The Importance of being Stylish

The other day I had this awful Lady Gaga song stuck in my head. Most of you know the one, it goes like 'roma romama gaga ooh lala'. I really hope that hasn't fixed you for the next two days! Anyway I hate that song. Whats more I think it sounds approximately like all her other songs. But everyone is talking about her. Why? Why? Is her music really so very scintillating? Or could it be that the over produced yawn that is usually sung by the classic bootylicious pvc g-string girlies is actually being sung by someone who is wearing some very. interesting. outfits.?

Style has always been endlessly important. You probably all have your own historical style references, my personal fave is Elizabeth I. Style sticks in one's head and pierces through space and time creating an impression. Of course what is inside shows through anyway no matter what you wear. But whats inside does feed and breed how you dress. And vice versa.

'Clothes are inevitable. They are nothing less than the furniture of the mind made visible.' James Laver

I wish I had been around in the 20's and 30's to stalk James Laver. I bet Tim Gunn knows his books by heart! Anyway he had these theories about dressing that worked around hierarchical principal, utility principal, and seduction principal. Ever since I took to rolling around in parks playing with toy trucks utility principal has featured pretty strongly in my daily dress sense. And around where I live I see lots of hierarchical principal: label on display and generally trying to look $$ ker-ching. I think being stylish is being able to transcend these kind of principals to create something unique. And I think its great if you look like a worst dressed list candidate! Its much worse to dress just to fit in with the crowd. So hooray for Lady Gaga? Well...

four eyes

'Get the operation! Its comparatively cheap! Why pay endless $$$ for contacts and glasses forever and wear yourself out with all that crap?'

Indeed. Why don't I even look into the op that so many of my friends and family have done? They all sing its praises to the skies. Why do I insist on this tedious existence, scrambling around for my glasses at all hours so I can make my way safely around my house? Am I completely, barking mad?

I have braved endless insults in the name of wearing glasses. It all started from 3rd grade, when the school routine eye checks showed that I did not pass the test. I-would-have-to-wear-glasses they said. I felt like I was being catapulted into the abyss. What would this mean for me socially? Was I to be a nerd? Was I to be one of those undesirables with magnifying glasses in front of their eyes that nobody wanted on their sports team?

I was. Not right at the start of my glasses career. But I think I grew to fit the model slowly. It was in a way comforting. It gave me room to do the things I wanted: read, daydream, be invisible in the screaming crowd. They were like a shield, a big frame to hide behind. Nothing could really touch me, I was removed from the action and given a free pass to observe from behind the glass.

Until I was 13. Then I discovered contact lenses. And make-up and boys. Glasses became my enemy and I embraced contacts as my life-jacket out of the land of the nerds. But I missed wearing glasses. As soon as I realised that I was able to get the breed of boyfriend I was after I breathed a huge sigh of relief and bought myself a pair of John Lennon round hippy glasses and happily went back behind the lense. And to this day in the face of insults (I have been told my glasses make me look ugly, funny, male and all sorts of other things) I carry on. For me, there is nothing quite like the feeling of glasses resting on my nose. Sometimes it is a reminder that we should never identify too much with this body. Sometimes it is a reminder to not take things for granted. And it is always an option, my choice to be 'ugly' or goofy or dorky. Glasses and I have come a long way together. We have a past and a present. And dammit, I want us to have a future!

DIY Brothel Part II Puttanesca

Yesterday I did it again. Just like that, in 15 minutes you can have a mountain of yum to eat. I love Puttanesca! I've made it 5 times now so I think its finally ready to share with you. I hope you like it as much as I do! I make it slightly differently every time but it always comes out nice and its something really easy that actually works for a dinner party. Its great cause you can have a stash of the ingredients at home at all times and whip it up in emergency situations.

