Here's something you could try for a nice healthy meal. You will need some fresh Spinach leaves, washed and dried, avocado peeled and chopped into irregular chunks and some crisp fried bacon.

The dressing is simply olive oil and balsamic vinegar (3:1 ratio). You won't need any salt if the bacon is already salty.

Some freshly ground black pepper on top, and you're done. How easy is that!

You may think I was exagerrating with the title, but believe me. You will say the exact same thing after you cooked it. You must love Aubergines/Eggplants before you carry on reading. I made this incredible dish tonight.
I've been meaning to do it for over a year but never really had the courage.
I had this dish many times in China, in restaurants, but it was always SOAKING in oil.
That is the main reason why I didn't dare to try it myself in my own kitchen before.
But I did it diffrently, and it wasn't really soaking in oil, so here I go:

I got some gorgeaus Aubergines/Eggplants in the market the other day, peeled them,
chopped them up real nice about half an inch 0.5 centimetres
cubes. I had two Aubergines so I did each one of them separately.
I threw the first batch (one Aubergine) in a Hot wok, Quickly added about three table spoons of vegetable oil and tossed them arround for about three minutes (thanks goodness three minutes mean three minutes in the US of A and in the United Kingdom, because I really have a hard time converting tempereatures and distances already..)until they get nice and brown and there's no sign of oil in the wok (the Aubergines absorbed them all).

Pick them out with a large spoon and lay these babies out on a plate that has been layed with Kitchenroll/absorbant paper. Don't worry. They won't be soaking in oil. At least they won't look like they are.

Repeat the operation for your remaining Aubergine cubes. I had two medium sized ones, so I had to do it twice/Poor Me!

When all your batches are nicely browned (they don't need to be cooked, just browned on the surface), throw them all back into the wok with some finely chopped garlic-three cloves-
add two tablespoons of a nice soy sauce (I use Kikkoman), the same amount of nice, I mean RICE vinegar
(I used Japanese rice vinegar), two table spoons of Demarara/Brown sugar
( I know this sounds alarming, but trust me and go with it..)and a Tablespoon of Sake, Chinese Rice Wine or Dry Sherry.
Let the stuff simmer for 10 minutes in all these juices, under a lid.

If you are in the kitchen while this is happening and haven't dissapeared in the living room to watch some of your favourite soap operas ,YOU SHOULD BE CAREFUL, as things can get bad very quickly with Chinese cooking, so please Never dissapear, not even for a few seconds while cooking Chinese food.

Now that That is clear, if you notice it';s getting dry during these ten minutes, just add half a cup of water to it. You got to make sure the stuff has a little sauce when you are finishd with the cooking, and it's nice and moist. This will make your rice/noodles you eat with it very tasty.

As you can see in the picture, I cheated a bit.
I added some strips of Chicken which have been stir fried on their own taking care not to over cook them, and also added some Shiitake mushrooms.
Just because I Love them.

Finely sliced spring onions were added just before serving, and it was served with Thai Jasmine rice.
Use Taiwanese rice if you ever get hold of it. It has the most beautiful texture and scent.

The weekend before last I had the privilege to be invited on a friends boat, to watch some amazing fireworks in Altea, Spain. The Spanish always have something to celebrate, a very interesting nation indeed. The celebrations are usually centered around Saints, and this occasion was no different. They had this enormous party for San Lorenzo. I’m not a religious person myself, but sure like this kind of lifestyle (taking a break from it all and mingle with the jolly crowds on the behalf of all those Saints). You can read a little more about this event by clicking HERE.

As my camera is still broken, all I could do is take a mental picture and reproduce it in Photoshop. It was a giant curtain of glittering magic embracing us all while we were floating on the gently rocking waters of the Mediterranean (on the boat, of course), with glasses of Cava (The Spanish equivalent of Champagne) and the occasional “wow” sounds escaping from our souls which were simply saturated with beauty.

Being out on a boat at night is nice when you look towards the fireworks, but if you turn your head 180 degrees in the opposite direction (no, not like in the Exorcist movie, maybe turn your body 90 degrees and the head another 90, that would look more naturalJ)) you realize how unfriendly the water can be when not lit. I had to think about the passenger cruises that capsize/sink occasionally in much colder waters in the North Sea.

It must be horrific to be on your own out there in the dark freezing waters fighting for your life…

But we all came out all right. I did have my goggles prepared just in case there would be some night swimming involved, but it was all very civilized, no swimming. Plus, the water police was roaming the area quite frequently.

And while I was looking for that Photoshop artwork I created, I came across these sardines in one of my folders. I have just taken them out from the freezer to thaw when I took this picture a few months ago, and I really like the group dynamic. I thought it was relevant to this blog entry, since I have mentioned the Mediterranean (which is full of these beauties-they are lovely grilled, served with garlic mayonnaise and soft fresh bread)

And now you're thinking: "What on earth is this woman doing, taking pictures of dead fish and displaying them on the W.W.W.??" I think they are pretty.

I made this delicious dish a few days days ago for dinner. Maybe you'd like to give it a go.
Lots of people are afraid of Thai food, thinking it's all spicy and fiery.
This is definitely not the case. Most of the dishes are more fragrant than spicy.
But of course you'll find some really hot dishes too.

This one here is a sweet and tangy dish. The original version, that is. As you can see in the picture I have added some
green beans for colour balance and some chili, because I love it hot and also keep improvising when in the kitchen.

For two people you'd be needing:

200 grams of pork fillet, finely sliced (you can pop it in the
freezer for a couple of hours to make slicing easy)
5 pineapple rings chopped up to bite sized pieces.
I have tried to cook this dish before with fresh pineapple but I find
it is much tastier if it's cooked with canned pineapple. I don't know why.
2 cloves of garlic
2 spring onions
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
1 Tablespoon brown sugar (or palm sugar if you've got it)
Juice of half a lime
A handful of fresh coriander leaves
Half a handful of fresh mint leaves

Heat some sunflower oil in a wok or large pan. Add the spring onion,
cook for a minute, then the garlic and cook for an extra minute.
Remove with slotted spoon and set aside.
Add your sliced pork fillet in two batches, stir-fry until the surface turns golden,
about three minutes per batch.
Add the garlic/onion mixture to the pan with all the pork,
add the pineapple, sugar and lime juice. Cook a little longer, till pineapple heats through.
When everything is done, add the Tablespoon of Fish sauce and sprinkle with the chopped coriander and mint. LOVELY!

It 's very quick to prepare as you can see.
It should be served with steamed fragrant rice.
If you like you can also sprinkle some coarse black pepper on it. Yum!