Autumnal part 3; lentils

Subsequent to my impassioned Ode to Lentils post last week, a few of you asked for recipes so here goes! This soup is also one of the best bits about Autumn, so it fits nicely with my Autumnal theme too! Party.

The fresh ginger, zingy lemon and lovely golden colour of Turkish Lentil soup makes this my staple Autumn soup. I learned how to make this at cooking classes in uni, and lived off it for months at a time; so Its also very cheap to make. I love this soup so much that I look forward to it all summer!

Recipe (with a running commentary)

Makes a big load:
You need (and this is no exact science- you can kind of make it up)

1/4 tsp Turmeric (gives it colour)
1/4 tsp Nutmeg (makes it rich)
1/4 tsp Curry powder (bit of a kick)
1/4 tsp chilli powder (more of a kick)
500 grams red lentils (makes it wholesome)
Can of chick peas (just for kicks)
8 small onions (makes it healthy and tasty)
4 big cloves of garlic (adds richness and a bit of stinky breath- sorry)
A fair chunk of ginger, maybe an inch? (Really lovely and gingery, surprisingly)
Stock of your choice (well... its just stock, isnt it)
Fresh lemon juice to taste (THIS PART IS ESSENTIAL! Gives it a 'I miss summer but I like Autumn too' zing!)

Then you...

Put the garlic, ginger and all spices in a big pan and fry for a couple of min's (don't burn the spices)
Add onions and cook very slowly on lowish heat for about 10 mins
Add the lentils and stir them around for a bit (The crunchy lentils with soft onion combo is strangely quite satisfying)
Then cover with stock/ water and stock cube (about an inch above the mush) and simmer for about 20 mins. (You can have it quite watery or quite lentilly- its up to you. We like it a bit watery)
Add lemon juice to taste. (add it a bit at a time- you don't want to blow your head off in a lemony explosion)

Y TO THE UM. de to the lish. And other hip hop versions of tasty.

We like to eat it with warmed pitta breads spread with hummous. In fact- this is definitely how you should eat it. Not a suggestion but an order! (wow- maybe I should stay away from recipes, apparently im a recipe Nazi!)

( I did have some lovely photo's I took myself but my Internet problems are ongoing so all images courtesy of Country living!)

For more inspiring lentil recipes, id go to the Waitrose recipes here. There are tons, including

Lamb kebabs with lentil salad and a caramelised lemon dressing

Warm Puy Lentil Salad with Baby Spinach and Goat's Cheese

Lentil and Cauliflower Pilaff

Marinated Lentil Salad with Peppers and Artichoke Hearts

Stewed Lentils

Lentil Salad with Lemon and Almonds (from Ocado. I add cherry tomatoes to this)

Happy lentil loving!

Treehugger tuesdays; Green in the office

Do you maybe work in an office, or spend tons of time at your computer ? And like me, will it be a while until your next holiday? Then maybe you are also missing being outdoors? Maybe you need some green in your office? I know I do!

Some wilderness in that reference book perhaps?

From here

A bit of forest on your finger?

Heaven and Earth via Distillate

I am slowly colonising my desk with plants to give me a bit of country in the office, and spending lunch times in the park in an effort to block out the grey office, noise and traffic of the city, or on the internet looking at last minute breaks in the country. Are you? I love living in London but I think Autumn is best enjoyed in the countryside. I am going to kid myself this wekend that im not in my local park, which is surrounded by roads and full of dog poo, yummy mummies and impatient runners but that I am actually surrounded by acres and acres of forest somewhere beautiful. Yes! Wish me luck?

x

P.s Having major Internet issues at present, hence the lack of post for 2 DAYS! (Did you miss me? Huh? No?!) So posting might be slightly less frequent until it gets sorted.

Saturday, oh saturday...

Hello Saturday. Can we be friends? I like you very much. It must feel good to be you. Why don't you stay a little longer?

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Saturday is extra exciting today because I'm going to be seeing my husbondo. This photo (which I love, by the way) reminds me of him at the moment. Apart from with less sleep. He has worked like a demon for 2 weeks, filming, editing, writing and working to incredibly tight deadlines, with no breaks. Boo.

