Espe and I had the pleasure of being invited to the opening and prize ceremony of the Medico del Mundo annual photo exhibition at La Casa Encendida. We both love photography so an opportunity to check out another exhibition was not to be missed, but we were pleasantly surprised by the food and drink we were served while wandering about. The photos, as expected, were amazing but at the same time quite disturbing. They served to illustrate some of the pain and suffering seen over the last year. Unsurprisingly the Tsunami and genocide in Sudan featured strongly. We stayed for…
An excellent series all about American paratroopers role in World War 2. I got this for Christmas after a recommendation from Niel while out in Poland. Very well made, based on many true facts, characters and stories from survivors. Although hard hitting its been really entertaining until the penultimate episode where the truth suddenly hit home when they stumbled across a concentration camp. I must admit to being hit harder by the reality of what happened, than by actually walking around Auschwitz. The most striking part of this was seeing and sharing the feelings with the soldiers who walked into…
Even if I do say so myself, I cooked another excellent dinner last night… Despite having done a huge shop a few days previous we were a little short on substantial ingredients. Looking over a few cook books Nigel Slater, once again, came up trumps… 90 minutes later I’d prepared an incredibly simple, yet very tasty dish: Ingredients 3 Potatoes 1 Onion Handful of Mushrooms 4 rashers of streaky bacon 2 Garlic Cloves 2 tbsp Olive oil 50g butter Shed load of Thyme 100g Cheese (the softer the better) First off I sliced up the potatoes and then fried the…
I’ve had quiet weekend / week, with the exception of meeting up with Ros and Carlos for Dinner on Saturday evening. Then, as always, two invites came up at once. Espe and I were invited to two birthday meals last night. Initially we popped along to see Klaar. Nice to catch up with her and her friends. Nico bought her a really funky Buddist ornament, that when used correcly emits a soothing humming sound. Reminded me of one of the temples we visited I Mongolia. Got to get myself one of those. Its a real shame we weren’t able to…
Check this out: What happened on the 2005 Mongol Rally. Cool! So what’s next? The Rickshaw Run maybe?
Being on call all weekend I knew a quiet weekend was in store. I planned a Sunday Roast for Saturday evening, and then decided to invite Philippe, Ana, Jon and Pete along to try and dispell the myth about how terrible English cooking is. Even if I do say so myself, it turned out very well. Roast Chicken with roast potatoes, sausages, bacon, (home made) stuffing, carrots, brocolli, peas, sweetcorn and gravy. So here is how I did it: Made the stuffing. Minced up 4 pork(ish) sausages with 120 grams of breadcrumbs and a table spoon of parsley and sage.…
I’ve started to notice a trend with these posts. When I’m having a good time, I don’t stop to update the page. When I’m in a foul mood, I write as a form of therapy. So yes, I’m pissed off again. Guess what… road works, landlords and Spanish traffic, but I won’t go into that in detail. All I will say is that we were about to sign a contract on a flat yesterday (one we’d been working toward for the last 6 weeks) when we discovered a new construction, building a block of flats, had started up next door.…
Nice to be back in the UK. Welcomed by clear sunny winter days, Espe and I have had a busy extended weekend. Tarnished only by persistent colds and coughs for the pair of us. Saturday saw us off to Clapham North for the Annual Christmas Tapas meal, this time combined with Dan & Holly’s leaving do. Heading off to Australia on Boxing day they were graced by the company of 70 friends and colleagues. An excellent afternoon had by all, and I must say, a considerably less messy evening than the last two years. It was great to…