The Sunday Salon – Creative Escape

We have a big, nerve racking day tomorrow, so to take my mind off it I’ve been keeping myself creatively busy all day, I find the process of creating something soothing and in that definition of creating something I include reading. I can’t remember who said this (it may have been Stephen King) but the reader does alot of the work when reading a book, filling in the gaps in the page to create a picture in their head. So, I’m still very firmly in the 17th century, unfortunately though still stuck in a plague enclosed hostelry in Rome where the main character is proving to have an overly melodramatic turn of phrase and the other characters are still walking around talking in lists or in history lectures and often both. Imprimatur is still proving hard going but I want to know who did it (although I’m not totally sure I’m going to understand who did it when I get there – please nobody tell me). There was one unintentionally (intentional?) moment in today’s reading though, as I managed to get more or less to the half way point of the book wondering if I should be taking written notes like I’m doing with my 17th non-fiction reading at the moment, the first paragraph of the chapter Day the Seventh read;

Even in those days overburdened with emotion, there would sometimes arise and keep turning in my mind an edifying maxim which the old lady who had so lovingly educated and instructed me was wont to chant, as one does with children: never leave a book half-read.

That’s told me then.

Orange juice and olive oil cake with pine nuts

 

In case you hadn’t guessed, I’m menu planning from Tessa Kiros’ Apple for Jam this week (and probably next, there’s so many recipes I want to do). This afternoon me and Girl Lacer had a go at making Kiros’ Orange Juice and Olive Oil Cake with pine nuts, probably the most ‘technically difficult’ cake I’ve made with her so far. Still, we had fun, lots of new techniques for her, whisking egg whites and squeezing oranges.

The recipe was for making two cakes and I thought why not? I’ve always wanted to run the sort of household where there was always a bit of home made cake or biscuit somewhere (and that never happens because they always get eaten really quickly, but even we would not polish off two cakes that quickly!). Anyway the resulting cakes were a little ah hem flat, that’s because me and Girl Lacer didn’t whisk the egg whites properly but they’re still tasty and actually bordering on healthy with the pine nuts and the copious amounts of olive oil. Talking of the olive oil, I’d recommend using a really good olive oil as you can really taste it in the cake, I’m using Waitrose Organic 100% Italian olive oil at the moment (it was on special offer, I’m not normally that posh) but you can really appreciate it’s taste. Also the use of olive oil means that the cake is dairy free (always handy if Boy Lacer does turn out to fail his intolerance test).

Tessa Kiros’ Tomato Lasagne

Oh my that was delicious! Tessa Kiros’ Tomato Lasagne from Apples for Jam is one of those recipes I’ve been meaning to make for a while and why did I wait so long! Basically lasagne constructed from a lovely basic tomato sauce with a bechamal sauce (and Kiros’s method for making it was some how so much more easier than other bechamal sauces I’ve made), some sprinklings of parmesan and some lasagne sheets, that’s about it! The only secret is to add a little bit of water to your tomato sauce to make is liquid enough to soak into your no pre-cook dry lasagne sheets. Three out of four Lacer’s loved it, Boy Lacer who’s having a cow dairy day as we’ve finally got round to doing a summer intolerance test and therefore could eat this, refused to touch it as he doesn’t like creamy dishes. All you other parents out there, what do you do if one of your children point blank refuses to eat a certain type of dish? I refuse to go down the path of separate meals. We’re lucky in that Boy Lacer, although he’s been on a cow dairy free diet is ok to eat goats milk products so most dishes are adaptable, if he’d eat them that is.

Some David Tennant Stuff

Oooh I’m getting excited about seeing Hamlet this August (this is where I add the obligatory note that I am not going to see Hamlet just because David Tennant is in it* and that I have seen lots of Shakespeare productions with completely un-famous people in before). There’s a rash of rather nice photos appearing on the net, now I’m not sure about the legalities and net niceties of pasting them here, so I’ll just have to be content with posting the links, but they will all be worth clicking on, trust me.

The first picture, which makes me go all gooey inside with it’s dark, lovely, broodiness can be found here. David Tennant in a black coat, sigh. (Link found originally at Digital Spy).

The second lot of pictures can be found here at david-tennant.com here and show David Tennant and cast rehearsing Hamlet.

Finally for a non-Hamlet related good laugh featuring the unlikely mix of David Tennant and Jeremy Clarkson check out David Tennant in a Reasonably Priced Tardis on YouTube.

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* Nope, I’m also going to see it because it’s got Patrick Stewart in to!