But tonight he is off. Halle - freakin- lujah. I'm making vegetarian shepherds pie and then we are going to get into our jimjams and drink wine and eat an obscene amount of pic and mix and watch our latest favourite box set; Dexter. Rock and roll.

Hurry up husbondo!

On a different note- click below for some silly Saturday happiness. A baby shakin his booty to Beyonce's All the Single Ladies. Priceless.

Ode to Lentils...

( Image)

(Image)

Oh lentils how I love you! Cheap, simple, unassuming and sold in virtually all of South East London's 'convenience stores' in big red bags with pictures of women in bright red sari's on them. You have sustained me through feast and famine alike, filling me with vital nutrients in my poverty stricken student days and coming to me as an epiphany in my greatest hour of dinner party need. You have been there when no one else was. Yes.

Your varied uses continually astound me! You have so many uses, oh! Boiled with onions for Lentil soups, tossed with cheery tomatoes and red wine vinegar for lentil salad, moulded into a bed for fish, fried together for patties, baked for Dal (this bowled me over with its brilliance when I first discovered it), and even stuffing for craft projects! From simple Turkish lentil soup with slightly stale bread to honey glazed Duck breast with a warm lentil salad and orange balsamic jus; You always wow.

You also offer hope on my 'I'm too lazy to walk 5 minutes to the shop' days too, and for this I will be forever thankful.

Yours, In adoration

Lentil loving Hannah.

P.s Guess what I'm eating this lunch time?

P.p.s Thank you for all your suggestions and ideas for a column/ articles for Squidge mag- you are all too lovely for words, it meant the world. Thank you, thank you. Keep those ideas coming though! (See below post)

Ahem. Can you do me a favour? I need your help.

So, I have a friend. She's nice. She and her boyf write a magazine together. Its called Squidge, you should maybe check it out. Its pretty cool with lots of potential I think. And she likes my blog . Turns out she wants me to write for her magazine- regularly- on anything I want. Holy moly me oh my.

So I was like 'whoa', and felt pretty excited and thought about all the different things i'd write about. Because there is no shortage. Turns out I don't know how to confine my thoughts to my head anymore- EVERYTHING is a blog post waiting to happen. At one point id blog three times a week. Its quickly becoming two a day! And i'm aware that It might be a bit too much sometimes, no? But alas, I digress.

That was 3 weeks ago now and I still haven't written anything yet. Because I don't know what to write about. I cant choose. Because I write about anything and everything. Hannah stuff. I couldn't just have a Hannah column!?

So I was wondering if you could help. Which bits do you like? Which bits would translate well into an article? Or a column? My labels are on the right which I guess covers the stuff I go on about.

Ideas, suggestions, criticisms? ANYTHING. Even if you follow or subscribe but you've never said hi before. I'd love to meet you. Pretty pretty please?! With a juuuuiicy cherry on top- just for you!? It would really help me out!

Autumnal part two...

I just finished reading the Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter. It is a set of short stories, loosely based on fairytales but with a gothic, feminist twist. The prose is evocative and sumptuous, a real treat to read. The following short story (and in fact all of them) left me me with a vivid and haunting sense of place that is almost overwhelming. I am not on the train. I am in the middle of a thick woods on a crisp October day.

Excerpt from Angela Carter's short story, The Erl King.

"The lucidity, the clarity of the light that afternoon was sufficient to itself; perfect transparency must be impenetrable, these vertical bars of a brass-coloured distillation of light coming down from sulphur-yellow interstices in a sky hunkered with grey clouds that bulge with more rain. It struck the wood with nicotine-stained fingers, the leaves glittered. A cold day of late October, when the withered blackberries dangled like their own dour spooks on the discoloured brambles. There were crisp husks of beechmast and cast acorn cups underfoot in the russet slime of dead bracken where the rains of the equinox had so soaked the earth that the cold oozed up through the soles of the shoes, lancinating cold of the approach of winter that grips hold of your belly and squeezes it tight

The trees stir with a noise like taffeta skirts of women who have lost themselves in the woods and hunt round hopelessly for the way out.

