Notes from a bemused canuck
“There’s this mountain of pure diamond. It takes an hour to climb it, and an hour to go around it. Every hundred years, a little bird comes. It sharpens its beak on the diamond mountain. And when the entire mountain is chiseled away, the first second of eternity will have passed.” You must think that’s a hell of a long time. Personally, I think that’s a hell of a bird.
Shockingly non-swiss service at the gruyere visitor centre, so we improvised.
The corporate Christmas gift this year is all about coffee (and chocolate, cause, you know, Nestlé). Best thing is that it’s not just pralines like last year, so I can actually enjoy some!
Sadly, this is starting to feel relevant. Sometimes, I believe I work in a mashup of Dilbert and The IT crowd.
We had some friends over for dinner tonight, a couple we met through school with their kids. It was fun. Really fun. Adult conversation, the kids played together, we ate, we drank. Just good, simple fun. It make me realise that we really need to do this more often.
3 dried chiles chipotle or serrano
3 fresh rosemary sprigs
1 cup green olives
1 cup black olives
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
4 clementines
Crusty bread
Coarsely crush chiles with back of knife. Place in medium bowl. Add rosemary, all olives, and 1/4 cup olive oil. Using vegetable peeler, remove peel of 1 clementine in strips. Using sharp knife, scrape off any pith from strips. Mix peel into olives. Cut peeled clementine in half. Squeeze clementine juice over. Cover and let marinate at least 1 hour and up to 1 day, stirring occasionally.
Preheat oven to 225C. Transfer olive mixture to ovenproof dish. Cut remaining 3 clementines crosswise in half and mix into olives. Drizzle remaining 1/4 cup olive oil over. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Roast until heated through and flavors blend, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool 5 to 10 minutes. Squeeze juice of roasted clementines over olives.
Serve warm with crusty bread.
drizzle of oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
250g beef mince
1 potato, cut into 1cm cubes
2 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp tomato purée
few thyme sprigs
2 tbsp hot pepper sauce
500g block shortcrust pastry
1 egg, beaten
green salad, to serve
Heat the oil in a pan, add the onion and cook for 5 mins. Add the beef, turn up the heat and cook until the meat is browned. Add the potato, half the turmeric, the purée and thyme, plus 200ml water. Cover and simmer for 15 mins, then remove the lid and cook for 5 mins more. Add the hot pepper sauce and leave to cool.
Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Roll out the pastry to the thickness of a £1 coin. Cut out 6 x 15cm circles, using a small plate as a guide. Divide the mince between the circles, piling it up on one side. Mix the egg with the remaining turmeric, brush around the edge of each circle, then fold over and use a fork to seal the edges.
Arrange on a baking tray lined with baking parchment, brush with a little more egg and bake for 20-25 mins. Serve with a green salad.
The picture doesn’t do justice to the sheer volume of ornaments on such a small tree.
Velma, from Scooby Doo, in cheesecake pinup pose.