Ikea gets everywhere!

Just along the donkey track from us ...

Now, step a little closer …

2010 Ikea catalogue, in Greek

Our old friends Ikea are still doing a roaring trade here!

Thursday’s Tried & Tested

One of our hopes in quitting work and moving here was that we would be able to live a simpler life. In financial terms we certainly needed to live more frugally, but we also wanted to shift down a gear or ten and live a quieter life.  Not so much “The Good Life” but with a healthy nod towards the mindful philosophy of the “Slow Food” movement.

With that in mind one of the things that we have enjoyed since we arrived is having the time to research and investigate and experiment some of the things that previously we could only say “Oh, that’s a great idea. I wonder if it actually works?”

Three years in we’ve been able to do some of that so we thought we’d share some of the things that have worked well. Some are money saving tips, some are time saving, some are using resources differently, some crafty, and so on.

To kick off, a foodie Tried & Tested.

Oven-Dried Tomatoes

From time to time (ok, a couple of times a month) we end up with a small bowl of sad and tired tomatoes languishing in the cupboard. Grocery shopping is approaching, it’d be a shame to waste the tomatoes but they’re, well, a little past their best.

And yet, it’s possible to not just refresh them but make them into something that can be used in any of half a dozen dishes. Their flavour concentrates, their texture changes entirely.  When Ian sees these being prepared he smiles. A suspicious soul would suggest that he over-buys tomatoes to make sure this happens regularly :-)

So;

• Cut the tomatoes in half, or quarters if they are absolutely huge
• Place them cut-side up in an oven proof dish (in this case, the lid of a pyrex dish bought for Mands by her grandmother as a housewarming present many year ago. Pyrex goes on forever!)
• Drizzle over a little olive oil, sprinkle a little salt and freshly ground pepper. Add some herbs if there are any hanging about … in this case some thyme straight from the freezer
• Put the dish in the oven on a very low heat for an hour, or two or even three, and allow the tomatoes to dry out
• Once they are cooked put them in a tupperware, cover them completely with oil and pop them in the fridge, or even the freezer. They’ll keep happily in the fridge for a couple of weeks, though they tend not to last that long in this house.

Slightly tired tomatoes, pre-cooking

To use them;

• Toss them through pasta or add them to an existing pasta sauce
• Add them to salads, using some of the oil to make the salad dressing
• Stand at the fridge door and eat them direct from the tupperware, remembering to mop up the telltale oil dribbles before anyone notices
• Drain them and pile them, with some parmesan or olives or herbs, onto lightly toasted bread to make bruschetta
• Add them to homemade pizzas, or to shop-bought to make them a little more interesting

Things worth noting;

• When the tomatoes are all gone the oil is great for adding a tomatoey flavour to other dishes
• If the oven temperature is low enough they can be cooking along with something else. If the oven is on but the temperature is a little high they’ll probably be ok but do keep a close eye on them
• They can be made in huge batches which is useful when the summer tomato glut comes
• They cook really well in a halogen oven, particularly if there are round containers to hand
• They are fairly robust in terms of the flavours they’ll accept. Thyme, oregano, garlic, chilli, balsamic vinegar (but skip the drizzle of oil) all work well
• They are a great fridge standy-by for when folks drop by unexpectedly … a little like biscotti

Post-cooking

Bruschetta with oven-dried tomatoes, smoked turkey & parmesan

Happy cooking!

Supply and Demand

No, not another post about water! For those interested, the water came back on the following day. So, in all likelihood it was some unplanned maintenance rather than us being cut off for not paying the water bill. But since the water bill still hasn’t been paid (and some of it goes back as far as August) you may see more posts on this in the coming weeks.

So, back to supply and demand. Sometimes we sometimes read the UK news with a little bafflement. Right now one of the big stories appears to be the annual rumpus regarding the must-have toy this Christmas. For 2007 that, apparently, is the Nintendo Wii.

For those who have never heard of them the pronounciation you are looking for is We. The Wii is a games console, made by Nintendo and this year demand in the UK has exceeded supply so much that Nintendo considered canceling all advertising. Whole websites are devoted to searching online retailers, minute by minute, to track down elusive stocks. Discussion are ranging in online communities such as The Motley Fool and MoneySavingExpert about how to get hold of a Wii. Is is worth flying to the US or taking the Chunnel across to France in the hopes of picking one up there? On eBay Wiis are selling in crazy volumes, and sometimes crazy prices.

So, if Wiis are in such short supply that people are considering trading in their first-born child for one why are we baffled? Well, because had we not read these news stories and seen the online discussions here in Cyprus we wouldn’t know there was a shortage. Why not? Well, ‘cos there are plenty on the shelves, obviously! The electrical concession in one of our local supermarkets has three on display. When we asked if they were displaying empty boxes the staff were a little bemused.

