Recipes

In a bid to increase my culinary repertoire (not difficult you might say) I’m aiming to make 100 different recipes. No time limit – but I’d like to keep making at least one a week.

So far:

1. Scones (July 08)

2. Turkey pie (shepherd’s pie with turkey mince) (July 08)

3. Lentil and vegetable moussaka (v nice Delia recipe) (July 08)

4. Feta, Spinach and pinenut galettes (again – thanks to Delia) (July 08)

5. Banana and walnut loaf (lovely and moist) (August 08)

6. Minestrone soup (v wholesome – almost solid!) (September 08)

7. Bolognese sauce (the proper stuff – left to “improve” for hours) (September 08)

8. Spiced squash and bacon soup (disappointing) (October 08)

9. Spiced apple, raisin and prune crumble (lovely and sweet – I remade this a few days later without the cloves and preferred it. Went down well at Book Club) (October 2008)

10. Chicken, leek and sweetcorn chowder (lowfat recipe – not a success) (October 08)

11. Pancetta pasta sauce and fresh spaghetti (great success with Book Club and quick to prepare) (October 08)

12. Cottage pie (vast quantities for an event – the Worcester sauce really helped give it some extra flavour) (October 08)

13. Fish pie (very very nice – not cheap though – the fish cost £8!!!) (October 08)

14. Quiche Lorraine (tasty) (November 08)

15. Lemon meringue pie (fun making the topping – and it got rave reviews from Cath & family and Becky who helped make sure it all got eaten!) (November 08)

16. 5 vegetable lasagne (bland) (November 08)

17. Chicken curry (overdid the chilli powder… needed 2 glasses of milk to finish eating it) (January 09)

18. Falafel (chick peas/onion/coriander/cumin/parsley/garlic – fantastic fresh flavour) (January 09)

19. Smoked Haddock Chowder (“Cullen Skink”) (January 09) – delicious

20. French Onion Soup (great Delia recipe) (January 09) I love this recipe!

21. Porcini lasagne (wonderful flavour – much better than 16 as a veggie version) (January 09)

22. Apple Pie (Feb 09)

23. Veg. soup (leek, pots, carrot) (Feb 09)

24. Moist rich chocolate cake (with Tom age 9 and Annie age 6 helping … and licking out the bowl!) (Feb 09)

25. Potatoes Boulangeres (pots, onions, fresh rosemary) (Feb 09)

26. Homemade Pizza base and real tomato sauce (Feb 09)

27. Baked raspberry cheesecake (complete success – rave reviews from Teaching Quality, Space Management and Cath’s family! – v proud of “feathering” design of homemade raspberry sauce on the top) (February 09)

28. Beef Wellington (March 09)

29. Bread and butter pudding (March 09)

30. Carrot cake (March 09) (v moist, with nutmeg, extra raisins and extra orange zest – NB must use butter at room temp for the icing – mine was too cold and by the time I’d whisked it to break up the lumps, the icing was v runny…)

31. Coq au vin (March 09) (really rich flavour – v nice)

32. Beef and pork meatballs (albondigas) (April 09) – bit disappointing – not much flavour really despite onions, garlic, herbs etc. Also quite a faff (would be easier if had food processor for the chopping). Perhaps try again with more herbs etc?

33. Moroccan lamb tagine with herby couscous and pickled lemons (April 09) (forget the pickled lemons next time – they looked horrible and soggy. The actual tagine was very rich and tasty and the herby couscous lovely and fresh – lots of fresh mint and coriander)

34. Lentil roast (very tasty – I usually find veggie dishes like this can be bland. Maybe it was because I used 90% parmesan instead of the mature cheddar the recipe recommended – and extra onions as well as the leeks – but it had LOTS of flavour. Not quite sure why you need to line the tin with breadcrumbs – I didn’t feel that added much) (May 09)

35. Beef stroganoff (I was too cowardly to flambe the beef as the recipe said. Does that actually change the flavour? With the hot paprika, soured cream and 150ml of brandy, it had a very rich flavour. Wonderful! The recipe said it’d be enough for 4 – perhaps I liked it a bit too much. Only 2 decent size or possibly 3 smaller servings from mine!) (May 09)
NB Made the beef stroganoff again on 7 June and did flambe it (wasn’t in my own home, so less worried about setting fire to the place ;-) The trick is to put the brandy in another saucepan, set fire to it there, then pour. Very nice again – and the basmati and wild rice was finished off with a few minutes steaming which I think helped it keep fluffy.

