Book Clubs and, right at the end, some philosophy from a special bear

I am a member of two, yes 2, book clubs and a lot of the time, especially during the winter, I am hanging on to my space by the skin of my teeth as, very often, at our monthly meetings I have read nothing new so have to improvise.

One group meets in the morning for coffee and delicious things – we are international ladies being German, Austrian, Australian, Greek Americans, Northern Irish, Greek South African, American and Bridget the Brit.

The other group meets for Lunch and we comprise French/UK/Greek, Greek originally from Egypt, Greek American, American, Welsh, Australian, French/English, another Brit and yours truly.

We eat wonderful things!

Why do I have a problem reading in the winter when, traditionally, one should be curled up in front of a roaring fire with a glass or cup of something comforting, a nice cosy throw, or cat, or dog, or all three draped in or around ones legs? In the afternoon with wild weather outside or in the evening relaxing after a busy day? A pile of books waiting enticingly to be enjoyed and later discussed. I am ashamed to say that it just doesn’t happen for me in the winter – all the ingredients are there with the addition of the television which, very stupidly on my behalf, very often wins.

The summer is completely different and I consume books day in day out! I have to make a deal with myself that I can only start reading once the various chores have been ticked off the list but as I only have to answer to myself I can bend the rules with total impunity!

For the past three or four years I have been an ‘electronic reader’ – totally committed! I love books and have ordered them obsessively over the years. I used to subscribe to a publication called The Good Book Guide that was oozing with information about all the latest books in all categories but in those days the post took forever – it was sometimes six weeks before they arrived which, actually, meant that opening up the package was like Christmas as I had invariably forgotten what I had ordered. Then my life changed with the advent of Amazon and the delivery got quicker and quicker almost arriving before they had been ordered!

As a result I have a lot of books.

But now, with my Kindle, I hear of a title, check it out, order it and HAVE it in much less than 2 minutes – it even takes me by surprise sometimes when the payment alert pings on my cell phone.

I was the first in either of my book clubs to be converted and some of the girls clearly never will be but for me there is no turning back. I have vowed never to buy a non-electronic book again – there is no room in spite of constantly clearing out the shelves for book sales and bazaars and now when I relocate to our summer house on a Cycladic island (more of that another time!) I don’t have to lug a huge tote of weighty tomes – just the Kindle.

I am very spoilt as I now have an IPad and synchronise the Kindle application with the original one – I take the original to the beach and keep the IPad for reading at home – I love the way they talk to each other “have a nice time on the beach?” home version says to its friend, “oh yes, we sat under a tree in the shade and it was peaceful with just the lap of the waves, perfect for storytelling; she hardly swam at all today as I was unputdownable; sorry you’ve missed so many pages as I really must synch to last read to keep the missus up to date now that we are home!”

So in the summer I can read a book in a day and a half and sometimes chalk up well over 25 before we meet again in the groups in September.

Foolishly, and pride really is foolish, last autumn I was so pleased to announce all that I had achieved during the summer that I told them about everything I had read practically in one fell swoop and then had nothing for the subsequent months. I shall play a different game this year and just bring out one or two titles at a time and pretend I’m reading them when I’m actually watching TV! Or maybe I might exert a bit of self-control and not watch!

When I have nothing to report I share bits and pieces I have seen or heard of on the internet, or include any films I have seen and even talk about books discussed at the other group – sometimes they are in the same week which is convenient (for memory purposes) for this sort of shameless sharing – but I feel very guilty about that as it really is cheating! I take notes and have a wish list for buying during the summer, some are already waiting on the Kindle and some are still to get, but either way I am still an obsessive book buyer but now an environmentalist as well and endeavouring to have a uncluttered home – and contributing to the bazaars as I off load the ones that I am never going to read again – so many books and so little time.

If this all sounds like an advertisement for a Kindle – it is! Email is here to stay and so are electronic books!

www.amazon.com

At the moment I am reading Winnie the Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner by A.A.Milne – children's books? I hear you chuckle (or maybe even scornfully wonder about my literary bias) - well, yes, they are children's books but they are like comfort food, like sticky toffee pudding and custard and nursery teas and we all know that, in life, there are times when only comfort food will do and I believe you would have to go a long way to find a more amenable companion that Pooh with his gentle philosophy so full of love: 

“If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

“What day is it?" asked Pooh.
"It's today," squeaked Piglet.
"My favourite day," said Pooh.”
― A.A. Milne

 “If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together... there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart... I'll always be with you.”
― A.A. Milne

“Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.”
― A.A. Milne

“You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

And one of my special favourites: 

“It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like "What about lunch?”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

I leave you with these lovely thoughts for today and wish you sunshine, as always, whatever the weather.

Bridget

Passion in the Garden, Mayonnaise and Meringues

Passion Flowers! Is there anything more exotic? Or more perfect in their symmetry? I have a wonderful vine that greets me every morning with a fresh batch of flowers for the day. They greet me and I greet them, and thank them for making me happy.

Thinking of passion flowers leads me to think of passion fruit – who would have thought of opening up the first one and tasting the inside, sweet, tangy with seeds to stick in your teeth – Heaven.

Thinking of passion fruit leads me to think of a pavlova, laden with whipped cream and dripping with passion fruit insides – more Heaven.

