Capital city of the week - Noumea

Although an Englishman was the original European settler in Noumea, English is not an official language of the country.

The central city square is translatable to Coconut Square in English.

You can see kite surfers off Anse Vata beach.

So where is Noumea?

It is the capital of New Caledonia! (In the Pacific only a couple of hours flight from Auckland)

Layla - Eric Clapton

Layla, you've got me on my knees.
Layla, I'm begging, darling please.
Layla, darling won't you ease my worried mind

Amazingly enough the classic song Layla was not successful when it was first released – it was many years before the true merits of the track were realised.  One of its problems was that the track was 7 minutes long which was very very long indeed by the standards of the early 1970's.

Eric Clapton co-wrote the song with Jim Gordon.

Who will ever forget the unplugged version?

Hug, hug, hug...

29 September - Solution for the last clue and a Notice

Earth perhaps flat? Theory, initially (6)

Solution – planet

The earth is a planet.

And a plane is flat (not the sort that flies but the sort that is a woodworking tool)

Theory initially = the first letter in "theory"

Plane + t = planet

Notice:  This series about cryptic crossword clues is taking a break.  

Oxtail stew

If you don't like the idea of Oxtail stew, try to get over it. This was my first time and if I hadn't been looking for something new to do, I might not have risked it. This was one of the most successful dishes I have done for ages.

And it was simple.  You could do it in a slow cooker but because I didn't have one yet I just put it into a casserole dish in a low oven for ages – more than 5 hours.  I didn't pre-brown anything.

So into the casserole dish went the oxtail, some good quality beef stock (from the supermarket), onions, garlic cloves (about 5), slices of carrot, seasoning ie salt/pepper and a couple of bay leaves.  For the last 15 minutes I added some frozen peas.

The flavour was incredible.  The meat was fork tender.  I am the newest Oxtail fan.  Maybe a soup next?

This must be why my house isn't!

28 September - Solution for the last clue and the next cryptic crossword clue

Painter cooked vindaloo and rice (8,2,5)

Solution – Leonardo da Vinci

Obviously the solution is the name of a very famous painter indeed.  And if you "cook" (ie scramble) the letters in "vindaloo and rice" you get to his name.

Today’s cryptic crossword clue – solution tomorrow

Earth perhaps flat? Theory, initially (6)

Hint – the second letter is l

Reminder – there won't be a new clue tomorrow since this series is now on an indefinite hiatus

Need some inspiration? Try Carrots and Leeks

You may think that carrots and leeks are not very exciting.  But as this selection from Food on Friday shows they can both be the hero of some great dishes.  I hope you find them inspirational.

If you would like to see more dishes using carrots and/or leeks, please go to the original post or to this Pinboard.  There were over 120 of them!

Carrot Pasta with Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce by Jo and Sue

Coconut Curry Carrot Soup by Adriana's Best Recipes

Almond Carrot Halwa by Kitchen Secrets & Snippets

Carrot Cake Ice Cream by Jenna's Cooking Journey

Moist Carrot Cake by Diettaste

Leek & Onion Tart by Isabelle At Home

Leek & Bacon Quiche by Korena in the Kitchen

A Kiwi Vintage Travel poster for you

27 September - Solution for the last clue and the next cryptic crossword clue

Husband on board poorly lit boat (6)

Solution – dinghy

Husband = h

H is "on board" ie in the middle of a word meaning "poorly lit" ie dingy

That gets you to "dinghy" which is a little boat

Today’s cryptic crossword clue – solution tomorrow

Painter cooked vindaloo and rice (8,2,5)

Hint – look for the anagram

Food on Friday: Pears and Peaches

 ON

This Food on Friday has two noble fruits as its theme – Pears and Peaches!  So we are collecting dishes which use pears and/or peaches – the dish does not have to contain both!

Pears go well with:

Almonds	Blackcurrants	Blue cheese
Butter	Cardamom	Chives
Chocolate	Cinnamon	Cloves
Cream	Duck	Ginger
Goat's cheese	Honey	Lemons
Olive oil	Orange juice	Parmesan cheese
Passionfruit	Pecans	Pistachios
Pork	Port	Quinces
Raspberries	Raw ham	Salad leaves
Spinach	Vanilla beans	Walnuts
Washed-rind cheeses	Watercress	Wine

Peaches go well with:

Amaretto	Brown sugar	Butter
Champagne	Cloves	Duck
Ginger	Ice-cream	Lemons
Macadamia nuts	Pork	Raspberries
Red wine	Strawberries	Almonds
Brandy	Cinnamon	Cream
Honey	Mascarpone	Vanilla

Actually just reading these lists, compiled by the wonderful Stephanie Alexander, makes me hungry!

To add to the collection, just put your name and the name of the dish into the first Mr Linky box and then paste the url of your post into the second one.

If you would like a blog button you will find one on my contact page, but please don't feel in any way obliged!  What would be nice is if you visited some of the other dishes – to make it easy for you to select which ones, I have made up a Pinboard for all the dishes – this will help you see them at a glance.

Have a lovely "fruity" time!

Easier said than done, I'm afraid..

26 September - Solution for the last clue and the next cryptic crossword clue

A leader, inaccurate about western US state (8)

Solution – Delaware

So if you make the letters in "a leader" inaccurate ie scramble them and put them "about" w for western you get Delaware – one of the smaller US states on the East Coast.

Today’s cryptic crossword clue – solution tomorrow

Husband on board poorly lit boat (6)

Hint – this is a container clue

Need some inspiration? Try cherries and almonds

For your delight and delectation today, I bring you a selection of dishes from Food on Friday: Cherries & Almonds.  There was a fantastic range of dishes to choose from – almost 100!  To see them all just go over to the original post or to the Pinboard I made for them.

Chocolate Coconut Cherry Balls by I Believe I Can Fry

Dark Cherry Ice Cream by I Heart Baking

Lime Cherry Berry Scones by Turnips 2 Tangerines

Almond Cookies by Kopiaste

Chocolate Cherry Almond Butter Smoothie by True Healthy Me

Trout Amandine by Ms. En Place

Cherry Hand Pies by What's Cooking at Cathy's?

Miniature Cherry Cheesecakes by Jacquelynne Steves

Orange zested sherried mushrooms

I am constantly looking for new ways to do mushrooms.  This time, inspired by a cooking show (can't remember which) I combined orange zest, orange juice and sherry.  The results were fine but next time I'd put a little less sherry in and more orange zest.  The combination definitely worked though.

So I sliced up some white button mushrooms and sautdd with in a little bit of crushed garlic and butter (with a dot of oil to ensure the butter won't burn).

After a couple of minutes, add the orange zest (of 1 orange), the juice from the orange and 3 tablespoons of sherry (I would suggest 2).  Add a little chopped parsley at the end for colour.

You can cook this ahead of time and apparently the flavours will improve.

25 September - Solution for the last clue and the next cryptic crossword clue

Largest being wild animals (6,6)

Solution – Bengal tigers

If you mix up the letters in "largest being" ie make the letters wild – you can get to Bengal tigers which are also wild animals – I like the way the word "wild" is used in both parts of the clue.

Today’s cryptic crossword clue – solution tomorrow

A leader, inaccurate about western US state (8)

Hint – the solution is the name of a US state