Tabitha at the park

Posted on April 18, 2011 by nicdempsey

Jo and Tabitha came for lunch and after a lot of cake, we went to the park.


Seesaw

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Friday night cocktail…

Posted on April 15, 2011 by nicdempsey

The Kamikaze…

I don’t really drink Vodka, I have nothing against it, but my white spirit of choice is gin and my favourite cocktails are gin martinis and manhattans, so other cocktails tend to revolve around the booze I already have in the house (gin, whiskey etc). However, I seem to get given a lot of vodka. Chrissy and Max brought round a Sainsbury’s own for Cosmopolitans (now being used to make vanilla extract!). Michael (who shares my gin/whiskey prejudice) brought me some Russia Standard. Finally, my downstairs neighbours moved to Australia and gave me their booze collection which had some Absolut. So I decided that I’d have to start using this stuff as my freezer really can’t handle any more bottles (all the gin lives in the freezer and I feel vodka should too!). So I consulted Shaken to see what I could make and came across the Kamikaze..

The Shaken recipe is thus:
1oz Cointreau
1.5 oz vodka
1oz lemon juice
dash of lime cordial

I tried this but felt the balance was off, too much vodka not enough other favours. So I googled the recipe and taking several of them came up with this:
1oz Cointreau
1oz vodka
1oz lime juice

Pour ingredients over ice
Shake
Pour into martini glass
Garnish with lime wedge or cocktail cherry

I like this one more, so this is the kamikaze for the Dempsey house. It strikes me that this is very similar to a White Lady and that may be a cocktail for next time.

Happy Friday.

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Reasons to be cheerful..

Posted on April 13, 2011 by nicdempsey

1) Got up early when for a walk with Kathy.

2) Time in the kitchen, made chilli, roasted vegetables, made bisap

3) Time spent with godchildren 2, 3, 4 & 5. Can’t believe those tiny babies are 10 and 8, how did that happen?

4) Grace Lent discussions, this week at Sue and Richard’s

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What I’ve Read – March 2011

Posted on April 12, 2011 by nicdempsey

Ok, I did read more than one new book in March, even if it’s way into April before I’ve managed to post this…

18. Suite Scarlett – Maureen Johnson
This is another one that I read and ended up giving to a friend’s daughter for her birthday. I loved the idea and I loved Scarlett’s voice. I knew that Lois (friend’s daughter) would too.

19. Darkest Mercy – Melissa Marr
The last of the five books that kicked off in Wicked Lovely. I loved Wicked Lovely and have read all five of the books. Seems to me that they trailed off and I was disappointed in the happy, happy ending. However, it’s a YA book about faeries, why did I expect realism.

20. This World We LIve In – Susan Pfeffer
Now this one ended with no real answers. Nothing in the world that Susan Pfeffer has created is ever really going to end well. I kind of wish that the story had picked up years later, when maybe we could have got a sense of how society would have changed in response to the moon and the ‘new world’.

21. The Reapers are the Angels – Alden Bell
This was so beautiful and sad and brilliantly written. I’ve seen it described as a literary zombie novel but that shouldn’t stop you reading it. It did remind me of ‘I am Legend’ and it made me cry.

22. Sisters Red – Jackson Pearce
There was some kerfuffle over this a while back. (I had read Living Dead Girl and thought that withdrawing it from the list was wrong, although I would be careful about who I gave it too) So of course I wanted to read the other withdrawn books. Sorry Bitch Magazine, you were wrong, wrong about Sisters Red too…

23. Aristocrats: Caroline, Emily, Louisa and Sarah Lennox 1740-1832 – Stella Tillyard
In the introduction, Stella Tillyard says that the letters the Lennox sisters wrote to each other were in some ways so modern and in others so distant. This was fascinating and I really enjoyed it.

I seem to have a pattern, couple of ‘easy’ books and then finish the month with a non-fiction book that takes a little bit more time to get through. I had an aim for 50 books this year, so am well ahead of target…

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Baking

Posted on April 11, 2011 by nicdempsey

Tonight I am going to dinner at Sarah’s. Sarah pretty much only cooks three things (one of those things is vodka jelly) and is at work all day. So I’m taking dinner to her house, dinner will consist of leek, goat’s cheese and anchovy tart, I make this a lot and more on this later…

But I had some pears in dire need of using up, some mincemeat left over from Christmas and some shortcrust pastry in the freezer. So tonight’s dinner theme will be tarts and pudding will be these…

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Saturday morning…

Posted on April 9, 2011 by nicdempsey

Coffee and pancakes with blueberry sauce…

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Reasons to be cheerful..

Posted on April 8, 2011 by nicdempsey

1) This is from last night but walking into the OXO Bar and have the person on reception tell me that they have no room, only to have the bar manager recognise me and find me a table with a view over the river. Also a perfect manhattan with extra cherries.

2) Haircut! No major changes but haircuts are fab and they are a chance to catch up with Jane, my friend who also cuts my hair.

3) More sunshine and wearing summer clothes…makes me so much happier

4) Extra one today: time spent with Petra and Tony from downstairs, drinking champagne. Sometimes life is just too damn fabulous…

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Reasons to be cheerful..

Posted on April 7, 2011 by nicdempsey

1) In Our Time on Radio Four this morning…about Octavia Hill, I miss the introduction but realise it’s her they’re talking about, which makes me feel quite brainy. Also Peabody (last employer gets a mention!)

2) Making bread, homemade bread is soooo much better than supermarket stuff.

3) OXO Tower for cocktails with Mum. It’s really crowded and the bar manager, recognises me and finds us a table with an amazing view of my favourite city..

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Reasons to be cheerful..

Posted on April 6, 2011 by nicdempsey

1. Spring is springing, it’s a beautiful day, the sun is shining and I get to wear flip flops in public again.

2. A walk in the morning with Tina and another in the afternoon to catch up, lovely to have the time to see friends.

3. My downstairs neighbours are leaving the country (ok that’s not a reason to be cheerful!) but they gift me with food, booze and stuff they can’t take with them, all of it terribly useful!

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Reasons to be cheerful…1, 2, 3

Posted on April 5, 2011 by nicdempsey

1) Call from agency in response to me sending them my CV and an appointment on Thursday. I have been worried about sinking into a slough of despond about unemployment and this gives me hope that it won’t be another 9 month gap on my CV.

2) Last personal training session. Jem reminds me, as I whine about my lack of focus, that I do have willpower and determination as he sees how much effort I put into my friends and family and I just need to put that focus on my training for a while and I won’t look back.

3) Tina finally out of hospital. She has a way to go yet but I know how much she has wanted to be home, so good.

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