The Year of Living Gorgeously

Eurovision - The Cheese Sets in...

Eurovision... I can't even begin to fathom who came up with it or why it would still be going. I refuse to research it, either, or I'll only spout nonsense factoids at the party. It's a festival of cheesily terrible music with one entry from each 'European' country (loose definition: this year includes Russia....) with the winner hosting the next year's event. Last year's winners were a Finnish death metal band (left) and so all eyes are upon Helsinki this weekend.

Terry Wogan is a cuddly presenter of brilliance who hosts a breakfast show on BBC Radio and is the UK's contribution to the 'commentators'.  His method is to get increasingly drunk and mock the dreadful entries, and then comment wryly on the 'surprising' voting of each country for its allies or desperate impressors. (For example, the eastern block usually vote for the UK in an attempt to gain favour and eventual entry into the EU. Tenuous but true.)

This year, my Year of Living Gorgeously has propelled me to host a Eurovision party. This will involve each guest coming as a country and bringing appropriate cuisine and liquor. The main aim of the party will be to get drunk, dance badly and mock costumes, singing ability and songs. Gorgeous, moi? Always...

The last Eurovision party that I attended, the drinking instructions were to down a shot of Euro-cocktail (a bowl of all the random liquor brought by guests) upon sighting any of the following: cowboy hats, fishnet tights, broken musical instruments and sequins. I don't think I lasted more than an hour.

Anyway, back to the case in point....

The invitations have gone out, courtesy of the Helsinki website...(read the wording closely - it's hilarious...)

The Shrine to Terry Wogan is under construction...

The top ten suggestions for the best Eurovision Party that I will be following are:

1. Buy naff plastic bunting and adorn the party zone with euro-flags
2. Salute the cheesey music with suitable food: Cheese Fondue (European and Cheesey!) is ideal. Or... Have a buffet of regional dishes. This needn't be complicated: I'm going for German Sausage on the barbeque, Greek Salad, Turkish Falafel and cucumber sandwiches for UK.
3. Lots of alcohol, preferably cheap and luminously brightly coloured. The more incomprehensible/unreadable the label the better
4. Either... Nominate a country per guest in advance to ensure appropriate costumes
5. Or... Get a bowl together of country names on paper slips and give out as guests arrive
6. Or... Get a bowl of little presents associated with the country to give out as guests arrive: think Eiffel Tower for France, a small pebble (Stone) for Estonia. You may have to think creatively!
7. Make 26 small cupcakes and decorate each with a cocktail stick flag of each country. Be sure to leave room on the flag for identifying the more obscure ...
8. Download the scorecard from the BBC site and drink each time your country gets awarded nil or douze poits. (
9. Don't forget the Terry Shrine. Images, candles, a copy of his book
10. Finally... make sure you clear plenty of room for dancing. And drinking. That's important.

Tune in next week for photos and post-mortem. I can't wait.

May Book of the Month: We Need to Talk About Kevin OR In warning of having boys...

Good lord. I don't half pick 'em. A haunting narrative to an estranged husband, the wife and mother (Eve) of a teenage boy who has murdered 9 of his classmates and 1 teacher in a high-school shooting incident tries to come to terms with the result of their foray into the dangerous and undiscussed potentially negative result of parenting.

We Need to Talk About Kevin struck several chords with me, notably the concerns and paranoia surrounding the perils of producing and raising children. 'They f**k you up, your mum and dad' certainly rings true here. A 'normal' couple in a 'normal' setting upon closer inspection reveal conflicting and unnerving reasons for having children. Eve's giving in to her husband's need and her expectation of the picture-perfect child are confounded in a baby that will not play, will not nurse and will not stop crying.

Kevin grows into a child who refuses to be potty trained, refuses to speak until he has privately learnt the basics himself and, as far as Eve is concerned, refuses to be loved.

