Pay it Forward

Following the lead from Juanita

The first three people to post a comment in my blog get a handmade gift :)

You will have to email me your address at perdy129@live.co.uk

:)

Chocolate

Mmmmmmm we all love chocolate and the best time to enjoy it is the Easter holiday. A holiday hell bent on loading your hips with chocolate delights. Easter eggs are the order of the day, so get the big and little kids involved in the chocolate holiday.


Little Kids
All kiddies love chocolate especially an Easter Egg. Instead of simply buying and delivering one why not get involved for an hour and help a kiddie decorate one. Its fun, shows off your artistic flair (or not in my case) and wiles away a fun-filled hour with a little one.

Buy an Easter Egg, then buy some candy and jelly sweeties. Make a small batch of icing sugar and pipe little bits on your egg and fix on your sweeties. You can make lots of designs and patterns from lions faces to flowers, or simply just stick em on lol. Pipe on a name and your done :)


Big Kiddies

Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients
150 gms marshmallows
50 gms butter
250good quality chocolate
4 table spoons hot water
280 ml whipping cream, whipped
Flaked almonds

Directions
On the stove, put together the marshmallows and the butter and the chocolate the hot water until the marshmallows and the chocolate have melted down.
Remove from the stove and carefully fold in the whipped whipping cream.
Cool for 1 hour.
Garnish with nuts or crumbled amaretto biscuits (or both) and serve immediately..
NOTE: do not cool overnight as the mousse will harden.

Hot Cross Buns

Ingredients
625g strong white flour
45g chilled butter
45g golden caster sugar, plus 2 extra tbsp
1 tsp each salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
11/2 tsp fast-action dried yeast
1 egg
275ml milk, plus 4 extra tbsp
100g raisins
25g chopped mixed peel
Oil, for greasing


Method
Sift 500g of the flour into a large glass or ceramic bowl. Cut up the butter and rub in with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in 45g caster sugar, salt, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and yeast. Beat the egg in another bowl, then mix it into the dry ingredients with 275ml milk, until you have a soft, pliable dough. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Gradually work in the raisins and peel. Return to the bowl and cover loosely with oiled cling film. Leave in a warm place for 1 hour, until doubled in size.


Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead well to knock out all the air, then cut into 12 pieces. Put your lightly floured hand – slightly cupped, with fingers open – over 1 piece, then rotate your hand in a circular motion, pressing down on the dough to create a neat ball. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Put on 2 greased trays, spaced apart. Cover with oiled cling film and leave in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan180°C/gas 6. Sift the remaining flour into a bowl and stir in about 125ml tap water to make a smooth wet paste. Spoon into a freezer bag, snip off the corner and pipe a cross over each bun. Bake for 15 minutes until golden.

Meanwhile, put the extra milk and extra sugar into a pan. Heat gently to dissolve the sugar, then boil for 2-3 minutes until syrupy. Brush the glaze over the warm buns. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Serve split open and toasted with lots of butter.

New Years Eve in Swissy

So far not much snow, but quite a hectic and fun filled Christmas. It was our first New Years Eve together and we chilled out most of the day and couldnt really make up our minds whether to go out in the evening or snuggle up with a nice bottle of wine and see the New Year in alone.

At about 2pm it started to snow, I mean really really snow a lot. I got so excited I ran outside dancing around in it lol. Chop-chop always laughs at how much I love snow, but coming from the South of England it isnt something I've seen a lot of.

At this point we decided we would share our New Years Eve with friends and chop-chop called his sister and we arranged to meet her, her boyfriend and her little boy in Zurich centre at about 10pm. We set off about 9 and walked down a few stops to use the teller machine at the bank, then we hopped on a tram. Walking through the streets it was eerily quiet, snow does that doesnt it, kind of makes everything feel still. Passing restaurants and bars cheerily lit up and filled with revellers, it was all so warm and cosy and quaint.

The town was a totally different story, it was absolutely packed with people. From 8pm stages set up around the city centre offer live bands and DJs, while food and drink stands fuel the visitors with mulled wine, sparkling wine and treats. At 11.40pm the crowd falls silent on a signal from airborne balloons, and at midnight the city's church bells ring in the New Year. At 12.20am the 20-minute display lights up the night's sky. After the show ends, the musical entertainment starts up again and continues until 3am.

