Snow snow go away

When its cold outside and I'm housebound because of the state of the roads I always feel like baking.
When I was snowed in last year I made shortbread, and last week when I was snowed in I got some yeast out of the freezer and turned to my trusty old Carluccio recipe book for foccacia. It turned up trumps with instructions for a rosemary and salt topped version - Handy as I had some rosemary sitting in the fridge which was getting rather ancient and needed using up.

So, I got the woodburner going so that at least one room in the house was warm enough for bread to rise, and set about bread-making. Just the smell of baking bread and the waft of rosemary was enough to make the house feel more inviting. The bread was fragrant from rosemary with a lovely salty top.



This is a bread to be eaten super fresh. It was wonderful warm from the oven, but not so good the next day, although it might reheat or toast well.

Also this week, a curry bonanza! Prawn boohna (just what I needed after a long run), spicy rainbow trout (lovely flavours, but I overcooked the fish a bit so it was slightly on the dry side), pakoras (I hate deep frying things but I don't suppose there's any other way of doing these, and they are a great addition to a curry dinner).

A good food week!

At the weekend I went to see the film of Julie and Julia . Since the book inspired me to cook in a more varied way I thought I should definitely see the film. It was amusing and engaging, and made me realise that I still haven't attempted lobster thermidor. That was the first thing onto my recipe list, and I haven't yet steeled myself to dispatch a lobster in boiling water.

I feel I need to face up to it fairly soon.

Although, my 6 month marker is in sight so maybe I can put it off until then.

Julia Child must have been America's answer to Elizabeth David, although I'm not sure who came first. My mum tells me she has 2 copies of Elizabeth David's French Cookery book and has offered to donate one to me. Until now I haven't taken up the offer, as whenever I browse through it it has VERY bossy instructions, and VERY daunting looking recipes. However, I think the time has come to stop being a scaredy cat.

UPDATE:
Ooooh...Meryl Streep just won Best Actress at the Golden Globes for her portrayal of Julia Child.

How it started....

It all started with a book.

Specifically, this book:

So I suppose, technically, it all started with a blog. Which seems rather modern to me, although I'm aware I'm a few years behind the times.

Having been recommended the film of the book of the blog by another blogger (are you keeping up?!) I decided to start with the book. I still haven't got round to the film, but that's beside the point. At about the halfway point of the book I had a sudden realisation that I have a rather large collection of cookery books. They take up a whole shelf. And yet, the majority of the time I cook the same few meals.

I decided to start a PROJECT.

Since I had no desire to cook my way through an entire recipe book as Julie did I resolved instead to cook at least one new recipe per week. It seemed manageable, and even with a couple of weeks off through the year that would mean 50 new recipes in a year. I do like a nice even number, so that sealed the deal!

Here goes....