LCS, Saf and Gin Mare

Posted on July 26, 2011 by nicdempsey

Last night was the London Cocktail Society. The guys from Gin Mare hosted at SAF. SAF is a vegan/raw food restaurant and the food they provided was amazing, especially the mushroom sliders with tomato and fig jam. Really good.

However, the focus was the gin! Gin mare is a med gin and us made in Spain. Other than juniper, the main botanicals are olives, thyme, basil and rosemary. They distil each botanical separately and then blend to make the final gin. All this makes for a very different favour. Herby and I found it to be quite perfumed.

Because of this, they recommend serving a G&T in a wine glass and never with lemon or lime! Instead with a sprig of rosemary, or basil, or thyme. Of the three we tasted, I preferred the ones with basil or thyme.

Then onto cocktails, especially invented by the guys at SAF for Gin Mare! I had an orangerie. Gin Mare, Aperol, lime juice, orange bitters and a basil syrup. Yum!

The gin monkey enjoyed it as well!

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A weekend without a camera

Posted on July 25, 2011 by nicdempsey

Last Friday I got home and realised that I’d left my favourite little camera at my brother’s. This is sad because I did things that were quite photogenic!

I know that the best camera is the one you have with you and I should just embrace it.

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So in that spirit, photos from this weekend.

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Not good photos and none of Grace planning on Sat afternoon, the party at Jonny and Jen’s on Saturday evening, of Lis and Dwayne (who stayed on Sat evening), lunch with Ma and Christelle on Sunday.

 

It was a pretty good weekend!

 

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Sunday Music

Posted on July 24, 2011 by nicdempsey

I have been playing this over and over this week…

The 2nd movement of Beethoven’s 7th symphony.

Just beautiful..

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Aunt duty

Posted on July 22, 2011 by nicdempsey

Yesterday with the nephew did not get off to a good start! It was raining, Oli was grumpy and very clear that I wasn’t a good substitute for his Mum and Dad. However, after a banana he calmed down for bath and bedtime!

This morning, he came running in say hello at 5.15am. I was expecting it but how do parents do it day after day?

We had breakfast and because Oli and I were up and the sun was shining, we went to the park. At 7am.

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He seemed to enjoy it!

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Lessons from my little brother…

Posted on July 20, 2011 by nicdempsey

As you can imagine, being sick, my job ending etc, etc. has left me in a bit of a slump. I have done things. I saw the last Harry Potter movie, I’ve made jam, I’ve applied for JSA and contacted the agencies. I’ve also seen Maxanne, played with Murphy and looked after Tabitha for Jo (also got locked out of Jo’s house with Jo and Tabitha this morning and had to be rescued by Jo’s brother bringing keys!!).

 

All of that is good but I have also spent a lot of this week, reading, not engaging with the world, not exercising and generally being a bit lax. You can see this most because the house is not in it’s usual pristine state.

 

I’ve been putting it off, knowing it needs to be done but not actually doing it. Today I spoke to my brother and felt very ashamed of myself. Ben and Laura are currently having the worse week of their life so far and I’m going to take care of my nephew overnight tomorrow.  We were talking about arrangements etc and in the midst of everything that is going on he asked me how I was and how my job search was going and thanked me for looking after Oli tomorrow. He then talked about how lucky he was, even in the midst of this awful situation.

Honestly, it was the best kick up the backside I’ve had in a while, so began the process of getting back on track, because if he can cope with what’s being thrown at him at the moment, so can I! So I got off the phone and decided I would start to do something and change my mood. So I tidied the kitchen, did the ironing and am on my way to the gym right now! I wish that I could make it better for Ben and Laura but I can’t, I can take responsibility for what’s going on with me though, so I will..

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Gooseberry Jam

Posted on July 19, 2011 by nicdempsey

On Sunday, Waitrose had gooseberries. I don’t often go into Waitrose and gooseberries aren’t often sold anymore but I love them and they were half price so of course I bought them. Then I made jam. There is something very satisfying about making jam (except strawberry jam, which I’m not that keen on) it makes me feel like a 1950’s housewife and in charge and that’s always a good thing..

 

The recipe came from here and it couldn’t be easier..