The atmosphere was absolutely brilliant, the funniest things were some of the youngsters, obviously worse for wear but no nastiness. The young girls staggering around in short skirts and high heels in arctic conditions. The snow on the streets had turned to slush and then frozen in the extremely cold conditions, watching some of them ice skating in high heels was hillarious. On the tram on the way home a young guy was seranading us with his babbling and giggling songs. The whole night was really special and Id recommend a New Years Eve outside in the Zurich night air to anyone.

I was absolutely freezing cold when I got home, but a hot bath and a cuddle in bed with chop-chop and I was all snuggly warm again :)

Lazy snacks with a twist

I absolutely adore cooking, but even I sometimes just fancy something out of a tin or a packet. However most pre-purchased foods just dont hit the spot, so I always tend to jazz them up a little bit. Here are some of my favourite lazy snacks.

I hope you enjoy :)


Fish Finger Sarnie
3 fish fingers
1 slice of gouda cheese
1 tablespoon of tomato relish
1 Dill pickle
2 sliced of white bread cut from a loaf

Grill the fish fingers, slice the bread in half and pop it in the toaster. when the fish fingers are done slather the bread with tomato relish, slice the pickle, pop in the cheese and fish fingers. I serve this with a little bowl of salad drizzled with olive oil, lemon juice and red wine vinegar.....


Tuna and Cheese melt
half a tin of tuna fish
a cup of grated cheese (any sort)
2 slices of white bread cut from a loaf
salt and pepper

Put the cup of grated cheese in the microwave for 1 min, toast the bread, fill it with tuna, pour over the melted cheese and season with salt and pepper. I usually have this with a chips and some salad

Quick mushroomy pasta
1 portion of pasta
half a carton of button mushrooms
1 clove of garlic
half a tub of creme fresche

Boil the spaghetti in salted water, sprinkled with olive oil, slice up the mushrooms, pop them in a saucepan with a knob of butter, a crushed garlic clove and a liberal sprinkling of salt...saute for 10 minutes. Throw in the half tub of creme fresche and stir. Drain the spaghetti and toss in the mushroom mix. Optional topping of parmesan if you want.


Quick fish pie
1 portion of fish (anything will do, salmon, cod etc)
2 large potatos
parmesan cheese
parsley

Put the fish portion in a dish cover with milk and microwave for 5 minutes. Boil, season and mash the potatos, add a knob of butter. Add chopped parsley to the fish. Pile over the fish, sprinkle with parmesan and put under the grill until brown on top. I serve this with some lightly steamed broccoli......

Steak and Onions
1 rib eye steak
half an onion
1 clove of garlic

Season the steak and pop under the grill, 10 mins each side gives you medium rare, add an extra 5 for medium and 10 for well done. Chop an onion and saute in olive oil with the garlic clove. Pour over the steak. I serve this with a quick boiled rice or mash.......

Crunchy ice cream
I caramel flapjack
1 portion of ice cream

Slice the flapjack in two, make an icecream sarnie and serve. You can do this with a few flavours to make a pretty desert.

Choccie bannanas and cream
1 bannana
4 squares of dark chocolate
whipping cream
cherries to garnish
2 scoops of vanilla ice cream

Slice the bannana, melt the chocolate in the microwave and pour over. Heap in two scoops of ice cream, squirt with cream and top with cherries....

Training a Man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Living with a man is indeed a different experience. I mean, dont get me wrong I love chop-chop to bits and living with him is definately better than when i lived without him.

But there are subtle differences in our lifestyles arnt there?

Chop-chop is used to living alone and as such is quite able to do basic housework. But the little touches like arranging the cushions and cuddly toys on the bed, opening the curtains so they are level each side and using furniture polish definately arnt among his priorities.

Which makes one wonder is it really worth going to all the effort if its not appreciated.Makes sense that if he doesnt think its necessary, is it?

Why are women, by-and-large more house proud than men. I once read a plaque on my friends wall, shes a riding-instructor (the messiest creatures on the planet lol) that said "A tidy house is a sign of a dull life". Why spend valuable time making your environment spick and span instead of say reading a book, going out with friends or generally doing something more interesting. I've thought about this and decided its because it gives me a feeling of well-being, I'm never truly happy when everything isnt perfect. The smell of futniture polish is quite nasty really, chop-chop hates it, but i always use liberal amounts. I find it more than acceptable, but lets face it we wouldnt wear it as perfume would we, and it doesnt have that delicious comforting aroma of home baked cookies or bread.

