Smoked Salmon Tagliatelle

INGREDIENTS:
300g smoked salmon
5 spring onions, chopped
1 glass of white wine
250ml fresh cream
Grated nutmeg
Pinch of dry dill


METHOD:

In a big pot of salted boiling water, add 8 big bundles of tagliatelle. This should be enough for two adults.

In a separate pan melt a tablespoon of butter over a medium heat.

Add the chopped spring onions to the butter. Allow to soften for a few minutes but be very careful not to burn them.

Add in the glass of wine and allow the alcohol to bubble off. The best way to test this is to smell the vapours and if you get a slight acidic smell at the back if your nose and throat, then it needs a little more time. But be careful not to suck in those vapours for too long or you'll be drunk before your first glass of wine with your dinner!

Pour in the cream to the sauce pot and reduce the heat slightly. If you allow the cream to boil, the sauce will be completely ruined.

Add a good pinch of dried dill and grate in some nutmeg. Only a little nutmeg at first because it is very strong and more can always be added later.

Reduce the cream sauce until it just covers the back of a wooden spoon.

Just at the very end add the smoked salmon and season to taste. The salmon only needs heating through but don't worry if it slightly changes colour.

Drain the tagliatelle and add to the sauce. Mix well to coat all the pasta in the sauce.
Serve with a lovely cold glass of sparkling prosecco. Soo yummy

Relaxing Time

Even though I feel like I'm going slightly potty with not being able to play with my yarn, I'm still finding lots to occupy my time.
On Saturday I treated myself to issue two of Simply Crochet. I had read a lot of reviews about the first issue that I wanted to have a look myself. And I have to say that I adore it.
I really like the vintage styling and there is a good mix of both articles and patterns. And who could not love the yummy mittens on the front cover! This is a must make when I'm better.

I also took out my copy of Rachel Allen 'Cake'. This is such an inviting book. The pages of mine are wet from drooling over the fantastic recipes and photos. I enjoy Rachel Allen because her recipes are so easy and accessible and you can guarantee that they will always turn out perfectly. This is especially important for a baking book. On Saturday I made the lemon and poppy seed cake. And believe me even though it was quite a large cake there was nothing but crumbs left on Monday morning.

So I'm catching up on my reading. I've a big pile of books waiting to get my teeth into them. Also the Hubbie is teaching me how to play the tin whistle and its going surprisingly well. After getting past the first stage of making noises like fingernails being scratched down a blackboard and forcing the dog to go and run for cover out in the shed!

I'm keeping busy and relaxing all at once. Now you can't growl at me ladies, it is what the doctor ordered!!

Hope this post turns out ok. I'm doing it on my phone and they changed the App so that now I can't put my pictures where I want :( technology again!! Turning out to be a bit of an enemy of mine. Maybe even go as far as to say archenemy!)

Rosie x

Nomination!

I've been nominated for the Liebster Award by the wonderful Donna over at The Tulip House.  I must say that I'm really touched that Donna thought enough of my little blog to nominate me.  And what fun!  The rules are that I have to answer 11 questions set by Donna, give 11 random facts about myself and also to nominate 9 more bloggers.  What fun!  I've been giving my answers some thought over the last couple of days, so wish me luck and here goes.  Hope that you enjoy.

11 Random Facts About Myself

1. I love to watch kids television.  Finally I've admitted it!  Now when I say kids tv I mean older kids tv and not baby cartoons.  Dora The Explorer gives me nightmares! Plus I secretly love Barney Harwood. He's such a cutie!
2. I love to collect umbrellas.  If I see a nice one in a shop I simply have to buy it.   I bought a long brolly with a beautiful twisted handle years before it was ever fashionable and I always have it with me.  My friends named it the Mary Poppins brolly.
3. My nickname at school was The Can Opener!  Needless to say I begged my parents ceaselessly for braces to get my teeth straightened.
4. Once when walking past a packed students union bar with some friends and feeling quite good about myself in my new (and quite sexy dress), my lacy hold-up stockings slipped down my legs and sat in wrinkles around my ankles.  It was incredibly embarrassing.
5. Even though my father was German, I cannot speak German.  Shameful.
6. I dropped out of an engineering course in university because the course was not creative enough for me.  But yet for the next ten years I worked in engineering offices as a technical drafter.  Go figure.
7. My favourite night out would definitely have to be going for a meal in a fancy restaurant with the Hubbie or my friends.  I love my food and the variety that is out there is astounding.  There is nothing better than good food and great company, even if I'm bloated like a frog on the way home.
8. When I was pregnant with my son I would eat about 20-25 large oranges a day.  Nothing else appealed to me.  Even at night I would wake up craving oranges and I'd have to get up to eat some.  The mad thing is that my son hates oranges and has never eaten more than a segment of one.
9. I adore going to stand up comedy shows.  Laughter is the best medicine.
10. Coming out of the toilet at work one day I stopped to fix my tights as nobody was around and just as I hiked up my skirt over my bum, I realised that the President of the company had walked out of the men's and was standing behind me.  All I could do was laugh!
11. Every pet I ever had was a rescue case.  I'm too soft to see an animal unhappy or sick.  I get very distressed and cry when we go to the local ISPCA.  I just want to bring them all home.

Now onto Donna's questions;

1.Whats your favourite month of the year and why?

I love November.  Winter is starting and the nip of frost is in the air in the mornings.  The evenings are getting longer and the fire is keeping the house cosy.  Also there is the excitement of Christmas without the stress that comes in December.

