life with booyaa

coconut and cardamom rice pudding

2012-01-08T18:32:04Z

I've just made this and it is truly delicious so I'm writing down what I did before I forget. Undoubtedly next time I make it I'll change a few things, but it's good to have the original recipe to start from. Ingredients: 150g short grain rice 400ml coconut milk topped up to 1l with water 2 dessertspoons sugar or honey a dozen cardamom pods 2 allspice pods zest of 1 lemon zest of 1 orange Method: Add the rice and water to a heavy-bottomed saucepan and put on a fairly low heat. While it's warming up prepare all the other ingredients and add them to the pan. For the lemon and orange zest I used a potato peeler and shaved off large ribbons of zest. Add all the other ingredients and stir occasionally until the milk starts to simmer. Cook it very slowly so that the flavours have time to infuse. It took about half an hour for mine to be fully cooked. Remove as many pieces of spice and fruit peel as you can before serving. (You could make a little bouquet garni with some muslin and thread if you're serving this for guests. Or spit out the cardamom as you find it if you it's just you. Your choice.) Decorate with toasted pistachios or almonds to serve. Options: I'd say use less cardamom if you have very fresh pods. I used a lot to get the flavour I wanted, but possibly because they weren't great quality. Instead of allspice you could use star anise or nutmeg or cloves. This would also be nice with some ginger grated in, or add a large chunk which you can pick out before serving. I'll definitely try it with some rosewater next time. A few dates would work to both sweeten and give texture to the pudding.

working from home

2011-08-27T17:10:27Z

I work from home, on my own projects, one day a week. That makes it tricky to get into a routine and stick to it. Monday to Thursday I have a room full of people around me, a stream of emails, instant message windows and Skype calls that combine to keep my day hopping from task to task. Though it’s often chaotic if you look too closely, there’s an enforced structure. I get to the office by nine, everyone breaks for lunch around 1, and at 5:30 I start wrapping up. In between I have a list of things I need to do that day, or perhaps at some point that week, and emails throughout the day alert me to further tasks that need addressing. And then on Friday my day stretches ahead of me like arctic tundra. Without signposts I’d get lost. I still do, to be honest, but much less than I used to. They say it takes 21 days to make a habit, but my 21 days are never consecutive. It still takes discipline and organisation every time. Neither is my strong suit. I’m sure you’ve all been there. You stay in bed just a while longer. Leisurely shower. Linger over coffee and toast. Lose an hour in the time sink that is the internet (in my case, particularly Twitter). Oh look, there's nothing in the fridge for lunch, I’ll just pop out and buy some stuff. OH MY GOD IT’S 3pm AND I’VE DONE NOTHING YET! So, to counteract that, I have added in a few safety nets. These are a way to track the passage of time as an anti-procrastination measure, a reminder for things with a deadline, and a to-do list for that day’s tasks. Oh heavens! Is that the time? One thing I’ve used for years, not as a time management tool but for pleasure, is a Tibetan bowl chime which strikes on the hour, every hour. It’s a beautiful sound, not a nag, but it does remind you that an hour has elapsed and it’s easy to make a mental note if you think you’re procrastinating, or not getting as much done as you’d like. If I’m at home I use my alarm clock’s hourly chime function, which is on by default in our house. (Best alarm clock ever) Or I use a dashboard app on my Mac which recreates the hourly chime of the old OS9. get your own If you use a Mac then get the ProdMe dashboard app for Mac. It’s no longer supported, but you can still download it here. There’s an iPhone app called Chime, or search for it in the App Store. It’s a very simple hourly chime and a beautifully made app, but I don’t like the sounds they’ve included. I find the zen clock and dashboard app are both harmonious and relaxing, and therefore preferable. Don’t forget! I have tried out a number of reminder apps on my iPhone since last year when my migraines came back, after many years without them. I was advised to stretch my neck, change my focus and get up and move. The ones I’ve settled on have different functions, but I do like Alarmed. It’s easy to set up, has an automatic snooze that you can set once an hour to remind you to have a glass of water, or a one off event plus a nag feature which keeps going off until you to make that phone call or write that email. It’s immensely flexible so will serve most people’s purposes. get your own Alarmed is free, with pay-for add-ons. Again, it’s in the App Store, or search for reminders for your platform. Making a list, checking it twice. I use TeuxDeux for my non-office days. It’s beautifully simple and attractive. You assign your tasks to a particular day (plus a handy someday section) and cross them off when you’re ready. But the beauty of this app is its day focus; you only see the current day’s tasks (not true of the web version) and here’s the real cunning, if you don’t cross a task off your list it moves to the following day. So if you set yourself say 5 things to do on Monday and you only accomplish 3, you’ll see on Tuesday that the remaining 2 have rolled over, in addition to the other tasks you’d set up for Tuesday. Can you imagine what it will look like by the time you get to Friday? This app has allowed me to learn two things. One is that I overestimate how much I can get done in a day, or over a weekend. The second is that it’s a gentle enough nudge for me to accomplish some of those tasks without making me feel overwhelmed — stress and deadlines send me to an unhappy place and ultimately to procrastination. get your own You can read all about it here: teuxdeux.com. I use the iPhone app, but you can use it in your browser on your Windows phone/laptop and I’ve heard they’re making an app for Android and maybe Blackberry, so you’re all sorted. It costs $2.99 which I realise some will think is pricey for an app. I have no problem paying for someone else’s expertise and this is a beautifully executed app. If you use a task list manager that is bloated, over-featured and confusing, then try it. It’s the price of a big cup of coffee. You’ve spent more on a shirt you’ve never worn, amirite? If you haven’t yet found something that works for you, then do keep trying. You’ll crack it eventually.

