Archives for: 2007
PAOLA FORNARI C.V.
Writer, EFL teacher, trainer, and translator, I was born in Tanzania, have lived in a dozen countries over three continents, and describe myself as an ‘expatriate sin patria’. Wherever I go I make it my business to learn the language, get to know the local people and customs, and discover the country’s remotest corners. I became interested in writing in mid-2006, did a short Open University creative writing course and a Writers’ Bureau course, and began getting articles published in 2007.
Christmas at the Hotel Hanna
We're down a few and up a few - 8 now in the Hanna Hotel - if you'd like to have a look at how we've spent our last Christmas in Uruguay, click here
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=34468&l=627aa&id=664241054
Happy New Year to everyone!
Maté Mates
First published in 'The Oldie', January 2008
I was delighted to hear from Marit that this article is indeed in the January 2008 edition of 'The Oldie.'
‘Let’s sit on the zaguán,’ my friend Rosa says. The zaguán is the space between her front door and the street. We squeeze out two plastic folding chairs and a table.
I’ve been invited to matear, Uruguayan style.
Maté is a national social pastime here.
Peruvian Flowers: 10
Peruvian Flowers: 9
Peruvian Flowers: 8
Peruvian Flowers: 7
Peruvian Flowers: 6
Peruvian Flowers: 5
Night of the Lights
In Montevideo, tonight is 'La Noche de las Luces' - The Night of the Lights. When the sun begins to set, which is at around nine o'clock at this time of year, hordes of people flock to the Rambla, in their cars, in specially laid on buses, by bike, jogging, roller-blading, walking, carrying their matés, folding chairs and babies, and trailing small children by the hand.
Peruvian Flowers: 4
Peruvian Flowers: 3
Peruvian Flowers: 2
Peruvian Flowers: 1
Shortly after we arrived in Uruguay, we went on a trip to Peru, and walked the 'Wimpy' Inca trail (it was February and the real trail was closed for maintenance - no one in their right mind goes to this area in February - it pours with rain!). Anyway, I was suffering from altitude sickness + a very queasy stomach, so kept my pace slow with the excuse that I was practising taking photos of flowers. Over the next few days, I'll give you a taste...
Jacarandas again
The jacarandas last only about a month, and they are nearly over - the streets are carpeted in mauve blossom, and the air is heady with their scent.
Why I Love Uruguay: The Leather
On Thursday I received an e-mail from the Editor of the Culture and Travel supplement of the Buenos Aires Herald (the closest English language newspaper to here - though it doesn't actually make it over the water).
Why I love Uruguay: The City
Why I Love Uruguay: Quirky stuff
Sometimes you find the craziest things on the beach: this is an offering to the Virgin of Fishermen...
Why I Love Uruguay: The countryside
Why I Love Uruguay: Winter flowers
Why I Love Uruguay: The Graffiti
Why I Love Uruguay: Odd things turn up in your garden
Why I Love Uruguay: Off Season Surfin'
Punta del Este, the glitzy star-studded resort, is lovely at this time of year, before the hordes hit it. We went there yesterday and watched the surfers. Were I a couple of decades younger, and were my knobless knee still knobbly...
Why I love Uruguay: the Flowers
Why I love Uruguay: The Sunsets
Why I love Uruguay: The Traffic
Why I love Uruguay: The Space
Today's photo: Donegal again
Today's Photo - Why you should visit Donegal
Link to Blog All
Yay! I've managed to make a link to 'Blog All' on my blog! And to put a link to a story on today's photo! Thank you Sarah!
Today's Photo - Atacama sunset
Avocet and flamingo on the salt lake. You may also like to read my story 'A Horse with no Name' about my Atacama trip.
Today's Photo: Seals at Cabo Polonio
I've just come back from a couple of days at Cabo Polonio - two stories below, and a photo here:
Today's Photo: Spring in Uruguay
The roses that inspired my story 'A Good Year for the Roses' (in my Pru and Wills category)
Today's photo - more raindrops in Peru
Swimming in Donegal
Have a look here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29603&l=ee805&id=664241054
Today's photo - Tra na Rossan
Today's Photo: Passion Flower
Did you know that a passion fruit is so named because of its flower (see photo below)?
Today's photo: Carnival Character
This is a photo taken at the Nzinga event at my house last Wednesday: Maria is a 'Mama Vieja', a matriarchal figure who is very important at Carnival time.
Today's photo: Sunset in Uruguay
Rain
On this wet and miserable day, this photo is to remind us that rain can be beautiful. I took it in in Peru two years ago.