The woods enclose and then enclose again, like a system of Chinese boxes opening one into another; the intimate perspectives of the wood changed endlessly around the interloper, the imaginary traveller walking towards an invented distance that perpetually receded before me. It is easy to lose yourself in these woods.

There was a little tangled mist in the thickets, mimicking the tufts of old man’s beard that flossed the lower branches of the trees and bushes; heavy branches of red berries as ripe and delicious as goblin or enchanted fruit hung on the hawthorns but the old grass withers, retreats. one by one, the ferns have curled up their hundred eyes and curled back into the earth"

...Read more here...

Euch.

Reasons I feel grim this morning:

· I went out last night (on a school night, naughty). I was at the single launch for my friends band Ex-Lovers. So I am tired and hung-over. Urg.
· The band was great, but as usual I made a tit out of myself by falling UP the stairs in front of some strangers. This was pretty mortifying, but I should just get used to it because I am always making a tit out of myself (Me? Leave my bag on the train?). So I have bruised knees like a 6 year old.
· I’ve also had 2 major wardrobe fails this morning. My new shoes have given me blisters on the top of every single one of my toes, and earlier this morning I whipped a cardi out of the washing basket in a rush to get out the house on time, and I have just realised that the reason it was in there was because it has baby sick on it. FAIL.

So on the way to work I was craving a sugar boost, and then remembered these photos. I would like to be in sugar land right now. Then again maybe id be sick all over it- I can’t decide. Rad photo’s though, huh?

The artist is Scott Hove. Images from a brilliant online magazine called Hi- Fructose.

Via Chloe Sees

(p.s Im writing on the way to work and have schdeuled this post. How cool is that! I heart my iphone!)

Autumnal, part one...

I realised that recently Ive been feeling a little gloomy about the immanent start of Winter, and specifically the encroaching darkness which means you set off in the morning and arrive home at night all in the dark. My mister, in one of his more enlightened moments recently compared me with a plant (hah! Thanks!) , in that I thrive in the sunlight and wither a little without it. So to counteract some of the gloomier aspects of Autumn, I am focusing on quotes, clothes, music videos or recipes which capture the best bits of Autumn.

To begin with, here is a music video by oneinthree for the band Wild Beasts. It involves nymph like women, bonfires and animal masks. Its lovely and incredibly Autumnal. Makes me feel glittery inside.

Via David Wilson

I couldn't embed the video for some reason- so to watch click here.

Treehugger Tuesdays.

Having blogger issues, apologies if you got this as a draft.

I am not especially fond of plastic utensils, not only because they are disposable and wasteful, but because I hate the feeling of chewing cardboard or Tupperware, know what I mean? But this project has found a meaningful way of turning old plastic cutlery into home accessories. I love it! Its by a bunch of students from the states who collected plastic cutlery over the course of a year (all recycled) and then turned them into these light fixtures!

(Via Inhabitat)

The project sorta reminds me of a bowl made by Dominic Wilcox for Thorstn Van Elton. It is constructed from melted toy soldiers. Artfully melted plastic is at least 7 kinds of awesome, non?

Love...

If you can't read it, click Melancholia

And, seen as we're on it, this is one of my favourite poems. Maybe Im feeling sloppy doppy? (even though its about a woman. I am not a lesbian.)

Prandial Plaint

My love, I love your breasts, I love your nose.

I love your accent and I love your toes.

I am your slave. One word, and I obey.

But please don't slurp your morning brew that way.

Vikram Seth

Bye bye baby

(I won't even begin to bore you with the songs.)

Sat on the (thankfully stinky feet- free) train, and staring out the window into peoples gardens. And for company I have Passion Pit, my new fave band. On my headphones anyway. I heart trains.




No harm in checking em out free on myspace or spotify huh?No, I didn't think so.... Good, aren't they?

My step mum guffawed loudly when I mentioned their name, and my older bro looked on confusedly, hah!


-- Posted from my iPhone

Baby love...

"Oh baby you so fine, you so fine you blow my mind...." (why do all my baby songs happen to be the MOST irritating ones?!)

Uuumm, "my baby love, my baby love, my baby love, oh! my baby love..."... Better? Anyway, let me illustrate my point...