Serves 4
You will need:

• one deep plate of chopped tomatoes, either fresh or from a tin.
• about 8 sundried tomatoes wizzed around in the blender with a squirt of slightly concentrated tomato juice
• one very big onion or one and a half medium sized ones
• 3 or 4 cloves of garlic
• a handful of capers
• two handfuls of olives, pitted and sliced in half
• a shake of dried basil
• 2 or 3 dried chillies or chilli powder
• 10 anchovy fillets
• olive oil
• pepper (salt is optional as the anchovies and olives make the sauce salty)
• one pack of pasta (any kind will do, I like pennes with this dish)
• Parmesan cheese (optional)

So you chop up the onion and garlic (and chillies if you are using dried) and push them around the pan at with the anchovy fillets in olive oil until the vegetables are soft and you can't see the fish anymore. The heat should be around medium. Then add everything else and leave it for about 10 minutes, stirring occassionally. Add another glug of olive, stir it again then pour it over your pasta. Serve with or without Parmesan (I do with) and grated pepper. Oh! And if you live in Greece RUN to the supermarket and get yourself a bottle (or 10) of some 2009 white wine. It was a great year and all the ones I have tried have been droolworthy. And, if you do any of the above please let me know!

Laters:)X

DIY Brothel Part I

And a Happy New Year to you all! This New Year I stayed home. It was great. Indeed so great that I no longer have any desire to EVER spend 2 hours in traffic in a miserable struggle to get downtown only to find myself squashed in some bar thats playing semi-shit music and serving a mix of petrol and flat lemonade instead of a real cocktail. Ok so thats an Athens worst case scenario, but if you live here you'll know what I'm on about. Anyway the drinks we had at home were so dreamy, and the whole dinner/cocktail party so lush that everything else on offer in Athens nightlife kind of pales in comparison.

So, Brothel is a restaurant*, and my inspiration for 2010 New Year's mini dinner party. I HEART BROTHEL. Its a bit sleazy in a cheesey Athenian kind of way, has the obvious red lighting and appropriate decor, the cocktails are wicked and the food is Italian and spicey. Eating and drinking there awakens the senses and has you hopping about for more...

and so I would like to present the tequila cocktails! They gave us a swift kick up the bum while the clock hands moved midnight-wards.

• Maria Theresa Margarita: I love this version of the Margarita because I love honey and I love cranberry juice. To make one: Put two shots of tequila into a shaker. Stir two spoonfuls of honey into the tequila and then add one shot of cranberry juice and 1/2 shot of freshly squeezed lime juice. Add ice to the shaker, shake it all up and fine strain into a glass. It'll hit you before you expect it to.

• Mexican Mule: This is one of my fave cocktails ever. I drool just thinking about it. To make it you will need sugar syrup. This can be easily made at home by pouring 2 parts of sugar into 1 part of hot water in a saucepan on low heat. Make sure it doesn't boil, then leave it to cool. You can pour it in a bottle and store it in the fridge and it keeps for ages. So anyway, this is how to make one: put 1 1/2 shots of tequila, 3/4 shot of freshly squeezed lime juice and 1/4 shot of sugar syrup in a shaker, add ice and shake. Strain into a tall glass filled with ice and add ginger beer till you reach the top. It makes a great chaser for Maria Theresa Margarita because its lighter and doesn't get you pissed quite as quickly.

Throw in a platter of crackers, gorgonzola cheeze and prosciutto and you're set to go for starters. Next blog I'll put up the main: Pasta Puttanesca of course...

See ya!

*Orfeos 33 kai Dekeleon, Gazi, Athens** tel. 2103470505
**For those who don't know where the hell Gazi is

DIY Xmas embroidery frenzy da results!

Hello and Happy Holidays to you all! Yes its been quite a while. Elias and I had been ploughing (stitching) away for AGES and then **PLONK** Xmas day landed in the middle of our suburban livingroom sweatshop. Elias was stitching until the very last minute before we walked out the door to go for the big feast. These are a few of the things we did. Its all simple needlework...but there is such a sense of accomplishment when you complete something. We are ever so pleased with ourselves! All the cross stitch here are my designs but if you like the other stuff then I suggest you check out http://www.sublimestitching.com/. Its fantastic for iron-on beauties and you just stitch along the lines.

