Summer Swirls Card

Summer Swirls Card, originally uploaded by hello.vickibrown.

Getting to grips with my gocco printer a bit more now. (By the way, if you get this for your birthday, act surprised. And happy.)

Soggy

Soggy, originally uploaded by hello.vickibrown.

I think we can safely say my new raincoat is merely shower-proof.

Moscow

I had so much fun on my whistle-stop trip to Moscow. I was with work colleagues and we only had two full days there, but wow did we cram a lot in! Lucky for us the contact we were going to meet with was happy to help us get around so we did have a guide for some of the time. She even took us to the Cafe Pushkin for a traditional Russian dinner complete with vodka. We were also lucky enough to be staying in the opulent Ritz Carlton hotel which was an experience in itself. I'm not really a fan of reproduction antiques and gilt, but when I have a shower like that in my house I'll know I've made it. I am cursed to be eternally disappointed with every bathroom I'll ever use now.

The architecture is fantastic, although you do find it interrupted by giant lit-up logos at night. On the whole though it's a very beautiful city.


Of course St Basil's Cathedral is amazing, so difficult to capture in the picture just how beautiful and colourful it is - it shines, even on the grey day we went. The walls are covered in orange and blue patterns and the domes are just so joyous. The story goes that once it was finished, Ivan the Terrible blinded the architect so that he could never design anything better for anyone else.

A quick run around the Kremlin and a visit to the beautiful armoury where we saw a whole host of royal dresses, thrones and carriages (including Catherine the Great's 16" waist - eek) and Peter the Great's throne. He was crowned jointly with an older brother to share the throne, as the older brother was 'feeble minded'. But Peter was only a child at this point, so there was a special compartment in the back where the older sister would sit, and whisper to Peter what he should say.


The bell was a replacement bell for the big tower in the Kremlin, and was still cooling in it's cast when there was a city fire - the cold fireman's water got poured all over it and it cracked.


We went to see the ballet in the Bolshoi's secondary, smaller theatre, because the main one is being refurbished. Nevertheless it's still a beautiful building and well worth seeing - even if you're not really a ballet fan (like me!) it's not difficult to appreciate it once you're there.


The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour was another highlight, and one that really stuck in my mind. The building you see is what was rebuilt in the 90's, after the original was demolished to make way for a giant socialist monument, only for the site to be turned into a giant outdoor swimming pool when that project was halted.

And of course, you can't go to Moscow without buying a fantastic souvenir...

or perhaps a slightly less fantastic one (unless you still love The Scorpions)


Lots more photos on Flickr.

The Raconteurs

Well I know I've got a bit of catching-up to do here, including my trips to Russia and Croatia, but for now I just wanted to tell the world (well, all 3 of you that ever look at this) how great The Raconteurs were the other night. The new stuff sounds like a great step forward, although it seems to be less of an equal balance between Jack White's and Brendon Benson than the previous album. They had a very atmospheric, simple backdrop of tree branch silhouettes coupled with some slightly over-theatrical curtains, which I thought represented them pretty well.

There are much better written reviews here and here.

Elbow

Elbow's show last night was fantastic. The new songs sounded great live, particularly enormous, and a sprinkling of older ones went down really well. Guy Garvey's stage presence adds to a great experience too, dedicating songs like Newborn; "two of our band have recently become dads again, so to celebrate, here's a lovely song about a romantic death". It was a treat to see Richard Hawley come on to do The Fixer; a great song, really dark, and he sounded brilliant. I think Guy Garvey felt a bit inadequate with his maraca next to Richard's outfit and big red guitar though... You can see their shapeless blobs right here! The NME has it's usual incisive report; "Hawley walked on stage and played guitar and sang with the band." It's like you're actually there experiencing it with them isn't it.

Very Yummy Udon Noodles.

Method...
1. Cut up some chicken.
2. Chop some vegetables - preferably including bok choi, broccoli, onion, plus whatever's lurking in the bottom of the fridge.
3. Heat some oil in a wok.
4. Stir fry the chicken, and maybe some prawns if you have some. Or squid. mmm.
5. Add vegetables and stir fry until lightly cooked.
6. Add some udon noodles with some oyster sauce.
7. Cook.
8. Eat.

Fried Curried Chicken Legs with Sauce

Chicken legs 10
Onions 3 oz
Tomatoes 1lb
Ghee (or butter) 3 oz
Yoghurt 5 fl oz
Garlic cloves 4
Ginger 1 oz
Cumin Powder 1 tsp
Cayenne Pepper 1 tsp
Fennel Powder pinch
Garam Masala 2 tsp
Juice of 1 Lemon
Coriander 1 oz
Water 5 fl oz
Salt to season

1. Finely chop onions, garlic and ginger.
2. Wash and finely chop the coriander.
3. Cut the tomatoes up, skin and de-seed.
4. Dry the chicken legs and sprinkle with salt.
5. Heat the ghee (or butter) add the chicken legs and fry until golden brown. Remove from the ghee and keep warm.
6. Heat the ghee (or butter), add the onion, garlic and ginger paste, fry until onions are soft and golden brown.
7. Reduce the heat, add the cumin, turmeric, coriander powder, cayenne pepper, fennel and a dash of water, cook for 2 minutes.
8. Stir in the tomatoes, yoghurt, and half the coriander.
9. Increase the heat to moderate, add the chicken legs and remaining water and bring to the boil. Turn the chicken legs in the sauce, sprinkle with garam masala, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
8. Sprinkle with lemon juice and the rest of the coriander to serve.

We served it with some chopped vegetables cooked in lots of butter and garam masala, and some basmati rice. It went down pretty well when it was our turn to host Tuesday dinner :)