What happens if you don't love your own child? What happens if you don't like your own child? What happens if its presence, its actions and its temperament unnerve your very soul? What happens if his actions are wholly reprehensible and abhorrent? Whose fault does he become?

Again, this book is a page-turner, and at the point I realised that the narrative was about to climax, I shut myself in my room, swearing at my partner to leave me alone in spite of my swallowed wails. Eve's character has undoubtedly been dragged through the emotional spectrum, but somewhere in the narrative, a space is found to allow the reader the potential to understand or at least try to comprehend Kevin and all that he is and represents.

This is an incredibly strong prose style, thoughtful and provocative, and I would be interested to read the comments of those of you who have completed the exhausting journey. Please, though, don't give away the twist in your comments. I absolutely did not see it coming and I wouldn't want to betray its disemboweling effect on my abdoment to any other.

Cinco de Mayo

It means beans to us in the UK, but it transpires that here in the US it is a very big deal indeed as a celebration of Mexican culture and heritage.

We took the Minx to the Cinco de Mayo de Mayo celebrations at Dolores Park in San Francisco and had lots of fun eating Mexican food and watching Apaches dancing, though we had to leave to give the Minx her nap just as the mariachi competition was starting.

Elsewhere for the 5th May, Flickr held its 24 Hours of Flickr event, inviting people to post up images taken on the 5th May from around the world.  You've got until 21st May to post up your images if you want to join in.

Look in the pool and you might find my photo of where we went after the Minx's nap.

Drawstring Bags

Well, you asked me to share my fundraising projects and designs, and with the summer fete that we're holding in June heading ever closer, my sewing machine is starting to smell of burning rubber. I've been chutneying, jamming and last weekend had a little foray into Plum Curd. Gorgeous deep pink colour, but a little runny perhaps. Will have to work on my patience and the low simmer.

Last night, ran these little numbers up from cotton ticking, fabric sample pieces and the flowers (top left) from an off cut of a skirt I'm making from an old cot cover I found in a junk shop.

Now if that's not thrifty I don't know what is!!

I'm thinking £5 each with potential uses including kids' gym/ballet/football kits, picnic goodies or, my favourite, a plastic bag tidy on a kitchen hook.  

 

If you feel that your Gorgeously life absolutely requires one of these bags, give me a shout, and I will send you one out with a smile. They measure just over 13" by 17", all the seams are overlocked inside for strength and they are machine washable (cool). I will happily take commissions of single initial letters, particular images that take your fancy...Payment can be made via the fundraising site, with postage in the UK at £1 and to the US, £2.50.

Eating Asparagus

Photo credit

I was going to write this post for St George's Day on April 23rd as I can think of nothing better with which to celebrate England's patron saint than England's finest vegetable.  In the end though, life got in the way, and we ended up celebrating St George's Day in typically English fashion, by ignoring it all together.

I'd eat asparagus pretty much every day if I could, and look forward to asparagus season like no other.  Remember to choose asparagus which are locally grown if possible and are sprightly not rubbery. I personally avoid like the plague the white anaemic tasteless asparagus which is grown without access to sunshine and is so popular in France and Italy.  And one of the best things about asparagus is how easy it is to prepare.  You don't even need a knife, just snap the woody bottom end off each spear, what's left will be the edible part.

