Sarahrob

I know it's 2am, but it's never too early for me to be thinging about food... Tonight's dinner will need to be based around chicken, as I have some that needs to be used. I'm thinking about making fajitas, but will probably go the lazy route and have chicken and chorizo with butter beans.

I'm having some friends over tonight so I've just popped a lamb casserole-y thing in the oven. It takes hours to cook, but is absolutely gorgeous when done. Since that's so heavy I've not done a starter, just plates of olives, cheese, breads, antipasto and a few fishy bits. For dessert I've got a few options but I'm going to see if I can't find a way to use some dragon fruit I bought yesterday. They just look so divine there HAS to be a way to use them. Maybe I could scoop the flesh out and fill them with berries and ice cream? Maybe I should go and try one now, just to be sure it isn't hideous...

!!Spoiler Warning!! I adore Pride and Prejudice. I love Mr Bennet's dry, sardonic humour. The bit where he first introduces Mr Collins: "About a month ago I received this letter; and about a fortnight ago I answered it, for I thought it a case of some delicacy, and requiring early attention." Fabulous! I find Charlotte a heartbreaking character - to have to give yourself entirely to Mr Collins just to secure a position in society. Poor Charlotte. I do like Lydia. She is so trivial and so completely unconscious that her actions could possible interfere with anyone else in any way. Ultimately her actions speak very clearly to me about her age. She is so young and giddy that she needs very firm restraints which the family are entirely unable to provide. I love the way Elizabeth stands up to Lady Catherine when she arrives at Longbourn. To refuse to oblige her would have been extraordinary and shows Lizzy's stubbornness. When you contract Lizzy's attitude towards Lady Catherine with Mrs Bennet, described as "delighted to speak to a Lady Catherine" - how much courage would that have taken? One of the questions asked was whether a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. To me this would be the fundamental responsibility of the characters in this novel. All are middle or upper class, with a responsibility to marry and provide an heir for their estate. It's not as explicit in this novel as it is in others, but the undercurrent is still there, the pressure to marry for women as well as men. Think of how Mrs Bennet pressured Lizzy to marry Mr Collins in ordeer to secure the future of the entire family. Currently my favourite Austen novel is Persuasion, but this is close!

It's been a while since I posted books out but I used to buy lightweight Jiffys from Macro and they worked out really cheap. When I first started I would wrap the book in plastic, in a strong envelope, but as time went on my natural laziness came through!

Northanger is my favourite too. I like Persuasion, but it's not one of my all-time favourites.

Now I have "It's a small world after all" going round my head... Whenever anyone asks where I live I normally say Liverpool as hardly anyone has heard of the Wirral.

I swear by a mcdonalds milkshake. It's full of sugar for energy and lard for comfort, is cooling and soothing. Even better if you can have an ice cream float which has all that plus a bit of caffeine, but if I'm hung over I can't normally face the look of it. I'm quite lucky in that I don't suffer much with hangovers. I think you have to sober up for them to be a problem...

I don't suppose she does house calls does she? I've a fearsome amount of hoarded junk that really needs... erm... "archiving".

I like to glean ideas from cookbooks, but if I'm going to actually follow a recipe it tends to be either Rick Stein or Nigella Lawson as they don't tend to be too fiddly. I tend to be given a lot of cookbooks as gifts - not sure what that says about my cooking...

I enjoyed this one too - it's a bit of a fluffy book, nothing too taxing. As an aside, have you ever noticed how, in books, whenever a character loses weight they become gorgeous? Are there no ugly thin women?

The Tenko Club by Elizabeth Noble: 6/10.

I wouldn't consciously avoid a restaurant just because the chef was a celeb. I'm not sure I would pay a whacking premium - there are enough good restaurants around. I know what you mean about scouse or hotpot though Dave, there aren't many places serving good local dishes, though I think the number is increasing slowly. There are a few restaurants round by me who are using local ingredients and it is a huge selling point for them. Ultimately restaurants will serve what sells.

I do stick them together and everything goes well until they hit the water! I think I've narrowed it down. Either: My pasta is too dry (I'm only following the recipe for the filling - the pasta I make by feel) I'm overfilling them I'm not leaving a big enough border to seal I'm boiling the water too fiercely I'm probably going to try another couple of times (I don't like to admit defeat ) and if I still can't produce a decent ravioli then I'm going to use the filling mix to make some other form of stuffed pasta. I could always buy a can...

This is the recipe I've tried (and failed) to make: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/pumpkinravioliwithsa_71558.shtml The filling smells so lovely but I can't get it to stay in! Twice now I've ended up making a last-minute tomato sauce to stir through the pasta as the filling from the ravs is at the bottom of the pan of water (and even I wouldn't expect people to eat plain pasta with butter as a main course!)

Finished Queen Camilla - it was such an engaging book although I didn't enjoy it as much as The Queen and I. 8/10.

I bought this last week as it was only a couple of quid in Tescos. Hurrah! Will let you know what I think of it.

I love Northanger - it's such a witty book!

Ermm... it's not a huge favourite, as the heroine is the most insipid character I've ever read. Honestly, you just want to give her a shake. There are some fantastic comedic characters though. If I had to sum it up I'd say it is nice. It's an easy one to read, you don't need to think much as not much happens. Personally, I prefer Northanger Abbey.

Not been feeling up to much so have reread some old faves. Currently reading Mansfield Park.

Wow - trailer looks amazing! Thanks for the link.

There is a portrait of Dumbledore in the head's office - if other portraits can speak and change locations surely he can - send a message to Harry that way? I think Snape will turn out to be a goodie. He is a legillimens or whatever the word is, and I think Dumbledore probably told him mentally to kill him. He also stopped the others killing Harry a couple of times at the end of the last book. Still would like Percy to go though...

Not only did I not have Peter and Jane, I didn't have Janet and John either (deprived child). I had Roger Red Hat, Billy Blue Hat and the village with three corners.

Ooh yes, Across the Barricades and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Very popular choices in primary school. I remember reading How Green You Are when I was in primary school. I had a lovely teacher who saw that I had read every single book in the school library and so started bringing books in from home for me. I had read the Hobbit and loved it (though if I'm honest Farmer Giles of Ham was at the back and that was the part I loved), so she brought in the Lord of the Rings and helped me through bits I didn't understand. The books I hated at GCSE were The Country Girls by Edna O'Brien and Spring and Port Wine (can't remember who wrote it and I'm too lazy to look it up). A whole play about Hilda not eating her kippers? Just feed them to the blinking cat and move on... At AS level we had a bit of a feminist tutor so studied Top Girls as our drama piece. Fascinating play.

Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About by Mil Millington. Made me cry laughing! I've read others of his, but nothing has matched this one. I also laugh at Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels.

I love those books and end up rereading them regularly. It's rare for a book to make me really laugh out loud, and almost unheard-of for it to do the same on a reread, but hers always get me.