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Thursday, 28 May 2015

Kindness - Book of Elsa

Kindness is cheap
It's free
Clear and supposedly easy 
Why then aren't we kinder to each other?
This author isn't putting herself on a pedestal.
I am guilty as charged
Greed, mood and anger have been said to stop us being kind not only to our kin but strangers too
Although arguably it IS easier to be kind to people you don't know 
They, after all haven't had a chance to hurt you
I ask then, if kindness cost us nothing. 
Why are we so shy about giving it?

Book of Elsa


Sunday, 24 May 2015

Summer is HERE! - Book of Elsa


For me, Summer hasn't truly begun until A: Roland Garros has started and B: I've made this fruit salad. 
I Hope you love it as much as I do.

Tuesday, 19 May 2015

My Black Is Beautiful - ZINHLE MLOTSHWA

My Black Is Beautiful - ZINHLE MLOTSHWA 


Yes, I'm black, darker than most, 

But in my blackness I boast.
Boasting of my own? No! 
But boasting of the quality
Which He: my God gave me! 

From the curvature of my hips
To the thickness of my thighs, 
Yes; even down to my big brown eyes? 
He made my black beautiful! 
And for the first time in a long
Time, I'm loving me and mine.

Come to the truth, should have
Known it from my youth, 
But now that I know my
Black is beautiful, 
You cannot use me, mistreat
Or abuse me.


It is no longer a allusion but
I have come to the conclusion

Even if it means me loving
Me, cause you see
I have the power to love
Myself hour after hour.

I am God's creation. Yes, 
A master plan even the
Absence of a man.
I still stand tall yell, 
Refusing to fall, screaming
Loud and very proud, 
MY BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL! 

It is more worth than gold, 
Cause my black runs deep
Into my only soul.
Not just for external for
Staring and glaring, 
But it is the inner me
That God would have you see.

And it causes me to
Shout beyond the shadow
Of a doubt, MY BLACK
IS BEAUTIFUL! So if
You are a woman
And you are real and you
Feel what I feel.

Do not be ashamed to
Proclaim what he said
And what you read.
Fearfully and wonderfully
Made god very good
With what I wish you
Would tell somebody, 
Anybody, your body, 
MY BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL! 

Saturday, 16 May 2015

Red Prawn & Mango Curry - Book of Elsa

Red Prawn & Mango Curry

As I write, it occurs to me just how simple this recipe is but also how delicious it tastes. This serves 4 depending on appetites and which carbohydrate you are serving it with. I prefer rice but noodles of any kind would work too or even served soupily out of bowls with naan or other types of bread. There are no limits!! Also bear in mind the vegetables I used were ones I had in fridge at the time of cooking so please feel free to add (or leave out) ones you want. 
happy cooking!

Elsa

Sunday, 3 May 2015

Rhubarb & Muscat Jelly - Book of Elsa

Rhubarb & Muscat Jelly - Book of Elsa




Rhubarb & Muscat Jelly - Book of Elsa

Rhubarb & Muscat Jelly - Book of Elsa
Bank holiday weekends are the best! Days out, barbecues, long walks in a park. Unless you live in the NORTH where it basically just rains, all the time.... 
This is my way of coping and I promise you it's worth it!! The reason I'm making such a statement first thing is because this is a long recipe. It will require patience and time, but it is oh so worth it. You can thank me for changing your lives in the comment box.
Enjoy,
XO

Ingredients:
800g Rhubarb trimmed and cut into 2cm lengths
335g Caster Sugar
1 Orange, zested and juiced
270ml Water
8 Leaves of gelatin
180ml Muscat wine

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C.

Put the rhubarb into a large ovenproof dish. Sprinkle over the sugar, add the orange juice and zest, and the water, and cover, either with lid or with foil. Bake for 1 hour. 

Take out of oven, remove lid, and let cool.

Strain carefully into a large measuring cup or bowl. I find this gives about 700ml. Put the pulp aside (you can freeze it for later use in a fool or trifle). 

Add the Muscat wine to the juice. Taste; you may want some more sugar or a squeeze more orange or, indeed, more Muscat.

Lightly oil a  jelly mold by dabbing a paper towel in some suitably flavourless oil and then rubbing it over the interior of the mold. 

Soak gelatin leaves in a dish of cold water until softened. Put 2 ladles of rhubarb and Muscat syrup in a saucepan and bring to a boil. 

Squeeze out the gelatin leaves and whisk into the syrup off the heat. When they've dissolved, pour the contents of the pan back into the measuring cup. 

Pour into the jelly mold and place in the refrigerator to chill and set, about 6 hours or overnight.