OTP EXHIBITION LAUNCH PARTY

OTP CREW'S COMING OF AGE :)

http://www.1netrickpony.blogspot.com/

I KNOW HALLOWEEN HAS GONE BUT...

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PANDA&SWEETIES

I've sold my bike to Sara. She came over to my flat to collect it and couldn't resist trying on "the famous" panda costume!

I found a STASH of sweeties in GP's room! I've taken this picture as evidence...

SUNDAY'S BREAKFAST

Scones on a Sunday morning :)
I know they are meant for tea...
Here is my recipe.
For 12 scones you'll need:

• 2 cups of flour
• 50g of salted butter
• 1 cup of buttermilk
• 1 and a half teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
  

Preheat the oven at 200C. Sift the flour, the baking powder and the bicarbonate of soda. Cut the butter in little cubes and add it to the flour. Rub in lightly using your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Make a well in the centre and pour in the buttermilk. Use a spatula to mix to a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface and knead lightly. Handle the mixture with a very light hand. If you knead the dough too much your scones will turn out very tough. With a rolling pin (or even by hand) press the dough out to a thickness of approx. 2cm. Then with a sharp cutter cut out your scones. I use a heart-shaped one :)

Place on an oven tray and bake for 10/12 minutes. I don't usally grease my tray and they never stick. Cool them for 10min. and serve them with strawberry jam and clotted cream.

Success guaranteed!

BUSY BEE :)

I have disappeared for a while ;)
I've got so many things going on in my life at the moment that sometimes I wish one day had more than 24 hours.
Halloween Soup!

It is good for you and for the bats, too!
Bafta hosted a series of screenings of new Japanese films. I got a couple of free tickets from the Japanese Embassy for "Teacher and Three Children", by venerable director Kaneto Shindo.

I also got tickets for Mental, a documentary about mental illness in Japan, by Kazuhiro Soda.
Both films were very good and I enjoyed them very much.

Royal Festival Hall. I was in for a treat...

A talk by Werner Herzog certainly means a big deal to me. I've been enjoying and admiring his work for something like 25 years!!! God, I'm getting old. I was 10 when I first saw "Nosferatu, Phantom der Nacht".

He is a living legend yet very approachable and down to earth. Cool people are not stuck-up.

Very friendly and witty. A great mind, full of life and curiosity.

Genius!

Dinner by GP! Lovely :)

Lunch at Cafe Uno.

MY BESPOKE CARBONARA

My carbonara is one of the favourite dishes of my dinner guests. Marco from Naples especially is a big fan and requests it every time he comes over.
There isn't anything fancy or special about my recipe. In fact, it is one of the most basic recipes I know.
There is only one main rule for me when I make carbonara: ABSOLUTELETY NO CREAM!

Here is what you need for 2/3 people:

100g smoked, diced pancetta
2 eggs
50g of grated grana padano (or parmesan)
50g of grated pecorino romano
3 table spoons of olive oil
250g spaghetti (or linguine)
salt
pepper

Boil a big pot of salted water.
In the meantime mix the grated cheese with 1 whole egg and 1 yolk. Beat the mixture with a fork until you obtain a creamy texture. Add salt and freshly grinded pepper. If you don't have the pecorino, just use 100g of grana or parmesan.
Once the water is boiling, add the pasta. Cook it very al dente. About 2 minutes before the pasta is cooked, fry the pancetta with the olive oil.
Drain the pasta and transfer it in a large bowl, preferably warm. Pour the egg mixture onto to pasta and mix well. Then pour the pancetta while the oil is still frying. Mix again. The warmth of the pasta and the hot olive oil will cook the egg. This is why it is important that your pasta is cooked al dente. If not the temperature will overcook it and the mixing will make it mushy. Nothing worse than overcooked pasta!
Check that the carbonara is seasoned enough and serve at once.

Useful tips in case of disaster: if the pasta is too dry drizzle with cold olive oil; if too "slimy" sprinkle with cheese. It shouldn't happen with my recipe though ;)

NICE HARUMI DINNER :)

My sister got me the new book by Harumi Kurihara "Everyday Harumi". This is one of the many nice presents I received for my birthday (last Monday).

I love this book. It is full of simple recipes, tips and great ideas that I can use to create fast, but seriously tasty dinners even when I come back late from work.

Let's try to make ginger pork! I didn't have any pak choi, so I used green beans instead. I also cooked some brown rice to go with it.

Here is my ginger pork. I'll definitely make it again. I can't wait to try another recipe from this book. Thank you Volpe!

SIMPLY SEA BREAM

I got this nice fresh sea bream at the Alexandra Palace Farmer's Market. I cleaned it and washed it well. Remember to remove the gills, because they give the fish a bitter taste!

A drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper, basil, garlic and cherry tomatoes and it is ready to go in the oven wrapped in foil. Cook for approx. 15min at 200C. Careful when you open the foil parcel! Steam is painful...

Super easy, super fast and super tasty!

HOLIDAY IN THE ALPS - PART 2

I've been very busy lately and didn't have a chance to update!
Anyway, this is the 2nd part of my holiday's posting. It includes animals and hiking pictures.
As a first warming-up hike, I chose to go to Rifugio Bignami, approx. 1h30min walk from the higher damm at Campo Moro. Right at the start I spotted this wild mountain goat with her kid!

The path follows the side of the damm and gets steep only for the last 15min.

It isn't dangerous and you can get nice views of the artificial lake.

Here is a view of the path with the Alpine hut in the distance. Not too far!

Rifugio Bignami is actually quite big once you get closer!

I think it can accomodate up to 60 people sleeping there. It is at 2400mt and it is a good starting point for harder walks.

Welcomed by a friendly donkey... and by a curious calf. How cute!

There were also two noisy dogs up there.

Laundry hanging to dry...


This picture is hilarious! I called it "The Patriot", haha!

Well, with these amazing views at least I have a reason to feel patriotic ;)

If the weather is a bit uncertain, it is better not to go for long hikes. The weather at high altitude can change for the worse in a matter of minutes and you can find yourself in serious trouble. The mountains are a safe place, but there are rules that must be respected.

This is a view of Pizzo Scalino (3323mt) from Rifugio Cristina. This hut is located at 2287mt on the green pastures of Alpe Prabello. It takes about 1h30 min to reach this point and it is an ideal place for a family pic-nic.

Refilling my bottle!

Someone else is thirsty! This is Arctic, a beautiful and friendly husky.

Alpe Prabello is home to many animals. Prabello literally means "beautiful meadow".

Proud mummy...

Super soft baby!

This pig fell asleep in the sun! On my way back I saw it again and he got a bit sun-burnt!!!

These goats belong to a big herd. Unfortunately they were too many and their owner had to cull some... if you read my previous post you can see a delicious plate of goat stew... well... this may sound cruel, but I later found out that the stewed goat belonged to this herd... I feel a bit sorry...

This is the path to the Campagneda Pass. I followed it to reach the Cornetto of Pizzo Scalino, basically "a little horn" at the base of the mountain's pyramid. It takes about 3 hours from rifugio Cristina to the Pizzo Scalino summit. A bit too scary for me... the Cornetto would do!

You see what I mean? How do you climb that black wall?!

And it looks easy, but the more you climb up the further the summit goes!

You can get great views from up there...

As I said before, the weather can change very quicly when you are high up. I had to turn back because of these menacing clouds. I made it home just in time! The clouds can come down and make visibility very low. Also, you can easily get struck by lightning!