On Cats and Giant Slingshots

I've been sitting in a Giant Slingshot, waiting for the launch, expecting the launch, anticipating and dreading it. Slingshots are not very comfortable places to sit. Maybe because they were designed to hold the projectile for just a few seconds until its target is chosen and locked. 

I definitely overstayed my welcome in my Giant Slingshot. I felt it more and more as the days turned into weeks, then months and I was still there. The muscles that held me tight and secure became stiffer and stiffer. But I couldn't let go...

Recipe: Ratatouille with Ground Beef

This is not your typical Ratatouille. Ιt is not vegetarian! It has ground beef in it and I did not go crazy on the oil. 

The vegetarian/original version was and still is my mother's favourite summer dish! It's easy to make and we always had all the ingredients ready at hand thanks to my father's spring/summer hobby of growing his own vegetables. Peppers, aubergines, courgettes, tomatoes overflowing from our vintage Miele refrigerator, sometimes to the point we had to give them away to friends because we could not possibly eat them all! 

I made this dish a couple of weeks ago, when the temperature was dangerously close to the lower 10s Celsius and even though the calender said June it felt more like October. My attempt to lure summer into Zagreb.

Ratatouille with Ground Beef

Serves 4, ready in 30 minutes

Adapted from here

Ingredients

• 4 aubergines 
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 yellow pepper, chopped
• 1/4 cup white dry wine
• 1 garlic clove
• 4 tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 bunch of parsley, chopped
• 500 gr ground beef
• Salt & pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Procedure

1. Sauté the beef and the whole garlic clove in one tablespoon of olive oil on high heat for 5 - 6 minutes. Pour in the wine and let boil for 5 more minutes. 
2. 
   
3. In the meantime, preheat oven to 180C. Wash the aubergines and partially peel them. Slice them thinly (I used a mandolin), arrange them on parchment paper in a baking tin and lightly brush them or spray them with olive oil. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes depending on the oven. 
4. 
   
5. In another pan sauté the onion and peppers with 1 tablespoon of olive oil for 5 minutes and add the tomatoes. Finally, add the roasted aubergines and ground beef, season to taste and gently simmer for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with the parsley and serve.

While I was taking the pictures for this post I had an unexpected guest visiting my "state of the art" studio that doubles as a sofa...

Cloud over my Head

Sunday

Supposed to be a sun-day, instead there is a sad sad cloud over my head. It weeps for a while and then stops. 

I try to send positive thoughts, to make it happy even for a while, to smile and let the sun glow through its teeth. I can't. It has no mouth. 

Even Psipsini is sad. Stay in. Wet balcony - not her favourite place. 

Went to lunch at a cosy little konoba for wild mushroom soup and creamy Gorgonzola njoki. 

The cloud is still sobbing over my roof . 

I'm thinking about pink orchids and yellow tulips.

Blue Nails vs Black Cat

Who Won?