Cooking by Numbers

Those of you who've been concerned about the contents of my fridge - and you are legion - will be relieved to hear I've finally found a solution. No longer do I have to worry about my rather haphazard style of food shopping - faced with the usual almost giddily eclectic selection of inredients, I now simply turn to the wonderful (my italics) Cooking by Numbers. Et voilà!! OK, it doesn't specify if those apricots are hunza or not, or if the chocolate should be Valrhona, and indeed there's no mention of champagne, but when you're lacking inspiration on a Wednesday night, it fits the bill perfectly. Try it and see... I particularly liked the description of Lemon Chicken - "Chicken partners up with its old friend lemon with crazy results" though it did come with the caveat "You are missing an essential ingredient: chicken". What a bummer! In other news, I'm off to London AGAIN this weekend, though for work this time, and will be having dinner here on Friday evening. I, of course, reveal that information in the hope that I'll be "papped" either entering or leaving the restaurant. Over to you!!

Rhino75's Product of the Week

Yes, I know, a NEW FEATURE. Exciting, isn't it? My plan is to bring you every week an EXCLUSIVE (my italics) through-the-keyhole glimpse of the exotica filling the cupboards at Rhino75 Towers. Week One: Dr. Stuart's Apple & Ginger Tea. Now, as many of you know, Rhino75 is a huge fan of Sweden and the frozen north in general. Any culture that can come up with Tyrkisk Peber vodka AND Agnetha Fältskog has to be doing something right, right?. Well, Dr. Stuart's magical beverage is Sweden in a cup. In fact, I'm pretty sure that Dr. Stuart's first name is Sven and that he's tall and blond with a fluffy beard under his white coat. Apples, ginger, cinnamon, just the brew for a cold winter's night. To be sipped wearing an H&M sweater, surrounded by candles (careful!), with possibly a little Carola or Roxette playing in the background. Underbara! If all goes to plan and I receive a lifetime's supply of said product from the manufacturer, next week I shall be featuring Cristal champagne. If not, probably my other great dietary staple, miso cup-a-soup. I know which one I'm rooting for. Ok, ok, this is a cheat post because this week so far has been all work and no play. Twelve-hour days, sore eyes, I haven't even had time to work on my new TV treatment ("Sergeant Kitty: Police Cat" - she sniffs all the evidence, rolls on bits of it and then...licks her bum? I need to work on the crime-solving angle a little more). Luckily, there IS some R&R lined up for the weekend, otherwise I'd go bonkers. And I've now got a ticket to see my new faves in London next month. TGIF.

Sporting Life

December is almost upon us, dear reader. The nights are drawing in, the heating's on 'roasting' - why, it's even almost time to decorate the Christmas tree. And, after a mince pie or two, there's nothing Kitty and I like better to while away a long winter evening at Rhino75 Towers than a game of cat rugby (complete with made-to-measure ball). In this action shot, she's preparing to go for a conversion after scoring a try underneath the bookcase. Well, she's thinking about it anyway. We're still working on the scrum, though. Oh, ALRIGHT THEN, this ball is just one of the - completely useless - rugby freebies I stole received at a **glamorous beer-themed showbiz** dinner for the 2007 Rugby World Cup here on the Champs Elysées last night. Like every self-respecting "sports" fan, I was, of course, hoping for a Dieux du Stade 2007 calendar (look, the elastic's gone in that poor man's shorts - it happens to the best of us) but no such luck. Instead, there was a photo op with French team coach Bernard Laporte, a scarf, an ugly t-shirt and a book of old and less interesting (to my mind) rugby pics. But dinner was fab, particularly the big shank of lamb and the beer-flavoured ice creams (sounds ewww but they were actually quite subtle - the fig 'n' beer one was particularly nice, Ben & Jerry please note). In fact, this is shaping up to be a bit of a "dining out" week, as Monday evening found me sharing a table with fellow Parisian blogger Matoo. He didn't give me a scarf or an ugly t-shirt but he was totally charming, which is much better, isn't it? Smart guy, read him (but after me, he doesn't need the traffic as badly :))