Shall praise good news and sing melodies./Bye wars and blood./ The sea is calm tonight,/ welcome new hymns,/ true anthems of gaiety./ Not flying on the air,/ not building the moon on earth,/ walking in beauty like a cloudless night,/ kissing new ways of living/ in starry climates./ Hopes that my heart does need,/ all dark shadows it denies./ A mind at peace/ whose eyes shine,/ bright of heaven and earth,/ waves of water, purified./ Believe in new ways of acting,/ behaviours that change oneself./ Neighbours learn/ the ways of becoming friends./ Know what to do in the future,/ fed up with a bad today,/ rid of whatever dirtiness,/ clean as the water of well./ Hope I can please myself.
NIGHT UPON TOWN
When the night falls upon town,/ Light flies unstoppable,/ and stands above, in hill’s eyes./ Peace reigns in the park/ And birds sing in dreams/ With tender words and kissed./
Quiet is a cloudless night./ The stars do move and shine,/ While everyone sleeps tenderly,/ Apart from me, the strangest one.
I’m awake and see/ The yellowy moon watching life go by./ There’s no way of avoiding/ A rare feeling at night.
PATH OF FLOWERS
Where you see that path of flowers,/ In a moment of deep shyness,/ The world vanishes fast./ There 's no more to fulfil,/ The quiet of the moment reigns./
Later, we go nowhere./ Borders you find wherever/ You want to cross./ And a well, waterless-/ emptiness everywhere./
Shadows in a world of lights,/ Cruelty mixed with tenderness./ Flying above our heads. /I don’t know what happens/When beauty becomes ugliness.
1/4 cup butter 4 boneless pork loin chops 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme 1 large onion, sliced into thin rings 1 clove garlic, crushed 1 Cox apple, cored and cut into thick rings 1 red apple, cored and cut into rings 1 teaspoon white sugar salt and pepper to taste 1 1/8 cups dry hard cider 3 tablespoons heavy cream
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
In a large heavy skillet, over medium-high heat, melt half of the butter. Fry the pork chops on both sides until a nice golden color. Transfer the chops to a 2 quart casserole dish with a lid, and sprinkle with thyme.
Melt the remaining butter in the pan, and fry the onion and garlic until tender. Transfer them to the casserole dish. Fry the apple rings in the pan for a few seconds on each side to give them color, then remove to the casserole dish. Sprinkle with sugar.
Spoon any excess fat from the frying pan and pour in the apple cider. Stir to remove any flavorful bits from the bottom. Bring the mixture to a simmer, then pour over the pork chops and apples in the dish. Season with salt and pepper.
Bake the casserole, covered for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the pork chops are cooked through. Remove the pork chops and apples to a serving platter and stir the cream into the juices. Serve sauce over pork chops.
2 fresh eggs yolks
½ pt fresh milk, hot
1oz caster sugar
Double cream (optional)
3 drops of vanilla essence
Mix the yolks, sugar and essence in a large, clean bowl. CHEFS TIP: - add 1 tsp cornflour to the yolks, sugar, and essence to stop the eggs from scrambling) Whisk in the boiled milk. Return the custard to the saucepan and re-heat, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon on a very low heat. Do not allow to boil, or the eggs will become scrambled. At the very end add a little double cream, for extra creaminess. For a Christmas Brandy Sauce omit the vanilla essence and add 3 tbsp of brandy. For Whisky or Rum Custard simply add 2 tbsp of the appropriate spirits at the end of cooking and whisk gently before serving.
Ingredients
3 pounds white-flesh fish, boneless (cod, , haddock, )
1 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable seasoning
Malt vinegar
Fish Method Cut fish into fingers about 2 ounces each and place in a glass or stainless steel pan. Mix lemon juice with Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and vegetable seasoning. Pour over fish and marinate in refrigerator for 1 hour, turning every so often to coat fish.
Remove fish from marinade, drain, dip in batter and deep fry in hot oil for about 5 minutes, turning to brown both sides, if necessary. Remove from oil and drain on papertowels. Serve with chips and malt vinegar.