Today's photo: Iguazu Falls
Did you ever see the film 'The Mission'? Well, the story takes place right here, on what is now the Argentina/Brazil border. Take a deep breath and click 'read more'...
Autumn
Well, our autumn is in April, and that's when I took this photo just outside my house...
Today's photo: La Virgen de la Yemanja
This photo relates to the first article I ever had published: La Virgen de la Yemanja, which you can find in my articles under Uruguay.
A Week in the Life of a Gap-Year Expat: Tuesday
I slept very badly – woke at 2 panicking about tomorrow’s event and my Spanish exam and the holes in the fence that the neighbour’s dog had dug, and my visitors arriving from Belgium on Monday, and so on. Lay and counted backwards from 30 about 80 times, then got up at 4.30 to write my little welcome speech for tomorrow, took some plant-based calming drops, went back to bed and eventually dropped off.
Woke up too late to go to yoga.
Last Year's Christmas Card
Today's photo is one I took in the north of Uruguay last year: we used it to make our Christmas cards
Poppies
A Week in the Life of a Gap-Year Expat: Sunday
Up at 8.30, in time to be at the pool at 9.00, which is opening time. Ambient temperature has plummeted from 27 degrees to 10, and a fierce wind is blowing.
Feather and stones
Writing inspiration isn't there at the moment, so I plan to show you a photo a day for a few days. This 'still life' is from our summer holiday in Donegal.
An Alternative Hallowe'en
I arrived in Uruguay three years ago today. I had never been to South America before, spoke very little Spanish, and felt lost. After three years, I speak Spanish and feel quite at home, although I would not recognise my immediate next-door neighbours if I saw them. This evening, I drove out of my house and passed dozens of children dressed up as witches and ghosts, tricking and treating around the neighbourhood. But I was on my way to a very different celebration.
It’s a Long Way from Here to Clare
First published in 'Ireland's Own'August 2007
I scour the map of Ireland and find a dot marked 'Gort' close to the west coast, at the end of one of the long green spiders' legs fanning out from Dublin. My brochure says 'From Belfast take southern route to Gort'. Detailed instructions follow from there. But Belfast seems to be linked to Gort only by a complex faint orange spider's web behind the bright Dublin-Everywhere Else legs.
Sun Salutes on the Rambla Last New Year's Morning
Final (I hope) test for photo insertion.
Yay! It worked! That's me on the left, saluting the sun last New Year's morning at 5.30 a.m.
Lentil Salad
Have you browsed my recipe category? It's filled with lots of ideas, and there's plenty there for vegetarians too, as I have two in my immediate family and lots in my extended family. Try this one:
Lentil Salad
This is one of my favourites - you can add loads of things to it - it's delicious with fresh sweetcorn, chopped coriander, and you can brighten it up with red and yellow peppers .
Photos (links below)
'You need a really fancy camera to take good photos', or 'You need to know about photography' Not true.
Browse my Blog!
A lot of my work : - articles, recipes, stories, training course flyers - was put on my blog when there were very few of us around, and you may have missed something of interest. I plan to give you a taste of each category for the next few days - feel free to browse around for more!
What a rich gap year weekend...
Argentine soaps, exercise, pets, spectator sport, culture, whale-less whale spotting, sky aerobics...
A Special Sunday
Ask anyone, expat or local, what they like best about Montevideo, and the likely answer is ‘La Rambla’. La Rambla is a wide band which includes a busy duel carriageway, a wide pavement, and beaches and coves, stretching the 20 kilometres from the city centre eastwards to the residential suburb of Carrasco.
It was a text message from a friend that got me and my waggy, happy mongrel Perdida walking the eight blocks from my house to the Rambla yesterday: ‘Air Display at the Hotel Casino’.
Spring is here!
Spring has arrived! Today we were listening to Snow Patrol 'Chasing Cars' - 'Show me a garden that's bursting into life' - well, mine is, and you can see my rose photos here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26428&l=f172e&id=664241054
By the way, have you read 'A Good Year for the Roses'? (You may have seen it on Writelink a while back, but it's had no views here) It's in my Short stories, Pru and Wills category - my roses play an important part in the story!
I must get down to learning to do fancy links like Sarah's - and Sarah, sorry i've copied your skin, but it's such a nice one...
Searching for posts
Sorry, another question: is there an easy way to search for a post? For example, I see Sarah (Sarah, you are an example to us all!) has her sticky post which links you up to various categories on her blog. I'm sure you've explained how that's done, but how do I quickly find where?
