Housewifery 101

Our diet has changed since we started having fresh organic fruit and veg delivered every Friday, complete with wildlife and mud. Now it's a mad scramble to eat all the vegetables before the next lot comes and if we eat out even once a week we get behind by 1/2 a cabbage, 2 carrots and a butternut squash. For example.

Also, because you get a random assortment of whatever's in season in England, you find yourself eating hearty soups with pearl barley that you can remember from your childhood. We used to be prime examples of what Jamie describes as 'sleep shoppers', drifting around the supermarket on autopilot, choosing the same four vegetables every week.

I used to think that to make a decent soup it was best to start with a packet one. Better still, just have the packet one - never mind the vegetables. Now, since Ruth (Watson, author of The Really Helpful Cookbook) introduced me to Marigold Swiss Vegetable Bouillon (posh powdered vegetable stock) we're away laughing. Jules's Friday night soup effort involved pearl barley, carrots, parsnips, curly leaf kale, bacon and leeks. Delish.

Tonight, I'm on duty and I have planned something quite similar although there are now no parsnips and still one pesky butternut squash. Red onions, and maybe some Home Grown Tomatoes. We're right into the pearl barley, chickpeas and lentils since I got the GI Diet book on sale for 3.99.

In other equally gripping news, the tomato plants have finally died down and I have a large tray of mostly green tomatoes trying to catch some sun in the kitchen. There is a new rosemary bush waiting to get into the tub but it seems rude to oust the tomatoes before they're completely dead.

Just to finish, I will do a brief rave about Cox's Orange apples. There's something very nostalgic about them - they're all juicy but not watery. Like an apple tasted like when you were small.

On the compulsory eating list this week:
Breakfast: 1/2 pink grapefruit each daily.
Probably the soup: Large tub of assorted bean sprouts.
Also breakfast or to go to work: 5 bananas.
Things that will get eaten without even trying: Conference pears and Cox's Orange apples.

Oh, and another thing. We don't eat much meat, for the obvious reason that we are too full of vegetables!

On telly at the moment, Gordon Ramsay has an aptly-titled show called The F Word. (As in Food, but there are lots of electronic beeps masking the other f-word in the programme). Anyway he has decided to teach his children to think about where food actually comes from so they now have six turkeys that they're growing for Christmas in their London back garden. Not quite sure why a family of six needs six turkeys for Christmas but never mind...It seems to be going OK as the turkeys are not cute so the kids aren't getting too attached to them. Gordon's wife seems lovely - calm and happy and not at all perturbed when Anthony the turkey shat on her beautiful marble benchtop while Gordon was seeing if he would fit in the oven...

St Petersburg for Christmas - the good, the bad and the credit card bill

On Tuesday Jules suggested St Petersburg for Christmas. Yesterday I went to a travel agent to investigate. Today my credit card is reeling under the shock of it all. Because it was less than 60 days to departure, we had to pay the whole lot at once. Ouch.

But we're very excited. We fly over on Christmas Eve and come back on the 28th. As all the three hotels on offer were very expensive, we went (logically enough) for the flashest of the lot. Well, if it's costing you an arm and a leg anyway, you figure another toe won't make much difference. In theory, at least.

Plus, I'm sure we'll get good value out of the fitness centre, sauna and hot pool...Need to do something to counteract the blinis and stroganoff.

There will be snow and lots of it. That's a given, apparently - the guide books recommend waterproof shoes and carrying a pair of indoor shoes with you as well so you won't look silly at the opera. (What an embarrassment THAT would be!)

Temperatures of -18 are also mentioned so it will be a bit like when we went to Stockholm for Christmas. Note to self: buy hat with earflaps, gloves, galoshes, more thermals... Poor old credit card - it has a hard life.

What to read to prepare? Anna Karenina? War and Peace? The Bronze Horseman (again)? All three?

Jules says he will not be reading The Bronze Horseman on the plane as a book where everyone dies is not suitable for Christmas Eve. He has a point there. If anyone knows a cheerful uplifting Russian novel, now would be the time to suggest it. Somehow I suspect that to get cheerful uplifting novels you need a cheerful uplifting history...

What will be a bit weird is that December 25 is not a public holiday in Russia as the orthodox church celebrates Christmas on 7 January.

Friday Cat Blogging: WIlbur in the sun

WIlbur in the sun, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Notable events of the week:

1. Picked up rugby tickets for the All Blacks tour and introduced my workmates to Pineapple Lumps and Minties at the same time. Pineapple Lumps are preferred to Minties, but neither get eaten as quickly as Roger & Roger's biscuit selections (one English, one Italian - the biscuits, not the Rogers).

2. Booked a car for our long weekend in Wales (5-7 November) - it's a Nissan Micra, Annie! Suggestions for destinations will be graciously accepted.

3. Ah...no, that's it. Nothing else happened. I won't bore you all with the continuing tomato harvest!

Run London official times and video finish

http://www.runlondon.com/tenkresults/

Enter my name and see if you can spot me crossing the line. Hint: I'm wearing grey 3/4 leggings with a light blue stripe down the side and running quite close to the red barrier.

