Food for thought

While I'm killing an hour or two till it's time to have dinner, I thought I'd answer a questionnaire about food that I found in Sarah's blog.

1. How do you like your eggs? I'm not that keen on eggs.
2. How do you take your coffee/tea? White, 1 sugar.
3. Favorite breakfast food: I don't eat breakfast. At a push, I'll have Greek yoghurt and honey, or a bacon sandwich.
4. Peanut butter - smooth or crunchy? Smooth. On a bagel, with papaya jam. Yummie.
5. What kind of dressing on your salad? Vinaigrette.
6. Coke or Pepsi? Diet Coke.
7. You’re feeling lazy, what do you make? Soup or pasta.
8. You’re feeling really lazy. What kind of pizza do you order? Pepperoni or something Greek-style (fresh tomatoes, green peppers, feta cheese and black olives).
9. You feel like cooking. What do you make? Probably soup. Or sweet and sour pork chops.
10. Do any foods bring back good memories? Tomato soup like my dad used to make.
11. Do any foods bring back bad memories? How can food be associated with bad memories?
12. Do any foods remind you of someone? Spaghetti carbonara reminds me of hubby because he used to cook it all the time for me when we first met :-)
Apple strudel reminds me of my friends at uni (you know who you are!).
13. Is there a food you refuse to eat? I don't eat lamb and I'm not too keen on artichokes
14. What was your favorite food as a child? Lentil or cheekpea soup.
15. Is there a food that you hated as a child but now like? Nope, my tastes have pretty much stayed the same over the years.
16. Is there a food that you liked as a child but now hate? I've gone off cheekpeas somewhat.
17. Favorite fruit and vegetable: Watermelon. Tomato.
18. Favorite junk food: Chocolate.
19. Favorite between meal snack: Fruit (but I usually end up eating biscuits or chocolate or chocolate biscuits).
20. Do you have any weird food habits? I eat aubergines raw and I like crunchy fruit rather than juicy ones. I love crunchy nectarines.
21. You’re on a diet. What food(s) do you fill up on? Pasta or soup.
22. You’re off your diet. Now what would you like? Pasta, soup, pizza, cheese and chocolate.
23. How spicy do you order Indian/Thai? Medium to hot.
24. Can I get you a drink? I'll have a pomegranate juice or a strawberry mochito, please!
25. Red wine or white? Rose. Preferably White Zinfandel.
26. Favorite dessert? Ice-cream.
27. The perfect nightcap? Coffee with Baileys or spiced Chai with extra milk.

Anyone else want to share your foody thoughts with us?

An apple a day

October 21st is Apple Day. There are no events near where I am that I know of, so I thought I'd celebrate with an apple-centric post. Apples are my all-time favourite winter fruits (my favourite summer fruit is the watermelon) and seeing carts full of them at the supermarket is what says to me "autumn's here" more than any other sight, smell or sound.

My favourite variety is the Pink Lady, which sadly isn't UK grown, but has to be imported from Australia and other far away lands with hot climates. You may think Pink Lady is a fancy name for an apple (and you'd be right) but British varieties have even more interesting names - you really can't beat Slack-me-girdles and Cox’s Orange Pippins!

If you're in the north hemisphere and looking for seasonal inspiration in the kitchen, BBC's Food pages list a number of traditional apple-based or apple-enhanced recipes, such as tart tatin, strudel, crumble, pie and also sausage & apple patties, curried parsnip & apple soup and many more. There are also some "lifestyle" recipes (ranging from iced apple margarita to caramelised apple & pate brioche bites) in the Pink Lady website.

As for me, I'm off to pour myself a glass of M&S Pure British Cox Apple juice. Cheers!

Prepare for Halloween

Are you planning to take your pooch trick or treating on October 31st? Let them participate in the festive fun by getting them their very own costume - turn them into a Hot Dog! Hehe.

Available in two sizes, small and medium, from Amazon over the pond.

You can't beat this for sheer entertainment value - although having a baby snail around the house has got to be good too.

I just thought this was sooooo funny! If I had a dog, I'd order the costume for them and get them to wear it all year round, or at least every time I was down and needed a pick me up :-)

Season 6 of Spooks starts tomorrow

Finally, they're back :-)

I can't wait for Adam - the babe - Carter to appear on my TV screen again. I'm sooooo delighted he didn't drown after all. It's bad enough that the writers have got rid of all my favourite characters (Tom, Zoe, Danny, Sam, Christine). If Adam goes, too, that's the end of Spooks for me. So there.

Tuesday nights, BBC ONE @ 9:00 PM.

LOTR vs. Harry Potter

Apparently, Daniel Radcliffe (of Harry Potter fame) was given a picture of Hobbit Star Elijah Wood to autograph by a mistaken Japanese fan. Commenting on the incident, he said:

"If I were a bit more puerile, I would have written, "The Lord of the Rings is rubbish".

As someone who fell asleep half an hour into the Fellowship of the Ring, I'm inclined to agree. Go Harry!

We've won!!!

Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home!

Way hey! We're through to the final :-))))))))))))

What a game.

(Sorry, French people, this must suck.) Hehe.

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree...

...you're looking all lopsided!

No, I've not posted the picture upside down, this really is in the shops.

A fantastic space-saving idea which originated in the U.S. This upside down spruce effect tree leaves plenty of room underneath for all your Christmas gifts. Includes stand.

Now, what I want to know is... where does the fairy go?!