Favourite recipe of the moment

I love to make Nigella Lawson's recipes. I think she is just brilliant all round. I like her recipes and her personal style and although I am generally adverse to the culture of the celebrity I have to say Nigella has my interest. Also Charles Saatchi's involvement with 'Brit art' and the emerging culture of art as commodity was the subject of my Fine Art BA dissertation. Nigella's christmas tv series made me feel really festive when nothing else did, all I could think about at that time was the dissertation. This series is to blame for me covering the living room with white fairy lights and the accompanying book 'Nigella Christmas: Food, Family, Friends, Festivities' is on my amazon wish list.

Flourless Chocolate Brownies (From the book Nigella Express)

225g dark chocolate
3 Eggs, beaten
225g butter
150g ground almonds
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
100g chopped walnuts
200g caster sugar

1 Preheat the oven to 170°C/gas mark 3. Melt the chocolate and butter gently over a low heat in a heavy-based saucepan. 2 Take the pan off the heat, mix in the vanilla and sugar, and let it cool a little. 3 Beat the eggs into the pan along with the ground almonds and chopped walnuts. Turn into a 24cm square baking tin or, most sensibly, use a foil one. 4 Bake in the oven for 25–30 minutes, by which time the top will have set but the mixture will still be gooey. Once cooler, cut carefully, four down, four across, into 16 squidgy bellied squares.
Makes 16 squares

DEED NOT BREED Fighting Breed Specific Legislation

This organization believes that legislation regarding banning so called dangerous dogs focuses at the wrong end of the lead. They feel that no breed is inherently dangerous. They comment that there are many factors can surround dog attacks and yet with no national dog bite statistics we are unable to pinpoint the most common factors, though restricting certain breeds is clearly not the answer. Four types of dog have been banned in the UK for many years, the Dogo Argentino, Fila Braziliero, Japanese Tosa and the Pit Bull Terrier type dog (which is not a recognised breed at all) yet:

• Ellie Lawrensen died following an attack by an alleged pit bull type - the law did not protect her.

• Two Rottweilers killed Kaydee Lee in Leicester just over a year ago - the law did not protect her.

• In Wakefield /Bradford a dangerous dog “hand in” has been in place for over a year yet a baby boy has been killed- the law did not protect him.

The law does not work because it focuses on the dog and not those responsible for the dog, whatever its breed.

Deed Not Breed calls on the government to urgently review the Dangerous Dogs Act with a view to drawing up new legislation that focuses not on types of dogs but on responsible ownership.

Responsible ownership includes proper controls of breeding and selling of dogs, training and education for owners, and a full registration scheme to enable the tracking of dogs and their owners. There needs to be education for all potential dog owners so they are fully aware of their responsibility as a dog owner before they become one, and continuing education and training to ensure that owners understand such things as the importance of training and socialisation.

Melanie Page, chairperson of Deed not breed said today:

“In certain circumstances any dog could be dangerous. Isn’t it time to stop targeting specific breeds and instead focus on responsible ownership?”

I've lived with Staffies all my life and now have an English Bull Terrier as well. I completely agree with this point of view. With the advent of amnesties such as that which was implemented in Merseyside it is the responsible owners that hand in their family pets who suffer. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/6334241.stm

I mean look at this soft old thing!

R.I.P Winnie

New Phalaenopsis

Snow in Legoland

This was the view outside this morning, it is -2c at the moment and snow is forecast until friday.