Do YOU have days like this Dear Reader.. when YOU awake fresh and the day looks good?
Today was one of those days for HER, SHE went to Apple Store in Covent Garden and met a charming man called Wylie, he is one of the instructor for Apple trainees.. so he was happy to show HER and the 'babies' about photos etc..
SHE downloaded an App called 'DropBox'.. did YOU know that if YOU put your photos onto Picasa, YOU are giving them full 'Reproduction Rights' .. infact, they 'legally' own YOUR photos!
Read the small print, SHE did and it is quite startling!
SHE stopped off in Chinatown for a late lunch, then walked to Fortnum & Mason.. and went upstairs to Perfumery Department on 2nd floor.. how very neglected and sad the building is looking, there are places where stair carpet is threadbare and beautiful wooden banister has not seen a proper wax polish for years, the wood is dry and pale.
But before SHE got as far as Fortnums, SHE saw a window full of delicious food.. there was a sign saying "This is not a shop, this is what we serve in our restaurant".. there was a huge pile of Lemons*.
And, suddenly, SHE smelt a distant memory of the most glorious 'Lemon Risotto' which an elderly Italian friend used to make for HER in the 70's.
His family lived just outside Amalfi and grew these HUGE Lemons, they were twice / three times the size of a normal Lemon and once a month he received a box of these glorious things.
SHE went in and asked a pretty blonde - her name is Elena* - if they had any of these Lemons.. Elena was very intrigued to hear of such a thing and said "I will ask for you, what do you use them for? A Risotto? But how wonderful, bring me the recipe, I will badger chef to get some for us"..
So for YOU, Dear Readers, here is that recipe.. carefully 'typed' for HER all those years ago by HER old friends' secretary.
Ingredients.
2 Tablespoons of butter. 1 lb of Carnaroli Rice
1 cup of dry White Wine. 3/4 of a cup of lemon juice.
Grated zest of about six lemons.
2 teaspoonfuls of seasalt - ground or crumbled very finely.
1/4 teaspoonfuls of WHITE pepper, freshly ground.
1/2 to 3/4 cup of double cream. Grated Parmesan cheese.
Water.
Method.
Melt butter in a large saucepan with a heavy bottom.
Add rice and stir for about 2 minutes, add the wine, it should bubble instantly. Stir and cook until the wine has almost evaporated / been absorbed, less than 2 minutes usually.
Add lemon juice and zest, about 1 cup of water, add salt and pepper, stir well, reduce heat to simmer until the water is reduced to just under the top level of rice.
Add approx 3/4 cup more water until rice is just again covered, stir, continue to add more water and stirring and simmering for a period of 18 minutes.
The rice should be tender but still firm in the centre.
Stir in 1/2 cup of cream, if necessary add a little extra water to make sure the mix is creamy, taste for salt and pspper, if the taste is too lemony for your liking, add a little extra cream.
Just before serving, grate and sprinkle the Parmesan.
OH.. jurst writing that recipe reminds HER of funny evenings with that family.. Mama was a Scrabble Fanatic and would play in FOUR different languages - NOT, SHE hastens to say - all at the same time!
Autumn is here.. it might have been a very hot and sunny day but it was an 'Autumnal Sun'.. low in the sky.. but a beautiful day none the less.
"Thank you Caroline and Lesley for your emails".. thank God for these and other actively supportive friends.
SHE went into St.James's on Piccadilly, that very beautiful church built by Sir Christopher Wren, SHE looked at the Font where so many of HER ancestors have been Baptised and taking a candle, SHE lit it and dropped a little wax on the back of a 'Prayer note'..
SHE wrote that "SHE be given courage and strength to deal with whatever the Specialist tells HER tomorrow at 3.15 of the clock".
GeeGee Parrot.
September 3rd, 2012.
*Carlo CICCHETTI, 215 Piccadilly, London W1.
Today was one of those days for HER, SHE went to Apple Store in Covent Garden and met a charming man called Wylie, he is one of the instructor for Apple trainees.. so he was happy to show HER and the 'babies' about photos etc..
SHE downloaded an App called 'DropBox'.. did YOU know that if YOU put your photos onto Picasa, YOU are giving them full 'Reproduction Rights' .. infact, they 'legally' own YOUR photos!
