comment and have a lovely week!

Cultural Expedition

2010-02-25T15:34:00.000-08:00

For those of you who may not know, I grew up in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and we lived there for 9 years, 9 amazing years. Of all the places I have lived, this is my favourite. It will always have a big piece of my heart and it draws my family back almost every year. There is something so magnetic about the culture, the food, the shopping, the people, everything really. This really deserves a whole blog post of its own as a big part of who I am is a result of the life I led there and the experiences I had.

While living in KL it became a way of life to experience different cultures and their traditions. We would always have school holidays for Hari Raya and Chinese New Year for example. These traditions were so normal for me growing up, that I took them for granted and I realized last week that I don't know that much about them. You see I was invited by my Singaporean friend Tong, to a Chinese New Year carnival that she had helped to organize with the Singaporean society. When Samuel and I arrived there, I realized how little I knew about this amazing and interesting celebration.

This was also a great time for me to practice a different style of photography as I really have only done portraits up until now and even then only a few. I realized how hard it is to take pictures in a crowded place where everyone and their mother is out to ruin your shot! But I loved it, and hopefully the pictures are okay! I also had to deal with really bad lighting and consequently very high ISOs at some points but I'm learning and these challenges help me.

I decided that instead of me trying to explain all of the ins and outs of the Chinese New Year celebrations, it would be more interesting, and more importantly, accurate, if Tong did the honours. So she has kindly done a Question and Answer with me to give us more of an insight. I believe it is so important to understand and embrace other cultures and never take for granted what we can learn from other people.

Q: Can you give us an overview of what Chinese New Year is and what it means to people?

Chinese New Year is the traditional festival where we celebrate the coming of the new year on the lunar calendar. It lasts for 15 days. For traditional Chinese families, we have reunion dinner with the family (immediate or extended) on New Year's Eve with a huge feast. From Day 1 onwards, we will go visiting with mandarin oranges that signify prosperity (because in mandarin, mandarin oranges have similar pronunciation as prosperity). The youngsters will wish the elders good health and luck, while the elders will wish the youngsters good results in school and healthy growing and such. Then they will give us red packets (traditionally known as angpaos) which contain money. You are entitled to receive red packets as long as you are single and not married! Once you get married, it's your turn to distribute them! On Day 15 which is the last day, we will eat glutinous rice balls (traditionally known as tangyuan) which signifies reunion and harmony in the family for the year.

Q: Why is each year represented by an animal?

The Chinese zodiac has 12 animals. It runs in a cycle and the animals are in the order Rat, Cow, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Chicken, Dog, Pig. It originated from some folklore that the animals had a race to determine the order of the animals.

Q: Tell us about Yu Sheng and what is the significance and tradition behind it? Also, what food is used to make it?
Traditionally, it is to be eaten on the 7th day of Chinese New Year, but it has evolved over the years so we eat it anytime when we gather within the 15 days. It is made from fish (the most important ingredient, because in Chinese saying, it signifies the accumulation of excess valuable things that we bring over to the new year), carrots, radish, chilli, flour crackers, sweet sauce, five spice powder, lime juice etc. It is extremely colourful and whenever we add in an ingredient into the big plate we have to say something auspicious that is related to its look or taste or pronunciation (e.g. when adding sweet sauce we will wish for sweet marriages etc.). And after we add everything, we will all hold our chopsticks and mix everything together as high as possible to signify rising assets/promotions/improvements, and also we have to say all the auspicious phrases every time we raise our chopsticks. It can get quite messy, but it's really fun and noisy.

Q: What's it like moving from Singaporean culture to English culture? What do you find so different about the people and ways of life?
English culture is very different for me because I come from a traditional family that is very much influenced by the Chinese culture. When I first came over the most difficult thing for me to get used to was the accents of the people, as well as for me to adapt to the accent in order to be understood. It's quite interesting that we are speaking the same language but it's so hard for us to understand each other. Also people here are very open-minded to sharing, especially with like love, political and sexual issues. But in Singapore there's not so much freedom of speech so I was a bit overwhelmed at first. But I've gotten used to it now so as much as I miss home and my family I do enjoy myself here!

