Happy New Year

30 years ago, my brother swimming off the French coach. The music is a little clumsy, my first attempt.

Happy New Year.

I love having you out there, somewhere, peeking in at my snippets.

I intend spending the next couple of evenings naked with my boyfriend. Catch you later x 

my favourites

guess which one i ate first ..

a promise

Too sick to fuck so i fell asleep in his arms with his thickened cock occasionally twitching against the curve of my bottom. His quiet frustration is gratifying, a stroke of pleasure in the mind when the body is beyond response.

*

I hope you all had a marvelous day. Vive l'indigestion.

at the hearth

A recipe i tried a few weeks ago, with some trepidation. it is not as full-on peanut as i imagined it might be, nor as sweet as it suggests, thankfully. If you are inclined to giving guests a full-fat experience do try it out; it is a more sophisticated flavour than the title suggests, and the texture is a delight. And it looks good on a plate. 

Nigella's Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake

english

american 

It is Christmas eve, and i am (happily) confined indoors with a (unhappily) chest infection. There are roaring fires, a 28lb ham in the fridge (17 people to feed this week) and the children's presents are all wrapped. My boyfriend is many miles away but i am enjoying the pang of missing him more (dare i say it) than the pleasure of having him here when i am beyond kissing or sharing my bed. I am sore and tired, happy to curl with the cats while the children enjoy their grandparents. 

For those of you who are with family; I wish you good cheer and fortitude, and a large glass of something special. 

For those of you who are missing family; a large glass of something special and my commiserations. 

I have a twinge of both myself; missing several loved ones, but grateful to be with those that are here.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas xxx

food play

'you're my gluten-free crumpet' he says with a leer and sweet bacon breath kisses across a rumpled sheet.

honeycomb rocks

Be sure to make this only if you have visitors due, visitors who will gladly help you empty the box and thus lifting the burden from your own belly. Nigella calls it the culinary equivalent of crack cocaine. 

I prefer my addictions robed in dark chocolate but i'm sure it would be delicious with a little milk chocolate substituted, as Nigella suggests. I find the quickest way to smash up Crunchie bars is to slap them against the edge of the kitchen counter, whilst still in their packets.

Nigella's Sweet & Salty Crunch Nut Bars, Kitchen

300g dark chocolate

125g unsalted butter

45 ml golden syrup

250g salted peanuts

4 x 40g Crunchie bars, enjoyably crushed

25 cm baking tin, lined with foil. 

Break up the chocolate and put into a heavy-bottomed pan, with the butter and golden syrup. Over a low heat stir gently until liquid.

Add the peanuts and Crunchie crumbs to the chocolate and pour the mass into the tin. Leave to set in the fridge for 4 hours before slicing. 

festive glass

I had to search awhile for this recipe, until i discovered it between two pages stuck together with something sticky. Always a good sign, i feel.

I wanted shiny and aromatic treats for the tree, so i bought a bag of boiled sweets and made stained glass window bells, double cut stars, and fat snowmen and plump trees.

The black pepper will deter these from being nibbled on the tree, but we tried them while warm and slightly soft and they were delicious. 3 weeks later I wouldn't be so keen to take a bite although they are still looking good as hanging decorations.

Adapted from Nigella's Christmas Tree Decorations, Feast

300g plain flour
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
a good grind of pepper
100g soft dark sugar
100g unsalted butter
2 large eggs, beaten with 4 tablespoons runny honey

Put all the dry ingredients and the butter in a processor and blend. With the motor running gently, add the eggs and honey until the mixture comes together into a dough - you may not need all the liquid.

Divide into two, wrap one slab in cling film and pop in the fridge for now.

Preheat the oven to 170ºC.

Dust a work surface with flour and roll out the dough to about a 5mm thickness and use any number of christmas cutters. Collect up the trimmings and reroll until your baking tray is full. A silicon baking sheet is useful here, or use greaseproof paper to line your tray. When your shapes are in place, use a knife or a smaller cutter to cut out a window and fill with a sweet - the cooking process completes the magic.

If you want to hang your treasures with ribbon, use a piping nozzle to make an appropriate hole.

Bake for 20 minutes, savoury the hot honey and spice aromas. Leave to cool slightly - the windows will set quickly enough.

cider with roses

Gammon Hocks.

