Echoes of Flavio's Ghost Dreaming

On Thursday I invited my friend Jennie over for dinner. Did my usual caraotas refritas (refried black beans) dinner -a take on a traditional Venezuelan dish. It involved, apart from the beans, rice, plantains both ripe and green in a few different ways, cassava and arepas. The whole thing took about three and a half hours to prepare.

I hope she liked it! The pictures have proved rather popular on Facebook. I don't invite friends over for dinner that frequently these days, maybe I should do this more often.

Autumn is on in its way... out, apparently although the oncoming winter only feels real-real once they change the clocks back and it suddenly becomes pitch black night in the middle of the afternoon.

Some seasonal food posts in my fpage, with some talk of soups and squash. Reminds me, I still have nearly a third of na11e1y's pumpkin waiting to become soup (that has lasted!). The ones I made so far have all been variants on what I do when I cook pretty much everything (except arepas and pesto, of course): a sofrito (yes, that's the right spelling -in Spanish) with garlic, onion and pepper and whatever herbs there happen to be in the kitchen... -to be continued...-. Etc.

Today's very small endeavour is a simple pasta sauce, to get rid of those tinned tomatoes just about to go out of date, and that chopped onion, garlic and red pepper that got left over from Friday's dinner for Clive and Judy. So, what flavio does is to make a sofrito with the garlic and the onion and the pepper plus salt, pepper etc, in half-olive oil half sunflower oil until garlic & co look more or less golden (what a pretentious way of describing this, innit), then add the tinned tomatoes if they don't look too suspicious, some dry porcini mushrooms that I bought in a moment of insanity and put the lot to simmer until I realise it's been on the hob way too long and it may have burned. Ok, so it hadn't. Then add some chopped fresh basil and whatever herbs there might be kicking around in the kitchen, some of that cacciocavallo siciliano cheese (grated, of course) that I bought by mistake thinking it might be like cacciocavallo, simmer some more and, done, that's it. If I haven't burned the flat down, by the end of it will add a few more sprigs of basil and that's that...

Made another version of my mushroom and potato bake thingy, as mentioned here, only with more garlic (sorry, spangle_kitten:D) and herbs and olive oil. And lo, it was yummy.

Ok, the heaviest bit of the week over now. The getting up at six and being on the M1 at 7 is getting heavier all the time -is it possible that I may be getting older?. I cannot give up that school in Watford, though. Not at this point, at any rate. And I'm kind of happy there and, in spite of all, have a very good group of victims er, pupils, on the whole. 

Today I finally made it to the local tiny Italian restaurant, Delicious ( http://deliciousfoodfromitaly.co.uk ) and, whatever my expectations were, given the odd idea of putting dry pasta as decoration on the window, it was very good. I  can recommend it, it was very nom nom. I like living in this part of town, have I mentioned that? Apart from the little problemette I have mentioned rather too often..

I still haven't looked at the Budget. Lemme guess... tax on petrol, booze and smoke, what else... 

Dinner last night with beric and featheredwings and friends at Mango in Camden. Very nice food although rather expensive for my budget. Interesting to see what they do with ingredients that are familiar to me since forever, given my growing up in the north of South America on the Caribbean, how differently they can use them.

Today, still another quiet half-term day, pottering around the house, doing just a couple of lessons and having a visit from friends. Considering going to the cinema... not sure what to go and see. Or stay in and keep bashing the scales of Bach's Chaconne.

Ok, dinner at home seems to have worked out ok. New flatmate and her boyfriend, redd_foxx and her friend; noondaydemon and I subjected them to a selection of our songs after I subjected the whole lot of them to a flavvenezuelandinner, the usual re-fried black beans, rice, cassava and plantain in several guises, fried cheese and arepas, and avocado, lettuce and watercress salad.

I ate too much and I’m still a bit drunk, whoah. Did somebody say last night I only post when I’m depressed?:P

... first of all, Happy Birthday, sahra_patroness !!!

There are pictures from last Sunday’s celebration of her birthday, here (Facebook album)



also a couple of pictures I took at pitufina’s on the occasion of her invite for a tamales Christmas lunch, (also Facebook)


Finally, hope 2009 brings you all (us all, even) all good things! And, have a lovely NYE, whatever you may be doing. For my part, I will be at Vagabonds....

.. that is, Happy Birthday to fireserpentine (where are you hiding these days?) and nathan_nothing !!

ION, after yesterday’s tamales, I continued the Mexican theme (well, ok, yesterday’s tamales were not Mexican but Central-American, but hey) by meeting two old friends for lunch at that Mexican place near Charlotte Street. No, the other one, not Benito’s. Their beef tinga (I think it was called) burrito wasn’t too bad but it wasn’t altogether fantastic. Will try the tacos next time, those looked better and elicited a more favourable comment from my friend. It was a bit Spartan and workingman’s café-like, but my friends, who have been to Mexico a lot, said it was so in a more authentic way than theme places, i. e. Mexican workingman’s café...

Tomorrow, a lesson at 8:00 am. No, really, on NYE. I’m not in a position to turn down work.. then, in the evening, Vagabonds. Not sure I will want to go to anything after that.

.. a lovely Christmas tamales lunch, courtesy of pitufina. Very very yummy; thanks, Gerry!:)