A little soup is good for the soul

As Mike said to Bella in Twilight:

"Hey Arizona, how you likin' the rain, girl?"

The almost constant wet weather is now firmly rooted in the middle of its second week.

I could quote another Twilight gem here, I suppose, as a prelude to this post:

"...Under a near constant cover of clouds and rain..."

We have a high-energy Irish terrier/Irish wolfhound cross, whose wiry fur seems to absorb atmospheric water vapour like a sponge, who doesn't quite know what to do with herself. 

There's been a lot of inside pillow lying with wistful stares towards the garden through the misted up windows interspersed with bouts of wild passage "fetch" sessions to release some of the pent-up energy.

Meego: "Le sigh."

This rather wet Autumnal weather has also led one of the bi-peds in the house to have cravings for soup at the oddest times of day, like, for instance, breakfast time.

Since I have never really been one to quarantine food stuffs to particular times of day (dessert makes a perfectly good breakfast on occasion), soup for breakfast really isn't half bad (at least its healthier than dessert for breakfast).

Enter the magic helping blades of the food processor.

Just bung whatever fresh vegetables and herbs you have in your fridge into the bowl; blitz to the desired consistency; throw in a soup pot; cover with boiled water; add seasoning and 30 - 40 mins later; you have a tasty wet weather cure for whatever grey-sky blahs ail you.

Carrot, green bean, red pepper, Swiss chard, basil, lemon thyme, bay leaf soup
(with a fried egg for Simmy)

Sweet potato, carrot, green bean soup
(with hidden shavings of pecorino cheese melting at the bottom of the bowl)

Gluten-free Fine Dining in New Zealand

The hubs and I were treated to an evening of exquisite fare and darling company at Cullens Restaurant in Hamilton by his bro and sis-in-law on our recent trip to the nether regions of the planet.

Side helping of joy? Gluten-free menu items are marked with a *, whilst those where gluten-free options are available are marked with a **.

Visit the website for their latest menu if you're lucky enough to be venturing past that neck of the woods (or just to drool).

Now, on to some visual tempation...

Ambience...

Entrees...

...Grilled Haloumi on braised Witloof,
served with Rocket Pesto,
and garnished with Watercress and a Balsamic Reduction*.

...Seared Scallops with roasted Root Vegetables,
served with a Citrus Dressing and Mandarin Wedges*.

...Chicken Liver Pate,
served with a Fig Compote and Rye Bruschetta.

Main Courses...
...Pan seared Salmon a la meuniere on braised Witloof,
with Potato Gratin and Capers*.

...Seared Sesame Crusted Tuna
with Tempura Vegetables, Pickled Ginger, Wasabi
and Dipping Sauces.

P.S. Just so you know, despite the name, you will not find any absurdly pale/brightly sparkling fanged creatures lurking in the shadows.

Twelve days to Christmas...

The Christmas countdown begins!

Christmas 2008

Link of the day:
Twilight quote Christmas ornaments to buy at Etsy

Jou ma se New Moon

Hubbs, friends and I ended up watching New Moon last weekend, and I've gotta say, I was surprised that they managed to pull off a very good bastardization of the book.

Now, at the risk of being lynch mobbed via comments because of my comment by some random googling New Moon fans who end up at my site, you'll know exactly what I mean if you've read all the books. As in, it seemed like a tough book to adapt because so much of it focused on Bella's afternoon visits to the reservation.

However, what I loved most about the movie was the audience.
About 80% were adults (so you may just see jou ma there), which was not the originally intended demographic. That speaks volumes about the transcendency of some adapted books and the hype surrounding them.
The remaining 20% were teenage girls, and it made for many giggles to hear them ooohing and aaahing and gasping (yes, a literal gasp when Jacob appeared shirtless) during the evening.

A couple of things, in my opinion, which were a bit OTT: The vamp make-up was waaaaayy too caked on in New Moon, and their eyes were much brighter yellow compared to Twilight. Notice the redness of Victoria's hair also became much more intense? I guess I like a bit more continuity in "sagas".

All in all, it was really enjoyable though. And I'll leave you with my favourite line by Harry Clearwater: "Don't worry Bella. My kung-fu is strong." :-)