Sideways - my favourite quote

"I like to think about what was going on the year the grapes were growing; how the sun was shining; if it rained. I like to think about all the people who tended and picked the grapes. And if it's an old wine, how many of them must be dead by now. I like how wine continues to evolve, like if I opened a bottle of wine today it would taste different than if I'd opened it on any other day, because a bottle of wine is actually alive. And it's constantly evolving and gaining complexity. That is, until it peaks, like your '61. And then it begins its steady, inevitable decline. "

I just love this movie, I love the main character, his flawed genius, his love affair with wine, his idiosyncrasies. Am determined to follow the Californian wine trail in the movie, just need to decide who I would want to share it with me..........maybe I already have!

A lost love...

Mimmo is a dear friend and a wonderful chef. He tells a beautiful story of a lost love and the recipe that inspired him. He shared this with me and I realised that I simply must share it with you

Here is my story/ recipe.

Tired of the fast and furious life of being a restauranteur in the West End. I took myself  off to Tuscany for a detoxing holiday in a agriturismo. Agriturismo are farm houses converted in to beautiful apartments usually in the middle of nowhere.

I had been in the pretty hamlet of Gavignano for a week and I was bored.

On the Saturday of the first week a new guest arrived at the apartments late in the evening and when she needed help with her luggage I offered to help. She was beautiful. I didn't want to miss the opportunity to see her again and being a chef I invited Pavla for Sunday lunch.

In the morning I drove to Poggibonsi, the nearest town, to buy my ingredients. Being a Sunday in Italy every shop was closed. Exasperated, I returned to my apartment.  I had no option but to cook with the ingredients I could find in the garden; some courgettes that were ripe and flowering, the most delicious sun ripened vine tomatoes and wild basil.

It was all I needed.

I cooked egg tagliatelle (I am Italian and always have pasta in the cupboard) with the courgette flowers, buffalo ricotta (which I had in my fridge), vine tomatoes and basil.

It was divine. Romantic. Memorable.

Pavla now lives and works in New York. We are still friends and often reminisce about this improvised and beautiful lunch.

Here is my recipe

In a skillet heat 3 table spoons extra virgin add the courgettes and fry for 3 minutes until they are golden coloured.

Add garlic and fry for two minutes making sure that it does not burn.

Add the tomatoes roughly chopped and cook for 5 minutes season to taste and sprinkle with basil.

Set aside.

Cook the tagliatelle until al dente.

Drain and then add the pasta to the sauce heat through and add half of the ricotta.

Stir the ricotta into the pasta and sauce while your pan is off the heat.

Serve in large pasta bowls with a quenelle of the remaining ricotta on top of the pasta and drizzle with extra vigin olive oil.

Buon Appetito

Mr Big

I really love Sex and the City - there, I said it, its just that everyone kind of has placed the whole SATC thing in a TV "guilty pleasure" spot. I only just recently watched the whole series (thank you Sky Plus) and I have to say, I am so glad, so very glad that I waited to watch it in my thirties. Everything makes complete sense in a completely nonsensical way. Ha!

I wonder if Carrie Bradshaw (SJP will always and forever be known as Carrie Bradshaw) really did live happily ever after with her one true love - Big! What a character he was...imagine calling up your friends and saying, "hey, had a great night out with Big!" Depending on who your friends are, would they laugh or hang up the phone. AND why exactly was he called Big...?? Was it because he was big or big as in love? It really doesnt matter because it worked, he was Big - Mr. Big to you and I of course.

All through the series' I learned more and more about female intuition, it is a unique quality we women have. I saw Charlottle debating on who to date on one night, so instead of saying no to one of them, she dates them both. I read the signals of when a man doesnt call after the first date, he DOESN'T want to call - simple. There are just too many rules about relationships, which leads me perfectly on to Samantha, enough said.

The character Miranda was far too anal about her life and found love when she wasn't looking. So what was the message here, be pretentious then find love, be demanding - find love, be a rule breaker - find love or be in love to find love? Everyone always is happy in the world of TV and New York so it seems.

The Big issue (sorry) was just so perfect. It was natural that the characters ran away from eachother, only to find themselves miserable without one another, most women totally identify with that. I loved the "will they, won't they" and I almost found myself screaming at the TV when Big was driving past Carrie in Paris but didn't see eachother...maybe I am from a place where people still believe in knights in shining armour, I believe in love and all that it brings. If I am not then what a sad place to be.

Wouldn't you just love to be rescued, saved, understood? What woman would not want Big to be waiting for them in a black limo with tinted windows on a cold night...preferably with a bottle of chilled champagne!? Who doesn't want that kind of adoration from a man called Big? Are we all so sure we can say no?

Mad Men - My First Time!

I discovered Mad Men out mild of curiosity, that's quite an admission! I was compelled to find out why this programme was so "rated". I read reviews in The Independent, Shortlist magazine, The Times....people were waxing lyrical about how great the show was and how well the script was written.

Usually, when something is this talked about, I tend to stay away from it, let the fire settle, then enjoy it without all the hype. Imagine my surprise when I came across Mad Men on BBC2, the episode just completely drew me in and yes Don Draper (have you seen the way he just creates a certain kind of havoc when he walks in to a room - pure genius) was certainly a huge bonus.

Everything about it  inspires, it almost overwhelms and you find yourself wondering what it would be like in Manhattan, although I am sure the show portrays the perfect picture. The male characters are blindingly obvious chauvinists, the women take it all in their stride (Joan Holloway - an incredible woman). Everyone drinks at the office, it inspires creativity. Everyone smokes and nearly all of them have a deep dark secret.Which leads me, again, on to the gloriously, ridiculously handsome, Don Draper - what a guy!

I could go on...and on about how great I know the show is. I won't, however, although you would be mad to miss Mad Men....absolutely Mad!

The End Of The Affair

Simply wonderful.

Our dinner party music

"Beautiful women are invisible..."

I love Don Draper...

I told you to stop talking...