Thanks Tong!

We were welcomed with a handful of oranges taken from this glorious pile!

There was lots of different types of food on offer; this stand sold Gyozas which are steamed dumplings and can often have a variety of fillings. They were cooked in this steamer and the served with soya sauce. Yum!

This young lady was a machine with her chopsticks!

There were also some crazy martial arts acts. It was really difficult for me to get my shutter speed fast enough to freeze the action as the light was so bad. Oh well I gave it a shot!

This guy had a look of death in his eyes! Check out some of the lovely decorations.

I noticed this poster stuck to the floor; it doesn't really have anything to do with Chinese New Year and was put there by the University but I thought it most fitting for this post and for life in general really.

Back to food as you know how much I love it! This stall was serving eggs boiled in tea or "Tea Leaf Eggs". I didn't get to try one but they look most interesting.

I think this photo captured the vibe of the afternoon; everyone was enjoying themselves and the food!

This little girl was so cute! Although from the look on her face I gather she thought I was nuts, which of course I am.

Oh I love food!

Towards the end of the afternoon everyone commenced the Yu Sheng (see Tong's explanation above). This was really crazy to watch; not only did the line of food go on forever but the sheer speed of the chopsticks was enough to make your eyes go funny...so much so my lens could barely find a focus point! This first picture is of Tong setting up.

Lastly here is Tong and me with our nifty chopsticks right before Yu Sheng started!

I also wanted to shout from the rooftops that our wedding is in the current issue of Cosmopolitan Bride magazine and includes lots of pics and an interview with yours truly. I will hopefully blog some photos if I can confirm that it's not a violation of copyright. If you can't contain your excitement nor or unable to wait for me to post, head to a news agent (that's if you're UK based of course!).

Fried Rice

I will end with a recipe for a Chinese dish; Chinese food is one of my absolute favourites and I grew up eating some of the best Chinese food around. I plan on doing lots of Asian recipes as I believe it's the best food in the world so I thought I would start off with a really easy recipe for Fried Rice from Kylie Kwong. It's really simple and good way to get started with Chinese cooking. Preferably you would cook this in a wok, however, if you don't have one a big frying pan will do. Always let the pan get extremely hot before cooking. Another handy tip with wok style cooking is to get ALL your ingredients chopped and ready and the sauces into bowls. Why? Well Chinese cooking takes very little time and you won't have enough time to chop and cook at the same time. It makes life much easier, try it!

This recipe calls for a lot of oil...I find it unnecessary and I never use it all. If you use a non-stick pan you definitely don't need to. So for the first step of the recipe try a tablespoon and then another tablespoon when you add the next batch. As I haven't adapted this recipe, I have included the link.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/deliciousfriedrice_72056.shtml

Have a lovely weekend everyone, feel free to comment below.

Worth a Thousand Words

2010-02-20T04:26:00.000-08:00

I came across this amazing true story the other day; it made me cry, it made me laugh, it made me feel as if I was there in the story, in every picture. This beautiful story is by Phillip Toledano and it's called "Days with My Father". It's a photo journal he started shortly after his mother passed away, and its the story of the last days he spent with his father, who at the time was in his 90s. This heart wrenching account is told with moving photos and beautifully written captions. The captions really help you to appreciate the photo and the story being told that much more, as well as the heartfelt relationship the author/photographer shared with his father (Link further down).

I suppose the reason this photo journal resonated with me so much is largely because one of my greatest fears is losing my parents. It may sound silly but I feel afraid of it everyday; you see, I'm somewhat morbidly inclined (I inherited it from my paternal grandparents). I try not to think about it, but often I do, I well up even as I write this. That's why it's so important for me to appreciate the years we have together, to tell my parents I love them everyday, even if it's only in an email, to spend time with them whenever we can; so much so, that when Samuel and I finally start a family, my parents are planning to get a house next door (not a joke!) and for me I think that is the way it should be.