What

How

  1. Wash, top and tail the gooseberries, discarding any that are damaged. Place a saucer into the freezer.
  2. Put the gooseberries and 150ml/5fl oz water into a large pan or preserving pan. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 10 minutes until the fruit is softened.
  3. Stir in the sugar and cook over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved.
  4. Increase the heat and boil rapidly for 8-10 minutes before testing to see if set.
  5. To test whether the jam has set: take the saucer from the freezer and drop a small spoonful of jam on to it. Allow it to cool for a minute then push your finger through the jam – if it wrinkles it’s ready; if not, boil for a few more minutes. Continue testing until the jam is ready. (Always remove the jam from the heat while you’re testing so that if it’s ready you won’t overcook it.)
  6. Meanwhile, sterilise the jam jars – first wash the jars in soapy water and rinse in clean warm water. Allow them to drip-dry, upside down, on a rack in the oven set to 140C/275F/Gas 1. Leave them there for at least half an hour while you make the jam.
  7. Once the jam is ready, turn off the heat, skim off any scum and leave to stand for 15-20 minutes.
  8. Spoon the jam into clean sterilised jars and seal tightly with screw top lids while the jam is hot.

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Language

Posted on July 18, 2011 by nicdempsey

This weekend I was listening to Four Thought on Radio 4, I know, it’s not exactly a surprise! (the link is to iPlayer and it’s only 15 minutes)

Matthew Engel talks about differences between British English and American English, making an argument for hanging on to British English spoken, written and signed!

Engel’s objection is not snobbery (as he said America is different, not better or worse, just different) but we are losing our sense of ourselves as we lose our language and adopt another that wasn’t made by us and so doesn’t really suit us. I tend to agree, I love some American phrasing it’s (like most Americans I know) open, expressive and inventive but British English has some great stuff in it too.

Words like ‘mardy’* or to telling ‘porkies’** are reflective of who we are and where we come from (although both of those reflect my peculiar heritage, mardy isn’t really a southern word but my grandmother was from Lincolnshire, ‘porkies’ is from rhyming slang and is more of a London thing.). Also gobsmacked, that’s a brilliant word and very English…

I’m fascinated but the different usages (I didn’t know that a boxcutter was a stanley knife for example and now so much stuff makes sense, I thought that they were secateurs) but I will always go to see a film or to the cinema never to the movies. I live in a flat not an apartment and eat courgettes and aubergines rather than zucchini and eggplants, letters arrive in the post not the mail and I wear jumpers and tights not sweaters and pantyhose. Suspenders will always be the things that hold up stockings, not trousers and certainly never pants! And so on…

*mardy means stroppy or sulky

** telling porkies is to lie, generally a white lie. So when I was about 3 and told my mum that I hadn’t been anywhere near her makeup (while looking like a clown from all the makeup). Ma’s response was to point out that I was telling porkies…

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Sunday Music: Be With Me – Foy Vance

Posted on July 17, 2011 by nicdempsey

Last year at Greenbelt, I wondered into Centaur to hear Foy Vance. Hadn’t heard of him before that but the guys had mentioned him and he was on before Lou Rhodes so I went along and am so glad I did, just lovely and peaceful and beautiful…

 

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End of an era

Posted on July 15, 2011 by nicdempsey

Not taking this too seriously, but today the last Harry Potter film is out and so Harry Potter Puppet Pals

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Things to do when you’re sick

Posted on July 15, 2011 by nicdempsey

So if you haven’t already worked it out, because you know I’ve been wittering on about it for the last couple of days.  I have the lurgy. One of those cough/throat/cold things that won’t actually kill you, you’ll just feel like you want to die…

I can’t read anything too complicated so I revert back to things I love, Brother of the More Famous Jack, my Desert Island book, Georgette Heyer and Chalet School books are fun and I know them well enough that I don’t have to think about them.

Curling up on the sofa watching mindless TV would be good right now but I don’t have a TV, so instead it’s DVD’s and the laptop (hey not having a TV doesn’t mean that I don’t watch TV, I just watch it differently – thank you BBC iPlayer!). So this week comfort was, The Philadelphia Story, Woman of the Year, Adam’s Rib and the Harry Potter films from Prisoner of Azkaban (which is where the films get fun  – Afonso Curaron, that’s when the magic happened!) to Deathly Hallows Part One.

This should tell you 2 things, I love old movies (esp. if Spencer Tracey is in them) and I’m ok with liking Harry Potter and don’t think that it’s a sign of being emotionally stunted. Although strangely (and much to their dismay) godchildren 2 through 5 aren’t allowed to see Deathly Hallows because their parents and I think that those films are too adult and scary for them, I go and see them with the parents and the grandad, just to make sure. Hey, being responsible doesn’t mean that you don’t get to have fun!

I digress, these things make me feel marginally better, when I think I want to die. Could anyone else point me to some stuff that makes the pain of a cold go away?

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