walk to work

walk to work, a photo by alysesterling on Flickr.

Sweet Potato Pasta Bake

Yummmmy. I had a bunch of leftover pasta so I looked around the cupboard to see what else I had lying about. This turned out to be rich, full of flavour and a perfect late lunch indulgence.

Ingredients:

2 large or 3 small sweet potatoes - peeled and diced

1 Big handful of cooked linguine (next time will do better measurements)

2/3 cup milk

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 cube vegetable stock, dissolved in 1/4 cup water

4-inch cube of blue cheese

4-inch cube mature cheddar cheese

4 tablespoons of cream cheese

2 tablespoons of creme fraiche

breadcrumbs

chopped coriander (cilantro)

Method:

Cooked the cubes of sweet potato in the microwave for 4 minutes until softened. Mix pasta with sweet potatoes in a large pot. Add the creme fraiche, cream cheese, chopped blue cheese and cheddar, paprika and vegetable stock. Mix well. Put into a 9 inch casserole dish. Pour milk on top. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and coriander.

Bake in a preheated oven 200 C for about 30 minutes. Done.

Healthy Lunch.

Sliced avocado, chickpeas, santini tomatoes (my favourite), shooting broccoli shoots warmed in the microwave. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Done. YUM.

Tea For Two or Four - with Crumpets.

Vintage Serving tray with blues, greens and turqoise £2 Battersea Carboot Sale

Homemade chutney from Chichester Chutney. Yum.
Folding Pastry Display £1 - Oxfam Earls Court

Two sets of Two. Bone China. Fontwell Carboot Sale £4 for the lot.

Now. I need a teapot. Any ideas?!

Still cool, but not as good.

Art Everywhere - Walk to Work

I wish I could cut this down and frame it. It's perfect.

Stockwell, London

Films - A New Perspective

When I was searching for images that represented The Secret In Their Eyes, I came across an artist who does his own rendition of the graphics for various books, movies, TV series and sells the prints. His name is Matt Needle and his website has these prints, among others, for sale. I like his deconstructed perspective - cutting it back to just the essence. I like things to be FULL - so it does make me a little uncomfortable, but maybe that's why I like it.

Anyway, along with The Secret In Their Eyes here is another one of my favourite films through the eyes of another.

(Source: Matt Needle)

The Secret In Their Eyes

I throughly enjoyed this beautiful Argentinean film about a retired prosecutor (or the argentinean equivalent) who revisits the case that has haunted him for a lifetime. While this is the overarching plot the true stories lies in the subtleties of the subplots and the humanness of the characters performed. I was trying to describe what I liked about it to a friend and the first word that came to mind was balanced. Meaning, that while the narrative didn't loose site of 'the point' the audience is reminded that life, and this film, is a construction of all that is beautiful and painful joined hand in hand. I really loved it. It's out on DVD.

Post Secret - A Lifetime of Secrets

I have known and enjoyed Post Secret for some time now. I like going to the website on a Sunday when the latest 'secrets' have been uploaded to have a good nose around. It's perfect for a 'curious' person like myself. There is something about this that makes me want to look into myself and find secrets to release. I can't think of anything off the top of my head, but I think that my daily journaling (3 pages every morning as suggested by The Artist's Way) will lead me to uncover what lies beneath.

It also got me thinking about people that I would like to know about. Who's secret would I most like to know. Maybe my deceased grandfather, Peter Mariani, because I would liked to have known him better.

If I think of a secret or if you do - here is the address to send it to.

So as the new owner of this book, I thought it would be fun to randomly open the page and post a picture of whatever I opened to. No second goes. This is what I opened to. Is that a message from God?!

Oxfam Earl's Court - Charity Shops

The Oxfam in Earls Court is the everyday Battersea Car Boot sale. A little collection of cheap, eclectic goods with daily turnover. I usually have one or two running items that I would like to buy. For example a TEAPOT -- but it has to be the right one. I haven't found yet. But otherwise, I just go in with an open mind! Since I work in the area, I visit pretty much every day at my lunch break to check out the goods. It's a pretty exciting place full of a variety of characters (other regulars like me) books, clothes, shoes, some small home goods....

Here is what I got today:

1. LeSportSac - Bright Apple Green and NEW! £1.99

2. Tie Rack - Complete with Christmas paper still attached HA! Good for Mr's ties .99p.

3. Handpainted Pink Candle Holder - just so pretty. .99p

4. Post Secret "A Lifetime of Secrets"- don't read in public places, you may cry. £2.99

5. Stainless Steel Corkscrew (for when I am back on the wine) .49p

Look how pink and pretty. love.

Healthy Dinner #1 - Whole Wheat Sweet Potato PIzza

Lately, I have been trying to eat only food that is has no refined carbohydrates, sugar or dairy. I've also cut back on caffeine by only drinking jasmine green tea, herbal teas and water (no wine for the time being either. sigh.) Maybe it lead me into a full on 21-day Junger Cleanse Detox (which is a little scary and I am not to commit to that). In the meantime, I hope that some of my annoying health ailments of late will be reduced. But how fun can life be without white flour, sugar, milk, cheese and champagne?!?! It's actually been much easier than I thought and I really don't feel like I am missing anything - during the week anayway. Also, it's given me a chance to experiment with some recipes. Here's the first Pizza with sweet potato and whole wheat dough with spinach and shallot topping. It was yummy.

The Whole Wheat Sweet Potato Dough Recipe:

For the Dough:
1 large or 2 small sweet potato (equal to 1 1/2 cups mashed), peeled, cut into pieces and boiled until soft
2 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
2 oz. cold water
2 TB olive oil

For the Topping:

2 tomatoes

3 cloves garlic - crushed

1 can beans (pinto, black, whatever really)

5 shallots or 1 onion

1/2 bag spinach

olive oil

salt & pepper

mixed herbs

I kneaded the ingredients for the dough in a bowl before putting it on the counter to roll out. Roll to 3/4 inch thickness and then place onto a pizza pan sheet.

Once the pizza dough is on the sheet, drizzle with olive oil, mixed herbs and crushed garlic. Top with sliced tomatoes. Bake in a high heat oven 200ºC for 30 minutes.

For the topping slice shallots and simmer in olive oil in a small pan. Add Beans and spinch until wilted. Remove the dough from oven and pour contents of pan onto pizza. Voila!

refine

Pimlico Car Boot Sale

Sunday's are usually reserved for the Battersea Car Boot Sale. But, considering that despite the fact that it's June, it was cold and pouring with rain. So, I decided to check out Pimlico Car Boot. It's much smaller but also fewer 'pro' vendors. It's mostly just people trying to get rid of their extra stuff - this is my favourite kind. The other plus is that it was indoors - much nicer on a wet, cold day. Here is what we got:

1. Two Moleskin Notebooks for - £7 (yes, for both). One large, one small.

2. Caran D'Ache Classic fibre-tipped pens - £1.50

3. Blow DVD - £2

4. Delicatessen DVD - £1

5. Two boxes of Pukka Tea. Detox: Aniseed, Cardamon and Fennel. Cleanse: Peppermint, Nettle and Fennel. - both for £1 (had been opened, but each only was missing one tea bag)

6. Fleetwood Mac Greatest Hits Vinyl Record - £2

7. Chopsticks - 6 mixed sets. .50p

FIND OF THE DAY-

8. Nikon L35 AF Camera - this is a 35mm film camera that is in perfect condition. I can't wait to take pictures the old way and get them developed! Might be a whole new passion of lomography.