36. Salade Nicoise (June 09) Used Delia’s recipe which was nice enough, but actually too oniony (shallots) and salty (tuna plus anchovies) for me – definitely will tone those down next time. Why Delia thinks you need to boil the tomatoes one minute, peel them, then squeeze the seeds is beyond me. They ended up blanched looking (rather than bright red). Anyway, very fitting with the good weather and nice to have fresh flavours (including fresh chives and parsley in the vinaigrette)

37. Lentil and bacon soup (August 09) (Delia’s Complete Cookery Course) – nice and chunky. Not as strong a bacon flavour as I’d have liked, but otherwise delicious.

38. American Chocolate Brownies (August 09) (Delia’s Complete Cookery Course). Lovely texture – mixture of soft and crunchy and very nutty (used brazil nuts). This recipe only used 2oz dark chocolate and it would have been good to have had a more intense chocolate flavour.

39. Courgette and Potato Cakes with Feta Cheese and Mint (August 09) (Delia’s Veggie cook book). Bit of a faff to grate and drain the courgettes, and parboil and grate the pots – but rest was straightforward. Tasty – I particularly enjoyed the saltiness of the feta and the mint together.

40. Madeira Cake (August 09) (Mary Berry) – very nice subtle lemon flavour, slightly crunchy outside – and dead easy to make!

NB Jo showed me a tip for grating lemon (put a strip of grease proof paper over the relevant grating section, and it makes removing the grated lemon rind easier, rather than having to scrape it out from between holes).

41. Gnocchi with butter, sage and parmesan (August 09) (Delia) – a real faff (boil potatoes, peel, crush, add flour and egg, knead to make dough, leave to chill, shape, boil for three minutes) and, to be honest, I don’t see the point! The verdict of the others was that they liked them – but they seemed a bit bland to me. Perhaps more seasoning was in order? Nice sauce (butter, garlic, sage leaves).

42. Kedgeree (August 09) (Delia cookery course) – the best recipe in ages! Delicious flavours and wonderful texture of egg, fish, rice and onion. Complete success!

43. Coriander and chickpea soup (August 09) (Delia veggie book) – (in the book it is meant to have chillis in it, but we didn’t have any – and actually this variation was really nice) – lots of flavours: lemon, turmeric, cumin.The swirl of natural yoghurt (it’s meant to have creme fraiche) and coriander leaves added before serving are a good touch. A really warming and tasty soup.

44. Crunchy biscuits (raisin and hazelnut; apricot and pecan) (August 09) (Delia veggie book) A simple recipe, but I found them hard to make into the right shape (they fell apart and adding water made them too soft). Once cooked they were a nice balance of squidgy and crunchy texture with golden syrup, demerara sugar and oats. The raisins weren’t a great success (the outside ones were overdone), but the apricots went well.

45. Spaghetti Carbonara (August 09) (Delia) – delicious! I had expected Delia’s version to be full of cream – but it wasn’t. Just egg, parmesan, bacon and onion. Simple but great flavours.

46. Blue Gulu’s Italian/Pakistani chicken fusion (August 09) (given the recipe by Blue Gulu aka Jo’s neighbour’s father – it has the base of chicken curry, but with Italian overtones eg basil and marjoram) – not quite as nice as when Blue Gulu cooked it – I think I was too cautious with the spices. Nice flavour though.

47. Chilli con carne (August 09) (Delia’s cookery course) – again, I made it too mild. Nice warm flavour, but could easily increase the chilli next time (I used 3/4 tspn not 1 as Delia writes). I also added lots of veg (carrot, marrow, mushrooms) which were good and gave it more “body”. Oh and I also added cinnamon on Jo’s advice – adds to the depth of flavour or something.

48. Braised Lamb with Flageolet Beans (September 09) (Delia’s Winter Collection) – very simple, but DELICIOUS! Braised lamb neck fillets, onions and garlic, lots of fresh thyme, lamb stock, bay leaves, cherry tomatoes and flageolet beans, cooked for two and a half hours in the oven. “Extremely flavoursome and comforting winter warmer” as Delia says – well, it’s not quite winter, but still nice to have something warm and nourishing. Definitely one I’d cook again.

49. Tea bread – an old favourite of mine that I’ve made lots of times with different additions. This time I added dried apricots to the sultanas and currants and used redbush tea. Moist, lots of flavour… wonderful!