It also reminded me of the power of the still image, of why I love photography so much, of what a single image can mean to the person it belongs to. For me one of the markers of a great photo is does it move you in some way? Do you have an emotional response to it? It doesn't necessarily have to be a technically correct photograph or perfectly composed, but if you react to it, even if it's just a simple thought of "oh that's really beautiful"then I feel the image is doing it's job, or rather the photographer.

Have a look at this story; if this can't help ignite some passion for the power of the still image then I guess we will have to agree to disagree!
* It's not very long and if you hover towards the bottom of each photo you can click to the next one. Many of them have captions, the prose is lovely.

Please do click on this link below and have a look, it's so worthy of a read.

http://www.dayswithmyfather.com/

When I read this it reminded me of some of my favourite photos from our wedding day and what they mean to me, of how these special photos have captured some of the most special moments in my life. (All photos by Anna Rosell)

This photo is of a really special moment between my Father and me just before the ceremony started. We were both extremely nervous, or as my father would say "crapping myself" about walking down the aisle in front of everyone. I remember we were terrified our walk would be ridiculous or that my Dad would step on my dress and rip it, or worse, I would fall over. So we decided to practice for a little while. I love the way we are both so focused on that moment and I love the way I'm holding his arm. It was a moment that so easily could have been missed, easily forgotten, but I love that I have this reminder and one day will be able to show our kids.

I love this next one; it was during my father's speech and in this moment he was talking about my Mum and what a wonderful wife and mother she is, and she truly is. I just love the way she is looking up at him; she looks the happiest I have seen her. I mean just look at the emotion in her eyes! This is one of my favourite photos from the day.

This next one is of me during my father's speech. He wrote this beautiful poem for Samuel and me and I hadn't heard it prior to the wedding day. I had no idea this was being taken and it really captured how I felt in that moment. Even though you initially can't tell from the image what part of the speech it was, I just knew when I saw it, that it was taken during the poem.

This last one captured me with the hugest smile and I love the way my Dad and I are looking at each other, with Samuel looking on in the background, while he danced with my Mum. We were all so happy and proud on that day and this photo really shows that.

I thought I would finish with a picture of my parents together, simply because I love them and they look pretty damn good...not just for their age, but for any age!

I hope you enjoyed the photo journal and these photos. If you have any comments, feel free to leave them by clicking on the comments link at the bottom.

Carrot Cake

To finish here is an amazing recipe for Carrot Cake. It's by Jamie Oliver and I have provided the link as I have not changed the recipe at all; it's so perfect it doesn't need changing!

Jamie Oliver's Carrot Cake

What I will say is that you must, must not over cook it! I always check it around 10 minutes before the recipe's cooking time is up, just to be on the safe side. If it's nowhere nearly done, give it another 5 and check again. If it's nearly there, check every 2 minutes. An easy way to check is to put a cake tester in and see if it comes out clean; there should be no sloppy goo on it. If you don't have one, I suppose you could use a fork. Also, bear in mind it will carry on cooking while it sits in the tin. If you prefer, you could always make this with a traditional cream cheese frosting instead. This recipe calls for 100g shelled walnuts, I decided to use 50g walnuts and 50g pecans and it was lusciously good!

Enjoy!

Have a lovely weekend!
xx

Is My Hair White Enough?: An Ode to Drab

2010-02-15T14:59:00.000-08:00

Before I start this post can I just share with you that my blog upload quality issue is sorted! Yes that's right, my pictures look better on the blog (well I hope you think they do!). So if you would like, have a look at the photos of Birte that I reuploaded to the post "A Little Help From My Friends". You can also click on the pictures now to make them bigger (I did forewarn you all that I take blogging far too seriously).

Now onto the more serious stuff. Nicki. The anomaly of the universe.

