Weekend Cooking: Lamb chops with red wine and garlic

I remember cooking a dish similar to this back when I lived in the UK, but I haven't cooked it for years. I am not sure what really prompted it but this week I just needed to actually find a recipe and cook it! This recipe seems to be the closest to what I remember! 

Of course, I had an issue when I actually cooked it and realised that I didn't have as much red wine left over as I thought I did but I wasn't opening a whole new bottle just for this little bit. Next time I will check or open a new bottle and just drink the rest! Something like that anyway.

I was a bit surprised that there wasn't really any recipe like this in any of the places that I look for recipes. I have a feeling that this means that it is a bit old fashioned or something. Oh well. It actually ended up being different from what I remember but I am pretty sure that we are going to be having this one again as the little chef was very happy with the sauce (to the point that he wanted to drink some of it in a cup) which was much more like a gravy than I remember having before!

I served it up with scalloped potatoes (which took forever to cook) and steamed broccoli!

4 lamb chops
2 garlic cloves
3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon plain flour
150 mls red wine
200 mls vegetable stock
1 teaspoon blackcurrant jam or plum jam
salt and pepper

Method

Using a sharp knife, trim off any excess fat from chops, cut garlic in half and rub over both sides of the chops. Chop rosemary and sprinkle half over chops and season with salt and pepper.

Heat olive oil in a heavy based fry pan, add garlic and a little rosemary, add chops and cook for 5 to 6 minutes on each side or until cooked through, remove from pan and rest.

Add flour to pan juices and cook (stirring) for 30 seconds, gradually add wine and stock and then jam. Bring to boil, add chops to gravy and add stock from cooked lamb chops that were resting stirring frequently until slightly thickened.

To serve place chops on plate, then the sauce over the chops.

Goes well with mashed potato and fresh peas cooked with a little sugar and 2 sprigs of fresh mint.

Recipe found at abc.net.au

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads and is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs.

Currently Reading: Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik

Is there anything nicer than reading a book about how reading brings such comfort and joy to the avid reader? This quote comes from page 31 and 32:

What mattered was that for a few hours she could forget her world and enter someone else's.

Books were Faith's easiest friends. They demanded nothing from her but her attention.

She opened the cover and ran her hands over the page, enjoying the paper's cool texture under her hand.

Chapter one. How many times in her life had those two words invited her to go to a different place, a better place than the one she lived in.

She read the words again before plunging into the first paragraph, and then the lights went out.

This book has long been a book club favourite, and yes, I am reading it for my book club!

Library Loot: November 2 to 8

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

Yesterday I made a resolution in relation to my library lending! To enable me to read the books that I already have out, and also some of the books that I have bought or received I was going to limit my library borrowing by not actually making any new requests during the month of November. Whilst that may not have much of an impact over this month it should make a difference in December and January.

Today I revised the rules a little so that I can request the next book in a series. Who wants to bet that the rules are further resolved over the next few days!

What loot did you get this week? Share you link in Mr Linky below:




Here's my loot:

India Black and the Widow of Windsor by Carol K Carr - I really loved the first book in this series when I read it earlier this year! I actually know who is the next person on the request list for this one so chances are that I should read it sooner rather than later!

Falling Together by Marisa de los Santos - I have loved this author's previous two books so I can't wait to read this one!

Libertine's Kiss by Judith James - I just read my first Judith James book last week and now I am wondering why I never managed to read her earlier books. I bought Broken Wing which was her first book when it first came out!

Jamie's Great Britain by Jamie Oliver - I had to go to a different branch to pick something up this week and they have the cookbooks right near the door and I couldn't walk past without grabbing something!

Floodtide by Judy Nunn - Judy Nunn used to be an actress on one of our Australian soaps. She left and started writing books. The first couple seemed to be about showbiz and I had no interest in reading them. Bree went to see her at an author event at our local library last week (I couldn't go because I had to work) and when I was reading the descriptions of the later books I realised that actually her books sound like stories that I would love so I decided to borrow this one.

Sherlock Holmes DVD - I was out on Friday night and we were talking about this movie. All the chatter was positive so I decided it was probably time to watch it.

The Hulk DVD - The little chef chose this one!