50. Delia’s A sort of chicken basque (September 09) – a quick version of her chicken basque. Rice, chicken, chorizo, onions, red peppers and tomatoes (in a jar), white wine, black olives and pimento. I thought it was nice while eating it – but it left a greasy aftertaste (I think from the chorizo and the red peppers/toms from a jar of oil) and the chicken was overdone. Next time, I’ll cook the chicken for less time – just a quick brown rather than aiming for golden brown. I’d expected better! Perhaps I’ll try the proper version next time – I might try fresh peppers instead – less oily.

51. The London Particular (yellow split pea soup) (Delia’s soup collection) (September 2009) – I made a few changes to Delia’s recipe – but the outcome is good and that’s what counts. I used lamb stock (didn’t have ham, bacon or veg. stock and I particularly like the lamb stock), I used the full amount of bacon, onion, celery and carrot (plus a leek), but only half the split peas. This was because my biggest saucepan is only a 4 pint one, not the 8 pint one she recommends, but I wanted a really full flavour – and unlike the lentil and bacon soup I did recently where there wasn’t enough bacon flavour, this has a great salty, smoked bacon “twang” to it. Hearty is I think an accurate description. And I didn’t blend or process it – I like having chunks of carrot or identifiable piecies of bacon, not some homogenised gunk!

Not done very well at making new recipes or writing up the ones that I have made over last little while. I was given recipe books for Christmas (thank you!), and have started a new cookery course (Indian cookery this time), so here goes with my (belated) New Year’s resolution:

52. Mince Pies (November 2009) – made at Jo’s with her daughter.

53. Roast Chicken with stuffing, gravy, veggies, roast potatoes etc (December 2009) – never made the whole thing – bit stressful, but all tasted good

54. Vegetable Samosas (January 2010) – first recipe of the Indian cookery class I’m taking this term. VERY greasy (fry the veg, add spices, wrap in pastry and deep fry the whole lot…). Not to my taste. But the mixture for the inside was lovely and I ate that without deep frying it the next day.

55. Chicken Biryani (January 2010) – lovely warm flavour – very nice. Easy to make (so long as you have the zillion ingredients… but that’s the same with all these Indian recipes – you need a good stock of spices, fresh herbs etc)

56. Date and Tamarind chutney (February 2010) – looked disgusting. Not my thing. But got good reviews from others (thank you Cath!)

57. Mango and apple chutney (February 2010) – again, not my thing. Shame – the recipe makes 2 tons of it! But again, good reviews from the others it went to.

58. Raw peanut, mint and coriander chutney (February 2010) – the best of the 3 recipes in my opinion. Nice and fresh taste. None of the recipes were difficult (just chop, mix, for some of them simmer… ). Won’t be making them again though ;-)

59. Lamb Pulao (February 2010) – a very simple recipe (marinate the lamb in spices, yoghurt and chopped herbs, cook rice with turmeric, fry onions, green beans, tomatoes, add lemon juice and layer/mix to serve) but quite tasty. I like the crunchy green beans, onions and tomatoes. I think I overcooked the lamb a bit (bit tough) – next time, need to cook it for less time.
[also watched potato and onion bhajias being made. Can’t claim to have made it myself. Like the samosas they were very, very greasy – the teacher explained the difference between bhajias and bhajis and I can’t remember… one is clumps of the thing being fried in batter and one is individual pieces]

Alison Bell : 05 Sep 2009 20:56 |  Tags: Recipes |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Gruess dich! Austria July 2009

Tried an HF holiday for the first time this year – one week walking in Soelden in the Austrian Tyrol. A very enjoyable week – beautiful scenery (snowy peaks, glaciers, meadows of pretty flowers, pine forests), great walking (although I discovered how unfit I am despite all the swimming! I just don’t use my leg muscles enough usually, and the Tyrolean mountains are very steep!) and a nice and friendly group of people to walk with. Incredible food (and menus – see below). Und ganz schoen wieder mal deutsch zu sprechen!

More photos in the folder on the left (seven folders all beginning with “Austria – July – 2009”) – just a selection below. Of course, these are just views – what you’ve got to imagine is the clanking of goat bells, the gurgling streams and the pure, fresh air…

Soelden is in the Oetz Valley – where Oetzi the ice man was found in September 91.