My title suggests I have ideas on how to actually train a man to be more like us, and this isnt the case. I wouldnt want chop-chop to be like me really, if he constantly polished and sprayed and arranged teddy bears on the bed, this would discombobulate me no end. I mean I'd doubt his masculinity I guess, who really and truly wants a man like that!!!!!!!!

So the endless cycle of women complaining about men being untidy is a bit of a misnomer really, cos its a lose-lose situation for them.

Cooking is a whole different ball game though, nearly all men are proud they can cook something. Usually their signature dish revolves around pasta. Doesnt matter what nationality they are, how many women have been wooed by their mans Spag Bol, or his under-bar-b-qued, blackened "chicken a la botulism" lol, chop-chops is a little more sophisticated in that he makes "spaghetti al olio", but it all boils down to the same thing really, something that they can present to you on a plate 2 maybe 3 times and year, then sit back at every other mealtime and scoff what youve slaved over.

So I guess the answer to training a man is........ why bother. We all love them the way they are anyway and to be honest they are pretty much un-trainable :)

This article wouldn't be fair or complete if I didnt show you my chop-chops first attempt at yorkshire puddings. They were soooo good I'm a bit worried really, so I've hidden the fairy cake tins and the furniture polish :)

Chop-Chops Puddings :)

ZSC Lions

As part of my christmas pressie chop-chop got us ticket to go and see the ZSC Lions play Lugano. ZSC are a Swiss ice hockey team and chop-chop follows them madly. Id never seen an ice hockey match before, but I loved the film Mighty Ducks with Emelio Estevez which was about a kids ice hockey team. Plus it was a winter sport and being in Swissy with the snow and the chilling cold air Ice Hockey just seemed like something I should experience.


Id got chop-chop a new ZSC hoodie for christmas which he looked gorgeous in. I wore totally inappropriate high heeled black suede boots, denim skirt and a humungous ZSC shirt that almost made it appear my skirt was non-existent.




We got on the tram in the evening to set out for our adventure. As we got closer to the stadium there were people everywhere wearing ZSC shirts and all wending their way towards the stadium through the snowy Zurich night.


All social events involve food and this experience was no different, chop-chop had one of those incredibly large swiss sausages with bread and heaps of mustard (ive never really taken to them) so i had a carton of hot chips (something the swiss dont excel at) and oodles of tomato ketchup. We stood at a podium watching the milling crowds stuffing themselves like us while we all waited for the game to start. Deciding to take our seats we then had to face what i remember as a truly dangerous march thru a wall of cigarette smoking, effusive, chattering band of ZSC and Lugano fans. Not all men, there were lots of women and loads and loads of kiddies too. But the smoke lol, well not so much the smoke as the hot ends of cigarettes casually waved around in the hands of Swiss, german and italian supporters (have you noticed they talk with their hands and their mouths). It was like dodging bullets and something that really sticks in my mind about the evening.

TIP: if you go to one of these games dont wear clothes you dont want a cigarette burn in, unless your like Catherine Zeta Jones in Entrapment and can contort your body through the red rays of a museum security system.

The stadium was huge, there were big screens showing advertisements and replays, a huge computer strip to show the scores and some fans had hung banners promoting their team on the walls behind. The teams came out to a huge roar, much excitement and the game was started. Im not going to pretend I totally understood everything that went on, it seemed to start and stop in bursts, everytime it stopped some music came on and when they started to play again it stopped.


I thought the most amusing part was when someone got sent off and they had special music for that too, tailored to which team member was being a little break in the hole. At one point the ZSC fans all lit little fire/candle (not sure) thingies which they waved around with great enthusiasm. The whole thing was fast and furious and great fun and I dont feel you have to be an ice hockey affectionado or even understand the game to enjoy the evening, I know i did :)

At half time there was a break, and they had 3 people on the ice from the crowd, one was a little boy of about 10 id say. The object of this was they were given a puck and a stick and they had to hit their puck between an impossibly small area to win some money. I mean it was like the dam busters, the area they had to drive their puck thru was incredibly tiny but they all got onto the ice in good sport, grinning up at their respective families and ready to take their chances. Unbelieveably the little boy hit a gold home, the crowd went crazy, cheering and clapping and the little boy was like an olympic hero, he grabbed his stick with two hands, huge grin on his face and jumped up and down performing for his adoring and awe struck family. Way to go little boy!!!!!

