The Wedding Singer...

I may have mentioned previously that some friends of ours are getting married in April next year. Apart from the fact that it's cool that these particular friends are getting married, it's also cool because Tom and I are are both involved in the wedding, as usher and bridesmaid respectively. The third thing that is cool about this wedding is that our friends are not the most typical of couples in many ways; they are both into gaming in a big way, so computer games are going to be a predominant theme, and they are also not really into chart music, so they've managed to get hold of a band that will play all sorts of rock music that we all really like. Neither of them is fussed about fancy food either, so it's going to be either fish and chips, or burger and chips for the meal. Much as I occasionally enjoy fancy food, the overall feel I get about this wedding is that it's going be a hell of a lot of fun, as it will be a real reflection of their unique personalities.

Kevin Costner's window entrance http://www.moviedeaths.com

When we celebrated their engagement several months ago, Steve (the groom) was so excited, that he came up with about 12 over-the-top options for HIS fantasy church entrance, which included a tank, smashing through the stained-glass window a la Robin Hood, and an electric guitar playing clergyman. They, strangely enough, have actually secured the latter, although they won't be calling on his musical prowess on this occasion, and neither will he be on fire as Steve had hoped. In general it's safe to say that I am extremely excited about this wedding.

Jemma, the bride to be, is one of the few women in my friend circle who is even less girly than I am. Before finding The Dress (which was in turns an exciting, frustrating, funny, emotional, but eventually hugely rewarding experience) she hasn't worn a dress since Halloween 2009. She lives in jeans and trainers, and is not a fan of high heels, and has promised me and the maid of honour Cassie that we don't have to wear anything we're not comfortable with - so high heels are out. Winner. For a ridiculously clumsy person like myself flat shoes are a sure-fire way to gain my approval.

Companion cube from Portal

 I can just picture the horror on everybody's faces as I trip over Jemma's train and either rip a great big hole in expensive dress (not that expensive Steve honestly!), or fall over my own feet and knock them both into their bespoke Portal 2 companion cube cake, or something similarly mortifying. So flat shoes are just fine and dandy for me.

So far being a bridesmaid is turning out to be really good fun, not stressful at all, and I'm really enjoying the opportunity to get to know Jemma and Cassie more, as before the engagement announcement we only really ever hung out as part of the larger group of lad friends. But so far, the extent of my involvement has been to help pick out a dress at the Wedding Show (which we did, so that's a success rate of 100% right there).

So I was pleasantly surprised when, at the end of The Wedding Show at the NEC, while we were relishing in our success of finally finding and putting a deposit down for The Dress, Jemma asked me if I wanted to sing something during the ceremony while her and Steve were signing the paperwork. I was really flattered that Jemma thought to ask, and also really thrilled with the idea of having something additional to do on the day. Plus as Tom plays guitar and will be up at the front of the church already doing whatever it is that ushers do when they're not actively ushering, I suggested he accompany me as well, which gives us a fun project to work on together in our free time.

Now, I haven't sung anything publicly in years but I used to all the time when I was at school and confidence was never really an issue back then, and people were often quite complimentary about my singing abilities. But between daydreaming about what the best song would be and how cool it would be to sing at Jem and Steve's wedding, doubt has started to creep in. I've never thought of myself as a 'Singer', and now that I've had time to think about it I'm starting to worry that I'm just going to humiliate myself, X-Factor style, in front of a large group of people, most of whom I won't know. It's all very well listening to Bon Jovi songs and imagining how awesome it will sound, but if in reality it sounds like a big pile of poo, well that would be pretty embarrassing.

My High School singing days are ten years in the past, plus five years as a mildly raucous student have done a fair bit of damage to my voice. I can't reach the same notes I used to be able to and I genuinely don't know how long I can maintain notes anymore, as the only singing practice I get these days is when I'm on my own in the car (see my previous post, Les Passantes). On top of this, when I'm starting to feel run down, one of the first things to go is my voice, so I'm also worried about the possibility of sounding more like Tom Waits than Charlotte Church. Or, if we choose a song whose lyrics need altering to be more 'wedding-friendly', what if I forget and sing the wrong words... I could go on and on, but I don't want to give my paranoia any more opportunity to ruin a perfectly nice opportunity.

Tom and I just need to focus on finding a handful of songs that could be appropriate for the ceremony, learn them, put them to Steve and Jem for final approval, and then just practise them until they're spot on. So, this is the real purpose of this particular post, to help me narrow down the search for good songs for the interval.