Nzinga success Story
The Nzinga launch (see Nzinga artisans post below this on my blog) was a great success – more photos on http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26087&l=74c2c&id=664241054
The ladies made over 20,000 pesos on the day, which means about £80.00 each – probably more than they would get in a month from all the jobs they do put together.
And every one of them got orders for more items, because they ran out!
Paola's blog - Have you subscribed?
(I'm testing the sticky thing)
Why subscribe to my blog?
Because you will learn a huge amount about a beautiful country called Uruguay.
Uruguay?
Yes, a country which has twice hosted and once won the World Cup,
Knobless Knee
Enough is enough, I decided yesterday. Over a year of trouble with my left knee, trouble which comes and goes like an irregular tide, with occasional visits to the doc who tells me there's nothing wrong...
'There IS something wrong,' I tell him today. 'I can't do my child pose properly, and the camel pose kills more than usual, and I can only do half a sun salute! And LOOK at it! It's fat and knobless! Compare it with the knobbly one!'
Lunarejo Revisited
The sky hangs heavy, an anthracite tarpaulin ready to collapse with the weight of the water it’s holding. It’s a long weekend, and I’m on my way to the Valle del Lunarejo, 300 miles north of Montevideo, where I plan to break my journey to northeastern Argentina.
Paola has joined the 'Save our Green Site' Group
Anyone else concerned about Writelink? Is it dying? Is it supposed to die to leave space for the blogs? There is so little posted these days, both in the arena and in the Forum. It must be discouraging for newcomers.
Anyone want to join me in an effort to get some momentum there? I have no new fiction, but will post an old story, and will try my best to review everything in Fiction and Arena for a week. I may even visit poetry. That's an undertaking. Anyone want to join me?
Asanas
An hour after my arrival at the ashram near Orleans, in France, we have our first yoga asana session, outdoors on a big wooden deck, ringed by apple and cherry trees in full blossom. I reckon the setting must have something to do with holding in the energy, which, in my first hour, I’ve learnt is called prana.
Arrival at the Ashram
I'm going away for a few days, so I'm going to post up my ashram series, one per day - would love to hear from you whether you think they may find a home somewhere...
I’ve been up since 3.30 a.m. Car from my parents’ house in Rome to the Ryanair bus. Bus to Ciampino airport. Lunch sandwiches demolished at 5 a.m. Plane to Beauvais, outside Paris. Bus to a metro station somewhere in Paris. Metro to Gare d’Austerlitz - no, ticket machine won’t take Visa and the queue at the ticket office is too long.
The Lost Valley of Lunarejo
We'll be going back to this area tomorrow, and trying Patricio's posada, which has opened now - will let you know!
First published in International Living, May 2007
www.internationalliving.com
November 2006
Ask people in the U.K. what they know about Uruguay, and they will probably answer “Football”. Some may know Punta del Este, the glitzy resort which comes to life for two months annually when film stars and botoxed Cleopatra-coiffed Argentinean beauties flock over from Buenos Aires.
A Little Help from My Friends (Imagine...)
Visualise this. Imagine you were retiring and wanted to settle in a faraway country.
Imagine some kind soul set up a conference for you so you could go to that country and learn all about it.
Exams and Gapping
Well, I've done it - I have paid the hefty fee to sit my Cervantes Institute Spanish exam on 10 November! I'm studying hard (isn't a gap year all about learning new things?)
La Virgen de la Yemanja
First published in 'The Oldie', March 2007
www.theoldie.co.uk
Today, 2 February, is the feast of the Yemanjà: the patron of fishermen. I stroll down to the Rio de la Plata before sunset to see what it’s all about. The beach is almost deserted. On the shore is an exquisite cardboard boat, decorated with tinsel and flowers. Watermelons are strewn everywhere.
Initiation
At the ashram, I am a little envious of the spiritual names some of the others have. Brahmani, Ganesha, Bhargavi, Jyothi….they suit this place. We are living a different life, it is right that we should be living it under a different name. Names are important: they form a part of your identity.
Quack Quack
It’s Day Four of my week at the ashram. White-clad guests carry boxes down the stairs. The library which had been up in E2 suddenly reappears in the room near the lobby. E2 is emptied. Karma yoga time brings more shuffling and movement. Garden work is abandoned. Bits of bed are lugged upstairs. Mats, lamps, pictures, mirrors, statues follow. In an aura of reverence, E2 is converted into a super suite.
My Pool
Thought you might like an insight into how swimming pools work here ...
I need to get fit again. Join a pool. Not the inaffordable Carrasco Lawn Tennis Club pool down the road, but a more democratic one. I ask around.
