Current favourite recipe: Eggplant Dirty Rice

I agree. It's not the prettiest recipe title. But what it lacks in curb appeal, it makes up for in taste.

The Amateur Gourmet blogged about David Kinch's Eggplant Dirty Rice, as featured in Food and Wine magazine. We tested it out last week and liked it so much we had to make it again when The Stepson was here (he loves spicy food).

I'd never heard of Dirty Rice. It's apparently a Cajun thing, and as a born-and-bred Yankee, I had no knowledge of such awesomeness.

The only changes we made: no salt added (other than the soy sauce), double the garlic (5 cloves -WOOO!), and no white pepper, because we didn't have any. Oh, and a courgette was looking somewhat forlorn in the fridge, so I added it at the same time as the eggplant.

Oh, and we had red romano peppers, rather than green ones. Pretty colours!

Here's the Amateur Gourmet's effort:

And here's ours (I wasn't quick enough to get a shot of the full batch...hungry boys):

We used some of the Cajun hot sauce that The Stepson gave me for Christmas - it was perfect.

Result? 3 very clean plates and 3 very happy campers.

I took the leftovers from batch #1 to work the day after, and it was equally tasty reheated in the microwave the following day.

What are you waiting for? Go make it!

Review: Divergent

I loved the Hunger Games, and I enjoy dystopian YA romps as much as the next person. I don't remember where I was recommended Divergent, by Veronica Roth, but I really loved it.

It's set in post-apocalyptic Chicago, and reminded me a bit of the Hunger Games.  Both have strong teenage girls as their protagonists, and both require them to do things they never thought possible. I've also acquired a vocabulary word: abnegation (self-denial or renunciation, to save you having to look it up, too).

I'm about to read the sequel and am rather enthusiastically awaiting the movie!

Review: Hairy Bikers Tour

We thoroughly enjoy the Hairy Bikers on TV. Funny, engaging, informative, and great recipes.

We went to see them in Ipswich at the Regent Theatre about 2 weeks ago, and I have to say the show was rather odd.

It was a mishmash of video clips (several of which I had seen), cooking demos, audience-participation quizzes, dirty jokes, and a surprising amount of nudity.

They appeared to enjoy themselves, and there were some good recipes and quite a few very funny moments. However, it was NOT a family show (as billed), and there was rather a lot of swearing and raunchy humour.

I think I'll stick to watching you on TV, boys.

And I brought my book for signing but they had pre-signed everything and didn't come out after the show. SAD!

Review: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

I read and adored Kate DiCamillo's The Magician's Elephant a few years ago. Something caught my eye last week, and I reserved The Tale of Despereaux and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane at the library.

After I finished The Magician (no, it didn't get an better, and no, I'm not going to bother with the sequel even though he finished on a cliffhanger), I was feeling some what hopeless about finding a good book.

I shouldn't have.

I started The Miraculous Journey while cooking dinner, savoured it (and the fabulous illustrations), and finished it a few hours later.

The blurb at the front on the dust jacket drew me in:

Once, in a house on Egypt Street, there lived a china rabbit named Edward Tulane. The rabbit was very pleased with himself, and for good reason: he was owned by a girl named Abilene, who treated him with the utmost care and adored him completely.

And then, one day, he was lost.

It was heartbreaking, restoring, and gripping. (One of the Amazon reviewers complained it was too sad for her to read to her child...I say if the child sees that sadness can have redemption and healing through love, she'll be a better person for it.)

DiCamillo is an incredible storyteller. She sets the scene in a few words, sketches fabulous characters, and moves the story along. I can't wait to read her other books (although it's going to be like Eva Ibbotson...I'll have to spread them out and not let myself read them all at once). Keep writing, please, Kate DiCamillo!

Reviews: Anna Karenina & Grave Mercy

One of my UK book group peeps saw the Tom Stoppard Anna Karenina when it came out over the summer, and suggested that we read it for book group. Thankfully, we all have kindles, so didn't have to drag hardback copies around with us.

Overall, I liked it. However, there was Way Too Much Rambling About Farming. And Russian Peasants.

Thankfully, the movie avoided the rambling, and pretty much just cut to the chase.

I'm glad I've now read it, but won't be seeking out any other Tolstoy any time soon.