Another Nigella special. Her latest book is Kitchen - don't deny that you haven't peeked at her lusciousness on TV show, and the recipes have been easily as much fun, i am finding treasures weekly. Not that this one was a massive success. The ham was tasty enough (and even better cold) but it was fiddly to separate from the bone and gristle, and it didn't make a satisfactory looking dinner plate. I would do it again (2 hours, bubbling in an litre of cider, with fennel seed and black pepper, for not a huge amount of money - £3.50 for a huge hock, if you are interested) but the main appeal is for this .. cidery citrus-bright pea soup.

A panful of residue ham stock, a kilo of peas and juice of a lime. 7 minutes at a simmer, liquidize and you have a worthy supper for 2 (and lunch tomorrow).

As a bonus, we made bird cake too; scraps of ham and cartilage mixed with bread crumbs, topped with ham fat skimmed off the stock pan. The pots are now hanging upside down from the washing line, away from the foxes.

Also tried this week: Nigella's Spring Chicken. Watch out for the tarragon; i enjoy - love - aniseed flavour, but the children were not so enthused. HOWEVER. The 4 or 5 left-over chicken thighs in pancetta-studded savoury jelly I scooped in to a dish of rice for Nigella's Pantry Paella. With a little chorizo and sweetcorn kernels added with the saffron at the beginning, and some spanking fresh spinach stirred in at the end .. fabulous. We ate piri piri fired crisps as a side dish and lay wrapped together in a carbohydrate doze, content and almost sated. The rest came later, or rather; we both came later, lazily, individually, together, where we sat. And then went to bed to read our books, hip to hip.

bean there

I was looking for a particular recipe involving anchovies and cream, but once i had seen this (Nigel Slater, Real Cooking; Tomato, bean and bacon stew) i searched no further for supper. It would be a more economical dish if you used dried beans as Nigel suggests, soaked over night and then cooked for an hour or so. I had a jar of particularly delicious high quality cannellini that i like to use, for speed as well as taste.

Heat a heavy pan with a slug of olive oil and gently cook 2 sliced leeks, a stalk or two of finely sliced celery, a red pepper; chopped, until softened. Add a little packet of pancetta pieces (or chopped bacon) and 4 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped, cook until the fat colours. Add a tin of tomatoes, a jar of white beans and a couple of bay leaves. Simmer for half an hour or so, then add a handful of shredded cabbage. Another 20 minutes at a gentle bubble and season with salt and pepper.

"Has he fucked your arse yet?"

We're taking it slow, i tell him, trying not to dwell on a memory of another's assertive hand on the back of my neck.

sunday scenery

Today 

Yesterday (yes, the same spot, difference angle) 

I missed my man this weekend. The saturday night bed felt huge without him. 

We are becoming a habit, a good one. 

lock on:off

I arrived late and in the dark, cold to the bone and slightly shaky from tiredness and relief. He helped me with my luggage, a strong heave from the back of the car, one handle each, and there is a sudden rumble, an odd clattering sound, the bag shuddering against our legs as we stand together outside his house in the gently drifting snow, pealing with laughter as at least one of my vibrators proclaimed her vigorous presence in staccato bursts.

hot stuff

Thursday's supper, too rushed even to cook rice so we had cheese-topped tortillas for scooping, and added sweetcorn because the boy can't eat kidney beans.

Based on Nigella Lawson's Cheesy chilli (Kitchen)

100g chorizo
500g good mince beef
1/2 teaspoon of cocoa powder (inspired!)
1 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon tomato puree
400g tinned tomatoes
2 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

Into a good sized heavy pan put the chorizo, peeled and sliced into half-coins, and heat until their florescent oil begins to seep. Add the mince, breaking up as the meat browns.

Sprinkle with the cocoa powder, oregano and puree, stirring well before adding tomatoes in their juice, and a little extra water - use the water to swill out the tomato tin so not to waste a drop of flavour - and then the worcestershire sauce.

Simmer for 20 minutes, under a lid. Add a cup of frozen sweetcorn towards the end for the sparkle.

Fast, effective and ultimately satisfying. Just like my Lelo Gigi (but, unlike the chilli, not for sharing with my family).