“Asociación Cristiana de Jóvenes”, I’m told.
Story photos
If you'd like to see photos relating to my 'Carrasco Norte - How the other 95% live' story, go to this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=23823&l=9d14c&id=664241054
I need to go out and take a few more...
Mujeres de Montevideo (Women of Montevideo): Ester
Ester has been coming to my house on Monday mornings, off and on - more off than on - for almost three years. A minuscule, elegant lady, well into her seventies, she wears her silky grey hair in a tight bun.
Swotting Spanish
A couple of months ago I decided I wanted to sit a Spanish exam this November. Why? I haven't a clue.
Carrasco Norte - how the other half live
First published in 'The Oldie', March 2008
Carrasco, a suburb twelve miles east of Montevideo, is sandwiched between the Rio de la Plata to the south and Avenida d’Italia to the north. Leafy avenues lead down to the river, where the broad sidewalk of La Rambla welcomes joggers and walkers. Couples in elegant tracksuits drive their BMWs to the Carrasco Lawn Tennis Club, and in the Pilates class at the Cottage Hotel, ladies discuss the latest Botox clinics.
But there are signs that this opulence is not all that there is to life in Montevideo.
Spring is Here!
Today is the third day of spring. Yes, the days are getting longer, the clocks will change to give us an extra hour of evening light at the end of this week, the screeching southern lapwings have built their nests and are fiercely guarding them, and my bulbs are just about to burst into bloom.
And this is my gap year.
Moby-Click
(First Published in Ireland's Own, August 2008)
I love my mobile phone. It's a Nokia, faded cobalt and pale grey, and feels comfortable and warm in my hand. Designed immediately after the demise of those early brick-sized, brick-weighted and brick-brained models, my Moby-click has no radio, no camera, no diary, no link to my e-mails, and no quick way to check whether the train from Milan Cadorna to Como will arrive on time. But it has a torch.
Guinness, Oysters and the Tra-la-la (photos)
Planning my Gap Year
As I flew in to Montevideo this morning, I was taken back twenty years, when we arrived in Barbados for a four-year posting. The youngest of my three, then aged just over two, said, as we got to the hotel where we would spend five weeks until we found a house, 'I want to go home.' I asked: 'Where's home?' and she answered 'I don't know, but it's far, far away.' (Hey, why isn't the !M button working? I'd better be brief.)
Pictures
A quick last posting before I fly off to Ireland tomorrow. Perdida snagged her claw (what's that dangly high up claw called? I know it has a special name...) Anyway the vet had to remove it today and gave her a fancy yellow bandage to match my jumper, and you can see pics of her, me, the bandage, the jumper and my kitchen here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=4832&l=4418c&id=664241054
Happy blogging while I'm away!
Escaping the Winter at last
I'm off to Donegal on Wednesday for four weeks: then two weeks in Belgium. There'll be little blogging but, I hope, lots of inspiration ... we're going to the same place as last year - I have some photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolafhanna/sets/72157600182530517/
Nostalgia Night
The Uruguayans like partying – and they hook their parties onto Días – special days. El Día de la Mama, el Día del Papa… Okay, those are pretty ordinary. But then you get Child’s Day, Grandparents’ Day, No Smoking Day, Holy Innocents’ Day – even the Light of the Nights in December, when the sky is ablaze with fireworks for the official opening of the beaches. And in the middle of winter, on 24 August, there is Nostalgia Night.
Buskers on the Bus
It’s six-o’clock in the evening in the Old City: an Indian summer has hit Montevideo in the middle of the fall, and it’s almost ninety degrees. I stroll through the artisans who line Sarandí, the newly restored pedestrian street which stretches from the port to Plaza Independenzia, where I catch the 105 bus which will take me the twelve miles east to my home. The bus looks as though it dates from the seventies, with rickety plastic seats, but spotlessly clean. My ticket costs me sixteen pesos, which is equivalent to sixty cents.
El Silencio
First published by International Living, Sept 10, 2007
Have you ever heard of a capybara? I hadn’t, until last week,
Golfing in Montevideo
First published in International Living, 30 July 2007. Sidebar with prices was included. Would you believe, they cut out the first paragraph and a bit and started at 'Situated...'
If you are a golfer, you are probably familiar with the story of the Argentinean player, Roberto de Vicenzo. In the 1968 Masters he birdied the par 4 seventeenth hole, but his playing partner Tommy Aaron mistakenly entered a 4 instead of 3 on the scorecard. DeVicenzo signed the scorecard without checking it, and according to the Rules of Golf the higher score had to stand. If not for this mistake, de Vicenzo would have tied for first place, and would have had a chance to win in a playoff the following day. His memorable, modest remark after the incident was: "What a stupid I am!"