PlatformPro for WordPress

2011-06-19T17:56:50Z

This here blog is running off an ancient MoveableType install. I love MoveableType, but my SysAdmin (aka YummyHubby) hates upgrading it, so it malingers. It's 2 full versions behind, and it shows. I have no fancy bells and whistles and I can't use most of the standard plug-ins. So for my new website I decided to go with WordPress, which seems to be hitting the ball out of the field as far as usability, easy upgrading, plug-in directories and so on are concerned. Along with that I'm using Platform Pro which is an amazing CMS and design framework for WordPress. You should definitely consider it if you want to set up an easy-peasy website and make it your own, make it look like a website rather than a blog, instead of a) using a WordPress theme which inevitably never quite does what you want it to or b) paying a designer to build you a custom theme. The one caveat I'd give here is that you have to be sure it's the right thing for you. I'll try to explain why as I go through the steps I followed. set up an account with pagelines Once you have an account with them you can set up as many test websites as you like. At this point you don't need to pay for anything. The test sites are handy for trying out designs before you choose. I also used it to show a friend with a crappy old website what she could have for just a few quid if she moved it over. So now I'm building her a new website, too. create a test site Test it out, see if it's flexible enough for you to do what you want. If you have a design in mind then try to create it using the in-built tools, comps from iStockphoto or wherever. If you get somewhere near then it'll work for you. If you want a very plain site then you'll find it will definitely work for you as its presets are a joy for minimalists. Now you're convinced, you have to part with your cash. I can't help you there. Let's assume you've paid up. Next. set it up for your site It works just like a WordPress theme as far as installation goes. We have our own domains and our own server, so we installed the package there, but you can use it on your wordpress.com site equally well. Then it's time to implement the design you practised earlier on the test site. There are tons of style switches so you can choose your layout — fixed width, full width, canvas or no; background image, wallpaper or plain colour; fonts, colours and sizes; widgets and footers. It has so many options. I haven't had the chance to use all of them as the two sites I've done so far are very pared down, 'cos that's what we like, but I have tinkered on the test site. Pretty much everything is widgetised and there are image carousels and fancy footers available. You can use other WordPress plug-ins with it, and those which are compatible will be restyled by the Platform Pro settings — see the Twitter widget, for instance, on the booyaa dot org homepage. CSS-fu If you want to, you can override the built-in styles with CSS. There's a horizontal line under the nav and each content block in the default which I've "turned off" on my site, and that was achieved by rewriting that element with 0px instead of 1px. The forums are really helpful and you can ask for help if you get stuck (though I want to scream at some of the users who demand custom CSS overrides to make changes to their site without ever reading any of the posts which already explain it. Moving on...) but if you haven't got a clue you can still make an attractive, stylish and original site without needing to understand how it works under the hood. The basic, unchanged style is a great start to a modern website. If you like flashing sprites and comic sans then this is not for you. You don't deserve a website anyway. Sorry. (Not actually sorry.) licenses The standard license is enough for most websites, but your site will have an unshiftable promo for the product in the footer. If you get the full developer license you don't have the promo link, and there's support for extras, like a user forum. Whichever you go for, you can use it as often as you want across as many sites as you want, and you can build a child theme if you're setting it up for others, which is great for developers/designers/small business website builders. You hand over the child theme which you have fully customised for your client, and that's a tangible product you can charge for, on top of whatever you want to charge for the use of your Platform Pro license. Right, now I've extolled its virtues, I'm off to build my third Platform Pro website.