The area also boasts Tyrol’s highest waterfall – Stuibenfall which at 159m (and a huge amount of rain the night before I visited) was indeed very impressive.

The food was incredible – huge buffets at breakfast (which we could choose from for the picnic lunch too) and 5 course meals in the evening. The translations were sometimes rather literal – see the selections below.

• Consomme of deer with farce dumpling, small diced vegetables perfumed with port wine

• Filet of pangasius fish with leek-vegetables, rice, safran sauce

• Parfait of sorrel on raspberry coulis

• Tureen of mushrooms with cranberry-pepper sauce

• Cream soup of spinach with backed alpine cheese dumpling

• Duet of sheep on savoy cabbage vegetables with polenta souffle

• Compote of perch and shrimps in spicy potatoes-vegetables sauce

• Backed vegetables on salad and sauce remoulade

• Variation of national and international cheese from the buffet

• Mild cream soup of garlic with Zacarelli (almond – parmesan gnocchi)

• Roast Angus beef on green asparagus, potatoes loaves, sauce Choron

• Soup of Sheep with its raviolo and vegetables perfumed with Sherry

• Filet of tilapia on beans puree, chorizo-chips

• Emince of red game in orange-pepper sauce, curd cheese gnocchi

• Medaillons of turkey hen on zucchini vegetables and tagliatelle gorgonzonla cream sauce

• Small chocolate cakes with chocolate sauce and whipped foam

Alison Bell : 02 Aug 2009 10:13 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Sad news

Sad news.
Grandma, aged 101 and 5 months, passed away last night.

These photos are from the summer – just before her 101st birthday.

She was still “with it” at the end apparently – although the doctor diagnosed pneumonia, she was determined she didn’t want to go into hospital.

Alison Bell : 27 Nov 2008 09:17 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Jambo!

I’ve been back 2 weeks now, but haven’t written anything here yet about my 10-day trip to Kenya. There are so many photos to upload and my impressions too…

I’m intending to do my B3 speech on 24 September at Sans Souci about my experiences in Kenya – so it’s useful to write some of it down here as I plan that.

Things I’d like to write more about (lots of these include photos – some will reference other websites):

• trip to the elephant orphanage
• trip to the giraffe sanctuary
• ride around Nairobi
• trip to Lake Nakuru
• trip to the Masai Mara including safaris, 2 nights of camping and visiting a Masai village
• trip to Lake Naivasha and Hells Gate park
• the CARTA meeting itself
• general tips on travelling to Kenya – including what to take (or not)
• Swahili – words I picked up and my impressions of the language
• impressions of being a tourist in a developing country
• Kenyan politics – including Barack Obama’s family origins, the role of the Kikuyu, the aftermath of the election troubles

Let’s start with some cute photos – the elephants from the David Sheldrick Trust elephant orphanage in Nairobi.

This is the youngest elephant they have at the moment – only 3 months old. They’re fed every 3 hours by bottle. I can’t remember this one’s story, but many of them have lost their mothers from poaching, or the mother getting too old and losing her teeth (and therefore being unable to feed herself or her baby). They need 24 hour attention from the keepers – they sleep alongside the elephants and cover them with blankets when they get cold. They change who looks after which elephant so they don’t get too attached: depression about the loss of their mother is very serious (it lowers their immune system to the extent that they can easily fall ill and die). Pneumonia is a big problem – they don’t display any symptoms (they can’t sneeze!) until the liquid builds up so much that their noses run and then it’s too late.

The elephants really enjoyed spraying themselves with water and rolling in the mud around the edges of the pond. One mischievous elephant then walked alongside the row of spectators and casually rubbed himself along their legs… I was busy looking the other way taking photos and got a real shock (and very muddy!). I’m sure he did it for the crowd’s reaction (“aagghhh!”)

Alison Bell : 02 Sep 2008 18:28 |  Tags: Kenya |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Adios amigo!

Sarah’s last day today…

Alison Bell : 30 Jul 2008 16:19 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

newspaper article about Grandma's 100th

Writing about web page http://www.iomtoday.co.im/ViewArticle.aspx?SectionID=870&articleid=3000758

Mona celebrates 100th birthday

A DOUGLAS pensioner was congratulated by two of the Island’s top dignitaries and the Queen when she celebrated her 100th birthday.
Mona Bell received a customary telegram from the Queen, flowers from Lieutenant Governor Sir Paul Haddacks and a visit from Deemster Mike Kerruish and his wife Marianne during a party at her home on Sunday.