Cartagena, Colombia
(published in The Buenos Aires Herald, December 2007)
January 2007
On the northern Caribbean coast of Colombia, the colonial city of Cartagena is neatly enclosed within walls and fortifications built by the Spanish in the eighteenth century. Flowered balconies deck the well-maintained, brightly-coloured colonial buildings. Horse-drawn carriages click down the narrow streets, jostling with fruit-filled carts for space. Smiling hawkers sell crafts and coconut milk. The warm Caribbean air is heady with passion-fruit, mango and iodine.
The Headstand
In an effort to lose weight and get fit, I have been exercising daily for the last three weeks. The exercise is varied, but none of it is too strenuous: gentle bike rides, gentle strolls with the dog, gentle swims, gentle circular folk dances, and gentle yoga.
Circular Dances
(First published in Women's E-news, June 2008)
When I arrived as an expat in Uruguay almost four years ago, I was suffering from the combined symptoms of culture shock, menopause, and being away from my children for the first time. However, I did my best to drag myself out and get involved in activities.
I heard about circle dancing at an expat spouses’ meeting, when Rosa, a psychologist, was trying to drum up support.
It's a Long, Long Way from Here to Clare
Published in 'Ireland's Own'September 2007
I scour the map of Ireland and find a dot marked 'Gort' close to the west coast, at the end of one of the long green spiders' legs fanning out from Dublin. My brochure says 'From Belfast take southern route to Gort'. Detailed instructions follow from there. But Belfast seems to be linked to Gort only by a complex faint orange spider's web behind the bright Dublin-Everywhere Else legs.
My 29th Wedding Anniversary
Nelson's Nags
First published in 'Go Nomad', February 2008
September 2006
Castro is the shabby, colourful capital of the fertile archipelago of Chiloe, two thirds of the way to the southern tip of Chile. The Chilote are an independent island people. They fish and farm, and live in shingled houses. Chiloe boasts an array of wooden churches, many over two hundred years old, which are UNESCO world heritage sites.
Colds and Cooking
Woke up even more stuffed up than before, with a stiff neck and swollen glands to boot. Am so fed up with lounging around - yesterday I knitted the whole back of a jumper for me, watched an amazingly disturbing but brilliantly structured and acted film on DVD 'Little Children' with Kate Winslet, read hundreds of pages of various books, and slept a lot. Today I've decided to upload recipes onto my blog
20 July
This is Day 9 of a really rotten cloggy cold - yesterday I gave in and called the doc who put me on antibiotics - seems every time over the last week that I've tried to do anything vaguely normal like go out of the house, I've come back to a huge relapse. So today I didn't set foot outside. Instead I read, slept, and played around with photos. If you would like to see a new, mixed collection, have a look here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolafhanna/sets/72157600929047687/
Perdida
This is the real Perdida photo link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=4832&l=4418c&id=664241054
19 July
I had a real fun activity today: going to a local 'bilingual' school to do some activities with the IB students (17-18-year-olds), who have been studying 'Nervous Conditions' by Tsitsi Dangarembga, a Zimbabwean writer I'd never heard of.
Whatson’s Mango chutney
Vegetable Curry
Stuffed aubergines
Vegetable and Chickpea Tagine
Tomato Salad with Shallots, Balsamic Vinegar and Thyme
Summer Fruit Compote
Summer Fruit Compote
Serves 6
Ingredients:
• 3 peaches
• 6 apricots
• 6 large plums
• 225 g blueberries
• 175 g raspberries
• 50 g sugar
Wild mushroom risotto
Roast Pumpkin Soup
Risotto with peas and shrimps
Prawn and Pak Choi Stir-fry
Prawn and Pak Choi Stir-fry
(Serves 4)
Ingredients:
• 250 pack egg noodles
• 1 tbsp stir-fry oil or sesame oil
• 1 sliced garlic clove
• 1 level tsp freshly grated ginger
• 1 bunch spring onions, trimmed and cut into four
• 250 g prawns
• 200 g Chinese cabbage (pak choi), leaves removed and white base cut into thick slices
• 160 g Chinese yellow bean stir-fry sauce
Pesto Rice Salad
Pesto Rice Salad
(Serves 4-6)
Courtesy Delia Smith: I love making this with the fresh basil from my garden. I put it in a ring mould, cool it, turn it out, and fill the hole in the middle with cherry tomatoes.
