Turkish red lentil soup

ingredients

Soup:

• 1 cup red lentils
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 potato, chopped
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 teaspoons dried mint
• Salt to taste
• 6 cups water
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Topping:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sweet chili powder or flakes
• 1 teaspoon dried mint

instructions

1. Combine lentils, onion, carrot, potato and spices in a large pot. Pour water over them. Cook it uncovered until it boils over medium high heat.
2. Bring the heat to medium low and let it simmer stirring occasionally until everything is tender.
3. Blend it until smooth using a hand blender. Put it back over the lowest heat, add in lemon juice and simmer for about 5 minutes.
4. For the olive oil drizzle, heat olive oil in a sauce pan. Add in chili powder and dried mint, stir once or twice and remove from the heat.
5. Serve the soup hot in bowls with a drizzle of the spicy olive oil. You can garnish it with herbs.

https://www.giverecipe.com/red-lentil-soup-ramadan-5/

The Coming Of Spring

Can you hear the impatient whisper of Spring

now the long Winter draws to a welcome end.
She begins quietly and timidly to tip toe into view
leaving her footprints as testimony in the ground.

Bulbs have pushed tentatively through the soil,
crocus now flowering in all their glorious colours
competing with the golden primroses and primulas,
their appearance bringing such cheer to us.

Cherry trees adorned with baby pink blossom,
trees and shrubs beginning to bud into life,
earth is awakening from it’s long deep slumber
and brings us the hope of renewal and rebirth.

Now the days are slowly growing longer,
warmer air blows in on a gentle breeze,
with it come the sounds of birds’ sweet song
who sense the coming of the long awaited Spring.

Jacqueline C Nash
Art Kevin Mortimer

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EVERTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE CHINESE YEAR OF THE DOG

In the Western world, the New Year falls consistently on the same date, and December 31st is the day on which we celebrate the end of the old year and the beginning of the new one. However, when it comes to Chinese New Year celebrations, the date is never a fixed one, and this year one of the most colourful and buoyant global celebrations takes place on Friday, February 16th.

The celebrations often take place over a two-week period, and are based on the lunar rather than solar calendar, meaning the Chinese New Year can take place anywhere between January 21st and February 20th.

According to Chinese astrology, each Chinese New Year is related to a zodiac animal bestowed to the twelve-year cycle; and the dog lovers among us will be pleased to know that 2018 marks the year of everyone’s favourite four-legged friend, the Dog!

Our canine companions take the place of the eleventh zodiac sign, coming in before the Pig and just after the Rooster and previous years of the Dog have occurred in 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, meaning if any of those birth years belong to you, your Chinese Zodiac sign is the dog.

With the Chinese New Year comes much superstition and, if you’re born in the Year of the Dog, your lucky numbers are deemed to be 3, 4 and 9; your lucky colours are red, green and purple, your lucky months are the 6th, 10th, and 12th Chinese lunar months, and both roses and cymbidium orchids are said to be your lucky flowers. In addition, there are even a set of directions considered lucky for those born in the Year of the Dog – east, south, and northeast; perhaps something to bear in mind when taking your faithful friend Fido for a walk.

As well as there being notably lucky things for Dogs, there too are things to avoid, and numbers 1, 6 and 7 are all said to be unlucky for those born in the Year of the Dog, as are the colours blue, white and gold, while a south-easterly direction should be avoided where possible.

If you want to look even further into Chinese astrology, each zodiac sign is associated with one of the five elements: Gold (Metal), Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, meaning, for example, that a Wood Dog comes once in a 60-year cycle.

And much like our faithful friends, those who are born in the Year of the Dog are said to embody a number of canine-like characteristics including loyalty, reliability, patience, a hard working and brave nature and an eagerness to help others.

There are many famous Dogs, whose traits certainly align with that of their Chinese Zodiac sign, and include the likes of Winston Churchill, Mother Theresa and Steven Spielberg.

And so, in celebration of the Chinese New Year this Friday, why not treat your loyal companion to a new collar in red, green or purple, or take them on a north-easterly walk to thank them for their loyalty, reliability and steadfast hard work?

http://www.styletails.com/2018/02/15/everthing-you-need-to-know-about-the-chinese-year-of-the-dog/?utm_source=StyleTails+%7C+Design+%26+Lifestyle+for+Modern+Pet+Lovers&utm_campaign=9d7dda626c-DOG_ENEWSLETTER_15_02_18&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c2cf1d6362-9d7dda626c-27944449&ct=t(Dog_E_newsletter_15_02_18)&goal=0_c2cf1d6362-9d7dda626c-27944449&mc_cid=9d7dda626c&mc_eid=fda3f589f9

Love

Bright star! would I were steadfast as thou art

BRIGHT star! would I were steadfast as thou art—
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night,
And watching, with eternal lids apart, 
Like Nature’s patient sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth’s human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors—
No—yet still steadfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow’d upon my fair love’s ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever—or else swoon to death.

John Keats
Art Kinuko Craft

Happy Valentines Day

· 

Happy valentines day everyone ❤❤❤🐾

Badger

As the dusk of a still

And a silent eve,
Descends to the arms 
Of the waiting night.

A rustle does sound
Through the lying leaves,
And the brittle twigs
Of the dying wood.

The cautious eyes
And a wary stare,
Emerge from the dark
Of the hidden sett.

As the badger roams
In the quest for food,
Through the bones
Of the tracks he wore.

Andrew Blakemore
Art Jemima Jameson

Coffee and walnut cake

Preparation time

less than 30 mins

Cooking time

30 mins to 1 hour

Serves

Serves 10-12

Dietary

 

Vegetarian

This classic coffee and walnut cake is topped with an easy espresso-infused buttercream icing.

Ingredients

For the cake

• 225g/8oz unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
• 225g/8oz caster sugar
• 4 free-range eggs
• 50ml/1¾fl oz strong espresso coffee
• 225g/8oz self-raising flour
• 75g/2½oz walnuts

For the buttercream topping

• 125g/4½oz unsalted butter
• 200g/7oz icing sugar
• 50ml/2fl oz strong espresso coffee
• 12 walnut halves, to decorate

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
2. In a bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until very light and pale.
3. Add the eggs one at a time to the butter and sugar mixture, beating well to completely incorporate each egg before adding the next egg.
4. Add the espresso to the mixture and stir well.
5. Add the flour and walnuts and stir well to completely combine.
6. Spoon the cake mixture into two lined and greased 20cm/8in cake tins.
7. Transfer to the oven to bake 25-30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean and the cake is golden-brown.
8. Remove the cakes from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.
9. For the buttercream topping, beat the butter and icing sugar together in a small bowl until pale and light.
10. Add the espresso and mix well.
11. Spread the buttercream over the top of each cake, then place one cake on top of the other.
12. Decorate the top of the cake with the walnut halves and serve in generous slices.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/coffeeandwalnutcake_87248

By Simon Rimmer

From Something for the Weekend