Done

So, that's it ... November is done and dusted. I blogged and then I blogged and then I blogged and now I'm taking a couple of days off. At least I think I am UNLESS something fabulous happens ;o) To everyone else who made it - Congratulations and now relax.

Making the points stretch

I love pasta bolognaise/in meat ragu and one of the awful things about WW-ing is that it just doesn't really fit in with the diet ... I can hear you all saying "of course it does!" But I like juicy, oozy meat and lashings of olive oil and glugs of red wine and parmesan shavings and sides of garlic bread and Ben & Jerry's for dessert and a couple more glasses of merlot to wash it down ... but I digress and I've made myself dribble and spit all over the monitor.

So anyway, when I decided in June that I needed to loose the weight I realised that I needed to change the way a) I made my sauce and b) the way I ate and enjoyed it.

Firstly this would not all be possible without the wonder that is spray light. I've stopped using tomato puree - because of the amount of oil in it and I've discovered that good balsamic vinegar works wonders ~ giving the taste of a good glug of wine. Sooooo, here I present my new recipe ... works for 4 but the guts that I live with usually polishes off the leftovers ;o)

Spicy Ragu
4 "squits" of spray light
1 large onion, sliced
1 large carrot, grated
2 cloves of garlic, minced or crushed - it's up to you.
500 grms of lean minced beef
2 cans of chopped tomatoes
1 tsp of chilli flakes
1 bay leaf
1 tsp of Marigold vegetable stock powder
1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar*
Salt and pepper to taste
a large handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley

1. Ok, cook off the onion and carrot with 2 sprays of fry light ... they're not browning, just cooking slowly. When they've began to soften add the garlic and continue to let the vegetables sweat.
2. In another frying pan, brown off the mince with the other 2 sprays of fry light and when this has browned ... and this is a trick for me - pour the beef into a fine sieve and drain well ... getting rid of even more fat.
3. Add the tomatoes, chilli, stock, bay leaf and balsamic vinegar to the onions and garlic. Bring to the simmer and then add the minced beef and enough water to cover the meat.
4. Turn down the heat and then let the mixture cook gently for as long as you can wait before falling face down into the pan. The longer it cooks, the softer the meat gets - because of course you've drained all the fat out of it!
5. Season to taste with salt and pepper**, chuck in the handful of freshly chopped parsley, mix and serve with the pasta of your choice - gigli in this house, because I like the frill and the name makes me chortle.

*I actually use the vinegar out of a jar of Tesco's Borettane onions ... the ones Saint Delia recommends in her cheats Boeuf Bourguinon. The vinegar is always around because I've wolfed the onions while Simon wasn't looking.
** I normally add another splash of vinegar and crunch/slurp on a few onions at this point - a girl has got to have a treat you know!

Weekends rock

Off to have a nap ... wish I could do this midweek!

Unconscious Mutterings #305

Patricia is early this week ... but hey I can always mutter, it's not just a Sunday thing for me!

I say ... and you think ... ?

Sleepy :: tired
Thanksgiving :: USA
Fifteen :: Jamie Oliver
Authority :: in charge
Bangs :: knocks
Curled :: tongs
Young man :: youth
Surprised :: shocked
Mistake :: wrong
Handle it :: yourself

Do some mutterings of your very own over here.

Word verification

Has anyone noticed how real the words in the word verification boxes are getting? I was over at my-easy-cooking, drooling over Nina's cured beef and homemade mustard sandwich when I got this.

Questions, more questions, yet more questions and even more questions

To tide you over until home-time, here's my questions from my post at that's my answer. So go over there and answer them :o)

Photos
There’s a photo of my graduation on the windowsill in front of me. They were taken when I graduated from the University of Wales in 1997. I’m with two of my best friends Kevan and Estelle. I look happy (and relieved) and oh so very young.
Can you see photos anywhere near you? Where were they taken? Who is in them? And what memories to they bring back?

Snip, snip
How often do you have your hair cut? Every six weeks as “they” suggest? Or do you wait longer to be coiffed?