Here are five easy and delicious ways to enjoy the king of vegetables

• Boiled Eggs with Asparagus 'Soldiers': If you're getting a little bored of steamed asparagus with mayonnaise, hollandaise, melted butter or vinaigrette, just boil a large egg, making sure that it stays soft and runny inside and get dipping with your asparagus spears.  I've served this at a dinner party before (people are quite charmed to be served boiled eggs) and my little daughter can also be persuaded to eat asparagus this way.
• Roasted Asparagus: The other evening we roasted a lovely piece of spring lamb and in another pan roasted an assortment of chopped vegetables (potatoes, sweet potatoes/yams, carrots) and asparagus spears in goose fat.  The asparagus never looks its best when roasted - usually a bit limp and brown - but my does it taste GOOD. (I was going to photograph this, but got caught up in eating it instead),
• Asparagus Risotto: Make a risotto, but this time add some uncooked asparagus chopped into one inch lengths to the rice at the beginning.  Substitute vermouth (Noilly Prat is good) for the white wine (though wine would also work well) and if you're Nigel Slater you can add some grated lemon zest and lemon juice as you go along.  Serve with a glass of chilled fino sherry or white port for a real treat.
• Asparagus Soup: Simmer a couple of bunches of asparagus spears in good quality chicken stock until very soft.  Blend with one those handheld blender thingies (if you blend long enough you'll end up with a 'cappucino' -style soup that people pay a fortune for in fancy restaurants).  Add cream and seasoning to taste and then stir in a heap of grated parmesan cheese.  Finish things off with a swirl of of good quality olive or some crumbled bits of pancetta or other bacon. Speaking of which...
• Asparagus with Bacon or Parma Ham:  Grill or roast asparagus spears wrapped in bacon or parma ham for very sophisticated pigs in blankets. If you're feeling daring drizzle a little honey or maple syrup over the top. This is of course even better when done on the barbecue with a glass of rose' in hand.

Enjoy!

April Photo Competition - The Winner!

This month's guest judge was the absolutely fabulous darling Di Overton from Designers' Block, who again had a difficult task - though we could have done with more entries. You've got no excuse for next month's competition, which will of course have 'May' as its theme. Details of the Flickr group, the scary guest judge and the incredible prize are to follow.

Check out April's Flickr group to see which one you would have chosen. Now over to Di....

Being given the honour of judging the April Photo Competition has by no means been easy. Spring is the best time of year when everything is new and fresh and the photographs this month show this in abundance.

I envy people who can take a great photo. I go to Paris often and every time I try to photograph a fabulous shop window I just get an image of me photographing a fabulous shop window.

I get a lot of my inspiration from nature and its fabulous colours though to be honest I was inspired by a scarf I bought in December to use greens and bright pinks together. I digress, back to the competition

 

I have chosen this fabulous image by Cortney Rae called Trout Stream. Each time I visited the photo pool this image just jumped out at me and when something jumps out at me I either pee my pants in fright or I hold the image in my mind. This image says ‘I’m Spring and I’m Here’ it looks as though it’s coming over the hill on a mission to dress that naked tree.

I have chosen two highly commended photos, the first from Aunt Owwee who has captured those jonquils beautifully one fully bloomed and that little bud behind it just waiting patiently.

 

The second is by our host Paola. I never thought rust could be that beautiful.

Oh and by the way if you are reading this Maryam (previous judge) my memoirs would have to be taken from the book store in a plain wrapper.

Congratulations to Cortney Rae!

MayDay...MayDay

Welcome to the month of May! I'm afraid that Paola and I have been rather distracted by the glorious weather and moving/carpets/colds/sprained ankles/dissertations/job applications: in other words, life. Services will shortly be returning to normal.

1st May is arguably the most international or universal of holidays, heralding everything from spring and associated mating rituals and cake baking in Celtic traditions, through to the beginning of summer and evil spirit/devil dances in Germany, and the good ol' maypole and morris dancing of May Day celebrations in the UK. (Left: Stroud Morris Dancers demonstrating the Stick Dance... apparently)

Labor Day began in America as a strike over working hours in 1868 and has been adopted by anarchists, socialists and general protesting ever since.

The pagan roots of the festivities are confirmed in Pepys' Diary excitement in 1660, marvelling at the erection of Maypoles which had been suppressed by the Puritans in 1644 and 1654:

This morning I was told how the people of Deal have set up two or three Maypoles, and have hung up their flags upon the top of them, and do resolve to be very merry to-day. It being a very pleasant day, I wished myself in Hide Park.

Happy May Day and do let us know what you're doing with your flagpoles this weekend!