Loving the Mexicana - thanks Thomasina

I think I mentioned a while back my unhappy experience with a Certain Chinese Cookbook (which ought probably to remain unnamed). I also think that I mentioned my new Mexican cookbook acquisition from Thomasina Myers? (Surely?) Well, happily, Thomasina's book is wonderful. Loving the recipes, loving the vibe and the enthusiasm for Mexican cuisine which filters through all of her recipe descriptions - it's all good - great, even. I love, too, that she's a Masterchef alumnus. (Alumni? Alumne?) Speaking of which, I was rather excited to read in this month's cooking mag that British MC is getting a makeover of Tyra-esque proportions this year - it's going all Antipodean and picking up on the Australian mode of presentation. Yay! The lovely Australians have a much more dynamic and reality-tv-appropriate format in which the housemates (read: finalists) all live together over a number of weeks and pit their skills against each other in high intensity challenges. Cooking doesn't get tougher than this! (although clearly last year they were lying given the need for an overhaul). 

I'm not making any sense in this rambling nonsense tonight. I feel as if I did actually have something to say when I took to the keyboard. Oh, that's right. Yay Mexican food. I am also going to be brave and actually try some new ideas rather than just subtle variations on stuff I know I will like. I'm particularly intrigued to try tamales so I will be sure to do a decent food post about that when I do. Also, I will actually take photos of my efforts when I do, since, I've noticed the total absence of photos (good or otherwise) on here of late. Sorry about that. The one tiny problem with Thomasina's book is that there aren't enough pictures but I feel I can't really be annoyed with that since I've done exactly the same here. I think my problem is that I cant' seem to wait when food is ready - I must eat it NOW. By the time I remember I wanted to take a photo, the food has long since been devoured. I will try harder though, I promise. Unless it's really yummy and then all bets are off. 

A rant. With no food.

I really shouldn't read newspapers ever because it just enlightens me to the insanity of British politics and that almost always leads to me getting mad!! The STUPID Education Secretary Someone Gove is overhauling the high school curriculum to include more 'facts' because that's the stuff kids really need to know. This whole 'thematic' approach to history that the last government instigated is just silly and doesn't concentrate on the important things like facts. Never mind the fact that high school students for the most part get to uni with the bare minimum (if any at all) of critical thinking skills now - make them focus on regurgitating facts and they will be entirely useless!! Has this man never heard of Bloom's taxonomy of learning?? (which I wouldn't expect most people to have heard of unless they were being made to train as a teacher to work at Uni or - for example - were the minister responsible for EDUCATION policy!!) In that, recall and regurgitation of facts are very clearly identified as the lowest form of knowledge (although on the plus side, very easy to train students to pass exams with high rates thus lifting Britain's waning rankings in the world secondary education tables. Not that I'm a conspiracy theorist mind you. That would not be logical or based on facts). Stupid stupid man! AND he's getting rid of the citizenship classes that have been in place for the past 9 years because educating students to understand their political system is a waste of time and the curriculum "must not cover every conceivable area of human knowledge or endeavour and should not become a vehicle for imposing passing political fads". Yes, knowing and understanding politics is like, soooo 4 years ago. And hey, if we stop educating kids about politics, then they won't have the capacity to question dickheads like me properly when I do something stupid like turn the clocks back on education policy by 40 odd years!!!! GARRGGH.

(FYI: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/jan/20/national-curriculum-review-facts-and-vital-knowledge
And: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/jan/20/dont-scrap-citizenship-teachers-plead?intcmp=239

Ok. Rant over. Sorry if I bored you. I really must get a pet so I can rant to it and stop harassing actual people!

Anything  you need to get off your chest reader(s)?

Pollyanna vs. Eeyore

Things I liked about today:

  - the sun shone for at least 4 hours today! This was long enough for me to feel confident in putting my washing on the line. It didn't dry, of course because it was only about 3 degrees outside (so the sheets just sort of hung around getting colder and wetter) but it felt like a victory just to be able to put it out.

 - the delivery of my Graze box (see: http://www.graze.com/). Much like getting my groceries delivered, the arrival of any foodstuffs in my post-box is very exciting. And in this case, tasty. I love the randomness of this system. I think you can actually request specific things to be sent, but I don't and it's great fun. You get 4 brand new treats in every box but it's a surprise each time and so far they've all been tasty (except the goji berries. I know I'm meant to like these because they are meant to be so full of antioxidants that they turn you into Dakota Fanning just by munching on a handful, but they taste very odd. Not really unpleasant, just odd.)

