New Year, New Thoughts

Happy New Year everyone

From this January I’m hopefully going to bring you more content on the delights of social eating and entertaining, as well as insights into wellness and perhaps some guest reads as well.

January started for me, like many people, in the sad exercise of taking down the seasons decorations.  The only remnant being the golden glass Christmas tree whose home is pride of place on our bookshelves, silently celebrating the holiday all year round.

It’s not the only ode to the changing years, there is also a glass monkey, cockerel and a dragon who nod to the celebratory Chinese new year and always makes me smile.

January also brought different foods, a break from the rich Christmas and New Year provisions, thick vegetable casseroles (with Turmeric and root vegetables) are this year’s tour de force so far (recipe to follow naturally) and, taking on a tradition from my Welsh relatives, so far added to with fresh ingredients from our winter allotment.  Soon to be added to for a third time with winter greens.

I normally cook for more people than I need to and, especially in colder weather and as an excuse to check in on less mobile neighbours, I take a bowl or three to simply say hi and have a chat.  I’ve found it’s always a great idea to knock on the door and offer new year wishes simply to keep in touch.

I hope January is good to all of you and 2019 be an exciting adventure for everyone.

Sunshine and rainy days

Although its hard at times, we really do need to remember our paths can be frought and that many things, emotion, people or simply our daily lives, can interfere with our goals.

This is simply the way of it, accept it, and then keep walking.  You will always find your path so long as you remember your destination.

The last day of June

An amazing show of colour today at the allotments.

The beauty of mid-summer really shows through.

Beautiful colours makes us all smile.  So whether its in your own garden, a friend's or an inspiring park or your own allotment, enjoy the summer and smile.

Eurovision - friends and food

Eurovision, you either love it or hate it, but you can't ignore it.   To some its the social event of the year and others, well, maybe not so much.

Beyond the show and the singing however, there is the social aspect which gets ignored by both its critics and by the media generally. It is definitely a great example of bringing people, friends, family and old acquaintances, together.

Unlike seasonal holidays, you are under no obligation to invite family but, of course you do. The pressure is off to make formal preparations for food or drink and, to many a group of friends, its an excuse to shout at the TV without the feeling self conscious. Actually, an all round good bit of fun, and also no obligation to watch the show itself but to simply get competitive with the scoring at the end! A little more seriously, the event does carry with it a real feel good air, especially as it brings friends together that may have not seen one another for a number of weeks or months.

Food is informal and for the most part, can be a mixture of platters and bowls. More substantial meals are probably an inconvenience for the most part, who wants to prepare dinner when you may have twenty people squeezed into a one or two bedroom flat or apartment?

If you have a handy deli or grocers that can prepare these for you, even better. For those of you who would like to prepare a few things of their own, I've laid out below some suggestions for a number of titbits, but if you run out of time, don't stress, crisps, dips and pizza is normally just a phone call away.

Dips which can be prepared days in advance

These are great to have on standby and very straight forward to make and these three dips which are great to make and full of flavour. Using three types of bean/pulse.

Use a large tin of chickpeas and butterbeans for ease rather than all that soaking overnight.

For roasting: One bulb of garlic, three large red peppers, a large white onion and some good olive oil.

To a medium sized baking tray add:
• the garlic cloves, but don't peel them
• the peppers (whole but de-stalked)
• one onion, peeled and quartered
• olive oil to coat the above
• a couple of pinches of salt Bake in medium to hot oven (190c) for 25-30 minutes.

For the dips:

• One tin (220 grams) each of chickpeas and butterbeans
• 300 grams of cooked broad beans
• 20 grams mint
• 20 grams parsley
• three dessert spoons of honey
• one teaspoon of ground cumin
• the juice and zest of one medium lemon
• 50 grams of freshly grated parmesan

For the chickpea dip:

In a food processor add the drained chickpeas, the garlic (which should easily come out of their skins), onion, parsley and honey and process until smooth.

For the butterbean dip:

Again, in the food processor, add the drained butterbeans, the roasted peppers (after putting them in a plastic bag to cool, the skins should easily come away), salt to taste and the cumin. Process until smooth.