Teaser Tuesday: Coming Home by Mariah Stewart

I was thinking of not doing a teaser this week but then I read these couple of lines and knew they would make an awesome teaser. They come from page 260:

"A half a mil...half a mil..." She cleared her throat and tried again. "A half a million dollars in the bookcase?"

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading. Head on over to find out all about it, and how to join in! 

Come on Dover! Move your bloomin' arse!

Today was the running of the 151st Melbourne Cup!

We all get the day off work to sit around and watch the 'race that stops the nation'. If you are lucky you get to do it in good company with good food and drink and have a little bit of a flutter! And yes, I am lucky.

Luckily we don't have to dress like this in order to attend!



I wish I could find the next bit of this film where Eliza Doolittle yells out "Come on Dover. Move your bloomin arse!" but I can't find it anywhere. Oh well, just this clip brings back good memories of watching this movie several times over the years.

Mailbox Monday: October edition

After being very controlled last month, I have had a bit of a book blowout this month!

Netgalley

The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott - With the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic happening next year there are bound to be a number of books out about those events. This will likely be the first one I read.

The Folded World by Catherynne Valente - I didn't realise when I requested this that is was a second book in a series, and I haven't read the first!

The Duke is Mine by Eloisa James - The next book in Eloisa James' current series. I love the cover on this one and can't wait to see how this fairytale telling goes. I suspect based on the cover it is going to be The Princess and the Pea but we will see.

Trouble at the Wedding by Laura Lee Guhrke - I really enjoyed the first two books in this series so I had to request this as soon as I saw it1
The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak - a new novel about the life of Catherine the Great? Of course I had to request it!
Obedience by Jacqueline Yallop - WWII and set in France was definitely enough to pique my interest in this book1

Rogue Pirates Bride by Shana Galen - I have read the first book in this trilogy, and I have the second here somewhere to read!
Hidden Summit by Robyn Carr - a new Virgin River book! Squeeeee!
Busted in Bollywood by Nicola Marsh - I helped launch the cover for this book a few weeks ago. Can't wait to get to read the book now!

The Bungalow by Sarah Jio - I have been wanting to read Sarah Jio's debut novel for the longest time. If that one sounds great, this one sounds even better!
Small Town Christmas anthology - There's a Lucky Harbor story in this anthology which was enough for me to want to read it.


Won

Demon Marked by Meljean Brook - I didn't even realise that Meljean was running a competition when I responded to a tweet from her!

Gift

Discord's Apple by Carrie Vaughn - an author I have been meaning to find out about for a while.
Song of Scarabeaus by Sara Creasy - an Aussie author. I have high hopes for this one.
Double Cross by Carolyn Crane - I have been reading this author's blog for many years now, back even before she decided on this author name.

Touched by an Angel by Gini Koch - I don't know too much about either this book or the next one, but I am generally happy to try new stuff.
The Broken Kingdom by N K Jemison

Bought

Lola's Secret by Monica McInerney - I loved The Alphabet Sisters. This book is about Lola who was the spirited grandmother in that book!
Dissertation on Roast Pig by Charles Lamb - another of the Penguin Great food series.
The Violets of March by Sarah Jio - I have been waiting for this book to hit the bookshelves here but there was still no sign of it, so I bought it instead.

Warrior by Zoe Archer - I am contemplating joining a romance themed book club. This is their next book.
30 Minute Meals by Jamie Oliver - hoping to get some recipes that both the little chef and I can cook!
Bring me home for Christmas by Robyn Carr - Another Virgin River book! Squeeeee!


For Review

Golden Earrings by Belinda Alexandra - I am a big fan of this author's books so I was very excited to read this one!
Things We Cherished by Pam Jennoff - an author I have been meaning to try for the longest time.

As you may be able to tell, I need to go and read now!

Mailbox Monday is on tour and for September it is being hosted at Savvy Verse and Wit. Head over there to share your links, or to see what everyone else has posted about this week.

Fragile Things Readalong - week the last!

Let me tell you stories of the months of the year, of ghosts and heartbreak, of dread and desire. Of after-hours drinking and unanswered phones, of good deeds and bad days, of trusting wolves and how to talk to girls.


