No.8

Hello, hello...got some dirty Black Keys blues on "Rubber Factory" rocking my night. Sometimes you just need the raw, real energy of pure, under-produced music...I feel like I'm sitting in a big, cold warehouse, wrapped up in a warm coat passing around a bottle of Jim Beam watching some friends on the cusp of greatness...love it.

It seems we're back on the 'consequences' discussion. It's all about accepting responsibility for your actions. Living consciously so to speak. Or 'you make your bed, you lie in it' as I like to say. It's just another observation, but we all seem to be taking our cue from the 'pass the buck' school of thought. It ALWAYS catches up with you. There are far more intelligent ways to rebel than being self-centred. Find your own path. Live and love freely...

As I'm sure is obvious it's a short , sharp message tonight. So here is a recipe to counter that! Orange flower/ blossom water cupcakes. 1 cup stone-ground all-purpose flour. 1/2 tsp baking soda. 1/2 tsp baking powder (aluminium free - yes... it's the surprise ingredient). 1/4 tsp salt. 3/4 cup soft brown sugar. 1/4 cup softened butter (not melted). 1 large free range egg. 2 tsps orange flower water. 200ml buttermilk. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Place 12 cupcake cases in muffin pan/s. Sift first four ingred. into a bowl and mix with a fork. In another larger bowl beat butter and sugar until creamy. Beat in egg and orange flower water until smooth. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately in about 3 goes mixing lightly each time. When well combined but not over-mixed pour into cases in muffin pans about 3/4 full. Bake for 18-20 mins or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Top with mascarpone cheese and honey beaten together and then sprinkle orange zest on top. Enjoy.

Lucky no.7

Hey there. One of my alltime favourite bands: My Morning Jacket; listening to The Tennessee Fire. It's...somehow familiar, exciting, touching, nostalgic, new, catchy, makes you want to dance, and you always want more. On the headphones too...nice, Jim James et al just so comfortably making some of the most unassumingly captivating music ever.

Consequences...quite possibly one of the most important things a parent can teach their child. It's not about second-guessing everything, just being aware that every action has a reaction. It's kind of like the domino effect. I would like to think we know the difference between right and wrong and while it may not always be the easiest decision to make, we all have an internal moral compass. There is a lot of noise and distraction out there, but I have no doubt that most of us know true goodness. I am not talking about restrictive, dogma-based rules, but basic human decency. Annie Leibovitz said of John Lennon 'what he taught me seems so obvious: he expected people to treat each other well.' That's all it is, and it's everything.

Okay so it's bedtime and the only recipe I can get excited about now is a cup of hot chocolate! 2 heaped tsps unsweetened cocoa powder mixed to a paste with a little cold water. Top up with warm milk stirring constantly. Add (preferably vanilla) sugar to taste (otherwise a few drops of vanilla extract). Chopped marshmallows are the cup making ingredient. Yum. "One big holiday".... thank you thank you thank you for good music. Sleep tight. x

No.6

Hello ether! And thank you Razorlight. There have been some ups...and downs, but "Slipway Fires" is catchy as hell, never taxing, eclectic retro, mildly introspective, less arrogant and more disappointed than previous albums. A hopeful combination.

What are we doing? We live in a noisy, confusing world and like most preceding generations we have a lot of questions. The impact of globalisation has led to a far more varied access to options but somehow we all seem to be hellbent on a world defined by materialism and little else. This doesn't bring much relief, but it's a drug that's hard to shake. (Music change - The Tallest Man on Earth - it's a bit sparser.) Somehow greed has become the defining characteristic of capitalism, which was probably inevitable yet still disappointing. You may think your intentional display of flashy car and designer labels makes you richer and better than others, but all it's saying is that you don't believe you're anything without your accessories. We place our happiness outside of us and in manufactured goods. This leaves us in a cluttered empty space. I'm not saying that quality goods are pointless, just that believing we are buying happiness with our new acquisition is misleading, although usually backed up by an extremely well-researched and expensive advertising campaign designed to make you feel superior/inferior depending on whether you can/can't afford the product. You need a lot less than you are made to believe!

Okay...so here's a feelgood recipe. Creamy Chicken. 8 pieces of free range chicken (of your choice). 3-4 med leeks, washed, topped and tailed and sliced. A punnet of brown/portabellini mushrooms, wiped and chopped. 4-6 med courgettes, washed and sliced, 1 clove of garlic crushed. 1 cup of veg/chicken stock. 125ml dry white wine. 2-3 sprigs thyme. 200ml cream. Salt and pepper to taste. Add a splash of sunflower oil and a little knob (otherwise not recommended) of butter to a saucepan big enough to take all ingredients on a med heat. Fry the leeks until just golden (about 10 mins). Push to sides and add chicken. Brown chicken on both sides and add rest of veg. Stir around a little and add stock and wine. Bring to boil and then reduce heat to slow simmer. Simmer about 30 mins. Add thyme and cream and season. Cook a further 5-10 mins. Serve with a 1/2 brown rice, 1/2 barley mixture. Enjoy.