3/4 cup cornstarch
2 2/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1 3/4 cups water
2 egg yolks
1/3 cup flat beer
2 teaspoons baking powder
Batter Method
Mix flour, salt, sugar, and pepper. In a separate bowl, beat water, egg yolks, and beer together with a whisk and slowly add dry ingredients. Continue to mix with whisk until mixture is smooth. Stir in baking powder. Makes enough batter to coat 3 pounds of fish.
Chips
Ingredients
6 medium potatoes
Cooking Fat or Oil
Salt
Chip Method Wash and peel potatoes slice potatoes lengthwise 4 or 5 times, then slice again into strips 4 or 5 times. Deep fry in fat or oil until brown, chips should rise near the top when they are done.
Lionel Andrés Messi (born 24 June 1987) is an Argentinefootballer who currently plays for Barcelona. Messi is considered to be one of the best football players of his generation, having received several Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations by the age of 21. His playing style and ability have drawn comparisons to football legend Diego Maradona. Messi began playing football at a young age and his potential was quickly identified by Barcelona. He left Newell's Old Boys's youth team in 2000 and moved with his family to Europe, as Barcelona offered treatment for his growth hormone deficiency. Making his debut in the 2004–05 season, he broke the La Liga record for the youngest footballer to play a league game, and also the youngest to score a league goal. Major honours soon followed as Barcelona won La Liga in Messi's debut season, and won a double of the league and UEFA Champions League in 2006. His breakthrough season was in 2006–07: he became a first team regular, scoring a hat-trick in El Clásico and finishing with 14 goals in 26 league games. Perhaps his most successful season was the 2008–09 season, in which Messi scored 38 goals to play an integral part in a treble winning campaign. Messi was the top scorer with six goals, including two in the final game of the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship. Shortly thereafter, he became an established member of Argentina's senior international team. In 2006 he became the youngest Argentine to play in the FIFA World Cup.
Early life
Messi was born on 24 June 1987 inRosario, Argentina, to parents Jorge Messi, a factory worker, and Celia (née Cuccitini), a part-time cleaner. He has two older brothers named Rodrigo and Matías as well as a sister named Maria Sol. At the age of five, Messi started playing football for Grandoli, a local club coached by his father Jorge. In 1995, Messi switched to Newell's Old Boys who were based in his home city Rosario. At the age of 11, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency. Primera División club River Plate showed interest in Messi's progress, but did not have enough money to pay for the treatment, as it cost $900 a month. Carles Rexach, the sporting director of Barcelona, had been made aware of his talent as Messi had relatives in Catalonia, and Messi and his father were able to arrange a trial. Barcelona signed him after watching him play, offering to pay for the medical bills if he was willing to move to Catalonia
Club career
Barcelona
Messi made his unofficial debut for the first team in a friendly match against Porto on 16 November 2003 (at 16 years and 145 days). Less than a year later, he made his league debut against Espanyol on 16 October 2004 (at 17 years and 114 days), becoming the third-youngest player ever to play for Barcelona and youngest club player who played in La Liga (a record broken by team mate Bojan Krkić in September 2007). When he scored his first senior goal for the club against Albacete on 1 May 2005, Messi was 17 years, 10 months and 7 days old, becoming the youngest to ever score in a La Liga game for Barcelonauntil 2007 when Bojan Krkić broke this record, scoring from a Messi assist.
2005–06 season
On 16 September, for the second time in three months, Barcelona announced an update to Messi's contract – this time improved to pay him as a first team member and extended until June 2014.. Messi netted six goals in seventeen league appearances, and scored one Champions League goal in six. His season ended prematurely on 7 March 2006, however, when he suffered a muscle tear in his right thigh during the second leg of the second round Champions League tie against Chelsea Barcelona ended the season as champions of Spain and Europe.
2006–07 season
In the 2006–07 season, Messi established himself as a regular first team player, scoring 14 times in 26 matches. On 12 November, in the game against Real Zaragoza, Messi suffered a broken metatarsal, ruling him out for three months. Messi recuperated from his injury in Argentina, and his return to action came against Racing Santander on 11 February, where he came on as a second-half substitute. On 11 March, El Clásico saw Messi in top form, scoring a hat-trick to earn 10-man Barcelona a 3–3 draw, equalising three times, with the final equaliser coming in injury time.