using Typekit with WordPress

2011-06-19T16:34:06Z

I've just set up a new website using WordPress (more on that in a separate post) and since WordPress allows for Typekit font replacement I decided to give their free trial version a spin. I replaced the header fonts with a soft handwriting style font (the one I really wanted was only available in the pay-for portfolio, but I might upgrade one day) using Typekit. It was really easy. Here's what you do. Go to Typekit and open an account. Takes two minutes, if that. Generate a tag for your site. Go back to your WordPress settings and paste the tag in your website header scripts. WordPress make this easy to do, it's very similar to setting up your Google Analytics tags, just paste it in the box and save. Now, choose your font(s) and the weights and styles you're after - light, bold, black, oblique, normal etc. Decide which CSS styles/classes you're using the font with - you can also do this directly in your website CSS, up to you. Save. Check out your website with your lovely fancy fonts. recommendations, notes and stuff I learned firefox font replacement delay: known issue I use Safari most of the time, but when I tested out my new site on Firefox i saw that the delay, even on our superfast broadband &emdash; or maybe because of it &emdash; means you can see the fallback font before your Typekit font appears. The font I chose is a compact one and I'm using a light variation, too, so the overall size is much less than a standard sans-serif would be. I suspect it's not as noticeable with similar sized fonts. CSS If you know some CSS you will have more control over how things look on your site. But you really only need to know a little. Since I was changing the headers (the branding is separate in the theme I'm using) I added this code to my CSS file:

h2, h3 {
font-family: "sovba-1","sovba-2",sans-serif;
font-weight: 400;
font-size: 18px;
}

tread lightly You can choose to install just the weight and style you'll need or the whole lot. The less you choose the lighter the kit (font package) and, I expect, the less impact it will have on your website loading times. I added only the two weights I wanted. I'm an inveterate tweaker, so it's likely that in a few weeks I'll update my kit with a different weight, or italic, or even a new font face. fallback font You can choose a fallback for if the font replacement fails (we're promised it's never going to happen, but hey.) Otherwise the browser defaults will kick in, and the viewer will see Verdana, or Times New Roman (god forbid, on your lovely minimalist site) so it's worth doing that. pricing plans The trial plan gives you access to around 150 fonts while the personal library includes over 500 fonts. So if you find the font you want within the trial library, and it's for a low-traffic website, you're laughing. Up to 25,000 page views a month, I think that's really generous. For $25 a year, you can access the personal library and use 10 fonts across 2 websites, with double the page views, too. I'm certainly considering it. I could then tart up booyaa dot org, too. Which is the plainest website in the world right now.

book review: Working it Out by Nicola May

2011-06-06T09:08:12Z

Thanks to Nicola for sending me a copy of her novel. First impressions were good. The cover isn’t pink! It’s attractive, with a cute illustration. Inside, the paper is great quality and the addition of a matching bookmark is a lovely touch. Onto the novel itself. There are some funny moments and the premise — twelve jobs in twelve months — gives the storyline a focus which makes it different from the usual simple romance tale. It also provides lots of opportunities to meet new characters and is an excellent pretext for putting the heroine into a range of interesting situations. It’s got some of the hallmarks of what I understand to be chick lit. There are plenty of exceptionally attractive young men in the story, there are references to real brands of clothing and cosmetics to which we are supposed to aspire, celebrity gossip magazines, reliable girlfriends and white wine. I really tried to like the novel, and the premise, as I said, is great, but the writing style and lack of attention to detail spoilt it for me. The tone of voice is casual to the point of being over familiar. I winced, too, at some scenes which could have been handled more delicately. I also felt uncomfortable at some of the characters’ speech styles, which this review covered very well, I thought. There were gaps in the readers’ knowledge hastily stuffed with a one-line explanation because the rapid movement of the plot didn’t give the author time to develop an atmosphere and let the events unfold. Equally, there were characters to whom we didn’t have time to warm because the narrative whisked us on, and yet we were definitely meant to like them. There’s much talk in the book’s blurb of ‘eccentric characters’ but the most important characters in the story, Ruby and her main love interest George, are one-dimensional and you never really get to know them or understand them. You come to know secondary and lesser characters much better. The heroine’s neighbour, Margaret, is probably the most rounded character. There were too many basic editing lapses. Commas all over the place, repeated use of expressions in consecutive paragraphs, incorrect use of vocabulary and time and again I was hauled out of the narrative by poor editing and clunky sentences. So, in conclusion, there will be women who read this and laugh where I winced, find the familiar tone entertaining and not notice the clunky sentences that annoyed me. There’ll be thousands who enjoy the ride and don’t care about the bumps along the way. Unfortunately, it wasn’t for me. I’ve seen a number of positive reviews for the novel and it looks like it is going to do well. I’m very happy for Nicola and hope her self-published work proves to be successful enough for her to keep writing. It’s a brave thing to self-publish, and I admire her guts and tenacity. Find out more from Nicola's site: www.nicolamay.com