 - the delivery of my milk in cute pint sized bottles on the doorstep. See above for my excitement about delivered foodstuffs. Is an odd new obsession I seem to have developed.

 - the fact that I managed to write 700 not entirely crap words on a paper I'm trying to develop with a colleague. This constitutes the entirety of my writing for the past 5 or 6 months so I shouldn't really be celebrating it, but small victories are victories nonetheless.

 - making plans to visit my family in Qatar, NZ and friends in Australia!

Things I did not like about today:

 - being woken at 3am by the loud truck of my milk delivery man.

 - split peas that refused to cook down sufficiently such that I now have lumpy/crunchy split pea soup which is likely to make my stomach rebel and cause unfortunate side-effects tonight...oi.

 - stupid fracking Latvian numpties who trade on eBay but refuse to use Paypal thus prompting an effort of diplomatic proportions (and several ridiulous arguments with my other half) to get money to them. Use the system properly people, or not at all! For shame strange Latvian vendor of vintage motorcycle parts! For shame.

- the giant scary pile of dishes I woke to this morning. The second giant scary pile of dishes that now awaits me in the kitchen. Not eating would have some useful payoffs.

Fragments of Inspiration

Yesterday was supposedly 'Blue Monday' (shiver in fear, ye new years resolution breakers!) - the day in Britain when people supposedly feel the most depressed all year. Some 'scientific' study has determined (in the most rigorous way possible I'm sure) that yesterday is the accumulation of bleakness for most Brits - it's freaking weeks still til pay day (we all got paid early last month and then squandered said paycheque on Christmas treats) so we're all broke, the weather is grey and shite, we've all apparently abandoned our efforts at losing 10kg by the end of the month and it's about 4 months until the next long weekend. Hence, Blue Monday.

Oddly (for me) I was actually feeling rather upbeat yesterday. My office at work was all organised (quite out of character!) and the students I met with were wonderful (bar one pimply apathetic first year male who clearly thought he'd take the world by storm at uni and now that he's realised that a BA requires you to think for yourself and he's not done so well on that front, has decided it's 'not for him' and wanted advice on switching to something more 'useful' like a mgmt degree...I couldn't even muster sufficient giving-a-shit-powers to try and win him back to the Mass Comms world). I even got a gift of a bracelet from one student as well as a lovely thank you card - not that I am more prone to liking students who shower me with gifts, I swear, but it is nice to know you're appreciated. I work in an industry where critique is an essential part of what we do, and that's good - I recognise the value and appreciate the feedback, of course. But there is something to be said about finding inspiration and enthusiasm from the likes of students you've taught who actually seem to have gained knowledge during your classes and who - shock of shocks - value your help in them reaching that new level of understanding. So, Blue Monday - that's 1 for the students and me and 0 for you!

Anyway. I digress. Or do I? No, I don't think I do. Blue Monday could kiss my ass I decided! I was embracing the happy. There were red carpet pics to view (and mock), students to chat with, groceries being delivered by my new obsession Ocado (somehow having groceries delivered makes the whole process more of a treat - like a present!) and I had eaten healthily all day (not that this was a NY resolution - I've been gyming and attempting to eat less crap for months...I am not on a band wagon I tells ya). Blue Monday - 0, Me - 3!

I had a visit by one of my lovely NZ-based friends last week (le Francaise) and she too has helped to inspire in me just a little bit more motivation. Le Francaise is one of those people who, although armed with a biting wit and capable of as much scorn and criticism as the best of 'em, is almost always able to find the humour and positive in things. I hadn't ever really realised this about her, but after spending the day together I realised that she has a wonderful way of embracing madness which might ordinarily keep you down. It's such a refreshing approach and puts you in a good mood, so I have resolved to try and do the same. (Eek. I sound scarily positive. I'm sure a spiral of doom is just around the corner!)

Oh, and we ate wonderful home-made Mexican food (with proper corn tortillas - thanks again online shopping and Cool Chile Co.!) and drank large volumes of margaritas...making the very pleasant discovery that tequila makes us happy. Not boozed or flailing, but genuinely happy. Thomasina Myers has a theory that tequila makes people happy because it's made from a cactus which grows for years in the desert and she thinks anything that has spent so long growing in the sunshine has to be naturally imbued with joy. What a wonderful theory. Pass me the limes and salt...!