I think it also may hold the record for "longest time for Kate to read a novel" - it took me nearly 6 months. Phew.

To follow, and because I felt like I needed a guilty pleasure after all that Russian angst, I read Robin LaFevers' Grave Mercy. It's set in medieval Brittany, and is about a girl who goes to a convent dedicated to Mortain, or Death. She trains as an assassin (along with the others in the convent) and is then sent out on a mission. Entertainment and drama ensue. I zipped right through it and really enjoyed it. AND I have excellent timing because the sequel is coming out in three weeks!

Oh, and this is what's wrong with America. French toast, with a side of bacon. It was delicious, but still.

Review: Afternoon Tea at the Cambridge Hilton

One of my book group buddies shares her birthday with John and my dad (yay, December 27th), and she suggested a Girls' Day Out in Cambridge for afternoon tea.

We were recommended the Hilton by another friend who had been there for a party a few months before, so off we went, on the Saturday between Christmas and New Year.

I knew I'd be cranky if I went all the way to 3pm with no food, so Anna Karenina (on my Kindle) and I went for brisket udon just before noon.

The first thing we noticed when we rolled up at our appointed hour was how EMPTY it was. Granted, the weekend between Christmas and New Year isn't going to be their top weekend of the year, but Cambridge itself was packed with people. There were two other tables (and about 4 staff).

First, it took them about 10 minutes to figure out where to seat us. Why, I have no idea. But whatever.

Then, it took at least another 10 for them to ask us if we wanted tea or coffee. I said that we did, but that I had read online that there was a full "tea menu." The waitress looked surprised, then thought for a few moments, and then wandered off and returned with the tea menus, as per teh interwebs. I had a darjeeling, and the other two had Russian Caravan (apparently didn't taste of either Russians or Caravans, which was probably a good thing) and Earl Grey. The tea was lovely, and was in rather snazzy pots that held the leaves in a funny little basket. Only drawback with the tea was that you couldn't remove the leaves to adjust the strength - it got rather stewed by the end.

After about half an hour, the platter below arrived:

On the bottom, sandwiches: salmon, egg & cress, and cucumber & cream cheese. Slightly stale bread (they tasted like they'd been made that morning or the previous day), but otherwise fine.

For the middle tier, the scones were excellent - warm, with very tasty jam and clotted cream.

On the top, a selection of cakes: slices of fruitcake, a chocolate square thingy with raspberry mousse, mince pies, and a cake/cream concoction with a gilded blackberry on top. It was all rather pretty, but I thought that the cakes were too sweet (and the mince pies DEFINITELY came from a factory).

Um, we ate it all.

Overall, I would give the service 2 out of 10, the scones 8 out of 10, and the rest of the food 6 out of 10. We were right next to the window, on very comfy couches, which made the terminally disinterested waitstaff less of an issue. I think there are plenty of other places to eat in Cambridge, where our £14.95 would have produced less food (it was WAY too much), but of higher quality.

The Cambridge Hilton have a great location and good facilities, but it was let down by indifferent service and mediocre food. I would HATE to be there on a busy weekend in the summer (unless possibly we were the victims of "all the normal staff are on vacation." If anyone else has had a different experience, let me know!

Review: Code Name Verity

Before I start this review, I will say that I picked this up at the same time as Arthur Ransome's We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea (which is excellent, by the way), and somehow thought that I had picked up the Ransome to start reading when in fact it was this one. I was mightily confused by the opening set in Nazi Germany (and the complete lack of sailboats). Ahem.

So, if one picks up this book and is actually expecting it (and not a Swallows & Amazons sequel), it's actually rather good.

Set in England and Germany during World War II, it's a story told in two parts by two different narrators, about pilots, spies, and the WAAF. I found the WAAF parts particularly fascinating, as my mother-in-law served during the war. The characters were very well-drawn, the sense of place was well-presented, and I could tell a lot of research had gone into it. The story was heartbreaking (as were many people's stories during WWII, I imagine), and very engaging. 

I heard about it in the New York Times' list of the year's best children's books, and I love the review by Marjorie Ingall. As she says, if I told you more about the plot, I'd have to kill you!

