Friday, June 25, 2010



iLazy-abs iLove the iJoy Ride

‘Excuse me, what in God’s name is that monstrosity?’

That is what first crosses my mind when I see the iJoy Ride by Human Touch – ‘…perhaps it facilitates some kind of sensory stimulation…stimulation that should occur in private? Ummm…I believe I should keep my mouth shut not draw attention to this to right now! Maybe I should look away, or down, anywhere but there!’

‘Oh doesn’t it look just like a sex toy or something’ giggles my beau’s mummy cheekily as she elbows me in the ribs. I practically burst into tears of laughter and feel so blessed to have such a wonderful boyfriend whose parents are equally fabulous –not to mention a laugh a minute!

‘Actually, its great exercise and its so easy’ Di explains to us between giggles. Apparently, you’re supposed to drop a dress size in a month – if your overweight – just use it for just 15 minutes a day. The iJoy Ride tones up the abs, the obliques, the lumbar and the hips, giving you the ultimate core torso. Wow, it does sound easy, I’m almost taken in.

The beau looks sceptical, though. Still, the iLazy-abs in him knows that jogging and even swimming at the gym just to get his cardio in is chore-and-a-half – especially everyday for the beach-body rush – and so he visibly lights up when Di says we can borrow the ‘sex-machine’ for a few weeks to try it out.

‘Oh God’ I think ‘I do not want that thing in my living room…Oh God, and there’s the carrying it in to the apartment, people might that think we have weird fetishes or medical problems! Already strange enough, do we need to draw anymore attention to ourselves?’

When I share my reservations with the beau he strikes a pose and jokingly chides ‘you’ll see when I have the sexiest, buffest abs!’

Of course, I let it happen, it was inevitable!

Sunday evening, the bucking-bronco-esque saddle awaits; on jumps the beau and off he goes - seductive it is not! But it is so hilarious that I fall off the sofa – I think when laughing turns painful it must be doing a heck of good to the abs anyway, so perhaps I will refrain from riding the stallion tonight!

On Monday evening I am a little restless and decide that fifteen minutes of relax-ercise could be beneficial! I am in fits of giggles in no time at all, iJoy seems to stimulate more than just your abs – and in some warped way I can certainly imagine the impact it could have if one were to accessorise the iJoy with a rampant rabbit!

By Thursday, the hilarity has far from subsided and so mid-way through the beau’s ride, I throw myself into the front of the saddle to join him. Our sides are splitting but somehow we coherently agree that the iJoy could revolutionise any couple’s sex life at the touch of a button. Lets please not go down that road though!

After a week of –partially- taking turns on the iJoy in front of Gavin & Stacey and laughing till I fear I may pee, I don’t think I see a difference, yet! But I certainly feel the ab-burn after fifteen minutes of iJoy riding in a giggling fit.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010


Bringing Home the Cheese

Christmas cheer from Norseland Cheese’s press event was not exactly seasonal in June, but boy did I score big points for my Christmas wishlist when I brought home the cheese to my beloved. My bag of goodies included Jarslberg, Mexicana and Applewood cheeses, along with a fine cheese knife and a huge cheese cookbook to boot.

Not wanting to suggest a seemingly clichéd cheese on toast for supper, I set about raiding the kitchen to prepare a gorgeous cheese fest for us.

 And what did I find? A favourite frozen fallback – my homemade vegetali marinara (posh-sounding tomato pasta sauce), bacon, chilli, garlic, organic spaghetti and basil from the garden…pot on the balcony. The result was easy peasy-a-la-voila; Spaghetti Al’ Arrabiata; translated directly from Italian, I made ‘angry spaghetti’ for dinner, and very nice it was indeed.

Of course, we really needed to pile on the grated cheese to incorporate it satisfactorily into the meal. But just as I clutched at Norseland’s Jarslberg –my cheese of choice- the beloved reached back into the fridge and pulled out a wedge of archaic cheese with ‘it-really-must-be-time-to-polish-me-off’ written all over it. He shrugged apologetically and Norseland’s fresh cheeses took place of last week’s cheese in our fridge.
‘Uh…cheese fondue with cubed cheese tomorrow darling?’
Sigh, maybe we will get around to the cheese next week!

