I'm baaaaaack!

Hello all! I had my last exam today, thank God!! The plans for the 3 month holiday are simply to cook, blog, sleep and go out. Sounds good to me!

I haven't been blogging for the past two weeks, but I have kept track of what I've been cooking and eating. So, enjoy!

Thursday, 10th November

Ok, this is the first day of my break from How to Eat recipes. I've put the book on the shelf, I’m in front of the computer, and my Japanese essay is going to get done. I’ve informed my parents of my temporary break from cooking, and put them in charge of feeding us.

As an unexpected bonus, today I receive my three Magnolia Bakery cookbooks from Amazon.com. I've got The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook, More from Magnolia and The Buttercup Bake Shop Cookbook. I'm superexcited, all these gorgeous little cakes!! But at the same time, it's just an extra hundred recipes to add onto my already long list...

Mum makes a nice spaghetti with asparagus and basil pesto (bought from Leo’s supermarket), which I eat alone in front of the computer, with a Nestlé Double Blend Hot Chocolate and my 8th Milo bar of the week.


Asparagus Pesto Pasta, Hot Chocolate and Milo Bar


Friday, 11th November

I was up till 3am last night, and woke up at 9:30 this morning to finish this goddamn essay off, which is due in at 5pm today. At 12:00 noon, though, I miraculously finish the fucker, print it out, and it’s time for lunch. Dad walks in at about this time, asking me what I want for lunch.

Me: Yeah whatever. I don’t care, I’ll eat anything.
Dad: Well I’ll go up to Rendinas and buy some meat ok?

Suddenly my mind, tired and worn out from not enough sleep and too much Japanese, goes into foodie mode…

Me: OH MY GOD, DAD! BUY SOME LAMB RACKS! I’LL MAKE NIGELLA’S CINNAMON LAMB RACKS AGAIN.
Dad: Aren’t you tired? I can grill some steaks, it’s ok.
Me: NO NO NO buy some lamb racks it’s so easy and it will be delicious!
Dad: trying to avoid an argument with his deranged daughter... Yeah ok…

He comes back 20 minutes later, lamb racks in tow (but with some sausages as well, just in case I’ve had a change of heart in the meantime. Clever Dad). I get up from the computer chair, preheat the oven, paint the lamb with cinnamon and chilli oil, chuck them in the oven and make the couscous, without the recipe. It’s not exactly the same as in the book – I put couscous AND a tin of chickpeas into hot stock and leave it to sit, then once it’s cooked, fork through some barberries and pine nuts, which I’ve toasted. Whilst I'm preparing this, Dad grills the sausages, and boils some beans. When he sees me make the couscous, Dad says he doesn’t like couscous, but once it’s all done and on the table, he realizes that this is the only version of couscous that he does like, and has 3rd helpings.




Pretty impressive for something whipped up very impromptu and on very little sleep! I think the fact that I was able to make this without the recipe, and in a very short time frame, proves that this recipe indeed deserves its title as a "Hit" of the Fast Food chapter.

For dinner we go out, then I go out drinking with friends to celebrate the end of this god-awful Japanese subject.


Saturday, 12th November

The first thing I do when I wake up is soak some cannellini beans to make Nigella’s Bean and Pasta soup (Kiddie chapter). The rest of the morning is spent procrastinating, then in the afternoon I realise I have to start studying for next week’s exams.

For dinner, on the suggestion of the lovely Ilana from the Nigella.com forum, I make Nigella’s garlic mushrooms (Kiddie chapter) and pair it with pasta, butter and nutmeg (Fast Food). It only takes about 15 minutes in total, and Ilana was right – it is a perfect meal.

173. Garlic Mushrooms


Garlic Mushrooms + butter/nutmeg pasta

I eat it, with my mum, sitting in front of the TV… and guess what’s on!! NIGELLA BITES! And it’s an episode from the first series, where she makes recipes from How to Eat! SCORE! In this episode, the "Entertaining" episode, she makes chilli and garlic prawns, the mezze-style dinner party, sparkling wine with lime, vagina jelly, loin of pork with bay leaves, guacamole and the Caesar salad. This is good, not only because I love watching the programs, but also because I was confused as to how to make the Caesar salad.

Late at night, I boil the soaked cannellini beans in preparation for making soup tomorrow.