Pea and pepper pasta with goat’s cheese
Pea and pepper pasta with goat’s cheese
(Serves 2)
This recipe calls for frozen peas - to me, the difference between frozen and fresh peas is similar to that between a huge ripe peach dripping with juice, or the ghastly plastic-tasting thing you get in a tin. So if you can be bothered, use fresh peas, and just boil them in a separate pan while you're cooking the pasta.
Pawpaw and Prawn Salad
Pasta with Salmon and Vegetables
Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta and Red Kidney Beans)
Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta and Red Kidney Beans)
(Serves 4)
This is a favourite from my childhood - a classic Italian dish.
Creamy Parma Ham and Artichoke Tagliatelle
Creamy Parma Ham and Artichoke Tagliatelle
(Serves 4)
Ingredients:
• 400g tagliatelle
• 500 ml crème fraiche
• 280 g artichoke hearts, drained and halved
• 80 g Parma ham, torn into strips
• 2 level tbsp fresh sage plus extra to garnish
• 40 g parmesan cheese, made into shavings with a potato peeler
Mango and Lime Mousse
Mango and Lime Mousse
(serves 6)
Preparation Time: 15 min, + soaking, freezing and chilling
Lentil and Beef Stew
Iced Lime Mousse with Summer Berries
Hot and Sour Pickled Prawns
Guacamole
Grilled Spanish Onion with Rocket-leaf Salad
Green chutney
Green chutney
Ingredients:
• ¼ coconut
• 1 pod garlic
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• 2 bunches coriander leaves
• 1 tsp tamarind (or lime juice)
• 6 green chillis
• 1 inch ginger
• 1 small onion
• 1 tsp sugar
• salt to taste
Traditional Greek Salad
Traditional Greek $salad
(Serves 4)
Ingredients:
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• ½ cucumber, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 green pepper, finely sliced
• 10 Kalamata olives, packed in olive oil with oregano, drained
• 200 g pack feta cheese, chopped
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Greek-Style Aubergines
Greek-style aubergines
(Serves 4)
Ingredients:
• 4 aubergines
• 1 egg
• 50 g grated parmesan
• 1 onion
• 250 ml milk
• 30 g flour
• 200 g mince meat
• 100 g peeled tomatoes
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• 80 g margarine
• oil
• salt
• breadcrumbs
Gratin of aubergine, zucchine and tomato
Ingredients
Olive oil
I aubergine cut acrossways in rounds
1 onion cut longways into half circles
2 chopped pieces of garlic
Salt and pepper
4 tomatoes, finely sliced in rounds
2 small zucchini
½ cup finely chopped parsley
1 tsp fresh oregano
½ cup parmesan cheese
½ cup breadcrumbs
Garlic Prawns with Courgettes and Mint
Fresh Pawpaw with Coconut Yoghurt Cream
Fresh Pawpaw with Coconut Yoghurt Cream
(Serves 4)
You can substitute mangoes for pawpaws
Curried Coconut Vegetable Rice
Curried Coconut Vegetable Rice
(Serves 6)
Ingredients:
• 100 ml vegetable oil
• 1 large chopped onion
• 1 level tbsp black mustard seeds
• 3 level tbsp korma curry paste
• 1 large aubergine cut into 2 cm cubes
• 1 large butternut squash peeled and cut into 2 cm cubes
• 250 fine green beans, trimmed and cut into 2 cm pieces
• 3450 g basmati rice
• 400 ml coconut milk
• 200 g baby spinach leaves
Coriander Chicken with Peanut Sauce
Coriander Chicken with Peanut Sauce
(Serves 4)
Ingredients:
• 4 skinless chicken fillets, cut into strips
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 level tbsp ground coriander, plus extra to garnish
• 5 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp runny honey
• 2 level tbsp curry paste
• 2 level tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp peanut butter
• 200 ml coconut milk
Compote of Garlic and Sweet Peppers
Compote of Garlic and Sweet Peppers
(Serves 6-8)
Ingredients:
• 900 g peppers (red, yellow, orange – not green)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp lightly crushed cumin seeds
• 2 tsp mild chilli powder
• 10 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 5 level tbsp tomato purée
• salt
Chicken with Black-eye Beans
Chicken Tortillas with Guacamole
Chicken sauté with Courgettes and Garlic
Chicken sauté with Courgettes and Garlic
(Serves 8)
Ingredients:
• 8 x 150 g skinned chicken breast fillets
• 8 small courgettes
• 2 onions
• 2 large garlic cloves
• 2 red chillies
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 50 g butter
• Juice of 2 small limes
• Lime wedges, to serve
Cheesy Potato Skins
Cheesy Potato Skins
(Serves 4 as a starter, 2 as a main course)
Preparation Time: 10 min
Cooking Time: 1 ½ hours
Charlotte Cake
Carrot Cake
Caponade (Vegetable Stew)
Caponade (vegetable stew)
(Serves 4)
Ingredients:
• 1 pepper
• 1 aubergine
• 2 zucchine
• 2 potatoes
• 1 small onion
• 1 ripe tomato
• wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp capers
• 1 tbsp pine nuts
• 40 g margarine
• a bunch of finely chopped parsley
• salt and pepper
Caledonian Ice-cream
Butternut Squash and Sweet potato Curry
This is an Aynsley Harriet 'low fat' recipe, and is one of my favourites.