chick lit part 2

2011-06-05T16:25:03Z

No, I didn't know there was going to be a part two either, but after a number of chick lit authors contacted me on Twitter or via the comments on my first chick lit post I got to thinking I should perhaps have expressed myself more clearly. Nicola May contacted me via Twitter and offered to send me her latest novel to prove me wrong. I accepted the challenge and have started reading it. I'm not reading it very fast because I'd already started reading my latest Jo Nesbø and I'm enjoying being scared half to death. But I'm using this moment, before I finish Nicola's novel and write my review of it, to attempt to clarify what I had intended to say. I don't think there's anything wrong with romance novels. I like women writing for women. There are times when something not-too-challenging is just what the doctor ordered. Those are key features of the chick lit genre as I understand it, and I’m not arguing against the validity of any of that. But for me It’s not all about the plot, it’s about the quality of the writing, and that’s where I run into problems with the genre. I originally encountered the term chick lit applied to Bridget Jones's Diary. Now it may not be literature but it's well written, with good grammar and a varied vocabulary. The plot has enough twists to keep you intrigued and it's funny. Yay! Go Helen Fielding! Then along came the hordes of pink-covered paperbacks that women pick up in the airport en route to their annual week of sunbathing. And it seems to me that chick lit is now a term to describe any book written by and for women with a romantic storyline and — crucially — writing of exceptionally low quality. While I was trying to pinpoint what it is that annoys me so much, I read around to see what the consensus is on the definition of Chick Lit. I found this article in the Guardian The chick-lit debate: light doesn't have to mean stupid and wasn't swayed until I read:

So I take issue with those who dismiss all chick-lit as poorly-written fodder for the dim-witted reader. There are some appallingly bad books (as I discovered), but that's true of every single genre.

That was my lightbulb moment. “True of every single genre.” So, thinking back, it reminded me of a novel I gave up after page 3 a couple of years ago. YummyHubby doesn’t read much but a while ago there was a fantasy series he really got into so I tried reading one thinking it would be fun. But where YummyHubby doesn’t notice that the writer has used the same adjective three times on one page, or that there’s a string of poorly constructed sentences that make you work harder to understand the narrative, I notice this stuff and I find it intolerable. He glosses over it, taking in the broad strokes rather than the details. I get pulled into thinking how hard it would be to have written it coherently in the first place. There’s our proof that it’s possible to come across poor examples in all genres. You could say that perhaps I’ve been unlucky and come across some of the worst examples of the chick lit genre, but I did my research and chose popular and respected authors. In most of the novels I read for my project I found clunky writing, out-of-character actions and weaknesses in the narrative. A key point here is that whereas other genres are understood to have a range of quality, chick lit is widely perceived to have just one, exceptionally low, standard. I say that there’s no smoke without fire. For some reason that I don’t understand, the chick lit publishers have waived the usual requirements and are pushing novels through without a decent editor culling and correcting and tightening holes in the plot. That doesn’t mean it’s not a valid market. From the sheer volume of chick lit novels piled up on bookshop tables nowadays I think it’s safe to assume that I’m in the minority and that tens of thousands of women in the UK do enjoy chick lit. Great. Good for them. However, I think it’s sad that an emerging genre which started off as liberating and fun, and finally a place for women writers to feel welcome and their readers to feel unashamed that they enjoy a romance, has ended up bringing upon itself more criticism than admiration, and in some cases outright contempt, all for want of some basic standards. To avoid upsetting anyone, I could say, as my Mum would, ‘Whatever floats your boat.’ Or I could admit that my tolerance level for sloppy writing is exceptionally low (it’s true). I still wonder, though, why the publishers of chick lit choose to publish such poorly-written novels. The genre is synonymous with poor writing for a reason. I just don’t see why it has to be that way. You can sell a touching, funny romance of just under 400 pages with good grammar and a solid plot, so why not do that? What does the genre gain from its bad reputation? Nothing. So why is nobody working hard to fix it?

tomate frito

2011-05-28T22:24:03Z

Let me introduce you to tomate frito. It's a Spanish thing, and the nearest most people in the UK get to it is a good neapolitan sauce on their pasta. I learned to make this in the same way I learn to make most things. I watch somebody do it, ask a few questions to find out what could break it if I messed with the recipe and then I go and do my own thing. At its most basic it's tomatoes and onions cooked for an eternity then puréed and bottled. I make a tastier version of the plain tomato sauce, which is healthier too. You might have come across it in Italy, where it's known as Pomarola. It has a few extra vegetables which thicken the sauce, give a lot of background taste and stop you feeling so guilty for the piles of pasta you're about to consume when you know you're getting your five-a-day in the sauce. First things first. The tomatoes have to be the reddest — and therefore ripest — plum tomatoes you can find. I sometimes use big fat vine tomatoes when they're cheap in the veg shop on the corner. These San Marzano beauties came fabulously cheap from The People's Supermarket.

