Silverknowes

Originally uploaded by arredomi.

Goodbye to the normals

Sofia Lounge

Pizza Recipe

A few people have asked me for the pizza recipe, so here it goes. I will first describe the way I first started baking it (based on a mix of recipes from the internet) and then I will tell you about the changes I made after I spoke to an Italian friend.

Ingredients:
+ 5 cups of plain flour
+ 5 cups of wholemeal flour
+ 1/3 cup of olive oil
+ 1 teaspoon of salt
+ 1 teaspoon of sugar
+ Pint of warm water.
+ Fast Action Yeast. You can get this in sachets or water activated. If you go for the water activated one, you mix it with the pint of water (i.e. you don't use two pints of water!)
+ 300 gr of Grated Mozzarella cheese
Note that these portions will make enough for at least two large pizzas (maybe three), I usually freeze half of the dough.

Mix the flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a bowl.
Pour the water ( if you get water activated yeast, you need to put the yeast in warm water and leave it for around 5 minutes) and mix. Put around 60% of the olive oil too.
Basically you mix the ingredients and knead it until you get a good consistency. You don't want to have a mix that breaks (too dry) and at the same time you don't want a sticky mix (it shouldn't stick to your fingers). To get the right consistency you may need to play with the amount of water and flour. Sometimes I end up pouring a bit more dough.

You want it to look something like this:


Once you get the right consistency, grease a bowl with the rest of the olive oil and leave the dough to rest for around an hour. Cover the bowl.

After an hour you can knead it again (it should have grown at least twice the original size). At this point the mix should not stick to your hands. Sometimes I just leave it to rest for two hours. If you are going to freeze some of it, cut half of the mix after an hour and put it into the freezer.

After the two hours the dough is ready for your pizza. And I guess from here it doesn't need much explaining :) I usually use bolognese sauce for the base (I should try to make the tomato sauce myself); but do not put much of it, actually I put a very very thin layer.

Preheat the oven to 200C and bake until the cheese turns brown.

I baked a pizza tonight and made a couple of changes suggested by a friend:
1) I only used plain flour.
2) I didn't use olive oil at all.
3) Get the max temperature from the oven. I baked it at 250C.

I have to say that I did like it better than the 'original' recipe.

Good luck!

Finished Kitchen

Thursday night I would still had bet that the joiners would not finish fitting the kitchen for Friday! They did finish, although there are still small details for us to take care of (painting the walls, changing the doors of the closet and polishing or painting the tiles). If you come to visit please bring some beers, I'm still testing if the freezer is working properly :P

Kitchen. Day 3.

A photo that shows how the kitchen looked when they ripped the old units out and how it looks tonight. It was supposed to be a three day installation, now i will be quite happy if they finish by Friday. Otherwise it will be a very long weekend.

Absolut

Absolut Resolution
Originally uploaded by arredomi.

This is another photo that (briefly) made it into Flickr Explore ('most interesting' 500 photos).

New Kitchen

We're in the process of changing the kitchen in the flat. So, with less than three months living here the flat is a mess again :( The living room is full with the appliances and the kitchen units; the kitchen is disaster zone as yesterday the joiners spent the day ripping the old units out. With all my optimism I'm just waiting for the guys to come and say something like "we've ripped the old units, we found a body".

East Fortune Airfield

Originally uploaded by arredomi.

Guess The Movie

I've just downloaded a few photos from the camera that I took a few days ago, when we celebrated the "Dia de Reyes" with some friends. I organized a small "Guess The Movie" game and it turned out to be good fun, even altough some were a bit reluctant to play at the beginning. There were a couple of memorable performances, but the best photos were from Emilio :P I've made a poster for the movie, but I'll let you guess first.

Small details

Sometimes the small details are the ones that can make a difference on your day. You know, when it is raining and the bus driver is kind enough to wait for you; when someone gives you a smile just because. Today I'm quite chuffed because one of my photos got selected as the group icon in the Flickr Group Born in 1975 & 1976.



Comments are always welcomed.

Mariana in Sepia

Originally uploaded by arredomi.

Shadows

Shadows
Originally uploaded by arredomi.

Fernanda in Sepia

Originally uploaded by arredomi.

07

As 2006 comes to an end, let me wish you a very happy 2007. May your year be filled with love and health.

Merry Christmas!

For my three regular readers (perhaps I shall say visitors as I do not really write much lately), let me wish you a very happy Christmas. I hope you enjoy it in the company of your loved ones :)

Let me share with you a nice article I found on The Independent today.

Mood swings

Well, last weekend i took a couple of days off work. With spare time in my hands (something that has been rare this year) and camera in hand, I had the chance to take pictures on a 'festive' mood and some not so happy (the photos I mean, I was quite happy taking them) :) You can let me know which one you prefer.

Wired

Originally uploaded by arredomi.

Ferchus 10/12/06

Originally uploaded by arredomi.

Christmas fair

Originally uploaded by arredomi.

This can only mean one thing: time to hit the Christmas German Market for a mug of mulled wine with a shot of rum. Mmmmmm.

Absolut West End

 

Arredondo Sisters

Originally uploaded by arredomi.

Fer and Mariana playing in the garden.

Flowers, lovely flowers.

Originally uploaded by arredomi.

Close up

Originally uploaded by arredomi.

I've been playing lately with a close up filter on the camera. Shots are more dificult than with a proper macro lense, but I think they can be neat, no?

Autumn

 

Colosseum

A couple of weeks ago I visited Rome. Good weather, good food, good wine! What else can you ask for?? You can see the rest of the pictures on my flickr photo stream.

Views from the office

 

Bright Smile

Edinburgh Roofs

 

Manhattan, NY

 

Fernanda RED

Fernanda RED, originally uploaded by arredomi.

Dad & Mariana

On Saturday we visited the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. You can see more pictures here.

Happy Birthday Mariana

If you wanna check the rest of the photos, they are here.

Pilot Mariana

On Saturday we went to the Airshow 2006 at the Museum of Flight. As you can see in the picture, Mariana was up for some pilot training. You can check the rest of the pictures here.

Ferchus' first time in St. Andrews

BBQ

The rest of the pictures are in here. 

Yvan's wedding.

Just in case you are wondering. Yes, I was wearing it like a scot.