She spent 40 years working at family-run business Bell’s Tobacconist in Victoria Street and, until a few years ago, was an active member of the Royal British Legion’s Isle of Man branch and the World Manx Organisation.

Liverpool-born Mona visited the Island several times as a child, as her father was from Foxdale.

She moved to the Manx capital in 1956 with her husband, who had fought in World War Two, and their sons Jim and Douglas, after he was told by doctors to relocate to a quiet environment to lessen the effects of lingering shellshock.

That year, they bought the house in Stoney Road where Mona still lives today. Around the same time she began working for the family business, where she continued to help out until 1996 when she was 89.

Alison Bell : 03 Aug 2007 11:27 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

100 years young

On Sunday 1 July my grandmother celebrated her 100th birthday.

It was a lovely day with lots of guests (cakes, cups of tea) including the Deemster (high ranking Manx judge, sent as a Deputy for the Lieutenant General who was unable to come).

The Queen sent a card too!

I bet you didn’t know the following:

• there’s a whole department at Buckingham House dealing with Anniversaries
• they send out cards for 100 year olds, but then the next “great age” the Queen sends a card for is 105!! (Hang in there for another 5 years, Grandma!) They’re then sent out on an annual basis. I guess there are too many people reaching 100 these days to send them every year from then on.

I remember my greatgrandmother’s 100th birthday too – I’ll see if I can dig out the photos for that. I would have been about 7 when we celebrated that – but I remember the occasion quite vividly, with the mayor of Liverpool in his chains and the telegram from the Queen (much less elaborate than the card and tassels) and the fancy blue dress I wore (or at least that was my memory of it!).

By the way – do have a look in the 100th Birthday gallery on the left – lots and lots of lovely photos!

Alison Bell : 03 Jul 2007 17:20 |  Comments (3) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

A very European weekend

Spent a fantastic four days visiting German friends last weekend, hopping over the border on Sunday to visit Strasburg.

More photos in the gallery on the left.

Strasburg has some beautiful buildings – the old timber framed houses near the river, for example, or the Art Nouveau ones… I would gladly move over there (added attraction of speaking French and proximity to Germany…). It felt v European to just drive over there – only 2 hours from Mannheim.

It was great to use my German and French again… if somewhat painful! I have a theory that they only go passive (ie you can still recognise and understand the other language, but it becomes more difficult to use it actively), but it felt dreadful not to remember some pretty basic words which I KNOW I know. There again I sometimes can’t think of English words (that tip of the tongue feeling) so I don’t know why I’m that worried!

So I’ve resolved to improve my German:
1) I joined the Deutsch fuer Fortgeschrittene course here this week in order to speak German regularly (even if it’s only once a week) and
2) I’ve bought Patrick Sueskind’s Parfum in German, English (it saves looking up words in the dictionary! Yes I am lazy!) and German audiobook! I’ve downloaded the audiobook onto my SwimP3 as well, so I can listen as I swim. Fantastisch!

Alison Bell : 11 May 2007 19:22 |  Tags: Languages |  Comments (3) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

The Transferable Skills of An Actor (2)

Course details from the web:

Date: Monday 30th April
Time: 10.00am – 1.00pm
Venue: The CAPITAL Centre, Millburn House
Course organisers: The CAPITAL Centre, English and Comparative Literary studies

Organised by the CAPITAL (Creativity in Teaching and Learning) Centre, a collaboration between the University of Warwick and the Royal Shakespeare Company, Lyn Darnley and Alison Bomber of the RSC’s Voice Department will lead two workshops exploring the skills of the actor in presenting ideas. These workshops address the central objective of CAPITAL: to apply the nature and practice of performance to teaching and learning throughout the University.

Numbers for each workshop are limited to ten and each consists of two separate sessions. The first will consider using vocal energy posture and body language to achieve the desired impact. The second session challenges assumptions as listeners and speakers and investigates holding the space, status and how we convey it, and keeping ideas fresh, in order to maximise audience response.

These are not merely presentations skills workshops but highly interactive sessions aimed at anyone interested in discovering how to select from a range of voice and performance techniques to achieve a greater impact on others.

Alison Bell : 30 Apr 2007 15:48 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Transferable Skills of an Actor

Spent this morning at the CAPITAL Centre (‘Creativity and Performance in Teaching and Learning’- a collaboration between the Royal Shakespeare Company and the University of Warwick) on a course called ‘The Transferable Skills of an Actor’. It was led by 2 voice coaches who work with the RSC’s actors and it was quite simply brilliant!