For the broad bean dip:

After first shelling the beans and using a potato masher, add the mint and parmesan. Add the lemon juice and zest.

Something to munch on:

Chorizo, always a good standby and always very quick to prepare. Slicing it up into generous bite size pieces with some additional olive oil and putting a little extra chilli and/or garlic onto a baking tray, adding halved mid-sized mushrooms to soak up a little of that oil and putting these into a moderate oven (say 170-180c) for 15-20 minutes is a really good and simple way to impress.

Once you've taken these out of the oven and whilst still hot, drizzle with a tablespoon of honey and combine. The sweet, hot, spicy combination is addictive.

House roasted Almonds (or cashews, or walnuts or a mixture of all three)

With a little oil, add 250 grams of blanched nuts to a baking tray. Again, in a moderate oven for 15-20 minutes. Separately, in a bowl, add two heaped teaspoons of smoked sweet paprika, two generous teaspoons of dried thyme or chopped dried rosemary and an equal amount of sea salt. Taking the nuts out of the oven add these to the spice mixture whilst still hot and combine thoroughly.

House olive mix

In a shallow pan, add two tablespoons of olive oil and a large crushed clove of garlic whilst the oil is still warming through. Add a half teaspoon of turmeric and a teaspoon of cumin seeds. As the garlic is just starting to golden, take off the heat and add the zest and juice of a large lemon (or of two limes).

Separately, in a large bowl, thinly slice half a large red onion and separate the crescents. Add your choice of olives (250 grams) and add the spice mixture. Mix and allow to cool.

Additions could in include finely sliced chillies and/or sweet peppers. Just for a little crunch.

For those of you who have a little more time as these are quite fiddly to make:

Simple Asparagus Rolls

Take one large day old, loaf of white bread, ideally leave in a plastic bag overnight on the side - carve the crusts off and then thickly slice lengthways, You should have five, large, thick slices, butter these on one side.

Take some Parma ham and lay these on each slice of bread, you will need four, possibly six slices of ham for each slice bread, depending on the size of your loaf. Take your asparagus which has been blanched and slice lengthways. Place these end to end and side by side from about an inch from the long edge of each slice of bread. Roll the lengthways and fasten with cocktail sticks.

Place on a baking tray and brush with olive oil and cook until brown - this should take no more than 20 minutes. Allow to cool and cut into appropriate lengths.

Social Sunshine

"Fresh air, brilliant company, a picnic and a show!"

We've all watched groups of friends in the park before now, from simply gossiping in the sunshine, having a game of old fashioned rounders (soft ball to my US readers) to having a full blown sports day.  But if you stay and watch the comings and goings in our cities and towns, you'll see other groups of friends doing other activities. 



St Paul's Church yard
City of London

I've seen a trio of musicians on Hampstead Heath practicing their latest set and a pair of actors practicing their lines in Soho Square.  The musicians obviously needed practice but with the hoots of encouragement from the sunbathers, they soon hit their stride and their confidence grew in the 40 minutes or so I was watching.   The actors practicing their lines were so focussed on the moment, they weren't aware of the number of people who simply stopped, sat and enjoyed their lunches and before you knew it, they had finished to a very loud round of applause.  Blushes aside, they left very pleased with themselves.  I hope they got the parts they were working towards.

On a weekday lunch time, a group of friends were enjoying the sunshine in the little park next to St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London.  One of them had a Spanish guitar and the other two were just singing descant.  It was an enchanting moment and the business people having coffee or wine in the nearby establishments came away from their bars and were completely enraptured.

When I was visiting New York and Barcelona in the 1990s, the parks, and the beaches for that matter, were used for a lot of different purposes.  Impromptu, what we would call today "pop-up", performances were, and still are, common. 

I've seen a makeshift stage made out of a tent and some brightly covered shawls in Central Park with a group of actors practicing a script that was terrible, but they were having fun and they had brought along friends and family to be their audience.  The show still attracted dozens of strangers, some would stay a few minutes and others (myself included) watched for a couple of hours.

