Bruschetta

I Love Bruschetta.

I'm not a dessert person, I'm a starter person.  I've got the most savoury tooth around.  Bruschetta is my ABSOLUTE favourite starter. I've tried the bruschetta in many a restaurant, in the UK and abroad.  I've also made it myself.  But no bruschetta compares to the one served in Pizza Express.

Pizza Express Bruschetta

Somehow they've got the perfect balance of flavours and it tastes like heaven. Now most places put mozzarella on their bruschetta but not Pizza Express.  They keep it simple with just pesto, tomatoes, onions and olive oil.  I wish I could put my finger on what it was that made this recipe stand out from the others.  I wish I could recreate this recipe myself because just thinking about it make my mouth water.  And I'd be in major debt if every time I thought about it I went to Pizza Express..... although I may fall for my weakness tonight.

Has anyone else got an absolute favourite dish that stand out in one particular restaurant?

Alex x

Experimenting With Light

One of my favourite types of photography is experimenting with light.  Here are some of the pictures I have taken to date.

Alex x

Shredded Cabbage and Bacon

Our dinner for tonight is going to be pork chops (soaked in apple juice for a couple of hours and then put in the over for 40mins in the apple juice), mashed potato and shredded cabbage and bacon.  I found the cabbage and bacon recipe online one day as I had a cabbage that needed using.  I find this recipe extremely moreish and most of the time when I do make it I end up having to make some more later on that night.  I thought I would share this recipe with you:

Ingredients- Serves 2-3

450g shredded cabbage

50g shredded bacon

50g shredded smoked pancetta

1 medium onion cut into large pieces

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove garlic

Salt and pepper

Directions

1.    Fry the bacon, onion and smoked pancetta together in olive oil on a medium to high temperature for 5    minutes

2.    Add the crushed garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes

3.    Stir in the shredded cabbage

4.    Keep stirring (so it cooks evenly) for 10 minutes

5.    Season with some salt and pepper

It’s worth a try I promise!

Alex x

Coco

Our rabbit Coco is scared of the wooden floor in our bedroom, which is great because it means she stays on the rug.  We tried our hardest to house train her but nothing so far has worked.  She's recently taken to jumping on the bed and there has been a couple of accidents. Our other rabbit Flossy is not scared of the floor at all and she'll roam everywhere so Lea recently built them a little pen out of cardboard boxes so we don't need to keep an eye on them every minute that they're out.  Coco however still tries in vain to jump out and onto the bed.  This ended in tears today as she got stuck on the top of the pen.  I managed to take a quick picture on my phone...

It's not great quality but shows the ridiculousness.  She was stuck there for 20 odd seconds poor thing!

Alex x

My Mother

My mother is one of a kind.  When I say she’s one of a kind it’s hard to explain.  She is extremely opinionated and always right, so if you wanted to change her opinion on something it would be impossible, and yet she’s exceptionally clever.  She recently retired and had to give her work iPad back.  That night she called me and this is how the conversation went:

Mum: ‘I’ve been crying.  I’m in mourning’

Me: ‘What on earth are you talking about’

Mum: ‘My iPad- I had to give it back’

Me: ‘Well why don’t you just buy a new one then’

Mum: ‘It won’t be the same.  I feel like part of me has died.  I’m going to have to wear black for the foreseeable future’

Me: ‘But if you buy a new one it’ll be exactly the same because the back up of your old one will go onto it’

Mum: ‘It just won’t be the same.  I’ll know it’s not the same iPad.  Can we stop talking about it or I’ll cry again’

And the problem is she’s being deadly serious.  She will have actually cried over giving her iPad back….  So now she’s bought the new one and it got delivered today.  Seems she’s having technical issues with it as she’s rang me at work twice already today to ask me what to do.  Surely it can’t be that hard to follow the simple instructions Apple give you? My advice quite the panicking and wait until my brother got home because what good could I do from 80 miles away?  

When I lived at home I used to record some of the more ridiculous things she said.  I’m off to visit the parents this weekend as it’s my little bro’s birthday and Mother’s Day so I’m on a mission to try and record a few more ridiculous conversations for your entertainment. Wish me luck…..