2.Whats your biggest indulgence?

It would have to be magazines.  Both digital and paper.  I love reading about other crafters and seeing the new patterns and designs that are coming into fashion.  I also love to collect Vanity Fair and read the articles time and time again and so I tell myself that they are worth the money.

3.What made you start blogging and what keeps you blogging?

I started to blog because I have sick with fibromyalgia for the last few years and I just felt like I wanted to shout out to the world, " hi, I'm still here and I'm still the same person that I have always been".  I keep blogging for two reasons.  The first is that I find it quite therapeutic to type out my feelings at the end of the day, whether they are good , great or bad.  And the second reason is that I feel like I'm leaving a little virtual diary for my kids to read when they are older.

4.Whats your favorite book /film?

My favourite film is a book too.  I love Chocolat.  Apart from the fact that Johnny Depp is in it, I love that the lead character is a strong woman who will not be bullied but yet is kind, loving and open with people.

5. If you were invisible for a day what would you do?

I would love to go around giving people wedgies just to see the look on their faces!

6.Whats your perfect holiday destination?

Anywhere in Italy.  Good food, relaxed way of life and beautiful scenery.  Complete heaven on earth.

7. What makes you laugh and why?

I don't have to think twice about this one.  My kids make me laugh.  The three of us are quite often laughing so hard that the tears run down our faces.  My poor Hubbie  doesn't quite have the same sense of humour and thinks we've gone mad at times.

8. If you had the chance to learn a new skill what would it be?7

Tailoring

9.Whats your favorite flower and why?

Forget-Me-Nots.  I love them for their simplicity and wildness.

10. Have you got a favorite drink? 

Orange juice.  I drink gallons of the stuff.  

11. Have you got a favorite fabric designer?

Without a doubt Amy Butler.  Bright colourful fabrics with the most wonderful and versatile patterns.

The questions for my nominees are;

1. Why did you decide to start your blog?
2. What do you enjoy most about the bloggie world?
3. If you could have a famous chef to cook you a meal, who would it be and what would be on the menu?
4. Real paper books or digital?
5. What was your most loved Christmas present as a child?
6. What is your dream job?
7. If you could go anywhere in the world tomorrow, where would you go?
8. Have you a favourite song that always makes you happy when you hear it?
9. What new hobby would you like to learn?
10. What is your favourite season and why?
11. Have you got a favourite colour?

My nominees are :

1. Miss Beatrix
2. Ginx Craft
3. Playing in the Attic
4. Mrs. Hopscotch
5. Chantille-Fleur
6. Lazy Daisy Jones
7. Plain Jane
8. Raspberry Rainbow
9. The Craft Nook

Phew, that took a while!  If your still here with me, thanks for reading!
Chat to you all soon,
Rosie x

PS I'm beginning to go slightly mad without my yarn.  But I must be strong!

What Will I Do NOW????

We woke yesterday morning to a beautiful bright blanket of snow.  It was a day that I had been dreading for a few weeks now.  It has been on my mind during the day and creeping into my dreams at night.  I had an appointment in the hospital for tests and I wasn't sure how long I would have to stay in.  Now I love a break every bit as much as the next woman but I could easily think of several more desirable places to go.
After several hours of being sedated, poked and prodded, x-rayed and scanned and injected with needles that looked big enough to use on a horse, they told me that I could go home once I found out the results from the consultants.
Firstly they said that I had a hernia.  Fair enough I thought, I do take a bucket load of medication each and every day.....this is not an exaggeration by the way!  This is something that I can deal with.
Next they told me that my fibro is slipping back to what is was before and presenting itself in some different symtoms.   That too is okay.  I've been fighting it for the last nine years.  I'm just going to have to fight a little bit harder.
But the most crushing of all came last.  When I had thought that I had a trapped nerve in my shoulder last week from crocheting, I was wrong.  I had thorn the dorsal muscle in my back.  The proper name was big and had lots of letters in it and could only be pronounced by a champion at tongue twisters so the doc gave me a simpler one to remember.  He told me that I must rest lots in the next few weeks and try to stretch it.  But also I mustn't do any knitting or crochet........WHAT??  Me not do any knitting or crochet.  Is he mad?  I would go mad.  This is the only thing that keeps me anyway sane.
But he said that I must just grin and bear it.
Today was my first day of going cold turkey and the yarn withdrawal was cruel.  Several times I caught myself picking up my WIP and starting, only to be screamed at by one of the kids for being naughty.  I know that I'm going to be dreaming of nothing but yarn for weeks until I can once again wrap that lovely soft yarn around my fingers as I hook in and out and make some bright and colourful granny squares for the campervan blanket.  And what of the toddler blanket?  If I don't finish it soon, it will have to be a teenagers blanket!!

..................................................................................................................................

Before I go, I must thank everybody for their help with my sewing machine query.  I've had a lot of tips and ideas to try from your comments and emails.  From talking and singing to the machine (I might leave out the singing one through, I've known tougher machines than this to come to a screaming halt at my singing) and thread and bobbin changes to even rebuilding it with the help of youtube.  I'm sure that I shall figure it out soon.  I will have to as I now have no other craft to keep me sane for the moment.  It will give me an excuse to catch up on my sewing jobs and not be so easily distracted by my yarn stash.

Thanks for listening to my ranting on.
Rosie x