Barcelona in the mid-90s was amazing, it was vibrant and edgy whilst still full of traditions.  One of the relatively new attractions were its beaches.  Before Barcelona had hosted the Olympics, the beaches were simply commercial areas and so with this new facility on their doorstep the locals and the tourists alike, used them to their full potential.  On one visit I watched and listened for over an hour to a group of opera students.  I asked my friend why they were performing on the beach and she laughed, "they are practicing for their exams!" and then proceeded to take me for a walk to show off other's doing the same thing.  The term for their exams were coming to a head and there were a number of groups and individuals practicing different forms of music along the beach in front of friends, family and strangers alike.

So with a little forethought, our amazing outdoor spaces can be so much more.  Lets embrace it, whether its coffee with friends, chatting and sorting out the world or perhaps simply talking about our latest exploits and adventures, there's nothing like a little outside chat and giggle!

So the idea is this, if you're a musician, actor, poet, writer, what's to stop you arranging a picnic with a group of friends one Saturday afternoon to practice a performance, read your latest verse or sing your practice piece for your next audition and have some fun too.   Maybe connecting friends that haven't met before?  And if you live in a flat that doesn't have a garden and is too small to entertain, then a park or the grounds of nearby stately home or a beach surely would be the next best thing?  Probably not so convenient in the Winter, but on a dry and ice cold Winter's morning, with a backdrop of a city or pocket park, a few friends gathering to help practice lines over donuts and coffee or read through a script on the roof or a balcony of your office building in a lunch hour, the possibilities are endless.  It could simply be another way to connect to work colleagues or neighbours and have a break from the day to day chores we all need to do.  Isn't it wonderful how entertaining reveals itself in so many different forms.

Angela, a good friend of mine who was a make-up artist turned puppeteer took my suggestion and ran with it a few Summers ago.  She invited a group of friends and friends of friends and neighbours, as she wanted to practice a mini-show she was designing for an art festival in the South of France.  She had three new puppets and needed to practice the transport of them, the makeshift stage and her own belongings (it was only her that was going to France).  Two cases with wheels and a rucksack was diluted down to one case and one rucksack with a long drum attached to the latter which held poles for her "stage".  All in all she had about a dozen people to watch her show and after practicing three variations, she had a crowd of a hundred surrounding her.  A great success!

Entertaining this way may need a little forethought, perhaps your friends, family, work colleagues, neighbours and contacts could bring their favourite tipple and you and your closest circle could bring the food.  Then its blankets at the ready, instruments, vocal cords, verse or prose at the ready and off you go. 

Could it be that simple?

Well, sort of...

An open garden square
in Chelsea

Just check that your park, stately home or beach doesn't have any byelaws or rules that would restrict you performing, even for free.  Remember to check to make sure you are allowed to drink alcohol there too, there may be restrictions for the park as a whole or certain parts of it.

If you are going to a stately home which is open to visitors, you are likely to pay an entry fee just to get in.  But also check if they mind you and your friends (especially if there is a large group of you) having your performance.  They may say yes so long as you sit in a particular area, or they might shrug and smile and forewarn you that you may have some additional listeners and watchers.  They may even offer your group free entry if you return!

The idea is sound, and I'm sure not many grand old houses open to the public in the Summer would object, but check with the family who own the property, or perhaps with English Heritage who may manage it, in advance.

Keeping the sunshine on the table

As we are now in May, can Summer be so far away?


For those of us who like to have a little Summer sunshine on the table all year round, we sometimes substitute flavour for looks.  At least at this time of year when salad ingredients are starting to grow naturally, rather than forced, we can have a little of both.

Tomatoes will have the first flush of the Summer from this week onwards so start keeping a look out, in the Northern Hemisphere, for these.  If you are like me living in northern Europe, our season is starting now and although we've had our share of early fruits (from Spain, Portugal and Morocco mainly) we are now seeing some slightly more local produce.

This fresh tomato salad is certainly mouth watering and is so easy to add to in a hurry if you have unexpected guests.  The basic recipe is below.

• four large ripe tomatoes, cut into eight to ten wedges (if you've bought these from the supermarket, leave them on the side to bring to room temperature - this will maximise their flavour) and remove the core
• one small red onion, halved and sliced thinly
• a handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped roughly
• two dessert spoons of salted capers, chopped roughly
• 2 good glugs of extra virgin olive oil

In a large bowl, add all the above and using your hands, make sure that everything has a coating of oil.  Cover with cling film and leave on the side for an hour or more to let the flavours really permeate.