Oh, and lastly, from Ingall's review, about Elizabeth Wein: 
"Wein’s earlier novels are set in Arthurian Britain and sixth-century Ethiopia. She has a doctorate in folklore and a pilot’s license. She met her husband at a dinner dance for hobbyist bell ringers. Nerd." Can I meet her?!

Review: Dyson vacuum & service

I married into a Dyson vacuum cleaner. John's Dyson is a DC04, which, according to its serial number and the nice lady we spoke to on the phone, was purchased back in 2000. Yes, it's a 12-year-old vacuum. It had been cutting out lately, and then comprehensively gave up the ghost about 10 days ago. We called the Dyson service line from their website. They said that we could either have £80 off a new Dyson, or have an engineer come out and fix our current machine, for a fixed £73 fee (which we would not have to pay if he couldn't fix it).

We decided to see if we could eek out a few more years before springing for another £400 vacuum, and  so the service chap turned up on Saturday. And proceeded to take our machine completely to pieces. As seen below. The whole breakdown took him about 5 minutes.

He disappeared out to his truck, and returned with a few boxes. We thought he was just going to replace the cable, as that was the part that was faulty. Apparently not. Their policy, according to our repair guy, is to replace everything. New motor, new brush-thingy, new clutch, new internal hose, new filter, and a new power cable. That would be a new vacuum, then. Oh, and once he turned it on he announced that the cyclone bit "wasn't making the right sort of noise" and that a new one would arrive in the post shortly. Oh, and a new hose. The only original bits now: the wheels, tall bit, and the handle (and attachments). 

Another 12 years, please?

The only complaint I have is that the stair attachment doesn't stay on terribly well (I usually have to put it back on once or twice). My mom bought a Dyson on our recommendation and does NOT like it - none of the hoses stay put. We asked the service guy and he said that the American division is a different operation, so fair warning.

And yes, I did just write a post about our vacuum cleaner. Deal with it. (And no, it was not sponsored!)

Review: The Thread

I ordered Victoria Hislop's new novel, The Thread, (I've read her first two) from the library. Somehow, the copy I received was a signed copy. Um, what? Why was this at the Stowmarket library? Oh, well. In any case, I enjoyed it.

I found it a little bit predictable, but not in a bad way. It's told with a present-day introduction, before flashing back to 1917, where it progresses through history until the 1960s, and then jumps back to the present right at the end.

A few of the characters were flat, but on the whole, it was historically interesting with a good storyline and immersive writing. I hadn't realised how far back the problems in Greece go...it was interesting to have a historical backdrop for the current economic issues.

Also, Downton Abbey is back. Not that I managed to stay up for it on Sunday night, or anything, but ITV-streaming meant that Monday night was rather good. Just had to avoid Twitter for any spoilers...

Review: Temeraire

I'm normally quite wary of picking up books off shelves in bookstores (I'm reliably disappointed), but when I noticed Temeraire poking out between Neil Gaiman, Trudi Canavan and Philip Pullman at Blackwell's in Cambridge, I thought I'd take a chance.

Essentially, Temeraire is an alternate fantasy history of the Napoleonic Wars, but with dragons. I know, dragons.

Temeraire's egg winds up being captured from a French naval ship by a British ship, where he proceeds to hatch and imprint himself upon a British naval officer.

The dialogue between the two of them is extremely entertaining, and their relationship reminded me quite a bit of the Saphira/Eragon relationship in the Eragon books. I guess there's a fairly standard dynamic between humans and dragons.

I really enjoyed it (and have passed it along to a number of friends who've loved it, too). I'm working my way through the series (2 books finished, 7 to go!), and by the time I'm done, Peter Jackson should be finished with the movie.

P.S. Can I have a dragon? Please?

Review: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

I've been under the weather for a few days, which meant that I read Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children in one sitting yesterday. I thought it was very compelling, and scarier than the usual YA-fantasy that I read.

I found it a little slow to get started (and I wasn't thrilled with the protagonist), but about 30 pages in, it really picked up. I don't want to give too much away (spoilers!), but I thought that the premise was excellent and I can't wait for the second book (not sure about the movie, though...)

Review: EZ's Knitter's Almanac

I've been enjoying the Math For Knitters podcast (I love Lara's laugh), and most people refer to Elizabeth Zimmermann at some point during their interview (frequently as "EZ," since we're obviously all supposed to know who she is).