Butternut Squash & Sweet Potato Curry
(Serves 4)
Braised Lamb Shanks with Cannelini Beans and Tomatoes
Bitteballen (meatballs)
Aubergine 'Pizzas'
Aubergine “pizzas”
(Serves 4)
Ingredients:
• 1 large aubergine
• 8 slices square white bread
• 8 slices mozzarella
• 1 egg
• flour
• oil
• 100 g peeled tomatoes
• a pinch of oregano
• 1 tbsp pitted olives
• salt and pepper
Steamed Apple Pudding with toffee Sauce
Steamed Apple Pudding with Toffee Sauce
Ingredients
175 unsalted butter
4 apples, cut into 2 mm pieces
130 g sugar
50 g chopped walnuts
3 beaten eggs
150 g self-raising flour
Angel-Hair Pasta with Thai spiced prawns
Anchoiade
Anchoiade
(Serves 3-4)
Ingredients:
• 1 tin anchovies in oil
• 1 large crushed clove garlic
• 8 black olives
• 1 small finely chopped onion
• A few drops white wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 ripe tomato, skinned and chopped
• 2 heaped tsp tomato purée
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 8 thick slices French bread, cut diagonally
• Extra chopped parsley to garnish
Learning a Language - A Personal Success Story
June, 2005
I can speak Spanish!
I think I can honestly add “Spanish: fluent” onto my C.V.
Six months ago I spoke NO Spanish.
18 July
The Sao Paulo air crash has hit us hard - why do accidents seem so much worse when they're in the same continent? The runway apparently was too short, and the surface bad, and there had been loads of complaints...and now, with 200 dead, the President has ordered that it be resurfaced.
Postcards
In this section you will find short travel snippets - mostly around 500 words.
Perdida la Perrita Mimosa
5 January 2005
In Montevideo, coming up to New Year’s Eve, stalls sprout up on every street corner of every barrio, selling fireworks. People stock up and prepare for spectacular displays in their gardens. Bangers sound all day, and a few fireworks start immediately after dark. At midnight the sky is suddenly ablaze with a kaleidoscope of flashing lights and the show lasts for a good hour. The noise is deafening.
17 July
I've just spent two hours rearranging my categories, then rearranging the stuff in them, by copying, deleting, pasting, and making everything 'draft' so it doesn't clog up the system - now I suppose someone will tell me there's a simple 'dragging' mechanism for doing it!
Day 4
Day 4 of the Dreaded Diet.
Survived, and have almost reached desired target weight. And we get steak tomorrow - for breakfast lunch and dinner! There couldn't be a better place than Uruguay for steak...
To England's Green and Pleasant Land
First published in 'The Oldie' August 2007
www.theoldie.co.uk
Along with a dozen or so other beggars, Godfrey worked the patch near the traffic lights at the bustling, scruffy Namanga junction near St Peter’s Catholic Church. Hoping for a better life, he had come by train to the capital, Dar es Salaam, five years previously, when Tanzania’s economy had started picking up. He was from Kigoma, on Lake Tanganyika, a thousand kilometres to the west. He had been stricken by polio as a child, and had lost the use of both legs.
15 July
Day 3 of Cabbage Soup
I think I should publish 'The Alternative Guide to Cabbage Souping'
She Sells Seashells
First published in the July 2007 Marine Supplement of 'Practical Fishkeeping'. Thanks, Meg Gurney, for the tip!
www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk
Spotted, banded, speckled, unmistakeable, cowries have been prized for their patterns, colour and shape for centuries.
Perdida
This is a link to photos of the lovely Perdida, mentioned in my yesterday's diary entry: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=4832&id=664241054
Atacama Photos
Link to photos of the Atacama desert:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12223&id=664241054
The Ashram
In a moment of madness two years ago, I ran off to an ashram for a week. Read some of my stories of this and other yogic experiences in this section.