The above quantities are excellent for two people for a light lunch when served with some chunky cut bread and butter, however the above is a great base recipe to add chopped black olives and crumbled feta or goats cheese and, if the above mentioned guests do arrive, making bruschetta-like toasts and adding these to a sharing platter with additional olives and dips on the side will have everyone talking.

Another variation is to use different types and colours of tomato, but this is more likely to be later in the season.  To give the salad a more Moroccan vibe, try substituting parsley with mint and using whole caper berries and some chopped dried fruit, such as dates or apricots.  If you do try this, make sure you add just a little of brine from the capers and leave the salad to steep in its bowl for slightly longer.  If you want to turn up the heat, try adding Sumac, this sour north African spice is perfect and with the addition of some finely chopped red chilli, will certainly give a little "Wow".

This salad is also great as a side for all manner of grilled dishes, so why not try it out?

Social networking: saying it with food

Greek salad on lettuce
Sunshine entrées

One of the reasons for this blog has been to increase awareness that our personal health and general wellness is linked to our circles of friends and how being sociable enables our this wellbeing and gives us reassurance during our daily lives.  We need friends to reassure us, especially if we are away from family, and indeed, if we don't have family to hand at all.

We rely on our friends for support, sometimes for affection or consolation, advice and at times, simply to hold our hand.

We are all driven to be sociable, even if its just going to a café to be around others after working alone or as a prelude to the mayhem that may be our careers.  As we have different layers when it comes to being this way, along with this some of us have different friends, or groups of friends, for different purposes.  Perhaps the friendships have different origins.  Some may have been met at at school or college, some at our place of work or at the gym or perhaps it was someone we kept seeing at that coffee shop and fell into a conversation.  We can all meet people in very different circumstances across the breadth of our lives.

However, there comes a time when we want to bring those different people together.  I think our greatest fear, perhaps the wrong word, perhaps our greatest concern, is how they will interact with another and how the dynamics of such a meeting will pan out.   Most of the time this concern is an illusion, a self made fear because quite early on we realise that the commonality between all of our friends are ourselves.  If they like us, then there is a very good chance that in the right setting, they will also get along.

That's where, you guessed it, food comes in.  It's a great soothsayer and discussion maker and, quite frankly, a lot of fun once you really get down to it. But depending upon what stage you are in your life, this very obvious statement, isn't necessarily so obvious.

I am sure that initial meetings, chats over coffee, over a glass of wine, will precede the dinner party stage but there is another level which most people think too complicated or too stressful that comfortably lies in between. 

Inviting people over for drinks, a snack or some light entrées, is a great idea and whether you're a busy professional, of any level, you need to make time for your friends, even though there may not be enough days in the week to see them all separately.  So inviting a group of friends is an obvious solution.

Small nibbles need not be time consuming and a few bottles of wine to help the conversation flow can be a straightforward start.  And, if you plan it right, and perhaps give it a time limit, and underline this by having people around in the middle of a work week, it can be simply something to look forward to. 

For your first try, I would limit your invitations to about five or six friends who you've known a while, you'll know what they drink so you can buy these well in advance,  Give them plenty of notice and then, plan a few things to nibble on during the evening.  The picture above is a miniaturised version of a Greek salad (made the previous evening) and served on lettuce leaves.  Only the platter to wash up afterwards so its a perfect dish, just hand out napkins to your guests.  You can do a similar thing with toast and spreads.  I've recently discovered Swedish round crisp breads that, once you have mastered a few toppings are a pretty spectacular addition to any mid-week party.  You could also put together a platter of cold meats and cheeses.

When choosing which friends to invite, you'll want some lively souls as well as some more quieter ones and then let the introductions take their natural flow.  A little music, perhaps a party game or two. 

Creating this inter relation with your friends may initially be a little nerve wracking but your friends will have more in common than you think and you will be introducing them to new friends which can only be a good thing.

As confidence grows, you can increase the number in the group and, if it catches on, your friends will do the same and the rest, should evolve naturally.