Nicki and I met about 9 years ago and haven't been able to get rid of each other since. Despite serious attempts to repel each other on all levels, some of which included Nicki punching a school locker, we have some how made it through and are still friends, great friends. When Nicki and I first met, she apparently thought I was boring, and that we had nothing in common other than the fact that we had once, many moons before, stayed in the same hotel in Phuket (obviously our initial conversations lacked decent content). Luckily for me, she has since reassured me that I am not boring only extremely annoying. Despite our initial hurdle, Nicki welcomed, me, the new girl at school, with open arms, and we bonded instantly. Before long we spent every weekend together as well as many hours talking on the phone late at night. From the tender age of 15 she has remained one of my best friends.

To the outsider, and well, to the insider too, Nicki and I are chalk and cheese. I wear an apron with a dog face on it and love my garlic crusher, Nicki wears studded belts, ripped jeans, and men's ties. I pride myself on my long, dark hair and Nicki has sported an army buzz cut, experimented with neon white hair colours, and once shaved her eyebrow because they were doing it on Big Brother. I look for stability and domesticity and Nicki yearns for chaos and possibly a life as a polygamist. She likes arty, foreign films, generally with far too much nakedness, and I like romantic comedies with Jennifer Aniston.

I remember the day she came into school with a beanie hat on and a bald patch straight through her eyebrow. She whispered to me, "come into the bathroom, I need you to see my hair". As we entered the ladies and she removed her beanie, I realized that she actually meant "I need you to see my non hair". She had decided to experiment with a very exciting hair cut that delicately combined a buzz cut with a "I will just hack chunks from my hair" kind of style. Later came, the dog poo brown hair colour; after inquiring as to whether she had fallen, head first, into a pile of cow muck, I encouraged her to find the most powerful bleach available to rectify the dire situation before she started attracting a large herd of animals. Luckily she has now found a style that works for her. But I have to say that every year of our friendship and milestone we have reached has been marked by a bizarre hairstyle that Nicki has endured.

Although we may be chalk and cheese, we seem to get on so well. It's a mystery to the world, especially the Soho crowd....when we go out together I'm sure we look like the oddest friendship match ever to walk the Earth. But it just seems to work, we laugh extremely hard together and discuss our toilet habits as if we're discussing current events. I love her very much and can't really remember a time when we weren't friends. Nicki is an extremely talented girl and she has opened my eyes to lots of things I may never have experienced. And as I'm a bit of an odd ball myself, it seems only natural I would attract a nut case!

Despite the crazy hairstyles Nicki is a stunning girl, with amazing bone structure and beautiful lips; I think this really comes across in the pictures. As Nicki and I are true opposites, I realized when photographing her that I would have to adapt my style. I generally prefer a natural, soft look, but Nicki contrasts with green grass, amber leaves and strolling labradors (maybe it's her hair). Her aesthetic warranted something edgier, funkier and so I realized that you have to adapt your environment and be more spontaneous. So after starting in the park, we headed to the canal near Angel, Islington. While walking along the canal we found this crazy wall and did some fun shots in front of it.

Anyway here are some of the photos. I have decided to post a few more than usual.

I think Nicki looks gorgeous here!

I'm not sure what Nicki is looking at in the photo below but I love how she looks next to the big tree.

I found this in one of the boats along the canal; I thought it was a pretty good way to get a garden theme going on a house boat!

Here is the funky wall; Nicki's jumper coincidentally worked quite well with the graffiti!

How cool does she look! Hot!

Thanks Nicki for being a great friend and model. I truly love taking photos of people; it's a great feeling, capturing someone through the lens. Here is a picture Samuel took of the two of us: chalk and cheese!

To finish here is a healthy recipe for root vegetable mash. It's inspired by Rachel Allen, but anyone can make it their own. It's a lot healthier than regular buttery mashed potato as you only need a small amount of butter and good seasoning to make it taste good. These are the veggies that I use, but feel free to substitute different ones. Swede, turnip, regular potatoes, and pumpkin/butternut squash would work well too. There is some butter in this recipe, but you need it for flavour and when split four ways, it's not so bad!

