Monday, August 14, 2017

Builders, Pavlovas, Ballet,

Interesting, the builders worked all day on Saturday, not sure what time they actually clocked on and off, but I guess they are as concerned with finishing the balconies as we are to see them finished. Today they were attaching new rods to the original rods of the balcony flooring. Makes it a lot stronger I presume. Although I watched when they did the balconies across from us, I didn't realise about the small fiddly bits they were doing.

We are really enjoying these Pavlovas whilst the summer fruits are so good. Small problem today, I didn't whip the cream quite enough so it ran down the side a bit. Not serious. Still tasted delicious.

Watched a programme about Ballet Boys on Saturday night/ Basically about some young Norwegian men who were training to dance and one of them was finally invited to the Royal Ballet company in London. I had no idea just what these young men had to go through during their training. One is aware that ballerinas have a lot of pain through dancing on their points, but the comment made was "pain was part of dancing".if that is so, why on earth do they want to do it. I must admit I love to watch male ballet dancers - especially the really good ones who seem to almost fly when they do their leaps. I was lucky enough to see some wonderful dancers at Sadlers Wells in London many years ago including Margot Fonteyn who was one of the top ballerinas in her day. I don't remember the names of all the others I saw which is a shame, but they were so wonderful. The young Norwegian who was accepted by the Royal Ballet had to pay €40,000 a year for his tuition. A lot of money. My only complaint about the programme was the subtitles which one is so busy reading, you miss a lot of what is happening.

Saturday morning I did my first half hour exercise with Miranda Esmonde-White - the one designed to reduce pain. Difficult to watch TV and do the exercises at the same time, but not impossible.

I saw this recipe on Sunday morning and thought it looked delicious. It does include a few ingredients I don't have but that can easily be remedied. I have metal and bamboo skewers and would probably use the metal ones.

Sambal Chicken Skewers

Kebabs get a bad rap. (Decades of alternating zucchini coins and cherry tomatoes can do that.) But this Asian take, with a spicy, sticky glaze, makes for a very convincing comeback
.

1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/2 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
1/3 cup hot chili paste (such as sambal oelek)
1/4 cup fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc nam)
1/4 cup Sriracha
2 tsp finely grated peeled ginger
1 1/2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1 1/2-inch–2-inch pieces
Special Equipment
8 bamboo skewers soaked in water at least 1 hour

1. Prepare grill for medium-high heat. Whisk brown sugar, vinegar, chili paste, fish sauce, Sriracha, and ginger in a large bowl. Add chicken and toss to coat. Remove chicken and thread 4 or 5 pieces onto each skewer.

2. Transfer leftover marinade to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until reduced by half (about 1 cup), 7–10 minutes.

3. Grill chicken, turning and basting often with reduced marinade, until cooked through, 8–10 minutes

Servings: 4

Source: Bon Appétit

Have a great day
 

14 comments:

  1. Hi Jo - glad the builders are getting on with things. Ballet Boys I saw at our film society - excellent documentary ... and it won lots of awards ... sadly sub-titling is not always easy to read ... but at least we get to see the filmography and the story of the boys development etc ... I thought it was brilliant. Love the sound of the kebabs ... enjoy them - cheers Hilary

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    1. Me too Hilary. Yes, it was excellent and very interesting as I have always enjoyed ballet. Not seen any in years sadly. Once in our local theatre but the acoustics were wrong and all you could hear was their feet thumping the stage.

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  2. You must be pleased the builders are moving quickly. You were lucky to be able to go Sadlers Wells. I love the ballet but we don't have performers of that calibre unfortunately.

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    1. Yes I am Helen. I am surprised you don't have high calibre dancers in Oz. I wonder why not. Do you have a ballet company?

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    2. The Australian Ballet is world class, Jo, but they are based on the east coast. We have several local companies that are good but not quite that level. We miss out on a lot of theatrical and dance performances that come to the east because of the cost of bringing them here. Perth is a great place to live but it is isolated - it's 3936 kms by road between Perth and Sydney.

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    3. I didn't think of that Helen. Of course the major companies are in the capitals of countries - would be the same here with parts of the country. Toronto, although not the capital, has most of the big theatrical companies but that doesn't help people in Alberta etc. In fact we personally find it too far to go anyway. Didn't realise you lived in Perth. Glenda Larke, one of my favourite authors, lives on the West Coast too, not too far from Perth I think.

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    4. Glenda does live fairly close to Perth, Jo. They moved back here a few years ago. She's one of my favourite authors, too, and a lovely person.

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    5. She certainly is, nearly met her once when she was staying in Virginia and we were driving through but it didn't happen. I proof read for her now and again.

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  3. My yoga teacher is a former professional ballerina. Her knees are shot and she has limited hip mobility. But she loves to dance. Right.

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    1. I know where you're coming from Denise. In the programme they accept the pain as long as they can dance. Yoga is a good sub for ballet I guess.

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  4. The amount of pain and hard work ballet dancers have to go through sounds absolutely grueling. I know I couldn't do it, and this is coming from a guy whose practiced sport of choice is boxing.

    Those chicken skewers look both simple and amazing. I'm going to have to try them. I wonder - do the bamboo skewers soaked in water do something to the flavor, or is that just a preference of the recipe maker?

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    1. Yes it is Bryan. Boxing isn't easy either if you are a professional or planning to be.

      I think it's mostly a convenience. If you don't have metal skewers you can buy bamboo ones most any old where.

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  5. I'm quite envious that you saw Margot. I love ballet. The male dancers are so fit and the females are so elegant and graceful. Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty are my favourites. Scotto took me to see the Russian Ballet a few years ago. I studied ballet for about ten years in my girlhood.

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    1. Yes, she really lit up the stage. Would love to see the Russian Ballet. 10 years Pinky? What made you stop?

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