Strangely, I can’t think of pavlova, or to be more precise, meringues without thinking of mayonnaise – because I always make them together!

I rarely use bought mayonnaise as home made is so easy and so much better: I take 3 egg yolks, pop them into the small bowl of the food processor with some Dijon mustard, or alternatively some grain mustard for a change, a little salt, whizz, whizz and then start adding my wonderful extra virgin olive oil gradually and then with more confidence as it thickens, juice from a lemon from my very own tree (!), sometimes I use a little sunflower oil if I want a lighter result,  whizz, whiz and again, a few magical moments later….. Hey Pesto, perfect mayonnaise, foolproof!

Before I had the small bowl attachment for the food processor, I used to make this glorious yellowy/greeny cream in a 1pint glass jug with a hand whisk – I think it needs to be compact as I never managed to make it in the large processor bowl – too much space.

So now I have three egg whites to be turned into meringues that I often prepare in the evening – you’ll understand why in a moment: preheat the regular (not fan) oven to 200C; I use a (scrupulously clean) copper bowl and electric hand whisk and whisk the whites with a pinch of salt until they start to turn into clouds of soon to be meringue; add 350gr of caster sugar a little at a time (and it should be caster – if you haven’t any, don’t cancel the operation, just whizz regular granulated sugar for a few moments in the food processor!), add 1 teaspoon of corn flour, 1 teaspoon of the best vanilla essence and 1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar, continue until they are really thick and hold their shape. I either make one large cake shape, but more often I pipe individual mounds on to the greaseproof paper lining the sheet pan and pop it into the hot oven. Leave for about 5 minutes and then turn the heat off completely and leave over night (hence doing it in the evening!) without opening the door. By morning they will have dried out and will be perfect.

The good thing about meringues in general is that they will keep for ages in a container with a tight fitting lid and, in particular, I find that having a supply of small, medium or large individual meringues always ready for an instant pudding gives me a great feeling of security: simply add whipped cream and chopped strawberries, raspberries, mixed berry coulis from fruit in the freezer or any compote you may have in the fridge (I love apple with star anise) - baked, carmelised peaches are exceptionally good. If you have meringues sitting in the store you will always be able to produce a wonderful dessert, impressively and quite effortlessly - promise!

Eton Mess (see above) is a perfect spring/summer dessert – whizz up some strawberries with icing sugar and a little vanilla essence until very smooth, set aside (if there are a lot of seeds you may need to strain it, but usually, enough whizzing will avoid that); whip cream pretty thick with a little icing sugar and vanilla; break up some of your stored meringues and combine in a glass bowl with the cream and strawberry mixture and add a load of chopped strawberries – redolent and delicious! But it needs to have lots of strawberry sauce! Serve with pink champagne - of course.

Wishing you sunshine, whatever the weather.

Bridget

Basil has come to stay for the summer

I thought 'Hey Pesto!' would be a good, fun and appropriate name for my blog - and I still do even tho' there seem to be quite a few others who chose the name thinking it would be unique - I even saw in the London Daily Telegraph yesterday that Jamie Oliver has his own brand of pesto called ...... what else!

There may be lots of other Hey Pestos in cyber space but there wont be another one like mine, so I decided to stick with it.

Easter in Greece involves all sorts of fascinating traditions (that I can tell you about some other time - like next Easter!) one of which is the purchasing of at least one little seedling Basil plant to grow and nuture for the spring and summer months until, again traditionally, the day of the Holy Cross on September 14th when bunches of the leaves are taken to church to be dipped in Holy Water and the congregation blessed by the priest waving the now Holy leaves over their heads. Every house in Greece will have pots of Basil plants - not for cooking purposes as using the fragrant leaves in cooking is fairly new to Greek kitchens - but for patting as you pass to release its heavenly scent and in the hope that it really will keep mosquitoes away.

"The Greeks have a word for it" as they say and the Basil plant is no exception as, in rough translation, the saying goes that 'the plant next to the Basil gets watered too' and Basils do need a lot of water, often morning and evening in the height of summer - and they reward you with growth that you can measure on a daily basis. * The plant above is, in fact, one of last summer's pots and started off like the ones below:

Baby Basils just freshly planted

One week later!

This is just one of several pots that will ensure a plentiful supply of leaves for tomato salad and sauce and, joy of all joys, Pesto for pasta and tomato and mozzarella salad! Because a LOT of basil is needed for even the smallest quantity of Pesto I have a LOT of pots but even they are not enough sometimes and I have to raid the local market, especially for the large leaves that are sold in bunches.

I use walnuts instead of the usual pine nuts in my Pesto, the best Parmesan and the best Olive Oil that I get every autumn from olive groves that I know personally and will tell you about another time. All whizzed up in the food processor in a matter of magical moments, the bowl full of green leaves, a little bit of garlic, salt to taste, walnuts, parmesan and as much olive oil as you need to make the right consistency and there you are, Hey Pesto!

Summer is almost here bringing with it glorious fresh tastes, colours and scents and cool drinks that I am going to share with you - Greece at its best!

Wishing you sunshine, whatever the weather!
Bridget


*This has a deeper meaning, not always favourable, suggesting that someone next to a person who is benefitting from "being watered" can benefit too - but let's stick with the saintly Basil plant and whichever plant is lucky enough to be sitting next to it - in my garden it's mint and majoram:

Mojito anyone?