You know I'm Bard, I'm Bard, You know it...

Off to Simples in a bit (yay! Hope they have that Jazz Xylophone player who never opens his eyes again!) so keeping it brief.

It has been one hell of a long week, but I'm slowly starting to feel normal again. Hubby has found a job for me to apply for so I can do that over the w/end. *sigh*.

Rummi's got me thinking about Shakespeare. (I can't get enough of that crazy cat!) Very pleased that my lovely customer's given me some tickets to Winter's Tale in Oct. I love Winter's Tale, studied it at A Level, but I've never seen it performed before. Actually, there's a lot of good stuff on over the Canterbury Festival that I want to see - Jo Brand and the lovely Alexei Sayle to name but two. Think Rich Hall's coming down too.

As for my favourite quote - I quite like the one about Tosspots at the end of 12th Night, but I can't remember it. Also 'Love's not time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks within its syckle's compass come' from the sonnets (had that one read at my wedding!) I do utterly love, however, The Cloud Capp'd Towers.

The cloud capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And like this insubstantial pageant faded
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are on, and our little lives
Are clouded with a sleep.

How lovely is that? The first time I heard it I nearly cried (singing it in Choir at college - think it was That Vaughn Williams that had put it to music). I honestly believe Shakey knew that The Tempest was going to be his swansong - that's his Goodbye. I want it at my funeral. God, I love the English language.

Recipe (for disaster)

Not actually a recipe for disaster, but for one of the tastiest dinners I ever made:

You will need:

some chicken
some mushrooms
some celery
some arichokes
some white wine
some cream
some chicken stock (or a chicken OXO cube if you're lazy like me)
some garlic
some black pepper
a casserole dish
an oven

cube chicken, heat a wee bit of oil with the garlic, stir fry chicken until 1/2 done, add large splash of vino, same amount of water, also celery (cut to whatever size chunks you're comfortable with) and mushrooms. Either add stock or crumble stock cube atop, whack in oven for about an hour or so. Put on whatever carb accompaniment you fancy (I went with pasta, but would work with rice or baked/new potatoes) in the mean time. About 10 mins before serving add artichokes, pepper, and cream to thicken. Put back in oven. Pour yourself a drink and congratulate self. 10 mins later, thou hast a beautiful chickenny vegetabley casserole. Voila!

And: 2, Mummy's hot cabbage salad:

After cooking cabbage (any kind) add either French Dressing or olive oil & white wine vinegar (anything non-white makes the cabbage go brown... trust me, I tried it with balsamic) and a fair bit of grated cheddar cheese and some black pepper. Put back on hob for about 30 seconds for cheese to melt. Got a friend/child/partner who claims to hate cabbage? Give them this. Believe me, it will convert the harest of hearts.