No, they are full. Why? We have more in the storeroom if you want more than one and we will get more supplies next week

The price? £169CYP (£206GBP) against a UK recommended retail price of £178GBP.

A trip to Nicosia ended up with us wandering through a newly built mall. The electrical store there had a stack of about nine on the stock floor. This time we didn’t even bother to ask if they were real. Apparently there’s no shortage in Cyprus.

Today we dropped into our regular supermarket to pick up a loaf of bread and a gas bottle. Yes, shopping can be a little different here! While we were paying we spotted another little stack of Wiis. And they were on sale, reduced down to £155CYP.

We can only assume that Nintendo didn’t fully understand their market. Here, home computing is not that common. Less than 10% of homes have a computer so perhaps home gaming is even less usual. The result is that while the UK seems to be getting tied in knots over whether little Jonny will get his Wii for Christmas, here they are being put on sale as there is no interest.

Strange times!

The Italian glass bar

Some friends have become heavily involved in fund-raising for a local charity which is setting up a hospice to give local care to local people. All being well the first three beds should be available within the next month providing end-of-life and respite care to the terminally ill.

In cultural terms the island has, traditionally, had a slightly different approach to countries such as the UK or America. Until recently the expectation was that the terminally ill would be treated at home, by relatives, or would be hospitalised and treated even if the only point of the treatment was to make everyone feel that something was being done even if the treatment was futile. As a result hospices, respite care and even palliative care are much lacking here.

As in most places, providing such care is expensive. Each of the three beds will cost tens of thousands of Cypriot pounds to maintain each year so effective fund-raising is an ongoing challenge.

As part of the fund-raising the charity runs a shop in Limassol which does a roaring trade in clothing, books, bric-a-brac and some less obvious items. The friends concerned are currently spending large amounts of time driving around the area and collecting items that have been donated. Over drinks recently we were regaled by stories of the strange things that people offer them and the oddities that sell such as …

…. a three foot high yellow stuffed tweetie-pie which was bought by a Filipino. Why? Seems to be the only reasonable question here! Sadly they didn’t get the chance to ask so we’ll all remain baffled for the rest of time.

… a huge old-fashioned electric typewriter taken away by an elderly local last seen cycling through Limassol with it perched on the hand bars of his bicycle …

… and a large Italian glass drinks bar.

Apparently some of the stock is too big to put in the shop or even to hold in the storeroom so one of the volunteers has taken to using his apartment storeroom as a temporary home for large items. Things like the bar – which was offered and seemed too good to refuse – is now causing some scratched heads. If it’s too big to display in the store then how do they make people aware that they have it? Is there a ready market for a custom built Italian glass bars, professionally packaged and shipped to Cyprus and still in it’s wrapping?

We’re not sure the photo does it justice but if there is anyone reading that has a (large) corner of their home that is crying out for such a thing and has a couple of hundred pounds to spare? Oh, and doesn’t mind a trip to Limassol to collect the thing. If you are interested, or know someone who needs such a thing, then drop us an email via our About page or leave a comment on the blog and we’ll put you in touch with the current owners of the bar.

Follow-ups

Apparently IKEA had about 15,000 on opening day. The few reports we’ve heard all said good things.

The peace talks went nowhere apart from giving the two sides a chance to trade fresh insults. No surprises there then.

And, we’ve tweaked the blog a little and given it a small face-lift. Hope you like it :-)

IKEA is coming

This week the island is due to get its first IKEA store. For months, no years, there has been speculation that the company was going to build a store but nothing appeared. Two months ago there was still no mention of it on IKEA’s list of stores due to open this year and then, suddenly, a huge blue building with the traditional yellow logo popped up on the outskirts of Nicosia.

Now, they are ramping up for the opening. Every single house in the area has had an brochure hand-delivered. The police are trying to work out how they will cope with the volume of customers and traffic expected at the opening. Apparently the store has capacity for 4,000 customers and the car park space for 800 cars. A quick back-of-a-fagpacket calculation says that those numbers don’t stack up. Are the hoping that each car will arrive with five people? If so, where will they stash their purchases for the return journey?

Before we left London a store opened in Edmonton. The store is on the North Circular, the inner of two roads circling Greater London. Initial interest was a little more than the company expected and they were forced to close the store after just 30 minutes after customers stampeeded into the store in search of opening day bargains. When the car park was full people abandoned their cars on the road.

The Telegraph Battle of Ikea: 20 hurt as frenzied mob fights over £49 sofas on opening night

As it turned out once the store had settled down a little (or rather the customers!) it became our ‘local’ store as we could drive around the North Circular and be there in under half an hour. In fact, Mands once came home in sitting in the boot of the car as we’d bought a little too much that day.

It will be interesting to see how things work out with our new ‘local’ store. Hopefully the grand opening won’t cause quite so much trouble as our last local store. That said, we have heard from one person that they are planning to visit on Friday, the second day of trading ;-)