Diane, Cancer, Libya, Oscars.

Last night I discovered that Oprah Winfrey is starting a new network which will be launched on March 1. It will be called the Oprah Winfrey Network or OWN. We were given a sneak preview, an hour long documentary about Diane Sawyer. I have always liked Diane, she hosted Good Morning America for years and is now the anchor woman for World News, one of the top jobs in television in the US. Unfortunately we don’t see that programme as we are usually preparing and eating supper around the time it airs. The documentary made us both realise what an incredible woman she is and gave us a sense of appreciation and admiration of all she does because of her programmes and her life’s philosophy.

This morning, sadly, we heard of the death of yet another friend from cancer. She was only 59. What a pernicious disease that is. Its amazing that after all the money which is poured into cancer research, nothing has yet been found to eradicate this disease. Yes, I know a lot has been done and more people survive than once did, but……

Libya is still very much in the news of course, what is taking place there is horrifying, but I cannot see that sanctions will achieve anything. The people who are rebelling against the government of Muammar al-Gaddafi (according to Wikipedia that is the correct way to spell it) will suffer from sanctions whilst Gaddafi himself probably won’t notice them. There have been murmurs of military action, I don’t really see how the US can afford to send in their military – everyone is already so committed to wars in the Middle East anyway. Our gas prices came down 1 penny a litre yesterday, whoopee!!! Considering we have our own gas, I am not sure why we are being penalised at the pumps.

In common with millions, I will be watching the Oscars tomorrow night. Unusually I have actually seen two of the nominations, The King’s Speech, which I thought was a brilliant film and really well done. I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing it again. The other is How to Train Your Dragon which I bought from Amazon a while back, I love it, Viking type characters with Scottish accents!!! I am not sure which category it is nominated for, but it has my vote.This is the trailer.

For Oscar night itself, Jamie Oliver is recommending a Nini Belline. I actually think I might prefer this with champagne. I am not too sure what “flat” peaches are, I have certainly never seen them round here, but as Jamie points out, canned peaches can be substituted. It would be wonderful to be able to obtain the canned whole peaches one could buy in Spain. Marvellous things.

Nini Bellini

I've named this beautiful cocktail after Leo Caplan’s wife, Janine (or 'Nini' as she’s known by her nearest and dearest). Leo made a really generous donation to a charity called Help a London Child, and in return I said I’d name a recipe in this book after his lovely wife!

Serves 6

• 2 ripe peaches, flat ones if you can get them • 1 x 750ml bottle of chilled prosecco

A peach Bellini is the classic Venetian cocktail, and my mate Arrigo serves loads of them in his world-famous establishment, Harry’s Bar. Arrigo’s grandad, Giuseppe Cipriani, opened Harry’s in 1931, and because he was a bit of a genius he ended up inventing not only this beautiful cocktail but also another thing I absolutely love — carpaccio. The story goes that when Giuseppe first made this cocktail the sun was setting and the colors in the drink were the same as the colors in his favorite Bellini painting…you can work out the rest! You can also get nice results using tinned peaches if you can't find beautifully ripe flat peaches. I think this is best made just before serving, in front of your friends. Halve your peaches, remove their stones, then pop them into a liquidizer and blitz until smooth. Add a splash of water if needed and put the purée into a jug. If you don't have a liquidizer just use your hands to squeeze, mash and really push the peaches through a sieve so you get as much as possible of their wonderful flavor and the color from their skins into the purée. You can get the purée as fine as you like, but I don't mind the thickness…it's quite rustic. discard (or eat!) whatever is left behind in the sieve, then pour your prosecco into the jug and gently mix together. Divide between six glasses right away, and top up with a little more prosecco if need be, and enjoy! P.S. The spirit of the Bellini isn't exclusive to peaches — nectarines or berries are also lovely used in the same way. There could easily be a Bellini for every month of the year.

Have a great weekend

Samosas, Health Systems, Mediterranean Diet.

If you read the comments, you will see a friend told me I can buy samosa wrappers locally. I was thinking about them after I had blogged yesterday, I think it would be a good thing to make a batch with different fillings and then freeze them so that you could take out one or two of each flavour at a time. Buying wrappers would certainly make it easier if not as authentic. However, not being the best pastry maker in the world, that is probably the way I would go. I nearly forgot to mention, went to Barrie's Asparagus farm yesterday and he had strawberries for sale. I bought some and last night we had a feast of berries and cream for dessert, delicious. They were pretty sweet but still needed sugar/Splenda added. This is another thing we have lost, really sweet berries. When I was a young woman in the UK we never needed to add sweetening to strawberries or raspberries. How sad. Diane Sawyer of GMA was talking to President Obama this morning about health care and smoking. He is still a smoker and struggling with it apparently. click here. Tonight Dianne and Charles Gibson of Night Line are having a meeting with the President and a lot of medical people and I believe you can call in and ask questions, about the proposals for improving medical services in the U.S. This is an article by the New York Post click here if you wish to read it. The Americans want to achieve a balance between the kind of health system they already have and a socialised scheme such as is available in both Canada and the UK. Certainly socialised medicine leaves a lot to be desired when you have to sit in an emergency room for hours on end. A lot of that is because people just don't have their own doctor, there are not enough doctors to go round. Having to go to Emergency just for medical treatment is ridiculous, although I believe they do sort out those who are really there for emergencies, but the systems get swamped. This morning there was a report on GMA about the Mediterranean Diet which is a very popular diet. They are now saying, having studied the foods and people of Greece, that certain foods on the diet are excellent for promoting longevity. Basically, a plant based diet is better for your chances of a long life. Check here to read all about it. One of the things was red wine with less than a glass of red wine for women and less than two glasses for men (I have never seen people drinking less than a glass of any wine). Although fish and grains are good for you, they are apparently not instruments for promoting longevity. Longevity is all very well if you have the health to go with it. One of the foods mentioned in the Mediterranean Diet was beans. Matt and I enjoy bean based foods but don't eat them as often as we maybe should. Here is a pasta salad from Eating Well which includes beans. Southern Pasta Salad with Black-Eyed Peas Makes 6 servings, 1 1/3 cup each 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil) 8 ounces whole-wheat small elbows or other small pasta shape 8 ounces Swiss chard (not the red variety), washed and cut crosswise into thin strips 8 ounces smoked turkey, chopped 2 14-ounce cans black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed ½ cup chopped sweet onions, such as Vidalia ¼ cup brewed coffee or tea, such as Lapsang-Souchong 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons lime juice 2 tablespoons cider vinegar 1 ½ teaspoons molasses 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1 ½ teaspoons chili powder ½ teaspoon ground cumin Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste 1. Place sun-dried tomatoes in a small bowl, cover with boiling water and let stand until soft, about 10 minutes. Drain and let cool. Cut into slivers and set aside. 2. Cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until al dente, about 5 minutes; add chard during the last minute of cooking. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water until cool. Press to remove excess water and transfer to a large bowl. Add turkey, black-eyed peas, onions and the reserved tomatoes. 3. Whisk together the remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Add to the pasta and chard; toss until well-combined. Have a great day.