Our beautiful supper and the sum of its parts:

Vegetali Marinara
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 stick of celery, washed and finely chopped
1 sprig of fresh rosemary
1 bay leaf
2 tsp dried thyme
230ml (roughly one US cup) of white wine
2 cloves garlic, crushed and finely chopped
1 tbsp black olives, pitted, rinsed and finely chopped
1 or 2 cans of Italian peeled plum tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 courgettes, washed and diced
2 anchovies, salted, rinsed and chopped
A splash of red wine
Salt & pepper, to taste


Add the olive oil to a large pan on a medium heat. Throw in the finely chopped onion, celery and season to taste. Allow the vegetables to sweat for a few minutes. Add the herbs and the wine and turn up the heat slightly to allow the wine to reduce. When the onions are nicely golden brown, reduce the heat and add the chopped olives and the crushed garlic. As soon as the pungent garlicy fragrance hits your nose turn in one or two cans of Italian tomatoes (depending upon how much time you have to allow your sauce to reduce and your personal preference). Give the ingredients a quick little stir and add in the tomato paste, anchovies, chopped courgettes and finely the red wine. Taste for seasoning and if required add a little more salt and pepper.

You can freeze the sauce and use it in lasagne, as a pasta sauce or as an accompaniment to a fillet of beef, a pork chop, a beautifully coral piece of salmon or a loin of haddock with a spritz of lemon and some finely chopped basil and parsley.
Alternatively, make like a Nordic-cheese-goddess and try our supper de-jour…


Spaghetti Al’ Arrabiata con Pancetta
(Please note: I am far from being Italian so expect linguistic blunders!)
4 pieces of bacon, Prosciutto or pancetta, diced
1 fresh red chilli, deseeded & finely chopped (Alternatively use red pepper flakes)
3 cloves of garlic, crushed and finely chopped
A splash of good white wine
Black pepper

Depending upon the amount of fat on the meat, you may not require oil in the frying pan. However, if you are unsure a little oil will just get the bacon going and the fat from the meat will soon begin to heat up in the pan. Add the red chilli and gently brown the meat with the chilli over a medium heat. When the meat is almost ready, toss in the garlic and stir it all together as the garlic softens in the bacon juices. Add a splash of good white wine and season with black pepper.

Finally spoon as much or as little of the Vegetali Marinara as you wish from the pan and stir it into the bacon mixture in the hot frying pan, allow the sauce to gently reheat and for the flavours to amalgamate and come together. Sprinkle over some freshly chopped parsley and basil. Serve with a big plate of spaghetti and a huge smattering of grated cheese. Preferably; Norseland’s cheese!
Enjoy xxx



















Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Spring Awakening

I suspect I may be a little late for spring 2010 - but frankly who in dreary London would even know it was supposed to be summer; please do put your hat back on Mr Sun! Finally I have sprung forth from my cocoon of networking-naivety.

Yes, I am charging full-steam ahead –or rather doggedly chugging away, determined to keep up - with twitter, linkedin and my ancient, retired blog that never really got the love and devotion it deserved from the get-go. With a little helpful tutelage I have blossomed as a beautifully fearless socially-blogging-butterfly.

 
Fearless, perhaps and wouldn’t I just love to say that I can confidently navigate the mind-boggling-maze that is blogging - to post links from facebook and twitter to my blog and back again – but I am going to have to take this slowly – step by step, day by day. Whatever it takes this strange defective blogger will morph into a blogging aficionado before your very eyes. And to prove it, as of today I can also announce myself as fully html-literate (whatever that might mean – I was instructed to write ‘html authoring’ on my CV, hopefully this will mean something to someone, somewhere!)

Fingers-crossed, here goes as I take the plunge…

http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=200900805&ref=ts
 
http://twitter.com/EmilyJCFarley

Wednesday, June 09, 2010

Invitation to connect on LinkedIn

LinkedIn

Emily,

I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.

- Emily

Emily Farley
Publishing Professional
Hemel Hempstead, United Kingdom

Confirm that you know Emily

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