Sarah Palin and minced pork

Ah the joys of marking. One of my students actually used the phrase, "As mentioned by Sarah Palin, Gramsci argues that..." in their essay yesterday. This tickled me so much that it completely made up for the fact that I'd had to spend over an hour trying to read and comprehend said student's (rather awful) paper. What do you think the odds are that A. Sarah Palin has heard of Gramsci, B. She has read and understood Gramsci, C. She can comment on Gramsci's contribution to the debate on American hegemony from the perspective of high vs low culture or D. She knows what hegemony is?? Snort.

On the Magimix front...last night I stuck to my own recipe instead of trying another one from the ill-fated Chinese cookbook and all was well. It's my version of pork larb I think, although I have never called it that. You blitz lime leaves, chilli, coriander, garlic, ginger, spring onions and depending on how lemony you like it, lemongrass together then add that spice paste to minced pork as it is frying. Once it's had a few mins, add some fish sauce and dark brown sugar, let it caramelise and you're done. We typically eat it on jasmine rice with stirfried vege, but it would be equally delish if wrapped in a crunchy iceberg lettuce leaf. The Magimix performed wonderfully when blitzing the spices and also 'made' the minced pork.

This weekend we're going to test the egg white beating function and see if we can muster a decent pavlova from it. The machine claims it can do it...no other food processor I've seen can, so it will be interesting.

And that's all folks. Now back to the grind of marking. Perhaps today Homer Simpson will comment on Stuart Hall's arguments on national identity?

Procrastinators' Guide to the New Year

In the lead up to Christmas, I had planned to be oh-so creative in the kitchen, whipping up a frenzy of sugared treats and the like. And indeed, one day of the 4 I had off was spent lurking over a pot of bubbling sugar and fat in an ill-fated effort to test several varieties of fudge recipe (none were successful. Here endeth my efforts at fudge making without a candy thermometer. I'm pretty sure I've said that before though, so there's every chance that there will yet be a third effort sans practical equipment). Other than that, I did bugger all. I should probably feel guilty about that, but I don't. I don't actually remember what I did, but suspect that I spent quite a bit of those precious 4 days on the couch. One of them, I remember distinctly, was spent in consumer/snow-hell when I decided to go and do the Christmas shopping (nb. This year I WILL be doing all my Christmas shopping stupidly early and online. Shops be damned). A total of 2 hours shopping and 3.5 hours of travel time (for a round trip that ought to have taken 35 mins tops. Damn ye snow and shoppers of Milton Keynes of similar organisational skills to moi. Damn ye I say). Horrifying.

Anyway. I'm faffing about even now. I meant to write about the fact that it's the 5th day of the year and I am already woefully behind on pretty much everything which seems to me to be fairly impressive an effort in uselessness. What I should have been doing on my precious 4 day holiday, it would seem, is ignoring the fact that I'd taken annual leave and settling down to some industrious marking. I didn't, and as a result now have 2 days (including today) to do all my sodding marking. And write an assignment reflecting on my teaching practice in light of theory (gag). And I've now spent more than my allocated 10 mins of web-surfing time, so I had better go to it and keep reading obscurely written attempts to discuss the role of NGOs in global society.

Oh. I knew there was something else to say. I got a Magimix food processor for Christmas (am v v spoiled and feel that such a treat is not really deserved given my total lack of useful kitchen activities of late.) It is red and incredibly shiny and ever-so pretty. Since I have had to force myself to Do Some Work Dammit and thus can't play in the kitchen for hours, I sort of just stand in front of it gently patting it. At some point, however, I will use it and will regale you with truly exciting tales of blending and mixing (a New Years' treat that I bet you can't wait for). I will say that aside from fondling it, I've also made a smoothie in it so far and the sauce for last night's dinner (nb. Chilli Chicken from my new Chinese cookbook by Ching-He Huang. Result? Seriously seriously average. This is why I don't try new recipes more often. It sounded delicious with promises of 'tangy, sweet and just the right amount of spicy' and was instead bland, not sweet and certainly not tangy. It managed to be both just about too spicy and yet lacking in any actual flavour. Now I'm dubious about the rest of the recipes in the damn book. So disappointing).