Letter from Letterkenny
first published in 'Ireland's Own' August 2007
July 2006
I’m in the main street of Letterkenny, on my way from the Internet Café to the Post Office. The pavement is busy with shoppers. It’s pouring with rain, but warm. It feels almost tropical. My pink cardigan is sticking to me. A smiling black man, handsome, early twenties, approaches me, hands me his umbrella which I gratefully accept, and fishes out his Oxfam I.D. and various brochures. He starts chatting about his work. Good English, a slight accent which I can’t place.
Grilled Coriander and Lime Chicken
Pasta with Courgettes
This couldn't be simpler - if you'd like to make it a little more elaborate, add half a glass of white wine and a couple of spoons of single cream after step 2.
Mango and Lime Mousse
Spicy Rice
My Recipes - Bon Appetit!
This is a bit of an experiment in how to lay out my blog - but if anyone actually tries any of these, I'd love your feedback. I don't know where most of these recipes came from - should I make this 'protected' just in case?
Spaghetti all Puttanesca
Spinach Balls
Lentil Salad
You can add pretty much anything to this: fresh coriander, spring onions, fresh sweetcorn...the more colourful the better!
Pawpaw and Prawn Salad
Pawpaw and Prawn Salad
(Serves 6 as a starter, 3 as a main course)
The very small sweet pawpaws are best for this easy dish - or you can use a mango!
Chilli sin Carne (veggie chilli)
Chili sin carne
(4 servings)
This is a deliciously healthy winter dish: I often add fresh sweetcorn to it.
Diet: Day 1
Anyone for a swim?
First published by International Living, June 2007
www.internationalliving.com
June 2007
It’s a crisp, bright fall morning in Montevideo. I’m getting used to the back-to-front seasons here, with the shortest day in June and the longest in December. I have just returned from a swim at my local pool, having cycled the two miles each way through quiet, leafy residential streets.
Uruguay from Above
March 2007
Uruguay is a flat country. Rarely can you get a view from above. But flying in to Montevideo from Buenos Aires, you will clearly see one of the city’s characteristic features, the Rambla, which stretches twenty kilometres along the Rio de la Plata from the port to the smart suburb of Carrasco, where your plane will soon land.
Sierra de las animas
First published in International living, May 2007
www.internationalliving.com
April 2007
If you live in Montevideo, and feel like going for a walk, your obvious choice is La Rambla. This is a wide road, which has a comfortable sidewalk all along the river side, stretching twenty kilometres from the port eastwards to the leafy suburb of Carrasco.
Fine Cuisine in Montevideo - Delnorte
February 2007
In the heart of Montevideo’s historical old town, tucked in a quiet street around the corner from the craft sellers in the bustling Plaza Matriz, is a small, simply decorated restaurant, Delnorte. It is a welcome contrast to Montevideo’s innumerable parrillas – barbecue houses – which serve huge quantities of excellent meat and offal, but little else.
Posada las Perdices
First published by International Living, May 2007
www.Internationalliving.com
Published in The Buenos Aires Herald December 2007
April 2007
“So what makes a good holiday?” my husband asks. We’re just passing Pajas Blancas International Airport in the Central Sierras of Argentina, not far from the place where the Latin American revolutionary icon, Che Guevara, spent his adolescence. The area is famous for its well-preserved Jesuit missions. It’s seven o’clock, and clumps of pampas grass glint in the evening sunshine.
A Tale of Two Beaches
First published in International Living, March 2007
www.internationalliving.com
Perched on a small headland just thirty kilometres north of the glitzy swinging resort of Punta del Este, on the sandy, duny Atlantic coast of Uruguay, sits the exclusive hamlet of Jose Ignacio. Unlike Punta, there are no highrise apartment blocks here, no casinos, no nightclubs. Martin Amis owns a house in Jose Ignacio, and Ralph Lauren and Naomi Campbell often choose to relax here.
Lamb with Spicy Couscous
Artigas Day
Artigas Day - 19 June
First published in International Living, June 2007
www.internationalliving.com
A bit of history, first published in International Living on 19 June
www.Internationalliving.com
June 19 is a national holiday in Uruguay, in celebration of the birthday of the country’s greatest hero, José Artigas, ‘the father of independence’. In the center of Montevideo’s most important square, Plaza Independencia, just outside the gate of the Ciudadela, the gate to the old city, stands the imposing 50-foot statue of Artigas mounted on his horse. Below street level, his remains are under twenty-four-hour guard.