There are stories within stories, whispered in the quiet of the night, shouted above the roar of the day, and played out between lovers and enemies, strangers and friends. But all, all are fragile things made of just 26 letters arranged and rearranged to form tales and imagining which will dazzle your senses, haunt your imagination and move you to the very depths of your soul

And so we come to the end of the Fragile things reeadalong. I can't remember the last time that it took me this long to read a book from beginning to end, but I really did enjoy the experience of taking just a few stories at a time and concentrating on them rather than rushing through such an eclectic mix of stories. From the topics of the stories, to the tone employed to the poems and the final novella we have run the gamut of emotions and the breadth of storytelling. I can definitely see what it is that makes Gaiman one of the more popular authors out there today.

This week's selection of stories was:
Sunbird - The members of the Epicurean Club are becoming a bit jaded. There is no food that they haven't tried, no taste that they haven't experienced, until someone mentions the possibility of trying to eat a Sunbird.

I might post more about this short story in a future Weekend Cooking post ... maybe.

One of the strengths in this book is the way that Gaiman incorporates myths and legends in his own storytelling. In this case the story that is being incorporated is that of the Phoenix - the bird that is regenerated by fire over and over again for all eternity.

Inventing Aladdin - speaking of incorporating mythology and legend, this poem does this with not only one but two stories. The first is of Scherheredaze - a wife who needs to keep her husband sufficiently interested in her stories in order to save her life because she knows that once he is bored with her then he will kill her. The story she chooses to tell him is about Aladdin.

The Monarch of the Glen - this is by far the longest story in the book and is labelled as An American Gods novella. Now I haven't read American Gods so I was a bit worried that I would be a bit lost, but I was drawn into the world that Shadow inhabits quite easily. I was interested to see Mr Alice make another reappearance. We met him earlier in the collection in the Keepsakes and Treasures story.

What this novella has most definitely done is whetted my appetite to actually finally get around to reading American Gods. I have already requested it form the library.

I would like to thank Carl for hosting the readalong and also the other participants for their comments. Having to stick to the schedule outlined was sometimes challenging but I enjoyed taking a leisurely wander through the various worlds we were introduced to.

I was going to try and figure out what my favourite stories were, but that would take a lot of revision. I do find it difficult to go past the story embedded in the introduction - The Mapmaker. It had such charm as did another of my favourites October in the Chair. There are others that I will remember fondly as well!

Rating 4/5

Sunday Salon: Blogging....so much more than just maintaining a blog

Get Glue
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Google +
Goodreads
LibraryThing
Foursquare
Tumblr
Readalongs
Challenges


I have been thinking a lot about balance lately, specifically the balance between blogging and all the associated activities and reading. Then of course there are any other hobbies you might have, family time and your social life! In theory, I do also make cards. In practice, I haven't actually made a thing in more than three months, which means I have three projects that I am behind on. I just don't seem to have any inspiration though.

These days it seems as though blogging is about so much more than just maintaining a blog. Above I have listed just a few of the other things that people can get involved with. Of those listed, I haven't set up a Facebook page for my blog, although I do have my personal page. I haven't joined in on Foursquare or Get Glue, I am always on Twitter (always!) and I am on Google+ but I am afraid I  haven't yet worked out the point of it. Another thing I don't get the point of is having both a blog and a Tumblr. I understand why you would have a Tumblr instead of a blog, but in addition to....not so much! I do have both Goodreads and LibraryThing accounts but I haven't visited LibraryThing for ages.I visit Goodreads multiple times daily.

The latest thing I have joined in on is Pinterest, and so far I like it a lot! It seems like a really easy way to gather random pictures and ideas in one place and you can spend as little or as much time on there as you want which is a bonus for me.

The decisions that I have made in relation to what I need to do or not do are based mainly on trying to get some time away from the computer, on ease of use if I do decide to join and who recommended the application to me.

In addition though to all these online activities, there still has to be time to read because lets face it, this is a book blog and if there is no reading happening, there's not going to be a lot to blog about. This month, I feel as though I have had a really good blogging month. Earlier this month I wrote quite a few reviews (to the point where I had reviewed everything I had read in the previous month which is very unusual for me), participated in some readalongs, in addition to some general posts. Having said that, my reading suffered. It was a bit of a shock to realise that I had only finished one book in the first week of the month. I think it will end up being a good reading month but it started very slowly!