Me and the dude...



My sister and the dude! Here he is superman.

Blogging from my phone today, because remember yesterday, how I was bragging about blogging ON THE GO? Well I was so Preoccupied with my technologicalness that I left my rucksack ON THE TRAIN.

DUFUS.

So on top of the stinky feet and the loud headphones and the irritating blog app that wouldn't publish photo's, I also left my rucksack on the ruddy train. NOT PARTY.

Flukily it was found on the way back to London and my mister collected it. Brilliant.

So more experimental phone blogging today (hope the pics work?) I'm off to pull stupid faces and make ridiculous noises and generally coo at the dude...

Subliminal singing.... Oh baby!

Subliminal singing...

Do you ever find yourself subliminally singing? So, if your happy you might find yourself singing "I'm so happy to dance with you" by the beatles, or if you feel really manic or pissed off you might find yourself humming along to "smack my bitch up" by prodigy. Know what I mean? No? That just me?

Well I've had "oh baby baby,oh baby baby!" and other irritating songs stuck in my head today. And no I'm not feeling romantic (hah). I'm sat on a hot train with people listening to obnoxiously loud music and a guy with stinky feet (no shoes, WTF?!) But it doesn't matter because I am on my way to see THE DUDE! (my baby bro)

And I can't wait. You may remember that my last visit was thwarted by swine flu so I haven't seen him in 3 months! Apparently he's massive! I'm almost expecting him to have started puberty by the time I finally see him!

So, After my baby weekend, I shall get back to you all on monday, where i will probably be totally preoccupied with scheming up ways to shoot out babies of my own in the fastst possible way. (No! I will resist the broodiness!)

Have a lovely weekend lovelies!

P.s are you impressed that I am blogging from the train?! ON THE GO? I am so technological! (Kinda. I keep making mistakes and there is supposed to be a photo, hence all the 'updated' alerts if you get this as an email, apologies!)

Autumn wardrobe

Having recetly ruthlessly weeded out my wardrobe, and after Summer so rudely slammed the door in our faces, I am currently facing an autumn wardrobe clothing melt down. Top that off with wanting to buy ethically and being SKINT and what do we have? A conundrum with a capital C. Just as I was about to chuck my ethics out the window and indulge in some deep down and dirty primark shopping, I decided to look for vintage clothes websites at lunch time at work. And I was in luck.

Shopping vintage has so many benefits- it saves clothes from landfil (by recycling them) and they look COOL! Individual too. No walking down the street and seeing 5 girls each wearing your Topshop dress!

When I stumbled accross the Rokit vintage website, to the sale section I headed. And just look what I found!

Bag was £26, and real leather, dress was £20, tops were £12! I also bought a short navy blue woolen skirt for £13 too. Very excited.... But then.... I found this brilliant cardi via modish, so I started a list...

And then I found an amazing designer called Annie Greenabelle. Oh wow. She makes gorgeous clothes that are all organic and fairtrade and stuff... and affordable too, and I was obviously salivating at my my screen... my list got longer.

I was also planning on buying a couple of pairs of shoes from Kate Kanzier; both loafers

(and maybe a bag too.... one can dream!)..... longer...list....

Oooooh dear. I am currently exerting SUPER HUMAN levels of self restraint. Seriously. The only thing thats stopping me from pissing my money down the clothing drain is that if I do, my husband (whom I share a joint account with) may just divorce me. (But, ahem, it is my birthday soon so I may have my wicked way...)

Anyho- are you lusting after some autumnn clothing? Have you got your eye on the perfect coat/ dress/ scarf? Id love to hear if so!

job i secretly wish i did # 5 Agony aunt

I think it would be pretty rad if one day I found myself a trained, witty, satirical and very wise agony aunt. And I reckon I'm not alone on this (Based on the hours my friends spend dissecting and being opinionated about our families, relationships and work mates which we revel in each time we see each other!)

I love them all; from the sublime to the ridiculous; Mariella Fostrup kicks ass and is always right but I also secretly love reading the hilarious agony aunt column in 'Pick me up' magazine with titles such as "My husband wears my knickers, what should I do?" Ask Hadley is a fashion agony aunt in the Guardian, recently shown to me by a friend. It offers brilliant hilarious sartorial fashion advice, which had me choking as I guffawed in to my sandwich whilst reading it during me lunch break yesterday.