Root Vegetable Mash

Serves 4

3 big sweet potatoes

5 big carrots

4 big parsnips

15-20g unsalted butter

sea salt, black pepper

1. Peel all your veggies and chop them into even sized medium chunks

2. Bring a biggish saucepan of water up to the boil and add a good amount of salt (I use table salt here not sea salt)

3. Put your carrots in first and after 5 minutes add the rest

4. Boil for 15 minutes

5. Once softened enough to mash, drain thoroughly (no one wants watery mash!)

6. Mash with the butter and a good pinch of sea salt (go easy if table) and ground black pepper.

This is great as an accompaniment to a roast dinner or with stews/casseroles.

Have a lovely week everybody. Feel free to comment!

xxx

Stop Being Afraid

2010-02-10T10:44:00.001-08:00

Do you remember being frequently asked as a child what you want to be when you grow up? I remember contemplating this question throughout the course of my childhood and even to this day I still ask myself this question, although now it goes something like this; "what do I want to be" or "If I could have any job in the world what it would be?" I have this notebook from pre-school where we had to write what we wanted to be when we were grown up; I wrote, and I am word for word quoting here, "I want to be a butcher because I like sausages". Although I do get overexcited when a deli counter full of meaty delights is before me, I feel that my ambitious streak came later....not that there is anything wrong with being a butcher, but nobody likes sausages THAT much (except for my husband).

As a child you feel that the whole world is at your feet, that whatever you want you can have, through every door there is an opportunity; you can be a brain surgeon or football star, or the next Britney Spears. Nothing seems unattainable, all you have to do is go for it. I wonder when so many of us decide to settle, settle for a second rate dream? I feel that so many of us believe that our dreams are just mere fantasies of an "ordinary" and "normal" person that can never really be achieved, and unfortunately, as a result, so few of us really chase those elusive dreams. The dreams that excite you, drive you to fulfill your passions. Why is this? I think it's because we're afraid. I know I am afraid.

I keep telling myself that I need to stop being afraid, afraid to chase my dreams, my aspirations, my ambitions. I have made no secret of the fact that I am in love with photography and everything about it. I realise now that it wasn't until I discovered this fantastic medium, that I found a true passion for something; that very something which made me go "yes! this is what I want to do!". Before now, I never felt I had found something that grabbed me, that challenged me in a way I wanted to be challenged, that I enjoyed so much; I had always haphazardly searched for a profession or even just a subject, to reach out and grab me; to consume my interests and help me realise my potential.

It has taken me almost two university degrees and five years in undergraduate education to discover a true love for something. Why oh why did I not find this wonderful thing at 18 and consequently, have spent the last six years honing my photography skills and thus saving myself from hundreds upon hundreds of hours slumped in lecture chairs, sore eyes from incessant essay typing, and a heavy head from reading far too much textbook spiel. Despite all of this, I feel that "something" is holding me back and I think that "something" is a fear of failure. I'm scared I won't be any good, that I won't have a natural talent, that I won't make a living. But I'm also afraid to not TRY, to not give it a go. So I want to shout from the rooftops and say that I am determined to overcome my fear, to seize the moment and go for what I love. After all, I don't want a life of regrets and I'm sure nobody does, life is too short after all. Sometimes I feel that this is a crazy dream but I'm in love and if I turn my back, I will crush my heart. So here it goes. I promise to tell you what I'm doing, show you my pictures (even if they're downright awful) and take you with me.

What I find so daunting is the never ending amount of knowledge I need to absorb and the amazing photographers who are out there. How will I ever even come close? But what I have to believe is that I may not be that good now but I WILL try and I hopefully WILL be. I will invest in my training, I will practice and I will accomplish what I set out to do.