Slurping up the soup
Ok a cooking question … well more of a little selection of cooking questions - a bit like the questions about manners but soupier!
1. Do you make homemade soup?
2. What is your favourite kind to make?
3. Is there a secret ingredient? Or is it a “chuck everything in the pot cover it with water and let it get on” kind of soup?*
4. Do you ever eat “soup out of a can?”
5. What’s your favourite flavour/make?
6. What do you serve with soup?
7. Do you eat soup all yr long or only in the winter?
8. And finally … Is it ever ok to slurp?

* p.s. If you're willing to share the recipe all donations gratefully received.

DEEP THOUGHT OF THE DAY

Some people are like slinkies,
they don't really have a purpose,
but they still bring a smile to your face
when you push them down the stairs!

Yes it's been one of those days on many levels!

Things, things and more things

Fi over at photogra-fi is NaBloPoMo-ing too ... she filled a day by sharing a list of 100 everyday things she loves. What do you mean did I steal the idea? Of course I did, don't you remember who you're reading? ;o)

1) fresh bedlinen 2) toast 3) freshly bathed babies 4) Mini Coopers 5) bubbles 6) wicker baskets 7) handmade quilts 8) candles 9) vanilla 10) black and white photos 11) deep armchairs 12) re-watching Pride and Prejudice on YouTube 13) disco 14) reading in the afternoon in the sunshine 15) Habitat photo frames 16) nephews 17) stickers 18) stars 19) lilacs 20) rainbows 21) puddles 22) clean windows 23) new drinking glasses 24) red ribbons 25) falling snowflakes 26) crunchy pears 27) the ocean 28) diamonds* 29) log fires 30) French market places 31) heirloom tomatoes 32) conkers 33) glitter** 34) natural sponges 35) pine-cones 36) mash 37) fascinations 38) sweet peas 39) the smell of the rain 40) wolf whistles 41) lip balm tins 42) wooden juice reamers 43) chili pepper fairy lights 44) stainless steel door handles 45) the smell when I open my masala dabba 46) the first night under the heavy quilt 47) children singing 48) Ikea catalogues 49) the Community Playthings website 50) new boxes of coloured pencils

Gosh this is quite hard ... are you all paying attention to see if I've said anything twice?

51) real lemonade 52) soapstone elephants 53) foreign postcards 54) sausage sandwiches 55) red shoes 56) Sunday supplements 57) decorative coat hooks 58) Whittards mugs 59) Roman blinds 60) diaries 61) wind chimes 62) The Pillars of the Earth 63) new t-shirts 64) pashminas 65) almond croissants 66) dancing 67) the smell of leather 68) Trebuchet 16, italic in navy 69) lambswool socks 70) KSBs 71) windmills 72) cotton buds 73) pedicures and french polished toes 74) bean bags*** 75) art-deco stained glass 76) wooden spoons 77) O'De Lancome 78) tagines - the pots 79) being the first person to open a new magazine 80) foreign stamps 81) lavender blue shutters 82) mobiles 83) Le Creuset casseroles 84) eye drops 85) filled book shelves 86) nude lipstick 87) handkerchiefs 88) brocade 89) USB drives 90) espresso cups 91) boxes 92) laughing 93) Laguiole pocket knives 94) ice cubes 95) Mozzarella di Bufala 96) napkin rings 97) flirting 98) smutty jokes 99) freshly threaded eyebrows**** 100) alphabetised CD collections*****

* Yes I know - not exactly everyday BUT I wear my 4 every day.
** I'd have to wouldn't I? After all I teach nursery.
*** Though you don't want to see me getting out of them!
**** Well, the next morning when the redness has gone
***** I don't have one, but I wish I had the patience!!

Deck the halls

So ... Tuesday already ... unfortunately that means that I am 1 day closer to Christmas and I am no closer to doing anything, let me reiterate, anything about it.

I haven't been to M&S to look at their catalogue/order a turkey*.
I haven't booked a ferry crossing - BTW look at this ...

