Sunday 21 January 2007

Treasures From The Hermit's Cave

The catharsis of venting has combined with a flood of weekly chocolate allowance to leave me feeling much mellower. Contrary to scurrilous rumours currently circulating, Lonie is not a constant grumpy-bum (an epithet guaranteed to irritate me). Here are some things that make me non-grumpy, which you may also enjoy:

Beatrice and Benedick; Lizzy Bennet and Mr Darcy.
Romeo and Juliet? Pfft! I have no interest in the myth of ‘love at first sight’. Give me repartee and humour, with a happy (and alive) couple at the end. If reading Shakespeare and Austen isn’t your cup of tea (too many hey-nonny-nonnies and games of whist, perhaps?) I like the 1993 Much Ado About Nothing directed by Kenneth Branagh. I know there’s a lot of terrible acting (I’m looking at you, Keanu and Robert Sean Leonard) and more American accents than is perhaps appropriate for a Shakespearean vision of mediaeval Italy, but Beatrice and Benedick are the true stars. Watch them and be happy. I also like the 1995 BBC television production of Pride and Prejudice. The look exchanged between Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth the evening she dines at Pemberley? Can’t get enough.

The Lady of Shalott and La Pieta.
I’m no scholar of art so I’m not going to try and talk about Waterhouse and Michelangelo in any pseudolearned terms. I’ll resort instead to the very philistine declaration: “I know what I like, and I like what I see!”
Read the Tennyson poem and gaze at the lovely lady as she prepares to meet her doom.
As for La Pieta, it doesn’t matter whether you’re Christian or even believe in God. This beautiful sculpture is, for me, a moving homage to a mother’s love.

Sull’aria


From The Marriage of Figaro. It was also the music played by Tim Robbins over the PA system during the scene in The Shawshank Redemption when he locked himself in the warden’s office.

Baked cheesecake



Easy, delicious and not a Weet-Bix in sight.
Base:
125g plain sweet biscuits
60g butter
Filling:
375g cream cheese
¾ cup castor sugar
1 Tblsp plain flour
Pinch salt
2 eggs, separated
1 whole egg, extra
1 cup sour cream
1 Tblsp lemon juice
1 Tblsp castor sugar, extra
Method:
1) Grease and line the sides of a 20cm springform pan. Crush biscuits finely, mix well with melted butter and press evenly into base of pan. Refrigerate while preparing filling.
2) Beat cream cheese until softened, combine with sugar, flour and salt, beat well.
3) Beat in the whole egg plus two egg yolks, sour cream and lemon juice.
4) Beat egg whites until soft peaks form, beat in extra sugar and fold into cream cheese mixture. Pour onto prepared crumb crust.
5) Bake at 160° for 1¼ to 1½ hours. Allow to cool in oven and refrigerate until firm.

Flushable nappy liners



God bless whoever invented these.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

The cheesecake was making me feel oh so peckish ... until the nappy liner photo. (Is there a connection?)

Lonie Polony said...

Lol, no connection, just my idea of a cheap and disgusting laugh :)

Anonymous said...

Do you feed your baby Curry?? Its not a good idea you know! I liked your discussion of Shakespeare - its little known that he visited Bridport in 1599 - he stayed at the Woodman and the town is believed to be the model for "Verona" and all those twins are based on the Siamese mutant outbreak running strong here about then!

Lonie Polony said...

Actually that's not my own photo - I googled it. I'm not sure what's worse - taking pictures of my own baby's dirty nappies and posting them on the internet, or searching for someone else who's already done it for me.

Anonymous said...

Thank god for that - I am glad I have never googled dirty nappie shots -its likely to get me into even more trouble than I already am!

Food Kitty said...

You gotta love google - what did we do without it. At least knowing where the photo came from spares you from my lecture about that whopping 9 month old child needing solids NOW!!

I guess quiet time and a good book don't figure much on your agenda lately. I've just had 24 hours alone (and haven't had to pay dearly for it). I squandered the time and have rediscovered an adolescent crush - science fiction. Arthur C Clarke's second book of the Rama Trilogy - haven't read the first, didn't matter, and at the shack you have to take what you can get reading wise. Will have to hassle Amazon to find out the ending..
Also would recommend Danielle Wood's "Rosie Little's Cautionary Tales for Girls" - had to stop myself gobbling it down whole. much better than her first book.

Miao 妙 said...

I have a confession. I like the version of Price and Prejudice starring Keira Knightly.

Anonymous said...

Actually, while Much Ado About Nothing lost points for Keanu Reeve it won them back again for csting Michael Keaton.

Lonie Polony said...

I don't much care for Keira Knightley, and Michael Keaton I'll always see as Mr. Mom. Must watch Much Ado again (I recently saw the BBC's modern-day plain-language version - much better than I expected!) and borrow my sister's Pride and Prejudice movie.