In keeping with my decision to overcome my fears I thought I would tell you about the first photography fear I overcame....my Nikon 70-200 (a generous hand me down from my Dad). This is the BIG BOY of lenses: it weighs nearly 1.5 kg. You need biceps of steel for this bad boy and it scared me, big time. But last week I decided to just take it out and use it for some portraits of Nicki (photos to come soon). It's a super sharp lens and despite being heavy I quite like it for portraits. You can get great bokeh (smushy mushy background) and you can stand back from the person and zoom (I guess if you were shooting a couple this might give them a chance to relax together without being too aware of the camera). Okay so here is the evidence of my accomplishment: Samuel took this on his iphone so I apologize for the quality. You can see what a pooey day it was as well!

Here is a picture I took of Nicki and a preview of our session together. The rest are to come soon, and I also hope to reupload the photos of the lovely Birte, once the upload quality issue is sorted.

So my first stop on the road of photography: a camera skills course for beginners taught by Damien Lovegrove. Damien is a very well known, highly acclaimed wedding photographer who now teaches a variety of courses at his studio. It's on April 6th and I'm really excited to get some basic technical knowledge under my belt together with a children's shoot. I will of course be posting the images for you all to see. I think this will give me the confidence to handle my camera better and nail those all important exposures. Wish me luck!

Ultimately what I want to do is document love; be it at a wedding, or between friends, couples or families. To capture the emotion and heartfelt love of your subject, to capture who they are, and convey that special something you can't see or touch, only feel in an image, is a beautiful thing and I believe it requires skill. So I have set myself the challenge. I'm trying to not be afraid, to have a bit more belief in myself. I hope my sheer passion and love for it will be the driving force to achievement, if not, at least there will be no regrets.

Tonight Samuel, my Mum (who is visiting) and I had a simple meal of tagliatelle with Arrabiata sauce (spicy tomato!). It's really quick and easy to make and the key to its great flavour is to let the sauce cook down for a while so the tomato flavour intensifies. It's really healthy too!

Arrabiata baby!

Serves 4-5 portions

2x400g tins of chopped tinned tomatoes

1-2 chillis (depends how hot you like it)

1 rounded tsp of dried oregano

4-5 big cloves of garlic finely chopped (NOT crushed-this will be too intense)

1-2 tsp of sugar (this is an important ingredient, start with 1 and when you taste for seasoning see if you need more)

Olive oil, sea salt (if using table go easy), pepper

500g tagliatelle (this is the weight for dried not fresh pasta)

1. Heat a medium saucepan on a medium to low heat

2. Add your chopped garlic and chilli and fry for 30 seconds-be careful not to burn as the garlic will go bitter. If you're worried just take the pan off the heat while you stir it.

3. Add your tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper

4. Simmer on a low heat for around 30 min or until reduced and tasty.

5. While the sauce is simmering, cook your tagliatelle according to packet instructions in salted boiling water.

6. Add the pasta to the sauce, never the other way around!

Enjoy!

Thanks for reading, my shoot with Nicki is coming soon as well as a few more posts I have lined up. Feel free to comment!

xxx

A Little Help From My Friends

2010-02-05T10:38:00.001-08:00

I will be honest and admit I spend so much time with Samuel that I can forget I have friends. Yes I know this sounds bad; I'm sure many a marriage counsellor or self help guru would probably profess that I am not nurturing my inner being nor am I ensuring that I haven't lost myself in the black hole of marriage. To be honest I think that this is a load of old toss and if I ever see the words spiritual, help and soul combined on the front cover of a book alongside a photo of someone looking far too happy to be alive, I tend to run the other way; preferably to the cookery section where I can instead use food to feed my soul. Anyway, despite my overt cynicism I do believe you should make time for your friends; it's important to make time for the other people in your life, the ones who bring something unique and special to the table, just as your significant other does.

I would like to introduce you to one of my wonderful friends, Birte, who is the inspiration behind this post and who has selflessly subjected herself to an afternoon of perpetual smiling, and on the odd occasion, slow motion running to feed my photography addiction. By the way the slow motion running was her idea...anyway, the results of this shoot are included in this post.