This recipe is based on 2 kilos/4 pounds of plum tomatoes. It sounds like a lot, but it'll make enough sauce for pasta for 4 on the day you make it and for a couple of large jars to keep for later. Unless you live in our house, in which case you'll use it all up over the next couple of days before it gets to see a sterilised jar. ingredients 2 kg plum tomatoes 1 onion 1 carrot 1 courgette 2 or 3 cloves of garlic bay leaves basil, rosemary or thyme pinch salt and sugar to taste equipment a very large pan knife, chopping board etc. a food mill, pasapurés, mouli, whatever you call it* large bowl for pureeing into sterilised jars how to make it Get chopping the tomatoes. If you have sensitive skin you might want to wear gloves. 2 kilos is a lot of tomatoes. I don't bother to peel them or seed them, as all that is dealt with later when you put the sauce through the pasapurés (food mill). If you're not using a food mill then you can't skip this step. (To peel: score them lightly, plunge into boiling water for a minute, then the peel should come off easily.)

Now chop a large onion, peel a few cloves of garlic, peel and chop a large carrot and a courgette and grab a few bay leaves and a small sprig of herbs, whatever you fancy — basil, rosemary or thyme. Take a large pan and heat a splash of olive oil. Add the onions and a pinch of salt and allow to soften. Add all the other vegetables, plus the chopped tomatoes.

Set the pan over a medium heat until it reaches a gentle boil then turn down the heat. You can cover the pan or use a splatterguard (it is very messy otherwise) and I usually leave them cooking for around an hour. Once everything is mushy turn off the heat and leave it to cool a little. Oily tomato can really burn the skin, so don't take the risk. If using a food mill you'll want to do a couple of ladlefuls at a time, removing herbs as you go (bay leaf doesn't purée well). I employ YummyHubby's biceps to do this part of the recipe for me.

Now, the optional extra step. Pour the purée back in the pan over a low heat, cover with a splatterguard and leave it to reduce for 20 minutes. It'll become super strong and concentrated, and you'll have slightly less left over for bottling, but it's totally worth it. Taste it. I find it usually needs about a teaspoon each of salt and sugar, but it's personal preference. You can always do this when you come to use it, according to how you're serving it. And that's it. Done. Once cool, pour into clean glass jars and keep in the fridge for up to a week. You can freeze it, too, though it's never quite the same as fresh. If you're bottling to keep the sauce for months you need to do it properly. Basically you put the jars in hot water and boil them for 35 minutes to create a vacuum. But there's more to it than that and it'd be a shame to let your hard work go to waste by getting a step wrong. Look it up and follow the instructions and you'll have tomate frito for months to come. how to eat it There's the Italian way, piled up on freshly cooked pasta. While the pasta is draining, melt some butter along with salt and pepper in the pan, pour the pasta back in and stir through. Add a generous sprinkle of grated parmesan then turn out onto plates. Ladle the sauce over the top, garnish with basil leaves and you're done.

And there's the Spanish way. A favourite with egg-loving YummyHubby is easy-peasy Arroz a la Cubana. (I don't know if this is imported to Spain from Cuba or if the Spaniards made it up. Either way, super cheap and tasty.) Sauté a little onion and garlic in a drop of oil, then add rice, continue to cook a little while, add water and a pinch of salt and simmer until done (you can add a handful of frozen peas along with the rice which totally works in this dish). Drain if needed and put into moulds (I use teacups) to set a little. Fry a couple of eggs and a plantain or banana. Turn out the rice onto the plate, add eggs and plantain. Pour a ladleful of tomate frito over the rice. Y está. ¡Que aproveche! *If you don't have a pasapuré then you can roughly purée the sauce in a blender or food mixer and sieve it. Far too much faff for me. And you can get a decent pasapurés in this country for under £30 (as I discovered when my old faithful from Spain became too warped to work any more). If you're new to them, the trick is to set them on top of a pan or a bowl which fits snugly, so that they stay stable. The one I have has legs which sit on the pan edge and it's very sturdy. My sis has a fabulous one with a collar all the way around making it super easy to use, it never wobbles. But they're quite pricey. It's a worthwhile investment if you make this, or gazpacho, often. Otherwise, meh, use a blender.