How do you decide which other activities? Is there something that I haven't mentioned that is integral to book blogging?

Currently Reading

The books I currently have on the go are Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart, Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman, Affinity by Sarah Waters, You are my Only by Beth Kephart

Reading Next

Coming Home by Mariah Stuart, Persuasion by Jane Austen (maybe)

Weekend Cooking: A Pleasant Lunch

I was going to post this last weekend but then I realised that four posts about one book in a week was probably a bit too much, so we have it this week instead!

In a feeble attempt at disguising my blue mood that morning, I was preparing a pleasant lunch, hoping to serve it on the table in the south-facing courtyard if the midday sun was warm enough.
I had made an artichoke-and-tapenade quiche, and Dom's favourite crushed potatoes with black olives and olive oil - which I intended to decorate with a sprig of olive branch.

Next I was trying to follow a magazine recipe for charlotte aux trois abricots - a moist cake made with three kinds of apricot: fresh; stewed with lavender; and a whole pot of apricot jam. Like so many French recipes, it seemed to assume that time was no object, that cooking was the point of life rather than a quick dash into the kitchen to sustain it. But that was fine. I was happy enough at this table, in this room where the sun streamed through tall windows, and at that point time was irrelevant (apart from precise cooking instructions, of course; there was a certain bossiness in this magazine cook's tone that insisted concentration was required).

And it smelled wonderfully already, an olfactory elegy to life in the French countryside. The fantasy life that had seemed within reach but which was even now slipping from my grasp.

I love it when I am able to indulge in that kind of time is no object cooking. It doesn't happen often though!

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads and is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs.

Foal's Bread readalong - Chapter 20 to end

Welcome to Foal's Bread, Gillian Mears' first novel in sixteen years, one eagerly awaited by Gillian's passionate readers. It is worth the wait.

Set in hardscrabble farming country and around the country show high-jumping circuit that prevailed in rural New South Wales prior to the Second World War, Foal's Bread tells the story of two generations of the Nancarrow family and their fortunes as dictated by fate and the vicissitudes of the land.

It is a love story of impossible beauty and sadness, a chronicle of dreams "turned inside out", and miracles that never last, framed against a world both heartbreakingly tender and unspeakably hard.

Written in luminous prose and with an achingly affinity for the landscape the book describes, Foal's Bread is the work of a born writer at the height of her considerable powers. It is a stunning work of remarkable originality and power, one that confirms Gillian Mears' reputation as one of our most exciting and acclaimed writers.

And so we come to the end of the Foal's Bread readalong. Even now at the end of the experience I can't decide if I am glad to have made it to the end of the book or just relieved that it was over.

This section was the shortest of the sections that we had to read, and it was pretty dramatic. I really can't talk too much about what happened during these final chapters without major, major spoilers, but that impending doom that was prevalent in the earlier sections pretty much were not unwarranted.

I guess the key to this book will really be how readers react to Noah, and even in this final section I am torn in my reaction. Could I have done what she did - definitely no in both cases. Did a part of me cheer when she stepped in and did what she did for Lainey - a little. Did my heart break for her children - absolutely.

One thing that I did find myself wondering is what happened to George. We meet Lainey when she returned to One Tree later in her life but there is not a lot mentioned about him. I was so glad that we did have this final section to finish off the story because without it the book would have ended at quite a morose place.

It was interesting that the author choose to have a preamble and a coda rather than the more usual prologue and epilogue. I wonder what the significance of that choice was in the author's mind.

For those of us participating in the readalong, there have been differing reactions to the book, some more enthusiastic, but we have all talked at some points about the difficulties of the subject matter, the language and more. This is definitely not an easy read. I guess how much you enjoy it will very much depend on your own life experiences and your taste in literature. For me, this touched a couple of topics that are very close to home and that certainly impacted on my reaction to the book, especially my reaction to Noah.