Teddy Bear by domesticatedbee for baby Andreas

And Skull and Crossbones for my Babs

Elias for his lovely mama

detail of a kitchen towel by domesticated bee for Paulina

And Elias for YY.

I'll be back soon with yummy but easy recipes and more...enjoy the remainder of the merriment! XXX

breakfast at the monastery recipe

Yeah yeah I know. I did kind of go on a bit in my last post. I was delirious from excitement and exaustion, and I have since edited out chunks. Anyway, for those of you who did manage to make it all the way through...for lunch today I made my own version of the fish dish we were served for breakfast at the monastery and it turned out YUM! I really recommend it because its super healthy, cheap and easy to make. You will need:

• around 5 tomatoes, either dice them or wizz them in a blender. Enough to fill a deep plate. You could also use chopped tomatoes from a tin.
• 3 medium sized onions, or 1 1/2 big ones. diced.
• two cloves of garlic, chopped up
• a spoonful tomato paste
• around 600g worth of bakaliaro (cod) chopped into approx 4 finger length pieces
• 2 large potatoes cut into smallish pieces
• olive oil (extra virgin) (of course)
• a bay leaf
• pepper, salt optional

Sautee the chopped onion, garlic and pieces of fish in olive oil for a bit then chuck in all the rest with a little water and leave to boil softly for half an hour. Make sure you stay near the food and stir a bit every so often so it won't burn. Taste it after about 15 minutes to see how salty it is (bakaliaro/cod can be very salty sometimes) and add salt if necessary, a generous shake of pepper and a glug more olive oil.

As soon as the potatoes are ready, it should be ready to eat as you don't want to overcook the fish. Serve in a deep dish with really nice bread. I'll definitely make this again so if you don't make it maybe you'll eat it for dinner at my house! X

Sweet as honey

Ooowhere do I start? I just got back from paradise! Ahhhh... Mmmmm. Really, there are no words to fully describe my experience in Amorgos so I'll just put a selection of orgasm sounds. How crap! No, I'll try harder. Here we go:

This weekend we took a trip to the island of Amorgos. The occasion? Its quite a ferry ride, so at this time of year there must be an occasion. The beautiful monastery Panagia Hozoviotissa (built into the face of a cliff overlooking the sea wot the island is famous for) celebrates with a fair on the 21st of November. Worth a look? I think so.

We did so many nice things. There are some I must recommend. The first is 'O Loudaros' of Lagada. Its a caffeneio that doubles as a tavern if anyone wants to eat. All the food is local produce and the salads are ecstasy for taste buds.

Also some of you may already know the oh so pretty zacharoplasteio(I think that translates as sweet shop) (cake shop?) 'Kallisto' in Hora. Best cheesecake I've ever had. Really!

And last but definitely not least are psimeni raki and rakomelo (and if you have no clue what these are and are interested go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakomelo) These two traditional Amorgos drinks are the ultimate winter booze. Drunk hot or cold, either way it warms you up, gives you a delicious high and no hangover. We brought back as much of both as we could afford. If you live in Greece you can usually find either at the supermarket or a cava. Amorgion is a really good brand and made on the island. If you live out of Greece then...you're in luck! Brettos in plaka now has a website and delivers OVERSEAS! They have a very good selection of Greek wines and traditional liqueurs and stuff. Get rakomelo at http://www.brettosplaka.com/.

As for the monastery and the fair, all I can say is that it was magical, and I really can't go into too much detail because I cannot do it justice. I will say one thing though. They fed those of us who did the morning shift a mean fish dish for breakfast and I am in the process of trying to figure out the recipe. And because a picture is worth...this is a view from the steps on the way up. Ahh...