I borrowed her Knitter's Almanac (the Dover commemorative edition - woot!) from the library (and have renewed it twice...erm, I think maybe I should buy it), and loved it. She was a blogger before there were blogs. She writes in a very conversational style, and intersperses knitting patterns with random daily-life anecdotes. Also, she is somewhat obsessed with socks. And buttonholes.

There are a few problems with the book.

First, you cannot read it on a train, in public, or with anyone who is a non-knitter. I laughed until I cried, and poor John bore the brunt of my renditions of the particularly amusing bits. Except that they're not funny if you're not a knitter, apparently.

Second, it is expensive. Not the book, but the fact that you will want to go out and Buy More Wool to make everything that she writes about, as well as Buy All Her Other Books because she's so darned clever and interesting to read.

Third, I will never meet her. And she's not going to write any more books. (She passed away in 1999.)

Fourth, she pointed out that one can knit and read simultaneously. SHUT UP. Viv, I know you could already do this. I have discovered that I can only do it if either someone is holding the book for me and turning the pages, or if I am reading on the Kindle. Obviously, this will also become expensive, since I either have to pay an underling to hold the book for me, or buy more books on the Kindle.

Ok, so none of those are really problems. EZ, you and your "unventions" are pretty fabulous. Knitters who haven't read any EZ, get thee to your library (or yarn shop or bookstore) and remedy that. You'll be glad you did.

Review: Bitterblue (and Graceling again)

I've been reading Kristin Cashore's blog since shortly after finishing Graceling. She's a great writer and finds fun things to link to. I really loved Graceling, and so have been pretty excited for Bitterblue since she announced the title. It is a great story with compelling characters (I really just wanted to drop myself into their world for a week or two and just chill with them all), and is expertly constructed.

Telling the story of Queen Bitterblue of Monsea, Bitterblue picks up about 8 years after the end of Graceling. Some familiar characters, some new ones, and a very strong feeling of reuniting with old friends.

My first action after finishing Bitterblue was to download Graceling to my Kindle and reread it. I'd forgotten so much...I think it's time to reread Fire! 

The reviewer in the New York Times loves it, too. HOORAY!

The finished scarf above is nothing to do with Bitterblue (except that it's blue). Ravelled here (the Anzula For Better Or Worsted is SO soft).

British Larder and Aldeburgh

After reading that Cambridge blogger Lazy Giraffe drives an hour and a half all the way to Woodbridge from Cambridge to eat at The British Larder, it was added to my must-try list.

When my Mom (whose birthday is today - HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!) suggested a trip to the coast, I suggested this as an optimal lunch spot on the way. I was a little worried that it would be super-crowded on a Saturday lunchtime, but it was merely reasonably busy.

I ordered the pork tasting platter, below. Pork terrine, a pork & pickle salad thingy (in the little pot), homemade coleslaw, homemade piccalilli, the Best Scotch Egg Ever, a sausage roll, a mini-meatloaf, some exceedingly delicious bread, and a spring-greens salad. The scotch egg and the butter both had cracked pepper and just the right amount of sea salt on them. The whole thing was rather unbelievably delicious. I washed it down with some Broadside, obviously.

My mom had the ploughmans' lunch, which had cheese twists, homemade pickle, a boiled egg, really excellent ham, and a wedge of cheese, along with a sausage roll, bread, piccalilli, and salad like mine.

We really enjoyed ourselves and will be going back. If you're in the neighborhood (or even if you're not), I highly recommend it.

On our way to Aldeburgh, we stopped at Snape Maltings. The sky was rather dramatic (it had stopped raining, briefly)

We found out later that John had been sailing in the mega-rainstorm in this picture. Boy, was he wet:

A yellow tractor on Aldeburgh beach:

And a good rock.

Conversation before reaching this particular rock, as follows.

Kate (walking on Aldeburgh beach, home to about 100 zillion rocks) : Mom, keep your eye out and let me know if you find a good rock.

Mom: Um, what?!

Five minutes later

Kate: Aha! This is a great rock! (Crouches down to photograph above rock)

Mom: (Shakes head)

C'mon, you can't say that isn't a great rock!

