Cookbooks/TV

[ghoti_mhic_uait]

Yesterday, I made dinner from CCCP Cook Book, a present from fivemack. It's a delightful book, as full of anecdotes as recipes, and I'm enjoying it immensely, but this is the first time I cooked from it.

I made cheburek (with quorn instead of lamb) and vinegret (which according to the book, is in Russia a name used for chopped game and boiled vegetables with a vinegary dressing). The book is very Russian - witness the Good Reads reviews which tend to say 'hmm, the author didn't leave Moscow much' - but from my pov that's OK. It's like the criticism of the Gok Wan book that 'it's too Hong Kong'. I'm not looking to recreate my childhood, I'm looking to expand my horizons.

Anyway, that was all very nice, and then I made sweet syrniks for pudding, which are a kind of pancake made mostly of quark, and therefore a perfectly plausible breakfast idea, I probably will make again.

One day I'll make the cake calling for 14 eggs, which looks fun.

During this, I watched Goya Exposed with Jake Chapman. I love the Chapman brothers. Their art makes me stop and think, while also retaining a sense of inevitability, explaining the world a little bit more: or as Jake put it in this show, extorting as much meaning as possible. Jake's language is so precise, his explanations as concise when speaking as in his art.

I've been enjoying watching more iPlayer stuff, on a laptop or my phone, and thinking of expanding my TV horizons. Mostly, I'm watching Firefly on DVD when I get time to watch by myself, and enjoying it a lot more second time round. This all came up when a stranger made a recommendation based on my email address: Snow Leopard: Beyong the Myth and Andreas and I cuddled up and watched it together, and lo, it was greatly pleasing. Then I got interested in what else was available, and we watched Darcey's ballet heroes, leaving A much inspired by the works of the Royal Ballet's resident choreographer, Wayne McGregor, in particular.

I think TV while I cook if I'm cooking alone, or grabbing some TV time when the children are half busy but might want to joing me, is a good idea and I should do more of it.

Comments

[badriya.livejournal.com]

I loved Edwardian Farm. I like farming stuff anyway, and there seemed a lot of sense and decency about how they farmed then. Less wasteful and destructive. More care for sustainability.