2007–08 season
During the 2007–08 season, Messi scored five goals in a week leading Barcelona to the top four in La Liga. On 19 September he scored once as Barcelona defeated Olympique Lyonnais 3–0 at home in a Champions League match. He scored two goals against Sevilla on 22 September and then on 26 September, Messi scored another two goals in a 4–1 victory over Real Zaragoza. On 27 February, Messi played in his 100th official match for Barça against Valencia. Messi was sidelined for six weeks following an injury on 4 March when he suffered a muscle tear in his left thigh during a Champions League match against Celtic. It was the fourth time in three seasons that Messi suffered this type of injury.
2008–09 season
Upon Ronaldinho's departure from the club, Messi inherited his number 10 jersey. On 1 October 2008, during a Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk, Messi scored two goals during the last seven minutes, after coming on as a substitute for Thierry Henry, to turn the score from 1–0 to a 1–2 victory for Barcelona. The next league game was versus Atlético Madrid, a match billed as a friendly battle between Messi and his good friend Sergio Agüero. Messi scored a goal from a free kick and assisted another as Barça went on to win the match 6–1. Messi netted another impressive brace against Sevilla scoring a volley from 23 metres (25 yd) and then dribbling round the goalkeeper and scoring from a tight angle for the other. On 13 December 2008, during the first Clásico of the season, Messi scored the second goal in Barcelona's 2–0 win over Real Madrid. He was also named second in the 2008 FIFA World Player of the Year awards with 678 points.
Messi scored his first hat-trick of 2009 in a Copa del Rey tie against Atlético Madrid which Barcelona won 3–1. Messi scored another important double on 1 February 2009, coming on as a second half substitute to help Barcelona defeat Racing Santander 1–2 after being 1–0 down. The second of the two strikes was Barcelona's 5000th league goal. In the 28th round of La Liga, Messi scored his 30th goal of the season in all competitions, helping his team to a 6–0 victory over Málaga CF in the process. On 8 April 2009, he scored twice against Bayern Munich in the Champions' League, setting a personal record of nine goals in the competition. On 18 April, Messi notched his 20th league goal of the season in a 1–0 win at Getafe, allowing Barcelona to maintain their six point advantage at the top of the league table over Real Madrid.
As Barcelona's season was drawing to a close, Messi scored twice (his 35th and 36th goals in all competitions) to cap a 6–2 win over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu in what was Real's heaviest defeat since 1930. After scoring each goal, he ran towards the fans and the cameras lifting up his Barcelona jersey and showing another T-shirt that read Síndrome X Fràgil, Catalan for Fragile X Syndrome, to show his support for children who suffer from the affliction. Messi was involved in the build-up to Andrés Iniesta's injury time goal against Chelsea in the Champions League semi-final to send Barcelona through to face Manchester United in the final. He won his first Copa del Rey on 13 May, scoring one goal and assisting another two, in a 4–1 victory over Athletic Bilbao. He helped his team win the double by winning La Liga. On 27 May he helped Barcelona win the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final by scoring a second goal in the 70th minute giving Barcelona a two goal lead; he also became the top scorer in the Champions League with nine goals. Messi also won the UEFA Club Forward of the Year: and the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year rounding off a spectacular year in Europe. This victory meant Barcelona had won the Copa del Rey, La Liga and UEFA Champions League in the one season, and was the first time a Spanish club had ever won the treble.
2009–10 season
After winning the 2009 UEFA Super Cup, Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola asserted that Messi was probably the best player he had ever seen. On 18 September, Messi signed a new contract with Barcelona, running until 2016 and with a buy-out clause of €250 million included, making Messi the highest paid player in La Liga, with earnings of around €9.5 million yearly. Four days later, on 22 September, Messi scored two goals and assisted another in Barça's 4–1 win over Racing Santander in La Liga Messi scored his first European goal of the season on 29 September in a 2–0 win over Dynamo Kyiv<
