smart women

It probably isn't something you would pick up in my posts about my favourite cleaning products or my lust for chocolate cake, but I am quite the left wing feminist - and take my feminist politics pretty seriously - but that doesn't mean you can't be light hearted and I have found a company in America called 'smart women' that produces various items, mainly stationary/gift type stuff, that has slogans such as 'smart women get to the point' emblazoned on them.

The website does have a shop but it is for American distribution only. I have found suppliers in the UK though at Tatty Devine (who also do funky jewellery). Waterstones also stock the range in their stores and online - although the online shop isn't great to navigate.

So, if you need some post its and quite like giving people food for thought beyond teh kitchen, then go take a wee look!

oldies but goodies

There are lots of modern devices that make life a lot easier - particularly on the domestic front. But sometimes there are products that, while they may not be hip and cool, do what they promise to do and have yet to be bettered at doing it. I was reminded of this when doing some cleaning this weekend. We will be renting out our flat soon and so there are lots of jobs to be done including shining up all the chrome in the kitchen. Of course, it all gets a clean regularly like the rest of the kitchen but every so often you need to go a bit further than that to get a really good deep clean and sparkling shine. I also had a lot of kitchen equipment that will need to go into storage and wanted to give everything a really good scrub - my thinking being if it goes in super clean then it won't be so much hard work to deal with when we unpack it eventually.

The thing is, while I use things like Flash cleaning fluid etc, they just don't hit the spot when I want to really scrub, buff and shine. When I want to go all for broke I break out 'the pink stuff' which a is a grainy pink paste my Mum introduced me to. Maybe you all have gleaming pots that sparkle and blind you in the sun - me, I have clean pots but every so often like to scrub the bottom of them to return them to shop bought brilliance and I admit to not carrying out this task every time a I use them. The pink stuff is amazing for this, shines up your sink and draining board and is very good at things like cutting through the grease build up you sometimes get on cooker hoods and suchlike.

Today, though, it isn't easy to get a hold of the pink stuff. Old fashioned ironmongers stock it but with ironmongers themselves becoming scarce I was worried about my supply. So I turned to the always reliable internet and found a website that stocks the pink stuff plus a variety of old fashioned domestic products. It is called the Carbolic Soap Company.

They do all sorts of old fashioned bits and pieces including 'lifebuoy soap' which my gran used to talk about - and often threaten us with a good scrubbing with - when we were little.

So I have ordered a good supply of pink stuff and will be browsing their website for other older, but still the best, items for keeping everything ship shape!

coffee table

I like having plenty of surface space - mainly because I usually have a couple of books, magazines and papers on the go at any one time - not to mention needing space for the essential pot of tea and to pile my mobile, pda and diary on. So this table by matthew hilton is perfect - you can have it as one large surface or split it up across a room depending on what you need at any given time. of course, at £1495 it isn't exactly a bargain but I love the lean, clean lines and jigsaw styling.



I found the table on the apartment company site which is american but has cool ideas and suggestions which I then search for to see if there are uk based suppliers.

sunday dinner this week

it's gonna be take away curry!!!

summer sunday dinner

I love a roast and I love eating big for Sunday dinner but it has been quite warm and humid the past two weeks plus I am trying to eat light and healthy since being poorly, so for Sunday dinner last week I went for something a bit different. I wanted to have some fish and then to have some mezze type dishes to pick and choose from.

The menu is:

Tuna steak with -
tabbouleh
beetroot and yoghurt
aubergine and goat's cheese (warm salad)
Pitta bread

followed by the tangy lemon tart I made yesterday.

I made the tuna steak simply by frying the two steaks for about 10 minutes - they were quite thick and so this meant they came out medium.

Click on the links to get the recipes!

beetroot and yoghurt salad

I love beetroot - it is very colourful and the flavour compliments so many things. For years I didn't eat beetroot at all and coming back to it I realised what I had missed. I tend to go for fresh beetroot rather than in a jar - and because I am sometimes lazy - buy it from the veg section in the supermarket rather than cook it myself. This dish is easy to put together and light and fresh. It is great for injecting some colour and the creaminess of the yoghurt is a good partner with the beetroot.

200-250g beetroot
a squeeze of lemon
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small bunch of fresh flat leaf parsley
sea salt and black pepper
clove of garlic
2tbsp greek yoghurt
splash of milk

Slice the beetroot up how you like it and spread over a plate
chop up the parsley roughly and mix in a bowl with the lemon juice, oil and salt and paper
drizzle the parsley mix over the beetroot - this can be done an hour or so before serving if kept in the fridge

crush the garlic clove into a paste with some of the salt
put the garlic in a bowl and mix with the yoghurt
add a splash or two or milk to thin the yoghurt to a sauce-like consistency
drizzle over the beetroot just before serving

This dish tastes really zingy and fresh - the yoghurt gets pinky tinges to it too. Some warm pitta bread is great for scooping up those last bits of sauce and beetroot. I haven't tried it yet but I reckon it would go great with some lamb as lamb usually needs something that will cut through the richness of the meat. Or as a side salad at a bbq. Just make sure your top is black or you have a major bib on!

tabbouleh

This is a really good fresh and light salad. It's great as part of a main meal, or as part of a mezze spread. I got the recipe from the Moro cookbook which is a great cookbook for middle eastern and eastern med food, particularly mezze style dishes.

serves 2
salad
40g bulgar wheat
200g cherry tomatoes
couple of small bunches of flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1 small bunch of mint, roughly chopped
2 spring onions, finely chopped

dressing
1 garlic clove, crushed to a paste with salt
two pinches cinnamon
2 pinches allspice
2 tbsp lemon or lime juice
3 tbsp olive oil
sea salt and pepper

cut the tomatoes in half, deseed, then chop in half again
prepare the bulgar wheat - go with the instructions on the packet - I usually boil for 10-15 mins then rinse with cold water to serve in a salad
mix the tomatoes with the herbs and bulgar wheat
make the dressing by mixing all of the ingredients apart from the olive oil together - this is because they will mix better without the oil - then add the oil
toss the salad in the dressing just before serving