Mariella

Pure brilliance. I'm not sure what it is that makes me love them so much, but I have since I was 13 and addicted to reading ‘Just 17’ magazine (and feeling like such a rebel because I was actually 4 years younger). It could be that its a combination of revelling in other peoples hilarious misery (dark, I know- but admit it, don't you?!), and finding comfort that all of our lives are a bit fucked up in some way. (My husband does not wear my knickers though, repeat- he does NOT wear my knickers!)

Do you have a favourite agony aunt? Is it just me?!

Treehugger Tuesday Wednesdays! (and awards)

Oops. Last weeks mania meant I forgot my normal Tuesday tree hugging. My sincerest apologies. So a quick post to make up for it. The Guardian newspaper are running a competition that is calling for innovative ways to recycle old clothes.

“Compared to our consumption of gadgetry and cars, our thirst for T-shirts and designer dresses may seem relatively benign to the natural world. But with 900,000 tonnes of clothing thrown away in Britain's landfill sites each year, supply chains that snake around the planet, and an estimated annual 8m tonnes of CO2 pumped into the atmosphere just from the production of these togs, you can see how fashion isn't always glossy. The fact that half of the clothes bought by British women last year have never been worn is just one part of the problem... We're looking for your best tips to reduce the UK's clothing landfill mountain”

Those stats are both mind boggling and sobering for me- especially as my thirst for an entirely new Autumn wardrobe is at an all time high...hmmm...reminds me of this....

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The winning entry receives £250 worth of Marks and Spencers vouchers. I know I know, a competition seeking to find ways to recycle old clothes by...buying more clothes may be a bit unethical, but you could buy some of their British sourced food or Fairtrade home accessories? Or you can donate them to charity- whatever, Im just interested in the ideas (yeah, right)

I submitted 2 tips. The first (inspired by Grand Designs, no less) is to link property developers with recycling depo’s in order to use shredded clothes as home insulation. My second suggestion is sewing clubs! I am involved in two and they involve friends getting together and figuring out sewing patters, zips and alterations together, with the basis that even if none of you can sew, three heads are better then one when it comes to working it out. This theory has certainly worked well in practice for me! I have learned how to alter hems, replace zips and even make a simple dress our of a bed sheet!

If you have a good idea- you should enter! (I have an inkling that Rebecca might be excited about this- I know she has some wicked ideas!)

And now to Blog love.

Thank you again to Zoe from Conversation pieces and Rebecca of Daydreams in lace for my two recent awards- I was grinning like a cheshire cat about both, especially as I love both of these ladies blogs. Anyway, enough of the gushing!

(Look- I poladroided them for you!)

Some people are not fussed about awards and some are. If you aren't fussed or have already received it - just take this as a sort of thank you for a lovely blog. Bask in the love! And, should you wish too, and it truly is up to you, you can pass the love on to other blogs. No pressure. If anything this is an exercise to boast about the brilliant blogs you read; to point the limelight at blogs which you really think deserve attention or are doing some innovative stuff. I have already passed on some awards so I have found new blogs to love this time! So without further ado, these are the blogs that I enjoy reading and that I think deserve some attention!

Pepper Stitches- An Aussie currently blogging about weird vintage posters and guerrilla knitting!

Claire Platt- whom I met at the Iknit event has a lovely, lovely blog

Doux- Lovely quirky writing. (Check it out right now for gorgeous vintage wedding pics)

Eden Rose- Great fashion and interiors tips and a lovely blog friend!

This girl- A lovely gal and blog friend!

Man Make Home- Very cool blog. Interiors and design stuff.

Little Miss B- A fellow local lass who runs a knitting circle that I AM SO JOINING! (Come if you live near Lewisham!)

I made you a beard- a blog about beards. There is nothing more to say. It is awesome.

Phew! There are so many more- but lovely bloggers, consider yourself lemonaded!!!

I heart mixtapes!

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Mister and missus- a beginning.