Particularly helpful exercises and insights:
- The effect of tension in the body on the voice. We did various exercises working from the feet upwards. I think as preparation for presentations it’ll be particularly useful to do the “shoulder-dropping” exercise, the opening the mouth/releasing the jaw (the coach commented on how tight my jaw was during a 2 minute speech I gave to the group), and “being grounded” using awareness of feet, soft knees, “neutral” pelvis, open shoulders/chest, helium filled head (so “lifted” off the neck). Posture is very important on how people perceive the message you’re putting across too. I knew it before the training but actually observing others and experimenting with different postures was very interesting!

- The coach kept saying how good yawning is. There was one stage of the morning when we were working on tension in the neck/mouth and breathing and we were all yawning incessantly. I feel like yawning just remembering it. The worst thing is to stifle a yawn… so the coach said. Unfortunately I don’t think freely yawning in a committee meeting would impress!

- The coach also commented that she could hear my breathing as I spoke to the group. I never realised that! I know Jo used to comment on my sighing during exams at school, and others have made me aware of the need to hold the telephone correctly so that the listener isn’t subjected to great sighs… but I didn’t realise I was so audible during normal presentations!

- Awareness of the fight and flight effect of nerves, which create tunnel vision, amongst other things – so we need to deliberately look around and expand our field of vision

- Use of tone of voice (we did lots of silly tongue exercises (sticking them out, gradually pulling them in, wagging them) Plus another exercise “angry bees” (lifting/lowering hands whilst going zzzz and raising/lowering the tone as you do it)

- It was so interesting how what we perceived we were doing was actually observed as by the group. For example, we were each given a slip of paper with an instruction on it. Mine was to talk to just one person in the room. I’m usually quite good at looking at everyone in the group (comes from monitoring a classroom for misbehaviour!) and so it was quite an effort. People came out with all sorts of suggestions for what they thought was on the paper (eg smiling a lot, using hands a lot, clenching buttocks(!!!) was what they “observed”), when in fact I was concentrating on talking solely to the coach!

- One skill of an actor is observation. Apparently drama schools send their students to zoos to observe the animals! Certainly it made sense that in order to communicate better (at meetings, and through presentations) there needs to be a heightened awareness of our own bad habits. She talked through the process of becoming aware of my bad habits, then try changing them (we are creatures of habits so that’s v hard!) and using observations of other people to feed into that, so that the desired new behaviour will eventually become subconscious.

- We were asked to say about someone we think is a good communicator and why. I immediately thought of Jean Vanier (*founder of L’Arche. I worked with him on translating his book “Our Journey Home” and have simultaneously interpreted for him on numerous occasions) and his wonderful hands. So expressive. So open/ welcoming… It’s daft but I felt quite emotional just thinking of Jean – tears came to my eyes. Richard mentioned Mark Thomas (activist/protestor) whose during his performances fills the entire stage through open arms, striding etc.

All in all an excellent course. The coaches, Lyn and Alison, were so enthusiastic and knowledgeable, it was infectious. The others in the group were from varied backgrounds- some were lecturers or researchers, others used communication for encouraging Warwick alumni to make donations. It really helped that everyone was so keen to join in, try the exercises…

Lyn mentioned that the next stage would be a course on Rhetoric. There’s a good book (but I can’t remember the title- something like “Our Masters’ Voices”) that she recommended on how politicians use rhetoric that sounded interesting. Certainly, using repetition, similes, metaphors, particular syntax etc are v effective ways to engage the audience and perhaps I could put some thought into how I use that, even when it’s just a question of “How to induct new staff effectively” (my next training session I’ll be giving)!

The workshop took place in Millburn House which is being refurbished by Estates- first of all in one of the studios (quite an austere room, felt more like a small gym) and then one of the writers’ spaces (with sofas and comfy footstools). As CAPITAL only moved in last week, it still feels (and smells) very new. Good to see what I’ve heard about so much in our Estates Office meetings!

And as a last comment- isn’t it WONDERFUL to have access to training with some of the top voice coaches in the country? It’s one of the great advantages of working at a large, very respectable institution like this one!

Alison Bell : 30 Apr 2007 14:36 |  Tags: Aua Pg Cert Training Work |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem