Butternut Squash Bisque

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 3/4 cup diced carrots
• 4 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash
• 3 cups vegetable stock
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• ground nutmeg to taste
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)

Preparation

• Heat the oil and melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Cook and stir the onion in the butter and oil until tender.
• Mix the carrots and squash into the pot. Pour in vegetable stock, and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until vegetables are tender.
• In a blender or food processor, puree the soup mixture until smooth. Return the mixture to the pot, and stir in the heavy cream. Heat through, but do not boil. Serve warm with a dash of nutmeg.

dear silvie happy birhday to you! have a look at www.danceforall.co.za With the explicit support of the Ballet Frankfurt, as well as from William Forsythe, we ask your assistance in support of the following project. Please forward!! and talk about it!! Dear Colleagues, dear friends I kindly request that your pupils and associates look at the following homepages: http://www.danceforall.de (german) http://www.danceforall.co.za (english) There you will find a small poster to print out and hang up in your rooms. Perhaps you could create an entry for "danceforall" on your dance links page ?! Any comments would be most welcome. Kind Regards, Winfried Vaassen

Granny's Pavlova (which Derv enjoys)

Ingredients

• 6 egg whites
• 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons of water
• I cup caster sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 pint whipping cream
• Raspberries and/or strawberries
• A glass or two of wine

Preparation

• Put some baking parchment on a baking tray (if you don't have any grease the tray with butter but parchment is much more convenient).
• Turn your oven to 150C.
• Add the egg whites, water and lemon juice to a big mixing bowl.
• Use a hand beater (though I've managed this with a whisk - very tiring) or a food processor and beat the mixture.
• After a few seconds it'll become frothy, and you can start pouring in the granulated sugar, in a trickle - too fast and it'll just sit at the bottom of the bowl. Keep beating and trickling in sugar and then add the caster sugar in the same way (the granulated builds the body of the pav, the caster builds the mousse).
• Once you've added all the sugar you should have a big shiny white mound of sticky goodness. Lift the beaters and if the mixture doesn't fall off it's ready other wise keep beating. If, after 10 mins of beating it's still runny, you either had yolk in your eggs or a dirty mixing bowl – either way you're best off chucking it all away and starting again (so far it's a pretty cheap pudding...) Essentially you want it to more or less hold onto the beaters/a fork, of course it will fall off - you want it to gloop rather than pour.
• Make a steep heap of pavlova mixture on the baking parchment. If it looks smooth run a fork over it to make ripples in the texture (these will become crunch later - so the more the merrier). Put the mixing bowl and beaters straight into water even if you don't plan on washing up straight away - it gets very sticky.
• Bung it in the oven at 150c for about 30 mins and then turn the temperature down to 75c for another 45 mins.
• Every oven varies but Pavlova is quite forgiving. You won't get perfect pav until you've cooked it 3 times in any given oven. Essentially cook it
• at 150ish until it's pretty crunchy on the outside but turn it down if it starts going golden. Pav should be fairly white. Once the outside shell is nice and crispy turn it down.
• Once it's done take it out and let it cool. It will fall a bit but you should still have a healthy 2-3 inches of white fluffiness in the middle.
• (If you're not using the oven any more turn it off and leave the pav in the oven to cool - it won't fall quite so much - but this isn't crucial. However a new twist is to make the pav just before going to bed, and leaving it in over night. You get a good level of fluffiness and a crisper shell.)
• Whip the cream (adding a dash of lemon juice and a sprinkle of caster sugar make a great difference here) until it has peaks but before it turns really stiff.
• Once the pav is cool (otherwise the cream will melt and go everywhere) turn it upside down onto the plate you intend to serve it on. This takes guts and preferably two people. It's best done quickly and the person holding the baking tray should try not to squash the pav in the process.
• Gently peel off the parchment (this is where a greased tray isn't as good) remembering to try some of the crunchy bit to make sure it isn't poisoned.
• Slather the cream over the top with a spatula.
• Arrange the raspberries / strawberries in a pattern appealing to you in the cream. I do concentric circles or raspberries with strawberries in the middle, a friend of mine likes a pile of sliced strawberries dusted with icing sugar.
• Keep in a cool place and serve to a delighted party. A pav will serve 6-8 people depending on how hungry they are.
• Keep any leftovers in the fridge and eat for breakfast - yum.

La danseuse Sylvie Guillem devient commandeur honoraire de l'Empire britannique
LONDRES (AP) - La Grande-Bretagne a décerné mercredi à la danseuse française Sylvie Guillem l'une de ses plus prestigieuses récompenses en faisant d'elle un membre honoraire de l'Empire britannique. La reine Elizabeth II avait inclus la ballerine française sur la traditionnelle liste des personnalités à honorer à l'occasion de son anniversaire, le mois dernier. La ministre britannique de la Culture, Tessa Jowell, a remis les récompenses mercredi.
Ancienne danseuse étoile de l'Opréra de Paris, Sylvie Guillem, âgée de 38 ans, est la principale invitée du Royal Ballet de Londres. Elle a également dansé pour le Tokyo Ballet et l'American Ballet Theater.
"Le titre de commandeur de l'Empire britannique vient saluer l'importante contribution de Sylvie au monde international du ballet, et en particulier à notre Royal Ballet, où je sais que son influence est forte", a commenté Mme Jowell lors de la cérémonie.< br /> Cette récompense est la plus élevée en Grande-Bretagne après celle de chevalier de l'Empire britannique. Les non-Britanniques ne peuvent recevoir qu'une version honoraire de ce titre. AP

Quick Fettucini Carbonara

Ingredients

• 1 lbs thick-sliced bacon, diced
• 1 lbs fettuccini noodles
• 3 large eggs
• 1/3 cup chopped parsley
• 1 tbsp dried Italian herbs/seasoning
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp fresh ground pepper

Preparation

• Saute the bacon in a small skillet until crisp.
• Remove with a slotted spoon and drain well on a paper towel.
• Cook fettuccini noodles according to package instruction until firm and tender.
• Meanwhile, beat the eggs thoroughly in a large bowl suitable for serving.
• Have the cooked bacon and the chopped parsley ready at hand.
• When the pasta is done, drain it immediately in a colander, and pour into the bowl of eggs and immediately begin tossing it.
• As the strands of pasta become coated with the beaten eggs, their heat will cook the eggs.
• Sprinkle the bacon, Italian seasoning and parsley on, and serve immediately.
• Top with lots of freshly grated parmesan cheese and freshly ground black pepper.