Ufcking, bloody P&O! They put the ferry price up £30 as soon as school finishes on the 19th of December! It goes up more later in the eve ... why? I believe it's because families could be going on holiday. How tight is that? Now wonder most families are still desperate to use their "two weeks holiday during term-time entitlement" - I don't get that of course!
I haven't bought Simon a Christmas present.
I haven't written a Christmas card.
I haven't bought a Christmas card.
I haven't bought a bran-tub present.
I haven't filled in my menu choices for the Christmas "do!"
I haven't paid for the do!
I haven't got an outfit for the Christmas do either!!!!
I haven't written my last-minute shopping list of all those things I can't get in France.
I haven't ordered/bought Christmas presents for nephews 1 to 5.

Trust me the list of things I have done is much, much shorter!

*Why my mother can't be happy with a Tesco turkey I don't know? Why I can't get a turkey in Leclerc in Gramat I don't know?

The entertainer

I saw this over at Peregrinations and knowing the 5 second rule is the complete oppostite on the Internet to that which it is on the kitchen floor - I stole it. So I wandered off to Typealyzer to find out what type my blog is.

The analysis indicates that the author of http://laquet.blogspot.com/ is of the type:

ESFP - The Performers

The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves. The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.

Analysis
This show what parts of the brain that were dominant during writing.

Now the thing is, I've been MBTI assessed in work ... we all have on the senior leadership team ... I think it's helped me deal with other people - and it lets the others know how I function to. But let's be realistic, I could have separated us into the right groups anyway especially our attitudes be they Extravert or Introvert. BUT, I digress - I know, unlike me to do that. So, Typealyser names me as a performer ... an ESFP - Extraversion (E), Sensing (S), Feeling (F), Perception (P). And that's spot on. How did it know that from one post* on my blog? There are times when the Internet amazes me!

* I put a blog in where the current top post is in Italian and it came back with an error message.

Unconscious Mutterings #304

I say ... and you think ... ?

Spit it out :: say it damn you
Shadow :: sun
Database :: information
Expression :: cyd-adrodd ... highly expressive recitation of poetry at an Eisteddfod ... click the link, there's not enough room here to explain!
Boss :: headteacher
Baby :: nope
Mystic :: Pizza
Kate :: work-mate
Boobies :: kept covered please
Raid :: for the cockroaches?

Do some mutterings of your very own over here.

Essentially reading

I've been tagged by the delicious AV to complete a meme ... recommending 4 essential reads to you. The rules are as follows, I have to nominate ::

A fiction book
An autobiography
A non-fiction book; and finally
A fourth book of my choice from any genre.
Explain why the books are essential reads in no more than 30 words per book. Righty-o ...

A fiction book ~ Sushi for Beginners ~ I know that some of you out there will think "oh god chick lit!" BUT if Marian Keyes can write about cheating, marriage breakups and depression and still make me laugh out loud then it has to be a book worth reading. Edge of my seat kind of stuff ... and Jack makes me drool ;o)

Shit - that was 55 words ... I'm only allowed 30. Tell you what don't read the last 25!!

An autobiography ~ Life is a Menu ~ It's no secret that I love food and Michel Roux's autobiography breathes food. From his training in Paris to founding his restaurants in London, peppered with gorgeous recipes ... pure unadulterated bliss!

30 words - I managed it!

A non-fiction book ~ One Day For Life ~ is a photo book, images taken by people all over Britain on a single day ... August 14th 1987 AND my 18th birthday. The book raised money for a cancer charity. I adore it.

30 words, if you dont count the numbers! Actually that was DON'T COUNT THE NUMBERS!

A fourth book of my choice from any genre ~ Hotel Pastis ~ boutique hotels in the Luberon, French food, fat bank robbers on bicycles, wine, hot sunshine and sex. What more could you want in a book? Peter Mayle makes me laugh.

So, there you go and if you get to read as far as this ... consider yourself tagged!