Saturday 27 September 2008

Moroccan-style Lentil Soup


2tbsp olive oil
2 leeks, thinly sliced
2 carrots, thinly sliced
2 sticks celery, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1.25l (36fl oz) chicken or vegtable stock
175 g(6oz) red lentils rinsed
2tsp harissa paste
Juice of half a lemon
2tbsp chopped coriander or flat leaf parsley

1.Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the leeks, carrots, celery and garlic and cook for 5 minutes. Add the red lentil and harissa paste. Pour in the stock and bring to the boil, then simmer, partially covered, for around 20 minutes or until the lentils are tender.

2.Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then add a good squeeze of lemon juice. Stir in the herbs and serve with flat bread.


Bon appetit, Bon appetito, Gudden Appetit!, Smaklig måltid! Mwynhewch eich bwyd! Enjoy!!!

Autumn in my garden....

Monday 22 September 2008

New Camera...

We have a new camera, Nikon D40, but unfortunately, I don't get to play with it for a month, my husband has taken it on his travels, to Singapore, Phuket, Japan and China..this is all for work with Williams F1 .




Click on images to enlarge.

Thursday 18 September 2008

Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.....

My blogger friends Ilva of Lucillian Delights and Sara of Ms Adventures in Italy, have both done posts on this matter, as someone they both know has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Lets hope that their friend makes a speedy recovery. Get Well soon Gina.

This is something we need to be very aware of, so we need to give as much support as we possible can.

O Foods for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. In honor of Gina DePalma, author of Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen and Executive Pastry Chef of Babbo Ristorante in NYC, who was recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer, Sara of Ms Adventures in Italy, Jenn of The Leftover Queen, and Michelle of Bleeding Espresso are asking you to donate to the:

Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (via FirstGiving.org)

and then, out of the goodness of your hearts and to be eligible for the O Foods for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month Contest, please do the following:

1. Post a recipe to your blog using a food that starts or ends with the letter O (e.g., oatmeal, orange, okra, octopus, olive, onion, potato, tomato) and include this entire text box in the post;

OR

2. If you’re not into the recipe thing, simply post this entire text box in a post on your blog to help spread the word about the event and Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

AND

3. Then send your post url [along with a photo (100 x 100) if you've made a recipe] to ofoods[at]gmail[dot]com by 11:59 pm (Italy time) on September 30, 2008.

We will post a roundup and announce prize winners on October 3.

Prizes:

* 1 Recipe Prize for best “O food” concoction: $50 gift certificate to Amazon;
* 1 Awareness Prize for only publicizing event: Copy of Dolce Italiano cookbook.

———

From the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund:

* Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic cancers in the United States and is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women; a woman’s lifetime risk of ovarian cancer is 1 in 67.
* The American Cancer Society estimates that 21,650 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the U.S. in 2008 and about 15,520 women will die from the disease.
* The symptoms of ovarian cancer are often vague and subtle, making it difficult to diagnose. There is no effective screening test for ovarian cancer but there are tests which can detect ovarian cancer when patients are at high risk or have early symptoms.
* In spite of this patients are usually diagnosed in advanced stages and only 45% survive longer than five years. Only 19% of cases are caught before the cancer has spread beyond the ovary to the pelvic region.
* When ovarian cancer is detected and treated early on, the five-year survival rate is greater than 92%.

Please donate to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund
and help spread the word!

Friday 12 September 2008

Brugge

On our way back to Calais from Brussels, we had a stop-over in Brugge. We only had a an hour, just enough time for a coffee and a quick browse!!