Screen Printing at Fruit Farm Fabrics

I was talking about craft blogs with one of my colleagues, and he mentioned that I should check out his wife's site, Fruit Farm Fabrics.

I love her designs, especially the small apples, and suggested to my Mom that it would be a fun day out during her Suffolk 2012 trip.

She wholeheartedly agreed, and we signed up for a class.

We arrived at Caroline's home (attached to her workshop and studio) at around 9:30, had coffee (and more millionaire's shortbread than I'm willing to admit to), and went through to her studio. I covet her studio. Big, bright windows looking over the garden, a big table for working, lots of crafty books, and a  computer-design nook with her scanner and computer. It was a drizzly overcast day and it was still really bright in there.

Here are some of her fabric designs, mounted on the wall (such a good idea!):

My mom used the window as a lightbox to trace her design:

Here's her final design, ready for tracing with the sticky-back plastic:

And my design, with input from Caroline on leaving a border around the sheep to give myself a margin for error (aka creative wonkyness) when printing.

We then cut out plastic templates for each of our screens. We both had three colours - I used green for the background, brown for some of the sheep and the border, and black for a sheep and the noses and legs. My mom used bright red, bright blue, and brown.

Here are my mom and Caroline, printing!

That's concentration:

Here's my mom's design, after the first colour. I LOVE how the horse is really moving.

And here's mine, after the first printing. Slightly more abstract!

After this first printing, it was about 1, and we were ravenous. Fabric printing and design is quite a bit more exhausting than I expected. Luckily, Caroline had prepared a delicious lunch (soup and crusty bread with salad, ham and cheese), and after slightly more wine than would be advisable given the exacting nature of the second round of screen printing, we carried on.

Here's the final shot of mine. I LOVE how it turned out. The grand plan is to take Class 2 and upload it to a fabric printing site (like Spoonflower). I've also just received my copy of Mastering The Art Of Fabric Printing and Design, by Laurie Wisbrun of Tufted Tweets fame.

Watch out world, here we come! I'd highly recommend a day at Fruit Farm Fabrics to anyone interested in fabric design or just in having a really fun day out. Top tip: we brainstormed ideas before we got there, then showed them to Caroline, who guided us towards the ones that would work best for screen printing. It meant that we got quite a bit more done in a day than we had expected.

P.S. This post was NOT sponsored - we just had a such great time that I figured my fellow crafty (and less-crafty) peeps would appreciate hearing about it!

Review: The Museum Street Cafe

I went to Ipswich yesterday for a haircut, and after some window shopping (and buying Selvedge, squee!), I had lunch at the Museum Street Cafe. The stepson had recommended it on a number of occasions, but we'd never gotten around to eating there. Well, I'll definitely be back. They had a small but enthusiastic (and fresh) veggie menu, with what looked like some vegan options.

I was originally after a lentil salad, but since it was so revoltingly cold and rainy out, I went for the red onion and cheese tart. It wasn't called a tart, it was something else, but I can't remember the name. I did, however, take a picture. It was delicious - really light but also quite cheesy and sweet and sharp because of the caramelised onions. More, please!

I also finished my latest book late Friday. It was a Persephone book. That I found at the Stowmarket Library. While browsing. I know, shut up. I never find anything while browsing at the library. But there it was, in its pretty grey cover, waiting for me! Book no. 72, to be specific, House-Bound, by Winifred Peck. I got a little stuck towards the end, but otherwise enjoyed it. It's a pre-McCall-Smith satire of wartime Edinburgh (called Castleburgh in the book), with entertaining characters and a few fairly emotional moments. What? We're Scottish! We don't have emotions. Well, they seem emotional to this overly-emotional and perky American. There's one of those in the book, too. Teehee.

In springtime news, I kidnapped some forsythia from our back garden and put it in a vase in the kitchen. So yellow and springy! (John brought me some begonias, also yellow, in the background.