To read the thoughts of other participants in the readalong visit the following links:

The Book Nerd Club
The Talking Teacup
My Journal of Becoming a Writer
Fantasy vs Reality
Slightly Addicted to Fiction
The Book Nook

Thanks to Danielle from Book Nerd Club for hosting the readalong and Allen and Unwin for providing the review copy.

Library Loot: October 26 to November 1

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

I know that I am going to completely confuse myself by posting Library Loot on a Friday instead of Wednesday. How will I be able to remember what day of the week it is!

Part of the reason for being late is that my library's catalogue system was down most of last weekend. Not only could I not log in and check anything online, we also couldn't borrow any books as I found out when I went down there on Saturday morning! That particular branch is only open late on Wednesday nights so I could only go and pick them up on Wednesday night!

I was intending to post this on Thursday but when I got home last night....no internet! PANIC!!!! And still none when I got up this morning, but after getting home tonight I was relieved that it was finally back on. The thought of having no internet all weekend really, really freaked me out!

Claire has Mr Linky this week, so head on over to share your loot!

Here's my loot for this week:

Sugar Plums to the Rescue by Whoopi Goldberg - the story of why I requested this book is a little strange. I might share it with you in a post coming up soon.

Lord and Lady Spy by Shana Galen - I wasn't blown away by the first Shana Galen book I read but this one has been getting good reviews!

All Mortal Flesh by Julia Spencer-Fleming - the next book in the Reverend Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne series.

Curse Not the King by Evelyn Anthony - the second book in the Romanov trilogy. I reviewed the first book a couple of weeks ago.

Rrakala by Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu  - I haven't listened to a lot of this artist's music but I have heard quite a few good things about it so I thought I would borrow it and see what I thought. So far, my overriding thought is that this guy has an amazing voice! Gurrumul is an Australian Aboriginal performer who sings in his own language and giving a contemporary feel. Despite being blind from birth he has achieved commercial success in a couple of different bands and also as a solo artist. I was listening to podcasts yesterday afternoon, when I decided to search for a video to go with the post on Youtube. I never went back to the podcasts. I listened to this amazing voice all afternoon!

Coming Soon: The Strangers on Montagu Street by Karen White

Given that this book is coming out next week there hasn't much buzz until the last few days! As soon as I saw that it was coming out I put in a request at the library but it was really when I read the blurb yesterday that I got a bit excited. This is the third book in the Tradd Street series. One of these days I will read some of Karen White's other books too!

Can't wait to see how this all plays out!

Psychic Realtor Melanie Middleton returns — only to be greeted by a house full of lost souls.

With her relationship with Jack as shaky as the foundation of her family home, Melanie’s juggling a number of problems.  Like restoring her Tradd Street house — and resisting her mother’s pressure to “go public” with her talent, a sixth sense that unites her to the lost souls of the dead.  But Melanie never anticipated her new problem…

Her name is Nola, Jack’s estranged young daughter who appears on their doorstep, damaged, lonely, and defiantly immune to her father’s attempts to reconnect.  Melanie understands the emotional chasm all too well.  As a special, bonding gift, Jack’s mother buys Nola an antique dollhouse — a precious tableaux of a perfect Victorian family.  Melanie hopes the gift will help thaw Nola’s reserve and draw her into the family she’s never known.

At first, Nola is charmed, and Melanie is delighted — until night falls, and the most unnerving shadows are cast within its miniature rooms.  By the time Melanie senses a malevolent presence she fears it may already be too late.  A new family has accepted her unwitting invitation to move in — with their own secrets, their own personal demons, and a past that’s drawing Nola into their own inescapable darkness…  

Teaser Tuesday: Affinity by Sarah Waters

I have been meaning to read Sarah Waters for the longest time. I have borrowed her books from the library numerous times. Finally, this time, I am actually reading one!

The teaser is the opening line of Chapter 1 and I think it is suitably teaser worthy!

Pa used to say that any piece of history might be made into a tale: it was only a question of deciding where the tale began, and where it ended. That, he said, was all his skill. And perhaps, after all, the histories he dealt with were rather easy to sift like that, to divide up and classify - the great lives, the great works, each one of them neat and gleaming and complete, like metal letters in a box of type.

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading. Head on over to find out all about it, and how to join in!