Read the small print, SHE did and it is quite startling!
SHE stopped off in Chinatown for a late lunch, then walked to Fortnum & Mason.. and went upstairs to Perfumery Department on 2nd floor.. how very neglected and sad the building is looking, there are places where stair carpet is threadbare and beautiful wooden banister has not seen a proper wax polish for years, the wood is dry and pale.
But before SHE got as far as Fortnums, SHE saw a window full of delicious food.. there was a sign saying "This is not a shop, this is what we serve in our restaurant".. there was a huge pile of Lemons*.
And, suddenly, SHE smelt a distant memory of the most glorious 'Lemon Risotto' which an elderly Italian friend used to make for HER in the 70's.
His family lived just outside Amalfi and grew these HUGE Lemons, they were twice / three times the size of a normal Lemon and once a month he received a box of these glorious things.
SHE went in and asked a pretty blonde - her name is Elena* - if they had any of these Lemons.. Elena was very intrigued to hear of such a thing and said "I will ask for you, what do you use them for? A Risotto? But how wonderful, bring me the recipe, I will badger chef to get some for us"..
So for YOU, Dear Readers, here is that recipe.. carefully 'typed' for HER all those years ago by HER old friends' secretary.
Ingredients.
2 Tablespoons of butter. 1 lb of Carnaroli Rice
1 cup of dry White Wine. 3/4 of a cup of lemon juice.
Grated zest of about six lemons.
2 teaspoonfuls of seasalt - ground or crumbled very finely.
1/4 teaspoonfuls of WHITE pepper, freshly ground.
1/2 to 3/4 cup of double cream. Grated Parmesan cheese.
Water.
Method.
Melt butter in a large saucepan with a heavy bottom.
Add rice and stir for about 2 minutes, add the wine, it should bubble instantly. Stir and cook until the wine has almost evaporated / been absorbed, less than 2 minutes usually.
Add lemon juice and zest, about 1 cup of water, add salt and pepper, stir well, reduce heat to simmer until the water is reduced to just under the top level of rice.
Add approx 3/4 cup more water until rice is just again covered, stir, continue to add more water and stirring and simmering for a period of 18 minutes.
The rice should be tender but still firm in the centre.
Stir in 1/2 cup of cream, if necessary add a little extra water to make sure the mix is creamy, taste for salt and pspper, if the taste is too lemony for your liking, add a little extra cream.
Just before serving, grate and sprinkle the Parmesan.
OH.. jurst writing that recipe reminds HER of funny evenings with that family.. Mama was a Scrabble Fanatic and would play in FOUR different languages - NOT, SHE hastens to say - all at the same time!
Autumn is here.. it might have been a very hot and sunny day but it was an 'Autumnal Sun'.. low in the sky.. but a beautiful day none the less.
"Thank you Caroline and Lesley for your emails".. thank God for these and other actively supportive friends.
SHE went into St.James's on Piccadilly, that very beautiful church built by Sir Christopher Wren, SHE looked at the Font where so many of HER ancestors have been Baptised and taking a candle, SHE lit it and dropped a little wax on the back of a 'Prayer note'..
SHE wrote that "SHE be given courage and strength to deal with whatever the Specialist tells HER tomorrow at 3.15 of the clock".
GeeGee Parrot.
September 3rd, 2012.
*Carlo CICCHETTI, 215 Piccadilly, London W1.
what's all this about 'Apple Stores" in Covent Garden? Why when I was a gel, there were apple sellers there--costermongers, all walking about attractively shouting their patter in cockney slang. No one needed an assistant to help them know what to do with a damned apple, you ate it in the cabriolet or left it downstairs with Cook to make something we called mashed apples.
ReplyDeleteWhat the devil is a lemon risotto? Sounds like one of the scandalous dances the Italians have smuggled into our proud clog-dancing country. Bah!
And YOU should never have been allowed to leave these shores!
DeleteDearest LuLu.. your use of the word 'Cabriolet' exposed that Frenchy blood of yours.. I wonder whether YOUR ancestors will feature in MY French Memoirs?
Zut alors... en advance, mes amis.. t'embrace. GeeGee.