Unfortunately ZSC lost so chop-chop was a little forelorn and after running the gaunlet of lit cigarettes we were out on the street in the chilling weather making out way home.

Id love to go again, the ZSC experience was defiantely one I would recommend and want to repeat.


Go ZSC Lions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

History of the ZSC Lions

Locally nicknamed "Z", the team was formed in 1997 as a result of the merger of the two local teams Zürcher Schlittschuh Club (German for "Zurich Skating Club") and Grasshoppers Club (GC), the ice hockey section of Grasshopper-Club Zürich. ZSC played in the National League A, was clearly the fan favourite of the city but in constant financial trouble. Grasshoppers, meanwhile, was playing in the Nationalliga B, failed to qualify for promotion several years in a row and had a small fan base, but was backed by a very wealthy man.
ZSC was the first Swiss team to play in an indoor arena (Hallenstadion).

They won the Swiss championship in the years 1936, 1949 and 1961 and the prestigious Spengler Cup in 1944 and 1945. After the merger, the ZSC Lions won the Swiss Championship in 2000, 2001 and 2008, the IIHF Continental Cup in 2001 and 2002 and the Champions Hockey League in 2008.

During the 2008-09 Season, the ZSC Lions participated in the first ever Champions Hockey League, for which the automatically qualified. The other participating Swiss team, SC Bern, had to first win the qualifying tournament. for the group stage, the ZSC Lions were placed in group D, along with HC Slavia Praha and Linköpings HC. ZSC Lions came first in this group with only one defeat and three victories, thus qualifying for the semi-finals.

On 7 January 2009 they qualified for the first Final of the CHL against the Finnish Espoo Blues, beating them 6-3 and 4-1 respectively. The first leg of the final was held on 21 January 2009 in the Magnitogorsk Arena against Metallurg Magnitogorsk and ended with a 2-2 (0-2,0-0,2-0) draw. The goals for ZSC were shot by Trudel and Wichser respectively in the first third of the game.[1] The second leg was played one week later, on 28 January 2009, in the Diners Club Arena in Rapperswil, Switzerland. ZSC Lions won the finals with a 5-0 with goals by Down, Sejna, Seger, Alston and Trudel.

My chop-chop

Well Im bragging of course, but my chop-chop is a bit of a catch. Hes swiss in his mid 30s and absolutely gorgeous. I met him online of all places last year and after a 6 month internet courtship we decided to live together. Hes a man of many faces, highly intelligent and sensitive. He has two masters degrees related to Architecture and his life is full of learning new things and books. The multi-faceted, interesting side is hes also a poker player, he cashed this year in the wsop (thats the world series of poker). He won a ticket worth £17,500 in an online tournament. That included a suite at the Manderlay Bay, picture windows showing the strip, cinema sized tv in the bedroom replete with king sized bed and all the excesses America is so famed for. He's serious, fun, wild, intelligent, racy and incredibly kind. Ive always imagined people who excel at one thing are limited by that but my chop-chop never ceases to amaze me. How can someone who enjoys and understands culture have a history of graffiti writing, hard-core trance (with everything that goes with that) and poker playing. Oh did I mention kick boxing and being a museum guide?

Christmas in Swissy

Ive only ever experience christmas in England before, with everything that goes with it. Getting up at 6am christmas morning getting the lunch ready for my family, opening presents and looking thru the window at the rain most probably.

Ive always found christmas to be a terrible let down. Im a hopeless romantic and always imagined everyone else had this story book existance that culminated in the most fantasamagocial christmas extravaganza. Whilst me on the other hand, spent my time pushing a huge trolley around Tesco whilst creatively thinking of recipes and food for a family more interested in champagne and parties. (Ive always been a square peg in a round hole me :)

So was christmas with chop-chop in Swissy going to at last exceed my overly high expectations of the christms season???

