New Tastes...

Little Italy, Timperley

On Saturday Chris and I walked into Timperley Village in order to go to Little Italy there. I used to go all the time when I was a child, but haven't been since it was taken over by an Italian called Alex Cauchi, and so wanted to see if it was still up to the same standard.

We had booked a table for 8.15pm, and we were shown straight to it when we arrived. We had a prime spot right in the centre of the room which was good, and after being greeted jovially by the owner, a waitress came over to take our drinks orders. One thing I liked instantly was the warmth of the team that worked there; they all seemed very comfortable in the surroundings and knowledgeable if asked any questions. I chose a glass of the house white wine, which was really nice, and available in 1/2 carafes as well as bottles and glasses which I thought was a nice touch. Chris got a bottle of Peroni, which he thought very reasonable at £3.20.

For starters we chose calamari in a tomato sauce and breaded mozzerella, and shared the two. The sauce that the calamari came in was delicious, and I liked that they were unbreaded rings, as they seemed more fresh and less rubbery. For main I had a tomato, mushroom and bacon spaghetti dish that had meatballs with it. I got a half portion as I had already eyed up the dessert menu and fancied something, and I thought it was a great idea that you could do this. I thought they may be a bit reluctant to serve them, but the waiter seemed very happy to oblige. Chris got a seafood pizza that looked delicious, and as he had been craving it all day, it was just what he wanted.

With room left despite my very generous half portion, I opted for the crème brulee for dessert, a personal favourite. It was served in a terracotta pot and the caramel on top had been glazed perfectly, cracking to reveal the cool centre. The only thing that I was slightly disappointed with was that it didn't come with a garnish of some sort, but the actual dish was lovely which is all that matters really.

After we had finished we sat and finished our drinks before ordering the bill. I really enjoyed how we weren't made to feel rushed, and the service was nicely relaxed so that we had a nice gap in between our courses without it being too long. The whole meal came to £38, which I thought was an absolute bargain for the quality and portions. I was definitely not disappointed with the slightly changed restaurant, and certainly won't be leaving it five years until I return like last time!

Weekly Update!

Tagines & Manchester Phoenix!

This week has been fairly busy socially, which is good! On Monday I was at the pub as per, and I had the chicken and vegetable stir fry, which Chorchaba made really hot without telling me! It was nice to try something a bit different though.

On Tuesday I went swimming, and Wednesday I did yoga (I'm keeping up with the daily exercise routine!) and then on Wednesday evening my friends came to my house for some food that I cooked (see previous post). It was great to see them all, as I feel like my job has been taking over my life recently and I've not made much effort to catch up. Now that I'm more settled I know which days I can cope with doing something sociable on!

On Thursday I did that most arduous of tasks - dying my hair. Despite purposefully buying the bleach for dark hair to give it a super strength kick, it turned out really well, and I've booked to have my grey toner put over it next week ready for my week off of partying and travelling the country. After I'd dyed it, I went to pick Jasmine up from the train station as she was home for the weekend, and we spent the rest of the evening giggling over silly Youtube videos!

I babysat on Friday, and we made mini gingerbread men which were adorable! I didn't get up to much once Aum was in bed except planning for my latest Candid article (keep your eyes peeled next week) and finishing off my book (see previous post). On Saturday after I had been to work I picked Chris up from the train station and we got ready to go out for a meal. It was very icy so we must have looked a bit of a sight walking to the restaurant in Timperley village, but once we were inside it was gorgeous and warm, and the food was lovely (see next week's post).

Today it has been our three year anniversary, hence the meal yesterday, and so we had a nice lazy day before heading into Altrincham to watch the ice hockey, which we both enjoy. It was a good match, with a few near misses for the opposing team, the Swindon Wildcats, which I think always makes for an intense game. Manchester Phoenix won in the end though, with six goals to three, placing them in a better position to win the English Premier League, as they are currently 4 points behind the leaders - the Guildford Flames. We also had a hotdog during one of the intervals, adding a tasty end to a packed week!

Winter Reads...

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides- 5 stars *****

This was a book I was bought for Christmas from Chris, that I had never heard of before. I didn't really know what to expect from the title, but just a few pages in I was hooked, and I have devoured the novel in less than a week.

The plot is really simple - five teenage sisters in the Lisbon family (Therese, Mary, Bonnie, Lux and Cecelia) all commit suicide in varying ways for no apparent reason. The book is written through the eyes of a group of boys (whose names we never learn) who secretly watch the girls, developing a slight obsession that leads them to ponder aspects of the girls' lives that remain behind closed doors, as well as recounting those in the public eye:

'We got them all. And, flipping pages, hiked through dusty passes with the girls, stopping every now and then to help them take off their backpacks, placing our hands on their warm, moist shoulders and gazing off at papaya sunsets. We drank tea with them in a water pavilion, above blazing goldfish. We did whatever we wanted to, and Cecelia hadn't killed herself: she was a bride in Calcutta, with a red veil and the soles of her feet dyed with henna.'

It details beautifully the traumas of teenage life - dating, sex, parents, parties and school, but due to the harrowing undercurrent throughout, it really is a read like no other.

The language used is both scientific and figurative, precise yet dreamlike - I have never encountered a style like it:

'Maidens with golden hair dripped sea-blue tears into the book's spine. Grape-colored whales spouted blood around a newspaper item (pasted in) listing arrivals to the endangered species list. Six hatchlings cried from shattered shells near an entry made on Easter. Cecelia had filled the pages with a profusion of colors and curlicues, Candyland ladders and striped shamrocks,'.

The fact that the ending of the story (the girls' deaths) is revealed in the first sentence really shows what a capable weaver of words Eugenides is; few people would want to read a whole book if they knew the final outcome.

After eight paragraphs of waxing lyrical, I hope I have managed to persuade you to read this. I'm buying his other two books (the most recent published just last October) asap! For those of you that like to cheat, I've heard the film, which stars a young Kirsten Dunst as Lux, and Josh Hartnett as her crush Trip Fontaine, is also worth viewing.

Homemade Recipes!

Lemon And Herb Meatball Tagine

Today my friends came round for the evening, so I decided to cook something tasty for our tea. They were arriving at 7pm, so once I'd got home from work I knew I wouldn't have much time to prepare, so had to choose a recipe that was relatively simple. I had a flick through a few of my mum's cookery books before settling on a Moroccan dish made in a tagine that sounded nice.

I cheated slightly and bought the meatballs pre-made from Iceland, so that cut the time needed in half. First of all I heated five teaspoons of oil in the tagine on the hob and fried an onion in it until it was soft and browned. Then I added the beef meatballs (approx 24) and a teaspoon of each of the spices required - chilli powder, cumin and tumeric. I browned the meatballs and then poured 350ml of chicken stock in over them, before leaving it to simmer. I took this time to go and get ready!

After about half an hour, the sauce still hadn't thickened, so I turned the heat up and added some cornflour to the mixture to thicken it slightly. My friends arrived and so I put the couscous that I was serving the dish with on to cook. It only took about five minutes, so my guests weren't waiting too long before I could serve it all. I put a garnish of fresh parsley on top of the meatballs, and then took the tagine and the pot of couscous to the table so people could help themselves. A quick squeeze of lemon juice over it all and it was ready to be eaten - delicious!