At the moment my list of Potentials (like Buffy's trainee Slayers in the final season) is this (in no order of preference):

Bon Jovi - In These Arms
Bon Jovi - I'll Be There For You (lyrics need changing)
Lifehouse - Hanging By a Moment
Lifehouse - Breathing
Goo Goo Dolls - Iris (words would need changing)
Aerosmith - I don't Wanna Miss a Thing
Adam Sandler - I wanna Grow Old With You (from the Wedding Singer, which I watched for the first time with Jem and Cassie the night before The Wedding Show)
Ben Folds - Luckiest (not sure if it's within my vocal range but can give it a go anyway)
Nico Stai - One October Song (was on the Chuck soundtrack, and I've already amended the lyrics)
Something by Avril Lavigne (Steve really likes her)
Something by Jimmy Eat World (Tom really likes them and apparently Steve does to)

During a period of insomnia I also started working on a translation of another french song I really like, but it might be a bit too 'poetic' for Jem and Steve's taste. I'll probably post it up on here once I've had a chance to work on the translation as it sounds quite awkward in places at the moment.

So anyway, progress-wise, we're not very far into it. Tom had a look at the guitar chords for In These Arms today but we didn't get very far to be honest (it's been a bit of a lazy day in general). I had a look at the lyrics and watched a couple of acoustic versions on Youtube and think I could work it out to fit in with my vocal range without too much difficulty.

I shall most certainly write more as we progress, but in the meantime, any suggestions would be very welcome!

Bye for  now!

A sunny Saturday...

Had such a nice day off today so far. Poor Tom has to work all weekend so he got up for work around 7:30 while I stayed in bed and snoozed until 11 - even I was surprised, normally the light through the blinds makes it near enough impossible to carry on sleeping. I needed to get some bits and bobs from town for a moussaka I'm cooking today for some friends so once I realised how late it was I got up straight away and headed in to town. It's such a beautiful, crisp autumn day that it's hard not to feel cheerful. Plus market day in town is always bustling and it's so good to live somewhere where there are always people out and about on the weekend, doing their weekly shop, or heaven forbid Christmas shopping (don't get me started), bumping into friends, or just relaxing with a tea or coffee in one of the many cafes in town. I dropped off some post, and followed the sound of brass band music into the centre of town towards the market.

I haven't bought food from a market probably since I lived in France so it felt really nice to be doing it again, and hearing the banter of the stall holders trying to sell their peppers and courgettes, as well as some other produce that I didn't recognise. I like the idea of supporting the market, as although supermarkets are convenient, sometimes the produce isn't all that good quality, and I prefer to go to independent shops when I can. There's been a campaign to 'Keep Our Town Special' over the last few years to try and fend off Tescos and other big developments, which I think are definitely taking place now which is a shame.  I know there are plans to rejuvenate the market hall, so hopefully that will keep people coming.

After browsing the stalls for a while, I paid for and was handed my aubergines in the obligatory blue market-stall bag and headed over to the speciality cook shop. This is another of my favourite places in town. I love just wondering around, checking out the colourful and sugary cake decorating stuff (a diabetic's worst nightmare), drooling over the shelves and shelves of Bridgewater, Denby, and Portmeirion crockery, playing with the bendy silicon cookware (silicone pastry brushes in particular always make me smile with their neon greens, oranges, pinks, and blues, and their silly tentacle-like 'bristles') and watching the flat screen TV displays advertising the latest cooking gadgets. Part of me chuckles inwardly at the over-engineered crap that people buy these days, (banana holders are one of my top sources of amusement), and part of me wishes I could afford to fill my kitchen with precisely that crap.

After finding what I came for (measuring spoons, not very exciting I'm afraid. Until I can afford to part with the cash for a hand-blender, I doubt I'll ever spend much in the shop), I popped around the corner to Sainsbury's to find the spices I needed for the moussaka and a few toilettries, and then once that was sorted I went in search of a coffee. Once again I followed the sound of cheerful brass music and stumbled upon a group of 4 blokes playing trumpets, saxaphones, and accordions. It took me a little while to figure it out but they were playing a dancey version of the 'Winner Takes it All' by Abba. An old gent in a pale yellow shirt and his wife were watching from the street across from them and the husband was stamping his foot energetically in time to the beat on the little stereo the musicians had brought with them. This amused me so much I had to text my Mum to tell her (she loves Abba) and I distracted myself to the point of walking completely past the turning I needed for the coffee shop I wanted.

Normally I go to Booka, which is a lovely book shop which also serves tea, coffee and a selection of yummy cakes, but I wanted to try some of the other cafes as they all look really nice. Up on the same street as the market I could see cafe Aroma which was already pretty full with a fair few groups sitting outside, so I carried on up to Radio Cafe which looked really nice and last time I walked past it had a really delicious looking food menu. As I didn't want food I wasn't sure if they were going to be funny about me just having a coffee outside, but the board said they did the best coffee in town so I went in anyway. The walls are adorned with a few stylish pieces, and to my delight they had the Financial Times Life & Arts supplement.