No.5

The jasmine is in blossom....not long now! Got "Elbow - The seldom seen kid" on the headphones. So good this close-up. I sometimes forget the intimacy headphones lend music and the voice.

So it seems the relationship saga continues! Start with yourself. Happiness is not some elusive character. Take a good look within yourself....accept as much as possible, work on the rest. Love yourself. This is your life and the longer you take to love yourself, the longer it will take you to find love. Sometimes we are lucky enough to find someone to share our journey or to see straight through the barriers and into our hearts, mostly we need to do it ourself. Small changes make big differences. Try to banish all negative thoughts about yourself... positivity is contagious. Don't believe everything on TV....the amount of smoke and mirrors is staggering! And the story lines are just that. Live and love here.

Here's an easy, bold prawn recipe. For 4 people. 24 Large raw prawns. Marinade: 2cm Piece fresh ginger grated. 2 TBSPs soy sauce. 1 red chilli chopped. Clove garlic crushed. Handful fresh coriander chopped. 1 TBSP honey. Mix all marinade ingredients together in a bowl large enough to take prawns. Add a splash of boiling water. Mix and allow to cool (5 mins). Add prawns and toss gently, coating thoroughly. Allow to stand for 15-30 mins tossing gently once or twice. Heat some sunflower oil to a med-high heat in a wok/wide shallow frying pan. Remove prawns from marinade with a slotted spoon and stir-fry until pink and a little crisp. About 5 mins. Don't overcrowd pan, rather do 2 batches. Serve with fresh coriander on a crunchy green salad, fluffy jasmine rice with a little coconut oil stirred through or steaming rice noodles. Enjoy!

No.4

It was a beautiful winter sunshine day! Now it's a saturday night, so a little of The Cure seems just right. It's not 10.15 yet but listening to this puts me in a teen party mood. Sweaty dance halls, mirror balls, smoke, disco lights, snatched glimpses, big hair, butterflies in your tummy at the sheer novelty of life with hormones....and Robert Smith. "Goth juice...made from the tears of Robert Smith", if you haven't seen The Mighty Boosh yet, enrich your life.

I went to the funeral of a very loved person yesterday. There's nothing like death to give you a good reality slap. Waste no time in living and loving as richly as possible. And I'm not talking about money. Find what is truly meaningful to you and surround yourself with it. I have said this before, happiness is a choice and choosing it will change your life.

No recipe tonight, but toasting marshmallows on sticks around a fire in the garden with your loved ones as the day goes to sleep is..... well, just do it and you'll know what I mean.

3 (excl. testing one, which I like for some reason)

Okay, so maybe "the 'daily' um" was a little misleading! Been away. It's good to be back. Got Mumford & Sons playing in my ears....whenever you feel disillusioned with the world, music like this reminds you of the beauty we are surrounded by, in many different guises.

Relationships. I am baffled by so many friends' choices to be in an unhappy relationship. Not completely baffled...the media and hollywood have a lot to answer for, but mystified at the tendency of seemingly intelligent people to live in some romcom twilight zone. If it isn't working now, the chances are, it won't. I have friends who have been struggling for years to work things out; trying to change their partners or themselves. It seems like a grand waste of energy. Happiness is a choice and life is short. I'm not talking about hiccups, I'm talking about being in love with the idea of someone and never realising that it is only your idea of who you want them to be. I think Mumford & Sons just hit the nail on the head..."But I can't move the mountains for you". Money, marriage, children, a new job etc. aren't going to change your fundamental needs. You have to know that you want basically the same things. That you are moving in a similar direction with similar morals and values. Not that you both won't grow and change, just that you will grow together. It's not as difficult as it seems. Be honest with yourself and your partner. Gut- wrenchingly honest. And if you're scared, being alone is empowering, reflective and gives you perspective on what you really want. Love is everything only when it's reciprocated.

Wow...think I have been babbling...here's a superquick recipe for smoked salmon pasta sauce. serves 4. Chop 8-10 baby leeks and sweat them in butter in a saucepan on a med-low heat for about 5 mins. Add a splash of dry white wine and increase temperature to burn off alcohol. Lower temperature again and add 100g chopped smoked salmon, zest of 1 lemon and a handful of chopped parsley. Warm through until fragrant, remove from heat and stir in 125 ml Greek yoghurt. Serve with fresh linguine/tagliatelle and pecorino shavings. Enjoy