The Nike RunLondon 10k - a walk in the park

Weird. The Nike 10k was a joy to participate in, not the ordeal I was expecting.

Vital statistics (unofficial as both times need about 2 minutes 30 taken off them because it took a while to reach the start line):
Jules: 52 min 43
Me: 1 hour 4 min 54

We were both quite chuffed. I was aiming for under 70 minutes and Jules was going for under an hour.

It was a gorgeous sunny morning in Hyde Park. There were two jazz bands to run past. An unexpected highlight - I was running along beside the barrier when I noticed someone coming at speed towards me on the other side (i.e. leading the race). It was some random not-famous guy in the lead, so I thought I must have missed Paula Radcliffe. But then I could see her coming towards me down a long straight stretch with that distinctive head-bobbing run. I swear she was flying - it was just like when you pass a speeding car. Whooosh - and she's gone.

Tomorrow the official times (done by the microchip you attach to your shoelaces) should be up on the site. Jules is hanging out for a sub-50m time now.

All in all, I found it not too bad at all. I took the nano and played my carefully selected running playlist, which is all upbeat fast songs, and having music to run to definitely helped.

Then we had a champagne brunch on the roof terrace in the sun with Kirsty and Simon. Another fabulous day in the best city in the world :-D

Roald Dahl's writing hut

Roald Dahl's writing hut, originally uploaded by Racmol.

We had a fabulous day out today and I'm just going to collapse somewhere quietly. As you can see from the other photos on flickr, it was a beautiful autumn day in Great Missenden. And in the graveyard of St Peter and St Paul, I met an old gentleman carrying a trowel. He said: "Arrr you a stranger in these parrrts?" which threw me a bit, but he just wanted to direct me to Roald Dahl's grave. So we had a pleasant chat in the sun and then Jules and I wandered back through the village and caught the train back down to Borough Market. Mmmm...pork and stilton burger - delish.

Guys and Dolls: simply the best

Still floating and humming to myself after going to Guys and Dolls at the Piccadilly Theatre last night. For those in far-flung corners of the globe, this is the London musical of 2005 - a brand new show with Ewan McGregor and Jane Krakowski (who you may know as the blonde fluffy-haired secretary from Ally McBeal).

I bought our tickets in July and we got seats in the centre of the second row. All I can say is Fwoawwrr - Ewan McGregor at a distance of 3 metres!! I mean, OK, he does look pale and unhealthy like someone who has a good Scottish diet of deep-fried mars bars and the like - but he radiates joie de vivre from every pore. The piercing blue eyes are quite an asset too.

But back to the show...where was I? Ah, yes. Cough. Well, you know when you pay through the nose to go to a musical and then it's just a touch disappointing? Not this one. Everything about it was great. Especially Jane Krakowski, who is beautiful and surprisingly tiny. Especially when you consider that in Ally McBeal she was the chubby one. She can also really sing and dance and smile prettily at the same time.

It was funny and warm-hearted and the dancing was incredible. I know 55 pounds is an outrageous price to pay for a show but it was worth every penny. The orchestra/band was excellent and the whole cast seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves.

Just get on a plane and go, basically.

Third time lucky?

postcard from waitrose, originally uploaded by Racmol.

This postcard came through our door yesterday from Ocado, the Waitrose home delivery service. It follows two emails in which they promised a) a free gift and b) a bottle of wine if I placed an order with within the next two weeks.

I particularly like the name of the cinema: Gascony Avenue Empire. Has a ring to it, doesn't it?

I probably still won't place an order, but you can't fault their persistence...

We have new toys

Living room, originally uploaded by Racmol.

...so it seemed like a good opportunity to take some photos of our flat - to satisfy the curiosity of those who've been asking about it.

Yes, the living room is small. And yes, we do really need a nano docking station in our bedroom.

Jules is making minestrone with Sicilian sausages. Mmmm...Sicilian sausages...

Friday Cat Blogging

Wilbur curls up with a DVD, originally uploaded by Rachel Jean.

New toys for winter

My contract is being extended until the end of the financial year - hurrah!

To celebrate, I dropped in on the Apple store on my way back from the editors' meeting and bought an ipod nano and an armband so I can take it running.

Jules is consumed with jealousy - buying technology without him is apparently tantamount to having an affair. But I'm very happy with my new toy and, as an added bonus, I may have avoided spending Saturday on Tottenham Court Road.

Overconsumption and the Oktoberfest

Jules and Heike at the Oktoberfest, originally uploaded by Racmol.

We didn't take many photos but we had a great time.

Highlights:

1. A crisp sunny afternoon in Meersburg, wandering around and visiting the castle.

2. Friday night dinner and drinks at the old pub Geoff and Heike used to manage in Kempten.

3. The oil-filled bed in the hotel - unbelievably fantastic.

4. Danny in German, as always.

5. The Augustinerskeller, after a long walk in the rain.

6. Oktoberfest rides.

7. The food - quality and quantity.

Lowlights:

1. The rain.

2. Not being able to get into any of the tents at the Oktoberfest because of the crowds.