I don't normally read newspapers that often, but I used to read the FT quite a lot while I was studying management at uni and they do have really interesting articles. I asked the young lad at the counter if I could have a coffee outside and they offered to bring it to me which I wasn't expecting. The gentleman who had greeted me as I entered brought me my coffee and I sat for a very pleasant half an hour or so reading the paper in the sunshine, listening to music from one of the pubs, and watching people go by. Reading the weekend paper reminds me of being a student, as me and my friends used to go to Pembroke College every now and then for Sunday brunch, and they always had a good selection of papers.

Eventually the same guy who'd brought me my coffee came out to collect my empty cup and said I could stay and read in the sun as long as I wanted, which was really nice but I wondered if I was being a bit cheeky just ordering coffee, and as I wanted to get back and start cooking I thought I'd better relinquish my seat and headed home.

Speaking of cooking I'd better make a start on the moussaka!

Bye for now! x

Beef stew and swede mash recipe

Before posting more poppy seed recipes I wanted to have a go at making a brown stew as my mother had given us some stewing beef months ago when we first moved into the new house, and it's just been sat in the freezer ever since. So last Sunday I decided to give it a go once and for all. I don't actually cook with beef very often so was a little anxious about how it would turn out, especially as my mother's way of cooking looks distinctly like guesswork to me (albeit based on 40 years more cooking experience than I've got). I don't think I've ever seen her actually weigh ingredients, so it's quite amazing that she is able to turn out such tasty food.

Anyway, her recipe being far too vague for me to follow, I looked up brown stew on the BBC food website and got a few recipes, that were sort of what I was looking for, but not quite there. In the end I decided to mix up two recipes, and see how it turned out (it turns out I cook like my mother after all. Hmm..). One recipe was from the Hairy Bikers (Mum's Know Best) and was a Beef and Honey stew, and the other I found online for a traditional beef stew recipe. As the latter was in American measurements I didn't use all the ingredients, but rather just added a few to the Hairy Bikers recipe and based my attempt mostly on that method.

So here's my recipe for Beef Stew with Swede Mash (NB. The swede mash arose as I mistakenly thought I had a turnip to add to the stew and it was only when I was trying to peel and chop the bugger that I realised it was a swede!). This made enough mash and stew for two large portions, with a bit of stew left over for seconds, and trust me it didn't last long! If you try this, let me know how it turns out and any comments would be very welcome!

 Ingredients
30g plain flour (plus 1 tbsp which I added later on)
450g stewing steak, cubed
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, roughly chopped
3 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
3 parsnips, peeled, and roughly chopped (I only had a couple in the house but would have liked more)
1 tbsp honey
550ml vegetable stock (I didn't have beef stock)
1-2 small glasses red wine
1 tbsp tomato puree
1/2 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to season

For the mash
1 swede, peeled and roughly chopped (swedes are actually quite hard to chop I discovered so be careful you don't cut off a finger!)
50g butter
salt and pepper to season

Method

1. Use kitchen  towel to pat dry the steak pieces (if they've recently been defrosted as mine were the flour makes them sticky if they're too moist). Place the 30g flour in a freezer bag, add the meat and shake till well coated.

2. Heat the oil in a large heavy bottomed pan and brown the meat on all sides. (Do this in batches as adding too much meat at one time makes the meat seam instead of brown). Once browned remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and place aside.

3. Add the chopped onions to the same pan you used to brown the beef and saute for about 5 mins until softened (you may want to add a bit more oil for this stage). Reduce the heat and add an extra tbsp or 2 of flour to the onions and cook for two minutes, stirring often.

4. Add one glass of wine to the pan to de-glaze, scraping any brown bits that were stuck to the bottom. Click on the link to see the BBC Food technique guide for de-glazing if you're not sure how to do this. The flour will start to thicken the wine as it simmers.

5. Simmer the wine for about 5mins, then add the vegetable stock, carrots, parsnips, honey, thyme and the beef. Bring back to a gentle simmer, cover and cook on very low heat for about an hour and a half (this is all the time I had, but the longer you can cook it, the softer the meat gets. Hairy Bikers recommended at least 2 hours for their recipe, but obviously you'll need to add the veg later on in the cooking process if you don't want to end up with a load of mush).

Heat-wise, even on my lowest gas level it was cooking too vigorously and was starting to stick on the bottom, so I had to move the pan to a much smaller ring to keep the heat low and bubbles small.

Whilst tasting my stew I felt it didn't have enough flavour, so during the simmering process I added the tomato puree and the extra glass of wine, and I think this really made a big difference to the colour and flavour but this is up to you really.

6. About half an hour before taking the stew off the heat you'll want to start the swede mash. Place the chopped swede in a pan of cold water and sprinkle in about 1 tsp of salt.

7. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to a low simmer. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes until tender.

8. Drain the swede and then use a potato masher to mash it up, adding knobs of butter until you get the taste and consistency you prefer. Season with salt and pepper to taste and transfer to a serving bowl.

9. At this point the stew should be about ready, but if not cover the mash with cling film and pop in the oven at about 100c to keep it warm.

10. Season the stew with salt and pepper to taste and then serve with the swede mash on the side.