Sunday, 13th November



174. Bean and Pasta Soup (Feeding Babies and Small Children)

When I wake up, I make the bean and pasta soup. However, at the last minute, I realise we again, have run out of tinned tomatoes. So I substitute with a jar of Dolmio basil and tomato pasta sauce, and hope to god that it doesn’t end up tasting like shit.


Bean & pasta soup

Luckily, it tastes fantastic. I have it with some Phillipa’s Corn Bread toast, whilst watching a hilarious episode of I’m Alan Partridge. I’ve forgotten how funny this show is, and remind myself that, one day, I will have Steve Coogan’s babies.


Monday 14th November

Whilst surfing the internet, I happen to stumble across a photo of this love-rat I used to be obsessed with, instantly feel totally depressed and decide that the only solution is ice-cream.

I forage the freezer, and end up with a bowl of Nigella’s World’s Best Chocolate Ice-cream, her Rhubarb Ice-cream and some Connoisseur Chocolate Honey-Nougat Ice-cream, with two Hobnob biscuits. It sounds like my idea of heaven in a bowl, but I'm just not feeling it.




Tuesday 15th November

I spend the entire day in the library with my best friend An, have lunch at about 12, then get back to the library. By 5pm, I haven't got hungry again, and realise something must be very wrong. Usually I get hungry every 3 hours. Usually I eat twice the amount An eats. Usually I spend the whole day dreaming about food. I don't know what's wrong. Maybe it's because I'm still thinking about that Love Rat. In the evening, I also happen to have a mini drama with someone else I was sort of involved with. Why does this shit always happen at the most inappropriate times?? Or maybe my lack of appetite is due to stress from exams. Either way, it's not good. I hope my appetite comes back tomorrow.


Wednesday 16th November

Having just barely recovered from seeing the Love Rat's photo and my other mini-drama, I somehow manage to study just enough to not totally screw myself for exams. Like yesterday, I spend all day in the library, buy food from a cafe on campus, come home for dinner (made by the parentals), study some more and then collapse in bed. For some reason, I'm still not thinking about food. This is starting to scare me. Sarah losing her appetite is worse than Samantha from Sex and the City losing her sex drive.


Thursday 17th November, Friday 18th November

I have exams on both these days. Don't talk to me.


Saturday 19th November

Two exams down, only one to go.

MY APPETITE IS BACK! THANK GOODNESS!

For dinner I feel like pasta, and want to make the garlic mushrooms again, but don’t wanna eat the exact same thing again. So, I make the garlic mushrooms, as per usual, but I decide toss the carbonara sauce (minus cream and bacon) through the pasta. I want to sprinkle it with parsley after it’s done, but the parsley which I bought prior to the exam period seems to have died a horrible horrible death in my fridge, so I leave it out.


Sauce, wine, minging parsley

Whilst I'm cooking the mushrooms, I accidentally knock the bottle of wine onto the floor. Thankfully, the bottle doesn't break, and only a little bit of wine is spilled. But as I smell the wine, I think sadly to myself what I'd give to just take a couple of gulps of that wine. Aaahh... but any dreams of drunkenness will have to wait until after exams...

Nigella says you don’t need cream, but I think she’s wrong. The egg sauce tastes, well, too eggy, and even though it’s delicious whilst I eat it, as soon as I’m done my mouth just tastes of egg, and I need buckets of water to wash out the taste.


Mushroom Carbonara - tastes infinitely better than it looks


Sunday 20th November

Come lunchtime, I feel like pasta again, so I make Nigella’s Spaghetti Aglio Olio, which I’m pretty sure I’ve made before, so doesn't count as a new recipe. I obviously haven’t had time to go and buy new parsley, so it ends up looking pretty boring. Tastes amazing though.


Spaghetti Aglio Olio

Come 7:30pm, marketing theories have fried my brain, and I can't think of food. I send Dad out to Colombo's to get some disgustingly greasy food - capriciossa pizza, a chicken parmigiana, and potato skins (aka soggy wedges) with sour cream, cheese and bacon.




Chicken Parma


Wedges

Man, this stuff is greasy. But it tastes so good! Can't wait for tomorrow night, when all exams are done!

So that was my two weeks without blogging!! I'm definitely back now, with a venegeance! Get ready for heaps of posts!

xox Sarah