One day a boy wooed a girl with mix tape. They were 17. The mix tape included songs by Incubus, Muse, the Rolling Stones and The Animals (cringe). And he even designed a paper sleeve for it. And she thought he was the coolest thing on the planet. Then they got married. The end.

Yup.

After stumbling across one of the songs on that play list recently, my mister and I thought fondly back to those 6th form days and lamented the lack of romantic mix tape woo-ing. I was also feeling a bit bored and frustrated with my music. And then something great happened. A mix tape play list from a friend plopped into my inbox. Plop! (which is the sound it makes in my head). I gleefully clicked and downloaded, and before I knew it I had 20 new tracks on my itunes to enjoy! FOR FREE!

And the Hannah mix tape love affair was reborn. Seriously- this is the future. My recent skintedness has meant that I experienced double the joy, and I wanted to share it with you too!

Its a mix tape by Aquarium drunkard called weird summer. Sounds like a mix between a 50's package holiday and an acid trip. Really great instant beach party. Yes.

So- my question. Do you know where I can find more?

We're you woo'd/ or did you woo with a mix tape?! What was on yours?!

Three cheers for free mix tape sharing!

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and... breathe...

Thanks Claire, for sending me the names of the artists whose names I forgot below!

I have had a rather rollicking good old time over the last 7 days. I have seen a lot of friends, laughed A LOT, visited bars, drunk too much, been to a birthday party and held an impromptu dinner party, before dragging my sorry ass off to run a 10k race the next day (No, I am not kidding.) So I am pooped, but it has been great. Even the 10k race part. If a tad messy.

I finally went to Franks bar in Peckham. I dont think there is a single friend that I havent told about this place at least 8 times. It is a 'pop up' bar on top of a car park with amazing views and lovely food. And, like Brockley Nick its been years since I've gotten pissed in a car park, so I was pretty excited. I was also with 2 of my lovliest friends. Party.

Shitty iphone pics:

A red tarpaulin and wooden structure await you after you've navigated your way up 10 floors of dark smelly, paint stained concrete stairs.... But oh is it worth it.

And the food..... (I just salivated a bit....ok, a lot.)

Oh- not only is it a rad bar with incredible views across London- there are 3 floors of contemporary art too:

The night was topped off with a rather surreal ride on the resident moon buggy on floor 7.

Um, just- go. If you're in London, that is. Or even if you're not. Its truly worth a visit.

Its open until 30th September. Bring your warm coat!

And then I went along to the Iknit weekender where I learned a bit more crochet and saw some beautiful work. Presenting the best bits...

I met the lovely guys from Rockpool candy who introduced themselves as 'fibre activists'. I immediately wanted to be their friends. They do all sorts of wicked work, including making warm hats to give to people on the street check out the website for more info

Some pretty woolly cake bunting

Some of my favourite work was by Claire Platt. her website is under construction but you should check back soon! She makes so much gorgeous work and am desperate for her new website to appear! (Update- Even though Claires website is under construction- I now know she has a blog! visit her at www.ilovesewing.blogspot.com!)

I also quite liked the work of Suzie Johnson who, according to her website, has turned her home in too a wool sanctuary! Oh wow! She makes pretty woolen wendy houses.

Oops, I dont know who made this. Pretty though, hey? (Update- Yes I do! Its by Tuft Alpalca's!)

Uuuuum kinda don't know who created this work either. (I annoy MYSELF.) But I love it: (Update- I know now! Its from the Poetry society! Party.)

Some more lovely bunting on the Skein Queen stall, this time made out of mittens! How cool is this! I am so doing this this Christmas!

And some of my favourite- handmade cotton Vegetables! They were just decorating a magazine stand but oh so pretty.

It was lovely, and again topped off with some pretty top class company. I came home and prepared a dinner party- which was captured rather valiantly by my trusty polaroid, but have I meticulously scanned in each photo yet? Have I hell. But I will.

And then I woke up and ran 10 leg-aching-lung-splitting-bucket-sweating kilometers. True story.

Me, my mister and our friend looking pretty rad and ready to run!

So this week I am going to try and take it a little easy and catch up with myself a tad.