I started this blog last August (2010). I broke two of my left shin bones while skiing last February and I couldn't do much apart from sitting at home during the summer. These two shin bones are the biggest in your body next to your thigh bone. It takes more than a year to heal. It's been more than 13 months since my accident, and it's still not how it was before. I lost some sensation on the surface, and it might never be the same as before. One month after my accident an actress called Natasha Richardson died from head injury while skiing.
Ten months prior to that accident I had ovarian cancer. I was discussing with my ex-husband at the time how my funeral should be and what he should do with our son. Ovarian cancer is known to have no symptoms and to be too late when you notice something. I was just watching telly today and it said at the end of the programme that this person in the programme was diagnosed as having cancer and passed away two months after the filming.
I am very very lucky to be alive fit and healthy, but the thing is...I forget how lucky I am. While being transferred from the ski slope to the nearby A&E on the ambulance, I was thinking that I would never forget about surviving two of these crisis in a row. I thought I would be good and calm. Nothing is worth getting upset. I vowed never to get angry because life is too short.
Do I still remember this solemn promise to myself and live as I thought I would? The answer is 'No'. I do get worried, angry, or irritated. Am I stupid or what? I get wrapped up in minor details in everyday life. But then, do you know what the difference is? Certain things, very occasionally, remind me of these crisis and make me imagine the world without me. Cherry blossom petals blowing in the wind this afternoon in front of my room did just that.
Ingredients (for 2-3 people):
(for the pork)
1 pork fillet
about 100g pack of pancetta or smoked bacon
1 teaspoon rosemary, chopped
(for the sauce)
400g can of tomato
a handful of black olives
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
(for peas)
two handful of frozen peas
1 gem lettuce, shredded
2 spring onions, chopped thinly
1 garlic, chopped small
Place a large piece of cling film on a flat surface. Lay the pancetta slices, slightly overlapping, to the length of the pork on the cling film . Scatter the rosemary all over the pancetta. Season the pork with salt and pepper and place it at one end of the pancetta. Carefully roll the pork with pancetta by lifting the cling film on one end. It doesn't really matter if there's gap. Keep this 'roly-poly' in the fridge while you make the sauce.
Fry the garlic in a large pan, which would fit the pork later, with olive oil for a few minutes and add the tomatoes and black olives. Season and leave it to bubble on a gentle heat.
Take off the cling film from the pork and fry the whole piece on a frying pan with a little olive oil. When the pancetta is nice and brown, take it out of the pan and place it on the tomato sauce. Put the lid on and cook on a medium heat for about 10-15 minutes. Turn over the pork once halfway through.
While the pork is cooking, melt a knob of butter in a pan and put the peas, garlic, and spring onion. Cook for about 3 minutes and add the shredded lettuce. Stop the heat when the lettuce is wilted. Season with salt and pepper.
Put the pork on a chopping board and slice them into about 2-3cm chunks. Spoon over the tomato sauce and enjoy with peas.