desperately seeking study

2011-05-19T13:11:53Z

As Virginia Woolf said, "A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write." Well, I'm looking for a room of my own. Our flat is too small for a desk, let alone a study, so I end up sitting on the sofa or putting the laptop on a breakfast tray in bed which isn't conducive to long periods of typing. Plus I get distracted by washing and tidying and, oh yes, the Internet. Until I have my own study in a corner of my house and can shut myself away, I'm looking for somewhere I can go and concentrate. requirements a bright uncluttered space natural light a desk and a comfortable chair peace and quiet needed on Fridays only extra nice easy to get to from Surbiton (on the District Line or a short bus ride from Waterloo would be great) comfy sofa with a great view or a garden/nearby park for thinking time a room all to myself don't need/want Internet A buzzing hub of entrepreneurs Office services (I don't need: someone to answer the telephone, meeting space, PO Box etc.) If you have something which ticks most of the boxes then let me know. I am open to suggestions (your unused garden summerhouse? That could work!) Try me. Answer in the comments and I'll be in touch (the email address you leave when you comment won't show on the site but I can see it, so that's how I'll contact you). Thanks for reading.

to chick lit or not to chick lit

2011-05-03T08:59:32Z

Some time ago I took out six books from the library, all from the Chick Lit genre. I’d done my homework and chose authors who were popular and successful but I also tried to get a range of quality, because, let’s face it, a popular novelist isn’t necessarily a good writer. I had a notebook by me as I read and I noted down characterisation, language, plot, place and anything that stood out, with the intention of having, at the end of the project, a solid idea of what was representative of the genre, what worked, what the magic formula was. This was, of course, as a way to get myself into writing one of these pink-covered books, with a suitably flowery pseudonym in cursive gold lettering jostling for attention with the Bestseller or Book Club sticker. I never finished reading the sixth book. I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t read another line. I still have the notebook and I have ⅓ of a first draft of a for-women, on-the-beach romantic novel. But I’ve abandoned the title Chick Lit. It’s come to mean anything written by women for women with some romance in it. It’s boy-meets-girl, boy messes up, girl flounces off, misery ensues, girl finds someone else, girl persuades herself she’s happy, ex reappears and turns her world upside down, fuss and bother, they get together again and are blissfully happy with wedding bells and baby booties on the horizon. Oh for crying out loud. It’s not such a bad plot in itself, it’s worked for everyone from Shakespeare to Margaret Atwood, but it needs some meat on the bones to make it work. Chick Lit has become, in my mind, eternally associated with low common denominator writing, and I don’t have time to read poorly crafted fiction when there’s so much marvellous stuff out there that I still haven’t read. Romance is an old-fashioned word to use in the literary world these days, but I’m reclaiming it and putting it back where it belongs. And would you believe it, I have just read something I had no idea was a romance until I started reading it, and it fits that sweeping story arc and yet is like nothing I’ve ever read before. I read it in one sitting, bar comfort stops and a lunch break, which I haven’t done since I discovered the Narnia series in the summer holidays when I was 7 and read the lot in the space of a week. The novel I’ve just finished had the standard boy-meets-girl story line but with plenty more going on than that. The language was perfectly pitched, relaxed but not chatty, enough nicely crafted sentences in there to get a nod of approval, great pace with no flagging, lots of great background detail and colourful characters. It really was a marvellous read. And it was written by a man. A MAN! So, Mr David Nicholls and your One Day, you have totally swept me off my feet and restored my faith in the romantic novel. Thank you so much. I shall get on with writing my own now, confidence renewed.

Scrivener and Freedom

2011-05-02T18:54:39Z

I use Scrivener to write. I also increasingly use Mac Freedom. If you write novels, blog for a living, are a scriptwriter or a research student who writes long papers you will find Scrivener useful. It comes as a trial version (with a fabulous 30 uses, rather than 30 days, so if you’re like me, I used it up over the space of 3 months before parting with any money. But even then, it’s so cheap for what you get. It truly is. Lots of people have praised Scrivener, some have picked up on the more useful and/or advanced features and I’m sure there are even video tutorials out there. Mac Freedom cuts off your internet connection. Nice, I hear you say. But it stops you being distracted. If you sit down and set the timer for 120 minutes then you know you can’t use the Internet for 2 hours, so your mind is pushed towards the task at hand. Some people have willpower. I have Mac Freedom. When you use them together they display their true awesomeness. There are times when writing that I don’t know if something is factually accurate or if it clashes with another element in the narrative. Today I needed to know which of the big UK festivals Nirvana played at in their heyday. In my research folder I have their last UK gig, but that’s not enough. So, I highlighted the point where I’d included this potentially inaccurate information, and with a right-click appended it to my research file. I edited my research file to ask a question, alongside the info I had already collected. Later I’ll do my research and update the file. I now have a two-way record of something to check/research. Awesome. If I hadn’t used Mac Freedom I would’ve spent the next two hours drifting around the Internet watching videos of Nirvana at Reading Festival, or trying to find footage from the time I saw them live. This way I carried on writing. Albeit via a distraction in the form of this blogpost.

