food, books, and nag

Made-up Recipe



This tastes better than it looks - I think I need to add photography lessons to my list of Fifty First Timers!


I have been cooking for myself a lot recently and have tried to live on what’s in the fridge. This is a great way to use up ingredient and flex my imagination to invent new dishes. Here is the most interesting from last week

Tofu and Halloumi Frittata

Chop a clove of garlic, a red chilli, two spring onions, a ripe tomato and a couple of mushrooms; fry these for a few minutes, add about 75gs of Tofu and toss around a bit. Add two eggs beaten with a little soya milk and some ground black pepper. Cook as for an omelet, in the mean time heat the grill to hot. When most of the egg is cooked, take off the hob, slice enough slivers of halloumi to give a decent covering and sling the lot under the grill until the egg become golden and begins to turn up at the pan edge.

I always sprinkle Worcestershire Sauce over eggs for a special treat.

Note; this was delicious but I think in future I would try a mild tofu. I used a braised smoked tofu which overpowered many of the ingredients.



Just Read

Runaway by Alice Munro

Alice Munro has been on my must read list for years and I still can’t believe that I, someone who relishes good short story writing, has failed to read a single story by this accomplished writer. I have made up for this now.

Munro writes about everyday folk living everyday lives and her stories are long enough to let the reader into those lives in detail. A number of the tales in Runaway follows one character, Juliet, from early adulthood through to old ages, and it is fascinating to watch the character develop in this way. But even the shorter one-off stories left me caring for these well crafted characters.
I have watched my own writing style develop over the years but still can’t crack the short story form. I am now eager to immerse myself in all Master Munro’s writing to see if any of her style sinks in.

The Nag

After reading Briony's comments on my last post I thought I had better look more closely at The Nag.

I am now even more skeptical. Briony was right, she could change to what she believed to be Green energy in minutes because the website directs it devotees to do their bidding. But I doubt their motives, especially when they are selective in the sites they recommend, is this perhaps because they earn revenue for these schemes?

I joined The Nag because I thought it was a great idea to receive an email every month to prompt me to do something. But my major objection to the devises used in the Nag is that it is leading folk to believe they are doing some good and absolving them of responsibility to actually change bad pratice. I would prefer to see The Nag encouraging folk to do little things like turning their shower control down a couple of notches or grow some of their own vegetables. Even window boxes can produce a healthy crop of rocket or spinach.
But maybe The Nag wouldn’t earn so much revenue from a couple of packets of seeds.

Try looking at the Soil Association news letter Why Organic http://www.whyorganic.org/default.asp. It has information about Fair Trade, Organic and local produce as well as seasonal recipes, gardening advice and free competitions – and no hidden agenda.

Green Energy and green issues are big business now, but it shouldn't be like that. We all have a responsibility to save our planet, not look for an easy buck or an easy let off.

I feel there will be more on this subject soon.