My first christmas in Swissy was a totally different experience. I arrived in Zurich a few days before christmas and hadnt seen my boyfriend chop-chop for over a month.(his nic name if you read my first post lol). Having lived in zurich for about 5 months beforehand I knew what foods I could buy and what i couldnt so i had the brilliant idea of shopping at Tesco and taking all the traditional things i thought chop-chop might like with me in my suitcase. I flew from Gatwick and i was allowed one case, a handbag and one item of hand luggage. Chop-chop has a huge record collection, hes a real music buff but no record player anymore. He usually listens to music on his computer now and has a woofer thingie and all the high tech gismos that make experiencing music akin to being in a nightclub. Well I discovered this turntable thingie that plugs into the computer. Great idea for chops chops pressie i thought, so I duly bought one. Huge box which i couldnt wrap up incase customs wanted a lookie, so i carried it in a bin bag lol. My case was then stuffed with meat products (which are hugely expensive in swissy), a ham to glaze and bake, a turkey etc. then englishy things like christmas pudding. I joked that if customs wouldnt let me thru I could have my christmas dinner at the airport. So my case weighed a ton, I had a huge bin bag with a record deck in it, a handbag stuffed full of stuff as well and off i went.

Everything went without fail and I arrived to a cold but snowless Zurich at about 7pm that night. chop-chop was waiting for me and i was really excited because there was a new tram directly from the airport to where we lived. I also got vast quantities of alcohol in the duty free, so we got stuck into that and a last minute purchse in duty free of a tin of ginger biscuits from Harrods.

We spent the next day buying and wrapping presents and me cooking my ham. Men always leave these things to the last moment dont they, was great fun, all the christmassy lights and crisp air, people rushing around, made me feel christmas had finally come. We spent the next day wrapping the presents. Chop-chop is very artistic he used to be a talented graffiti writer (when he was still nimble enough to run fast :) so we made cards for all the gifts, used silky ribbons, stencils, cuttings knives. wow they were the best looking gifts id seen for ages.

December 25th - I cooked my ham, with a brown sugar and mustard glaze in the oven for about 2 hours. Chop-chop liked that with salad and crusty bread for lunch and there was heaps and heaps left over for over christmas. In the evening we went for a christmas meal with his family, then afterwards we went back to his sisters house for the present opening ceremony. This was fantastic fun and his sister made these delicious traditional swissy cookies with spices for us all to nibble on whilst we tore paper off gifts, hugging and kissing one another (oh and did i mention drinking copious amounts of vodka) :)

Christmas was one of the best I ever had, filled with love and warmth, unfortunately the snow didnt come until the New Year, but when it came boy did it come lol :)

Sunday Lunch yum yum

I love sundays. In the summer its nice to go for a picnic with friends, but my fave is cooking a traditional sunday lunch at home for my chop-chop.

Today Im cooking roast lamb with all the trimmings.

Roast Lamb (for two)

Leg of Lamb

olive oil

salt and pepper

1 lemon

4 large Potatoes

2 parsnips

half a swede

4 carrots

1 onion

half a cabbage

1 knob of butter

packet of stuffing (i just dont like homemade im such a chav lol)

Plain Flour

half a pint of milk

Put lamb in a oven tray, drizzle on about 1 tablespoon of olive oil, squeeze the lemon over, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast in the oven. Times depend on size and liking (rare, medium, well done). We like lamb slightly pink, so with a small leg for 2 people I roast at 200 degrees for an hour and a half. Checking after an hour and a quarter by stabbing with a sharp knife to check the colour of the fluid. Red its still rare, pinkish is ideal for us, clear and its well done.

Peel potaotes and cut into 4 peices. Put in a pan and boil at top heat for 10 minutes. Drain and put back in saucepan, sprinkle in 1 tablespoon of flour and a good pinch of salt. Put lid on and roughly shake. Throw into an oven pan pre-heated with olive oil. Make sure the spuds are all coated by tossing around and bang it back in the oven. These take about an hour. I turn them half way thru. On the half way turn, i put in the peeled parsnips which ive cut into 4, straight down length ways then once across.

Boil the carrots and swede, peeled and diced together, these take longer than potatoes and your knife should slip in easy. Mash them with a knob of butter and salt and pepper. If these are done early no problem, put them in a bowl then zap warm with the microwave just before serving them.

Peel and slice your cabbage and boil for about 20 minutes, drain and put in another knob of butter, shake about and its done.