what I did in the holidays

2011-05-01T22:47:55Z

What did you do in your mammoth 11-day break, Loulou? I built my husband’s new website, edited his content and made it look all pretty for him. Slept late most days, faffed around in the garden a bit, did some washing, went shopping. Read 3 books. You know. Did you write any of the 10,000 words you said you’d write for your languishing novel? Er... I could kick myself sometimes.

#royalreading - reading through the Royal Wedding

2011-04-22T17:30:19Z

Next Friday, in case you haven't noticed, is the Royal Wedding. I am so grateful for the extra Bank Holiday which has given me a whole 11 days off work with just 3 days of my precious holiday allowance. But I haven't the least interest in the RW. What's more, I don't want to be involved in any of the local street parties or mass BBQs. So when @meandmybigmouth (Scott Pack, of The Friday Project and erstwhile buyer for Waterstone's) suggested spending the day reading a novel instead I jumped aboard. Using the hashtag #royalreading Scott is rallying the troops to have a Right Royal Read instead. So, are you going to join us? But what to read? It depends how much you can read in one day. I know I can read a 400 page novel in a day if I don't do much else. If you're planning to make cordon bleu dinner for your extended family you might want to look for something undemanding in the 200 page bracket, or a book of short stories. I haven't decided for sure, but out of the books on my to-read pile it would be either Philip Pullman's The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ which comes in at a generously typeset 245 pages, or DBC Pierre's Lights Out in Wonderland at 313 pages. I'm also tempted by Ian McEwan's Solar at an achievable 304 pages. If you've been enjoying The Crimson Petal and the White on telly—and who hasn't?—you could try the companion read to the novel, Michel Faber's The Apple, which at 200 pages is an easy to accomplish goal. I haven't read it but I understand that if you haven't read the original novel The Apple is full of spoilers. Whatever you choose, a journey through your imagination will lift your spirits and turn a day off work into a day of pleasure.

I feel sorry for people who don't read good books, they're missing the chance to lead a second life. - Scott Corbett

2011 resolutions

2011-01-01T17:21:23Z

Do you make resolutions and then give up on them? I certainly do. I know that last year I wanted to lose weight and run a half marathon. I broke my leg in May and that stuffed my chances of running the half marathon. And the exercise regime I was to follow to get me fit enough to run the race was going to sort out the weight loss. So I failed on both counts. So this year I've got the same resolutions. Damn. In addition, I will write more. I'll be less precious about blogging, and just get it out there. I will finish my novel and send it out to potential agents by the end of this year. I also want to be nicer, kinder and less stressed - these are all connected. Going back to yoga will help with that. This is for me, not for you, but I'm putting it here as I'm taking this advice, and this post constitutes part 2:

Recipe for change: 1. Do it slowly; 2. Make it public; 3. Enjoy the change.

From @zen_habits on Twitter.

New Year's Eve feast

2011-01-01T16:30:12Z

We weren’t sure whether to go out or stay in for New Year’s Eve. Truth be told, I’m just not that excited by the New Year party scene these days. Over the past eight New Year’s Eves we’ve spent together, we’ve generally opted for fancy dinner by candlelight, a bottle of fizz and dressing up even though we’re at home. After the round of family phone calls at midnight we’ve headed to bed at 1am. Two years ago we tried a night out in a local cocktail bar with a Burlesque cabaret and canapes. It was fun, but we were mostly wallflowers and didn’t get the most out of the night. So this year it wasn’t hard to choose to stick with the dinner at home. We’re not even dressing up, we’re both watching a movie in our PJs this time. Whevs. The concession is pushing the boat out on dinner. I like cooking. I really enjoy making new things. But only when I have time and booyaa is around to help chop/tidy/whip etc. I had both time and booyaa today. The menu, which I’ve been mulling over for a few days, turns out to be a nod to the many New Year’s Eve feasts enjoyed round a groaning table at the house of ‘La Tia’ in Spain. There’d be 13 or 14 of us and 3 dogs. We’d all sit down to eat about 10:30pm. At midnight you eat a grape on each chime of the clock then let fireworks off the balcony (stupidly dangerous) before heading out to really get the party started at about 2 am. Hometime was around 9am, via a cafe for chocolate con churros. *shudder* I don’t really do recipes, so these are all made up on the spur of the moment and I didn’t measure anything. I’m sorry. It’s all vegetarian but not remotely healthy. It includes my egg and dairy quota for about three months. Puerros a la Vinagreta (That’s leeks in vinaigrette. I know. Give it a chance. Very popular starter even in fancy restaurants, and a sure-fire hit when you don’t know what to feed the veggie while everyone else is dismantling lobsters with abandon.) Trim a couple of slender leeks, be ruthless, you only want the very whitest part of the leek (use the green bit to make some stock for a soup). Steam them until they’re melt-in-the-mouth soft. Hard boil an egg, leave to cool. Finely chop (we’re talking miniscule, 2mm pieces) a quarter of a red pepper and the egg. Make a vinaigrette to taste. (I use sherry vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, big teaspoon of medium-hot mustard, pinch of salt.) Lay the cooked, cooled leeks on a flat dish, sprinkle with the red pepper and pour the vinaigrette over. Leave to marinade in the fridge until you’re ready for them. Sprinkle the chopped egg over to serve. booyaa's verdict:

