New Slippers

John and I went to Norwich yesterday and braved the masses to stock up on some more plates and cups.  We also bought some new slippers, since mine were getting REALLY smelly (poor Fred and George) and John's had holes in the soles.

Now we are both uber-cool with boiled wool. And our tootsies are toasty.

Mine:

 

And John's:

Fred & George with Broccoli

I'm still on track with my recipe resolution - John and I had broccoli in garlic sauce for dinner tonight. YUM! The recipe's at the end of the post.

John and I have unilaterally decided (with some help from the BURPS boys) that the slippers should be known as Fred and George. YAY to C for suggesting it!! We'll plant a tree in your honor in our back yard. :) And call it Ron.

Speaking of unilateral decisions, I don't really get involved in politics on here but I'm fairly interested to see what comes of the State of the Union speech tonight. Being in the UK (and dedicated to Radio 4) gives an interesting perspective on things. It seems like the brits view Bush as a complete lunatic, but they also think most Americans are nuts for voting for him. Twice. Blair has definitely fallen from grace here, with his demise accelerated by the terrier-like obedience to Bush with Iraq. Nice job.

BTW, the Blogger photo uploads were annoying me so I put them on Flickr - you can see them in the window over at the right (and click on it to go directly to my Flickr page)

Here's the recipe we had tonight, from Epicurious.com. I added bok choi (2 stalks) with the broc, and then corn starch at the end to thicken it a bit. Oh, and I used about 8 cloves of garlic...I lost count. And the feeds 6 business is nuts...John and I had it with noodles and are still kinda hungry.

BROCCOLI SPEARS WITH GARLIC SAUCE
1 1/2 lb broccoli (about 1 head)
1 tablespoon canola oil
4 garlic cloves, lightly smashed
3 tablespoons Asian oyster sauce
1/2 cup chicken stock or low-sodium broth
1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
Peel off tough outer skin of broccoli stem, then halve broccoli crosswise (top half with florets should equal length of bottom half). Cut bottom half (stem) lengthwise into 1/2-inch-wide wedges, then cut top half (stem with florets) into long spears with 1/2-inch-wide wedges.

Heat a wok (or v. large pan) over high heat until beginning to smoke, then add canola oil and swirl to coat sides. Stir-fry garlic until golden, about 30 seconds, then add broccoli and stir-fry 5 minutes. Stir in oyster sauce and stock and cook, covered, until broccoli is crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and toss with sesame oil.

Gourmet
February 2004

Cooking and Ducking

OK, in no particular order:

1. Fred & George

2. Peking & L'Orange

3. Ginko & Biloba

I've also made further strides in the 'cook something new every week' resolution. I made a butternut squash/spinach/bacon pasta thing tonight - it was pretty good but I think it put both John and me over the butternut squash threshold. We've had a it a lot and I think it's time for a new winter veg. Suggestions gladly taken. :)

Slipper Contest!

When Edward and I were kids, we always had really fun slippers. The ones that stick out were my Bert & Ernie slippers (one of each, obviously), and Edward's monster feet (big furry black feet with brown claws) and his frog ones. I think the frog ones were so spectacular because of their sheer impracticality. They were large and green, with googly eyes. And legs. It was the legs that caused the problem, because when you walked, they got tangled up with each other and then you fell down. Minor design flaw...

So I opened my Christmas present from Edward this year, and what did I see?


So, you say, where do we come in?

They need names. Good ones.

As some background - they have personalities. As you can see from the photo, the one on my right foot (left side of the pic) is much more assertive and generally happier. Not that the one of the left foot isn't happy, he just doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve so much.

Names in the comments! Winner gets...hmm...worldwide fame. :)