"Victoria, What Do You Want From Him?"

Above: Doesn't that question kinda answer itself?

I got this photo off the stuff.co.nz website (wherein you can also see a photo from last night with Emma's head in it - we were sitting in front of some very dressed up girls whose photo got onto this site) Since Tim's camera is broken we used Emma's - she has the same model - but it is very slow and has terrible zoom. Therefore none of our photos are worth writing home about, unlike the above... When the game finished massive fireworks went off, which was all very thrilling, and Becks waited for ages before taking off his shirt. Everyone cheered when he did - he must have known that's what half the crowd was there for. He played for the whole game, which was fantastic, because he was only contracted to play a minimum of 55 minutes. What a guy!



Above: Becks in action - as Cheeky Hobson would say, "It's so physical!" Becks is in the dark blue, by the way.

All semi-nudity aside though, it was an amazing game and Beckham was all kinds of classy. Even though we lost, the crowd got on their feet and cheered when he scored a goal. It was unbelievably exciting to watch him in action - I don't know much about soccer (Me:"who is that guy in yellow, Tim?" Tim:"The ref.") but whenever he had the ball it looked effortless and graceful. Every now and then I would turn to Tim and say "I can't believe we are watching Beckham!!" Alright, the gushing is over already!

Because the weather was so exemplary yesterday - one of those days that come along just often enough in Wellington to remind you why on earth you live there - it was very difficult not to join Tim, my cousin, and his mates outside to drink in the sun. But there were most definitely things to be done!!



Above: The chocolate malteaser slice from Nigella.com. Except it has chopped up Crunchie bars in it instead. Who knew that malteasers were heavily glutinous? Not I! Crunchies are a more than worthy substitute in this gloriously tacky slice, which comprises a heady mix of biscuit crumbs (gluten free of course) melted chocolate, golden syrup, crushed Crunchies, and, ahem, butter. I am going to chop it into elegant triangles and serve it with coffee alongside the truffles and rugelach, but if you make this for a five year old I guarantee they will be your best friend for life.


Above: Tim, helpfully stirring the stuffing for me. Frankly, with all the bacon in it the stuffing didn't look so wonderful in close up...unlike Tim!

The recipe is from Nigella's Feast, and is slightly unusual but intriguingly delicious. Three onions and two green apples, blitzed in the food processor followed by a ton of bacon (the idea of finely chopping it all makes me want to weep - hoorah for food processors! Unfortunately the onions made me sob like a baby anyway) which is fried up in butter with the zest of an orange. When it is cool, crumble in a loaf of gingerbread - the unusual bit - and add some eggs before cooking. It tastes and smells incredible and is also made with gluten free gingerbread (the stuff that comes in the green plastic packet at the supermarket - expensive but really really edible.)


After this I made the chocolate truffle mixture, which came up looking too unattractively brown in the photos, so I thought I'd wait for the finished product before commiting it to film. Then I got Tim to help me peel vast amounts of potatoes, which I was parboiling in advance (Nigella says it's okay!) for roasting them tonight. I only have one stockpot, you see, which will be occupied with the ham.


Above: Potatoes, tiddly tee! But really - that is a Big Pot.

After that I sat down in the sun for a while, with another Nigella creation, from Forever Summer, a cocktail that goes by the joyfully camp name of "Pomme Pomme."It is a combination of Apple Schnapps and apple juice and is seriously a delight to imbibe. So delightful that I forgot to take a photo of it. So I had another one. And forgot to take a photo of that. So I had another one...and decided that since a drink that is largely apple juice doesn't make the most exciting photo subject I'd just leave it.


I also made the Lemon Prosset, which doesn't come with a photo, (would you believe I forgot again?) but it does come with a recipe as it is so flipping fantastic. The recipe is from an old edition of Cuisine Magazine, and is child's play to make. In fact the only hard thing about it is trying to measure 600mls and 100mls, both are rather awkward amounts.

Lemon Prosset:

Bring to the boil, stirring all the time: 600 mls of cream and 2/3 cup sugar. As soon as it starts to boil, turn the heat way down and stir for exactly three minutes. Once the time is up, take it off the heat, and stir in 100mls of lemon juice. Chill overnight, in about 6 ramekins or one bowl, and serve to your rapturous guests.

By the time all this had been achieved, it was time to head into town for the game, and you all know how that went. Tonight's the night, as Neil Young would say, and I have so far made some orange ice cream (surprise! A new addition to the menu, because I can) and started on the rugelach. So, a lot to get done...better get to it then! Next time I post I may or may not be ten kilos heavier...