I'll give it a thumbs up. Lovely, melt-in-the-mouth texture. You wouldn't think from the ingredients it would be up too much, but the way it's cooked and put together it's a pleasant surprise.

Mushroom Vol-au-Vent with caramelised shallots (Or Poncey Pasties with Onions and Gravy. There were always vol-au-vents at La Tia’s on NYE, usually stuffed with crab and shrimp.) Slice 3 shallots longways and saute in butter in a heavy pan for quite some time, until they caramelise. Add a splash of madeira/sherry/similar and reserve. Clean and slice your mushrooms. I used about 200g shiitake mushrooms, 100g chestnut mushroom and a handful of porcini mushroom. Simmer the dried porcini mushrooms in a little water for 5 minutes. Keep the soak water for the jus. Around about now you want to put the oven on ready to bake your pastry. Roll out a sheet of puff pastry (I bought ready rolled and used one of the two sheets) to make just bigger than an A4 sheet of paper. Cut into 4 not-quite-squares. In two of them you need to cut out the middle. You’re making oblong vol-au-vents. Using some of the egg white left over from the semifreddo you made earlier or a whole egg beaten, brush the edges of the bottom oblong with egg, lay the outside strip on top and pinch together lightly. That will make the ‘walls’ of the vol-au-vent. The bit you cut out of the middle will serve as a lid. Brush everything with egg. Bake at 180ish for 15 minutes. Melt a knob of butter and add the mushrooms. Saute until cooked. While they’re cooking, make the jus. Put the porcini soak water in a pan with a bunch of lemon thyme or sage or perhaps tarragon. Add a generous glug of madeira/sherry/red wine and a teaspoon of redcurrant jelly. Reduce until almost a toffee. Take the herbs out, then add a knob of butter and stir well. That's done. Assemble. Layer the shallots in the hole in the vol-au-vent - you can push down the pastry if it's risen too high - then layer the mushrooms over the top. Drizzle with jus and serve. (We considered making pommes allumettes to have pasty and chips, but had too much lunch to fit that in.) booyaa's verdict:

That was delicious. Another thumbs up. The jus was super tasty. And who could say no to a giant vol-au-vent?

Semifreddo al Turrón (Or soft ice-cream with nougat. Turrón is a Christmas/New Year sweet treat made from almonds.) There are plenty of recipes out there, this one’s a mixture of a few. I can heartily recommend Donna Hay’s Passionfruit Semifreddo recipe but it wasn’t what I wanted for today. Put 2 eggs plus a yolk and 250g golden icing sugar in a glass bowl over a pan of simmering water and beat until it turns pale and thickens. Beat for another few minutes off the heat. Whip 250ml double cream until it forms soft peaks. Fold a splash of Tia Maria//Baileys/Amaretto and a glug of maple syrup through the cream then fold that into the egg mixture. Chop up half a bar of chewy or brittle nougat and stir that in. Gently pour into a freezer-proof bowl and freeze for about 6 hours. It should be soft-serve so leave it in the freezer until you're ready for it. To serve, you could decorate with praline almonds, amaretti biscuits or a sprig of fresh berries. booyaa's verdict:

Very tasty. Very rich and creamy, delicious. The texture reminded me of Cornish vanilla ice cream. Looking forward to more tonight.

We’re having a bottle of organic vintage cava to go with it. It seems appropriate to wish you a ¡Muy Feliz Año!

clothing lust

2010-07-30T21:47:14Z

I saw this and decided that I get the romper/playsuit thing. Finally. Are there any left? From Anthropologie. Purveyor of must-have clothes, though generally not for the fainthearted.