Slice your onion and put in a saucepan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a good spinkle of salt, cook while stirring for about 10 minutes until soft. In another pan add a knob of butter until its sizzling, throw in a tablespoon of plain flower and stir quite fast until its slightly brown, chuck in half a pint of milk and stir it until its smooth but quite thick, if its too thick add more milk. Throw in the onions and take it off the heat. Let it sit for at least 15 minutes so the mixture absorbes the oniony taste, then reheat either in the pan or transfer to a dish and heat in the microwave just before you put the dinner on the table.

For the gravy, when you take the meat out of the pan and leave to rest (about 10 minutes and i cover with a clean tea-towel to stop it getting too cold). Pop the pan back on a medium heat until sizzling, add 2 teaspoons of plain flour and mix with a wooden spoon. Be careful at this stage it burns quite easy and can get thick and cloggy. Then add a quarter of a glass of white wine and mugs of hot water from the cabbage. Mix thoroughly and transfer to a saucepan, let it bubble away to burn the alcohol off and ...........perfect gravy.

We dont have a starter or a pudding. But we usually have something sweet and yummy at tea time. :)

The swede and carrot mash, the cabbage, the gravy and the onion sauce can all be re-heated so your not running around with everything timed to finish at the same time lol this is a recipe for caos (if your me). Do all this while the lamb is cooking, time your meal for the lamb finishing.

Place it all on a plate and serve the onion sauce in a jug or a bowl with a spoon for people to lash over their lamb as they wish.

There is loads of lamb left and we dont like it cold, I find it goes quite hard so I usually make a spicy lamb dish of my own concoction for mondays dinner. Or make it and freeze it.

I will add my spicy lamb dish incase you want to try it. :)

3 course feast

We had some friends come around last night, and I wanted to cook something yummy that wouldnt have me slaving over a hot stove all day and also would allow me to spend time with our friends and not be tied to the kitchen.



Starter
For 4 people

Pumpkin Soup (made earlier and simply warmed thru)

Half a pumpkin
Red Chilli
Garlic
1 Onion
2 chicken stock cubes
1 Tub creme fresch
Parsley sprigs
large pot double cream (your just using a swirl the rest is used in the main course)


Half a pumpkin peeled, chopped into cubes. Add to a pan of cold salted water, pop in two chicken stockcubes (any brand) and boil. Takes a little bit longer than boiling potatoes but not too bad. In a separate pan add 4 table spoons of virgin olive oil, 4 cloves of garlic (crushed), a sliced onion and half a red chilli, chopped up with the seeds included. Sprinkle liberally with salt (sweats the onion and makes it soft) cook on a medium heat for about 5 minutes.


Once the pumpkin has finished cooking (jab it with a knife should be soft) add the contents on the onion pan. You havent drained the pumpkin btw your using the stock for the soup.


Let it cool down then zap it with a hand blender, if you do it hot you can get a nasty splash. Then simply add a pot of creme fresche. When you plop it in the bowls swirl a little cream into the top and flip in a sprig of parsley.


Serve with warm crusty bread. I find those that are part-baked are good, pop em in the oven for 5 minutes while you warm your soup up.



Main Course

Sublime Sole with creamy parmesan potato and green veg


1 fillet of sole per person, leave skin on.
1 tin of brown crab meat
Prawns (a handful per person)
Double cream (whats left from the swirl in the soup)
half a bottle of white wine
4 cocktail sticks
Milk about half a pint
Knob of Butter


Spread the brown crab meat onto the sole fillets, roll them up and skewer with a cocktail stick.
Put in a casserole dish, cover with the milk. Pop in the oven and bake on 200 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Put the pint of cream in a small saucepan with 1 full glass of white wine and heat until its simmering but not boiling. You must simmer for at least 10 mins to boil off the alcohol or this tastes foul. At the last minute throw in the prawns to heat thru.


Peel the potatoes cube and boil until you can stick a knife in. Mash them dry then add about a quarter of a cub of heated milk (not boiling just so its not cold i do this in the microwave), add a knob of butter and about 6 tablespoons of grated parmesan. Mash it up and its a done deal.


Serve with green veg of your choice. I usually use green runner beans or brocolli.