Alex x

iPhone Games- Temple Run

You know it’s the end of the week when you call a client and say good afternoon when its 9 in the morning. I feel like a right idiot!

I love my iPhone. When my last one died on me I had to go out and buy another one straight away.   My favourite thing about them is the apps, especially the games. At the moment I’m hooked on Temple Run, basically a guy running through a temple, dodging obstacles and collecting coins.  The only problem is I’m HUGELY competitive and my girlfriend is beating me. I can’t even seem to beat my own high score and she just keeps getting better and better. Last night I was upstairs and she sent me a text from downstairs saying ‘look at my high score!’.  I’d like to say that if I was beating her I wouldn’t gloat so much but we know that’s not true. Any Temple Run addicts out there got any tips for me??  Or can anyone recommend any games that I might actually be better at?

Temple Run (image from www.tuaw.com)

Alex x

Tags: Get To Know Me

My girlfriend completed this tag on her blog (shebeginstosee.blogspot.com/) so I thought I’d do it too.  I’m quite unphotogenic but here’s a picture of me and Lea:

 

That's me on the left and Lea my fiancee on the right

1. Are you named after anyone?

No. My parents say that my middle name was from Helen of Troy but I’ve always thought that story to be a little far-fetched.

2. When was the last time you cried?

Ummm I’m not sure but probably not long ago, I’m a big cry baby when Lea and I have an argument- which thankfully isn’t too often!

3. Do you have kids?

One day, for now two rabbits and a fiancée is enough for me.

4. If you were another person, would you be friends with yourself?

I don’t see why not, I don’t think I’m hard to get along with?

5. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Far far too much, and then there’s the awkward moment when someone doesn’t get it…

6. Will you ever bunjee jump?

I don’t think so.  I’m not afraid of heights or of extreme sports but I have never wanted to bungee jump.  I think it’s the whole feet tied together thing that I’m not a fan of.

7. What's your favourite cereal?

I’m not a massive fan of cereal but recently I’ve been eating Cheerios before work to stop myself being incredibly hungry stuck in the morning traffic jams.

8. What's the first thing you notice about people?

Their eyes I think.  I’m a big fan of blue eyes.  Other than that probably their noses- the wide range of noses people have fascinates me.

9. What is your eye colour?

Browny hazel but I wish they were blue…

10. Scary movies or a happy ending?

Aaaalways a happy ending.  I can’t be doing with scary movies, why would you want to purposefully scare yourself? Happy movies are much nicer and don’t stop you from sleeping at night!

11. Favourite smell?

The smell of grass when it’s first cut after winter.  Bonfires and barbeques.  Beyonce’s Heat perfume that my girlfriend wears.  The list is quite endless.

12. Summer or Winter?

Summer every single time.  The winter is miserable and cold and dark and rainy.  Summer on the other hand (sometimes) is warm and light and the sun shines and you can sit outside at the pub all evening and have a BBQ on the beach.  Why wouldn’t you like summer?

13. Computer or TV?

TV’s gone downhill these days.  And anything you would watch on TV you can watch online so computer most definitely.

14. What's the furthest you've ever been from home?

India, but I want to go everywhere!

15. Do you have any special talents?

Oh god mmm, not that I can think of. That makes me sound boring. I can touch my nose with my tongue…. I’m a brilliant slacker/ procrastinator if you can count that as a talent :P

16. Where were you born?

Kendal, near the Lake District. Home of the god awful Kendal mint cake.

17. What are your hobbies?

My newest hobby is blogging.  Apart from that watching TV, reading, taking photos, skiing and my favourite hobby is spending time with my little family- Lea and the two rabbits.

18. Do you have any pets?

Two rabbits Coco and Flossy.  I adore them. 

19. Favourite Movie?

I like lots of films so pinning down a favourite one is hard.  I love Gladiator,  The Talented Mr Ripley and The Thomas Crown Affair. I have seen them all a gazillion times.  I love any good romcom though.

20. Do you have any siblings?

1 brother who is 6 ½ years younger than me.  We get on really well thankfully. Although he is going through his moody teenager years he’s still a good lad.

And those were 20 pointless facts about me!

Alex

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