The Kitchen Table and the First Lady's biceps

The Kitchen Table isn't a blog about food exactly - food for thought yes though - it is a blog run by two feminist profs in the USA and they talk about racial and feminist issues by writing letters to each other through the blog.

I found the site through a really cool blog called First Guns where the writer(s)blog as Michelle Obama's biceps, Thunder and Lightening - it is a fantastic satirical take on the whole 'scandal' that the First Lady has arms that sometimes are on show (which is obviously the most shocking thing ever - flashing upper arm flesh - whatever next!).

Morph Lives!

Except apparently he is living on!

Morph

I don't know why but today I was thinking about the programmes I liked as a kid and my favourite was Tony Hart in anything he did - then I remembered he died recently and there will be no more him or Morph! I loved Morph - here is a pic -

A blokie who does craft

And here is a guy who does crafty things - not so sure about the cross-stitch tattoos though....

Crafty bits

Browsing the Guardian website I found an article about a woman who inherited a button collection and, after wondering what to do with them, embellished t-shirts with them - which I thought looked great. In reading the comments and doing a bit of surfing I found the following...

A table-top made out of buttons -


A scarf embellished with buttons -


A cool website called spinstersemporium that sells vintage fabrics and buttons and has ideas for crafty type stuff.

And the website of the woman who wrote the original article 'make and do with perri'.

R.I.P Blue Bowl

A while ago I blogged about those special kitchen items that are more than just objects to be used and instead develop a special place in a cooks heart. I have a wee jug that is just perfect for measuring rice, a wooden spoon that is the right size for making one bowl of porridge in a small pot with and I have a battered old tablespoon that I use over my fancy shiny set of measuring spoons for baking.

One item that was very special to me was my lovely wee blue pottery bowl. Well, it is no more. The husband broke it (and he looked a bit scared when he told me) when I was away in Warwick visiting my sister. My blue bowl was great for my cereal or porridge in the morning, for serving my homemade arbroath smokie pate and for a wee bowl of crisps when watching a film.



I have lots of lovely dishes and some a lot more costly than I imagine the wee blue bowl was, but it was very much a favourite. I am sure psychologists would have a field day with how attached I can get to random objects but when I open the cupboard door and see that blue bowl shaped space - well, I guess I will just have to seek out another wee pottery bowl to take its place.

tomatoe soup

Heinz tomatoe soup has always been a favourite of mine - served elegantly with white pan bread thickly buttered!



But homemade also holds quite a strong place in my list of favourite dishes. And when you are having a simple meal like soup it is special to know it has been homemade. I have two recipes for tomatoe soup - one is my 'easy peasy' version and one is my 'posh visitors coming to tea' version. The one below is 'easy peasy' which I had yesterday after my first bike ride since New Year and was starving but craving something light and healthy so as not to undo all the good work of the excercise!

2 cans chopped tomatoes
half an onion
red pepper finely chopped
3 cloves garlic
mixed herbs
olive oil
vegetable stock

in a large pan saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until just cooked
add the red pepper and cook for five minutes
add the tomatoes, mixed herbs and vegetable stock
bring to a simmer then let cool for five minutes
pop into the food processor and blitz to your desired consistency. I don't like mine completely smooth.
transfer back to the pot and either leave to eat later on or reheat slowly until it reaches a gentle simmer.
simmer for 15 minutes.

serve with fresh crusty bread and a swirl of cream or creme fraiche on top of the soup.