Sweet

Tiramissu (homemade is so easy and knocks anything you can buy right out the window)


1 mug of coffee (proper coffee made fresh doesnt matter how you do it, but NOT instant)
About 6 tablespoons of rum (white or dark) or tia maria
Packet of ladyfinger biscuits (or trifle sponges)
Tub of marscapone cheese
tub of double cream

bar of dark chocolate (at least 80% solids)


Make the coffee, throw in the alcohol and dip in the ladyfingers. they absorb the fluid really quickly so just dip dont soak. Arrange them in a trifle dish. (you can do it in individual dishes if you prefer). Make sure there is about 4 tablespoons left. Add this to the marscapone in a clean bowl. This unstiffens the marscapone and colours it a light coffee colour. In a separate bowl whip the double cream until it stands in peaks, then chuck it in with the marscapone mix and cover a layer of sponges, add more sponges and repeat.


Grate the chocolate over the top until there is a thick covering and refrigerate for at least an hour.

We all drank and ate far too much, but was a great evening. Everyone super impressed with how long i must have spent in the kitchen.

In reality the tiramissu took about half an hour and the soup just a little bit longer. The fish i did in about 5 minutes just before my guests arrived.

Hope somebody tries this, it looks and tastes as good if not much better than most restaurants :)

First trip out in swissy alone

My very first blog, so bear with me I will try and make it as interesting as possible. I moved to Switzerland to live with my boyfriend (who i will now refer to as chop-chop) and I love it, everything is so different. Zurich is the most beautiful place Ive ever seen, the air is crisp, the streets are so clean and the traffic is less than in England as they have a wonderful tram system.

Going on the trams excited me like a child really, and my first trip alone was a blast. I decided to go into main station to do some shopping on a sunday. chop-chop was left at home, big warm coat, gloves, hat and scarf, shopping bag and i was off on my first adventure.

Of course id been to the main station on the tram before with chop-chop so i knew where to get on and off and i knew where the shops were. I will add at this point I dont speak any swiss-german but luckily most people here speak a few words of english. Trip there was pretty uneventful and the shopping was great alone. chop-chop hates shopping so we always have to rush around, now i could stop and look at all the different ingredients and foods and jostle around with the huge amount of people that filled the Migro at main station.

Migro is a top food shop here a bit like Tesco or Morrisons, they have shops of all different sizes some sell electrical equipment, home goods etc, but the one i went to this day is purely food. I have a horrible habit of spending exactly what i have, I just keep going until ive spent my money (or in this case chop-chops money). I love cooking for chop-chop and he loves eating it, but i really know i have to cut down a bit. In my mind when im in the shop im thinking of receipes i can make, I never take a list with me which is probably why i spend too long shopping and spend so much of chop-chops money.

Anyway back to my story, I filled two huge shopping bags and made my way back to the tram. This is where the problems started, I knew the tram no. but i wasnt sure which side of the road i should queue in. I tried looking at the signs but i really didnt have a clue at this stage, I had two heavy bags and my tram was coming so i just hopped on. I found a seat straight away and i was on my way home.......or so i thought.

Id been all around the city with chop-chop, so the views out of the window wern't new to me, but was this the way home? The next stop a man got on the tram and stood up by the doors as all the seats were taken, he had a violin case with him and after a few moment got his violin out and started to play a classical song, I was enthralled.

Maybe a bit too enthralled, Im easily led away from the task in hand and day dreamer is my middle name, well by the time Id figured I was on the right tram, but going the wrong way the fiddler had packed away his violin and the tram doors whooshed open as he got off. Hastily jumping up and dragged half of Migros behind me I got off as well. No problem now, I just crossed over the road and waited for the right tram to come, which happened in about 3 minutes so i hopped back on again.

It was at this point i realised I hadnt purchased a ticket. There arnt any conductors just ticket machines at all the stops, but periodically a ticket-checker gets on and if you dont have one you get a hefty fine. So did I get off after one stop, buy a ticket, wait again, drag what now felt like more than half of Migro and get back on again or did I sit panic stricken and wait for the ticket-checker to arrest me. In my mind he was getting on any minute, police would be called, I would be dragged off and chop-chop would get a call to ask him to come and pick up his shopping from police headquarters. Now the big coat, hat, scarf and gloves felt mighty warm and i sat there like a pickled cabbage awaiting my fate. Of course no ticket-collector got on and the imagined conversation, me crying and begging for mercy never happened.

As i walked back in the apartment, chop-chop greeted me with a gorgeous smile and delving in my bags for his treat. Id survived my first trial by fire, but there was more to come :)