When I was thinking about what I would write for this post and how I would do justice to the wonder that is Birte, while at the same time, weaving a tapestry of literary genius, the word Honey came to mind. You see, if I had to think of one word that I would forever associate with Birte it would have to be honey (bare with me I'm weaving that tapestry); not only does she have the thickest, most voluptuous mane of honey coloured waves, she is also deliciously sprinkled with gorgeous honey coloured freckles (excuse the food related adjectives, contrary to this description, Birte is not edible). Birte is incredibly sweet; she is sweet in a way that is undeniably genuine and good natured and she graciously exudes this sweetness in a way that is never sickly; unlike too much sugar or a sticky, chewy caramel. She is soft, warm hearted and can blend into any situation, anywhere or with anyone; a bit like the way honey brings an unparalleled flavour and sweetness to both sweet and savoury dishes.

Birte is a truly special person; we have been friends for 9 years and we have been through many life changes together. She is one of the kindest people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing and I am very grateful that she not only likes me, but is willing to endure my strange foibles, probing questions and photo shoot pestering. She is also one of my biggest blog critiques; openly admitting when she thinks I am rambling and writing nothing but boring, lifeless prose. However, she also indulges in everyone of my blog posts, puts up with my incessant questions about said blog posts and is enthusiastic about trying my recipes (this is about the only thing I didn't have to tie her up for).

Although I am eternally grateful that Birte kindly offered to be my model, her ideas for some poses were slightly, how can I put this; ridiculous and downright awful. For example, the aforementioned slow motion running as well as star jumping (yes you read that right) and supposedly elegant prancing type actions...these have unfortunately not made it to the blog...

Without further ado here are some the pictures I took of Birte on our lovely Thursday afternoon together (sorry the blog has greatly reduced the image quality, that's if these ever were quality images....particularly the colour and contrast, and I am trying solve this problem). I chose these for the blog because in my eyes they ARE Birte, in every sense of the word. I look at these and I feel that they represent the Birte that we all know and love and I hope that she is very proud of the lovely person she is.

This next one is probably my favourite because Birte looks so content and happy.

This photo emphasizes the quirkiness that Birte exudes on a daily basis

Okay I decided to put one photo up of Birte's ridiculous posing ideas; I know she would want me to, and I guess I owe her that much. Please refrain from photographic judgement please.

We finished our photo shoot with mud laden boots and frozen toes (I have to add that it came to a natural end when we ran out of posing ideas and resorted to tree hugging. Not a good look) and headed to Euphorium Bakery. Yes that is the same bakery that I went to with Samuel last week; what can I say, I don't like change and this bakery does stuff with butter that sends shudders down my spine.

We ordered three lovely treats; a piece of sadly unfrosted carrot cake, a blueberry clafoutis, and a savoury ricotta and spinach puff pastry roll. Birte also had a Cappuccino the size of a small village. Before describing these delightful pastries I have to tell you about the eccentric and whimsical young man that served us. I think the banter between us was sparked by my over the top reaction to the fact that they did not have that heavenly white chocolate marquis (the one I mentioned in my previous post) on that particular day. After I grunted and moaned that it was a crime they did not have this eighth wonder of the world, the kind waiter resorted to trying to sell me any dessert that contained the colour white in some way; he even tried to convince me to purchase a dessert containing marshmallow fluff. I am deadly serious here; had I succumbed to this it would have been a grotesque crime against the pastry world and I am not that cruel.

Following this, I chose the blueberry clafoutis; I'm afraid the deep blue shade of the blueberries won over the seriously tempting marshmallow fluff. However, when the waiter was about to plate up my chosen dessert, he asked me which of the four remaining clafoutis I would like. Before I had a chance to answer he said, "here this one is big, and I know you will like big things. Size does always matter for women". I'm sure this was the weirdest sentence ever to be served with butter and sugar.