Random book review: Jean Auel

I've been working my way through Jean Auel's series, starting with The Clan of the Cave Bear. They're a little bit repetitive, and not particularly intellectual, but I seem to find them a rather guilty pleasure. My favorite one so far was definitely The Valley of Horses, but I've enjoyed them all. If you want to just escape rather wholeheartedly into prehistoric (i.e. before Teh Internets) fiction, go nuts. If you want a high-brow thinky book, leave it. I had a geeky few weeks when Alice Roberts was doing a documentary on the evolution of humans from apes right through HomoSapiens, and she got to the part where the Neanderthals and the early Humans were living in the same areas, simultaneously. Shut up. Just like the books! 

The fourth fifth (really? I've read 4 already?) one is en route to the Stowmarket library. I'm pretending not to be excited. 

Oh, and my mom remembers reading them when they came out and were super popular, back in the dark ages (aka the 1980s).

And now, for a completely random picture of Soho, on a winter afternoon. I love New York.

Nom Wah!

Nom Wah Tea Parlor was reviewed in the NYT back in April, and then featured again in June. We had intended to visit when I was in NY in September, but ended up with a larger lunch group in Chinatown than we had anticipated, and didn't think we'd get in.

As part of the trip to NY for Grandma's memorial service, my mom and I had an epic day out in NYC. We went uptown to the Frick, window-shopped on the UES, then took the 6 downtown to Chinatown. We had a little bit of trouble finding Doyers St, but eventually managed it. They're right about the fact that it seems like a forgotten corner of the city - we knew where we were going and almost missed the street!

[I flew under the radar on this trip and really didn't see anyone other than family - if I didn't see you, don't be mad at me!]

When we sat down, we noticed that everyone else had big plates of greens on their tables, and appeared to be slurping them down with gusto. We ordered a pork bun (for me, mom doesn't like them), shrimp noodle rolls, scallion pancakes, dumplings, and Chinese greens with oyster sauce. SO delicious. Only problem is that they're kinda tricky to eat, especially with chopsticks. I think next time we'll ask for them to be cut in half in the kitchen. They were fresh, hot, glossy, crunchy, and really tasty.

Oh, and we were wondering about the table manners of the gentleman over mom's left shoulder in the picture above, with his napkin tucked into his shirt. Well, we didn't wonder long. It's for the greens. They're messy. We followed suit rather quickly.

Yumsters. I'm going to have to find myself a recipe for these, and possibly for scallion pancakes.

Review: Bill Bryson At Home

I've read and loved several of fellow expat Bill Bryson's books. 

I bought At Home sometime in December, and promptly put it on the shelf and forgot about it. I was in the mood for some nonfiction last weekend, so I picked it up and started reading. It's a little bit repetitive, but otherwise very well written (and exhaustively researched). It's one not to read if you're embarrassed about laughing out loud on the train; thankfully, I'm not!

It's one of those books that will give you random dinner party fodder for months. You'll never look at your pillow the same way again, either.

Photo of ginger beer from Frank's Bar in Norwich, quite close to where Bryson lives. Bill, next time you're in town, check it out! The food is delicious!

Reviews: two excellent books

The last two books I've read have both been excellent. I almost wish I had spread them out a little bit with some mediocre books in between, so I could have appreciated them even more.

This week, I finished The Magician's Assistant, by Ann Patchett. Like Her Fearful Symmetry, a main character dies in the first sentence. By page 2, I missed him. I found the book to be captivating, well-written, and entertaining. There were vivid descriptions, so much so that I had the odd moment where I looked up from the book and was startled to find myself in my bedroom or at my desk at work, rather than in a farmhouse in Nebraska. My only complaint is that the cover image of the edition I had from the library (not the one on Patchett's site) had a very misleading farmhouse picture. Oh, well.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot, has had a huge amount of press over the last year or so. Justifiably. It's the best non-fiction book I've read in a long time. I started it while standing at the leisure center, waiting for James to finish a climbing-wall morning, and was completely captivated. I ended up going to sit in the car so I could have quiet while I was reading.

Skloot tells a very-well researched tale of Henrietta Lacks, the woman whose cancerous cervical cells have made huge leaps in scientific research possible. Skloot also sheds light on the story of the rest of Henrietta's family and the effect the cells have had on them. I was astounded by some of the writing from various poor Southern adults, which is reproduced verbatim in the book. Whatever America's doing to educate poor people in the South, it's not working.

I'd recommend them both, enthusiastically!

(Random picture of flowers follows)