The carrot cake was moist, orange flecked and perfectly spiced with cinnamon and clove. However, I did miss the cream cheese frosting I have to say and in my opinion, cake can only be improved with a substance so buttery and delicious, it threatens to clog your arteries and sky rocket your cholesterol with every bite. The clafoutis was light and had the texture of layered pancakes; Birte gave this very detailed description worthy of a food review...not: "I like how you can taste the actual blueberries and they're not just for decoration". The spinach and ricotta roll; well it rolled me to a heavenly place where I could swim in melted butter and dance around giant cookie trees. The puff pastry was puffed to perfection and flaked beautifully. It left a lovely gloss on my lips and love in my heart.

And lastly here is Birte with that Cappuccino the size of Everest.

I will finish with this recipe for Bolognese. It may be retro and old fashioned but it's like Chanel, it will never go out of style. This version is adapted from a Jamie Oliver recipe in "Happy Days with the Naked Chef". What makes the flavours in this meaty bolognese so rich is the sheer volume of tomato puree/paste as well as the long cooking time. Now don't be alarmed, the paste will cook down into a velvety blanket of flavour and you won't know it's there except that you will because it will taste so good. It is important to simmer gently on the hob for at least an hour, even more if you double the recipe. It is this which develops the great flavours. It will also taste even better the next day when reheated. I like to serve this with tagliatelle not spaghetti as its far more soft and welcoming than the harsher spaghetti variety.

Spaghetti Bolognese

1 x 500g lean minced beef (you can use the fatty kind for extra flavour)

3 medium onions or 2 big big ones finely chopped

6 fat cloves of garlic (if they're not fat please add more more more, it massively helps the flavour) crushed

125 g pancetta or smoked streaky bacon chopped

1 tsp of dried oregano

150g tomato puree/paste

1 handful of picked rosemary leaves finely chopped

100 ml of marsala (this is a sweet italian fortified wine not unlike sherry. It adds a lvoely sweetness to the sauce, but if you don't have any red wine would also work)

1 x 400g can of tinned tomatoes

125 ml of chicken stock (I use Knorr Concentrate and add to water, but chicken stock is so much better than water and will help keep it moist while it's cooking)

Salt, pepper and sugar

1. Heat a wide saucepan on high and add some olive oil. Once it's hot add your pancetta or smoked bacon and rosemary and fry until golden and slightly crisp.

2. Turn down the heat to medium and add your onions. Cook until softened and golden

3. Add the garlic and fry for a minute or two

4. Turn up the to high and add your minced meat. Break it up with a wooden spoon so it doesn't clump. Cook and stir until it's no longer red but brown.

5. Add your marsala or wine and let it bubble for a minute or two.

6. Add your tomato paste and stir into the meat.

7. Add your tinned tomatoes and chicken stock and bring to the boil

8. Turn down to a gentle simmer and season with sea salt (go easy if table salt), a good grinding of pepper and a small teaspoon of sugar (sugar is really important in bringing out the sweetness in the tomatoes and it will help the flavour)

9. Simmer for an hour, with the lid on, or for even longer if you have the time. Check for seasoning it may need some, especially salt.

Cook some tagliatelle according to the packet instructions (always check a minute before it says though) and add the cooked pasta to the meat, never the other way around. Serve with some freshly grated parmesan! Yummy!

More posts to come soon. Feel free to comment or ask any questions!

Lazy Saturdays and Other Tales

2010-01-31T05:47:00.001-08:00

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.

Blogging is the best medicine

2010-01-28T05:42:00.001-08:00

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!

Is that love you're cooking?

2010-01-25T09:48:00.001-08:00

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

2010-01-22T09:03:00.001-08:00

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

2010-01-20T10:20:00.001-08:00

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!

We're barmy but I love it!

2010-01-19T09:11:00.001-08:00

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?

2010-01-18T05:48:00.001-08:00

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

2010-01-17T07:05:00.001-08:00

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