Travelling

I recently went travelling with 3 friends around Indonesia; first stop Singapore, then Yogyakarta, Bali, Lombok and the Gilli Islands. Only.. I didn't quite make it to Lombok or the Gilli Islands. I returned home early because I wasn't enjoying myself as much as I should have been for the amount of money I was spending. I don't and won't regret this decision; I don't make them lightly. I do understand that I was in a very privileged position and that lots of people would have killed to have gone in my place, but if I had stayed, I would have been lying to myself and I don't live my life by keeping myself miserable. I know it's hard to understand if you don't have the same thought pattern as me, sorry.  Here are a few of the beautiful things I got to see though;

Incense burning outside a Buddhist temple

The Temple

Offering at the temple

orchid garden on the roof of the temple

views from the zoo

fox dog

sleeping lions

zoo stamp

mosquito bites

first ever visa

Volcano from the plane

Prambanan temple

Temple at sunset

Parangtritis

Sunrise from the top of a mountain

sunrise and moon

Dani and I, sunrise

Mount Bromo

Sunset at Kuta

Day at the beach, Bali

I got to Bungy

I landed safely

beautiful sand

temple

offering pot

mummy and baby

sunset at the temple

another temple

Hindu this time

eroded by the sea

beautiful though.

I don't regret my trip, and I wouldn't change it for anything, but I have learnt a lot about myself which has made me reconsider my life plan. Brilliant. A bit of change has never killed anyone though has it?

Mini-Memory-Books

The other day, I was about to start a scrapbook page for a really good time in my life - The Leeds University Union dance show, in which my cheerleading team took part in two dances. I realised that I had too many photographs that I wanted to include, and knew I'd have to think of something else to do.

That's when I decided to make a mini-memory-book. I considered the photographs and the dominant colours to make sure I chose the right pages, but then thought that our team colours - green, burgundy, white and black would be more suitable. I chose my pages and measured them; they needed to be wide enough for the photograph and any design I wanted to add after. I counted how many photographs I had and how many pages I would need etc. I folded the paper to make sure they were showing the right colour (they were two sided papers) and attached with double sided sticky tape. Then I added the photographs, some writing, hearts and glitter.

I learnt that I should have not folded the paper, but cut it and stuck it back together with the pinker card in between - this would have just given a hint of colour, rather than the block of colour you can see in this photo. I am pleased with this mini-memory-book, but I made another two and learnt from this previous mistake.

This mini-memory-book is for my second year Cheerleading tour. (Please excuse the quality of the photograph, I am only using my iphone- I will start using my Canon)

                                    

I weathered the edges of the dotty paper with some gold and grey ink, and cut out individual letters from an old book. The bottle cap is stuck on with a glue gun. 

These are the photographs included, and you can see how big it is - quite small really.

As you can see, I learnt my lesson. I made sure the joining section was tucked in between both sheets of paper so there was only a hint of extra colour, rather than a block. You can also see that I used Lace on this particular design - that's my favourite pattern, much to my mothers apprehension as it's hers!

I also used Brads on this particular design as you can see on the right hand side, but rather than poke them through and bend, I trimmed the back off and stuck them on using the hot glue gun- I didn't want the page on the back to be different.

Before I made this mini-memory-book, I made this one;

But decided it was too pretty and would use it for something else!

P.S. I haven't figured out how to rotate pictures yet either! If you know.. do tell please.

Apples

I was round my friends house the other day having a good old catch up, when her mum came in and asked if I'd like a bag of home produce! Amongst the beans and courgettes I had a tonne of apples and have tried out a few recipes I've wanted to try for a while; tarte tatin and apple sauce.

While the apple sauce is the perfect accompaniment to our roast pork belly, my tarte tatin did not turn out that well! First of all, I don't have a heavy bottom pan that's suitable for the oven, so I tried to make it in a banana loaf tin which I reckon was my biggest downfall. I followed the recipe as shown, but didn't make my own pastry, I had some pre-made frozen puff pastry, and just tucked the edges around the apples. Good luck if you try!

MissMash

Melted spatual - sugar gets really hot children!

Peanut Chicken Stirfry

I have been asked to remember this recipe as I cooked it for a friend and she really enjoyed it! I have left the actual recipe in Leeds, so I will make any adjustments when I have it in front of me again!

Chicken - 2-3 breasts, depending on how many you're cooking for. I've tried it with boneless thighs and it's not as good. quite bad actually.
1 teaspoon of chili powder- can change to your personal taste
1 inch of root ginger, chopped into matchsticks
1-2 cloves of garlic, chopped
cook in groundnut oil (can use other oil but I wouldn't really recommend olive)
1- 1 and 1/2 onion, depending on how much you like it
3-4 tablespoons of crunchy peanut butter
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
Rice to accompany

Optional;
mange tout or sugar snap
Baby sweetcorn                              as many as you like, if you like

Fry off the chicken in the oil, with the onion, ginger, garlic, mange tout/baby sweetcorn.
When you are sure this is cooked, coat the mix in the chili powder, add the peanut butter and soy sauce, and stir well to mix.

This second step does not take long and you don't want to keep the peanut butter in the pan too long as it will stick and ruin your pan!

Serve with rice and enjoy!

Fish Pie with a Pea and Mint Dip

I decided to make my father and I a yummy dinner this week, so yummy in fact, that I want to share it with you!

I used Rick Stein's recipe (the God of fish recipes) but adapted it to the ingredients I had/like.

for starters, I'm not the biggest fan of eggs, especially hard boiled, so I lost those straight away.
I also didn't have any cream, so that was lost, and I also only had UHT milk, so that was used!
Yeah, and I didn't have cloves or nutmeg so they were gone too.
I didn't get the specific fish either - as long as one was a bit plainer and one was smoked, I would have used any. Tesco's, however, have a handy fish pie pack all ready with the fish cut.
Dad forgot to tell me that his Parsley plant died off in all the rain, so the parsley was left out, but I don't recommend that - I will definitely put it in next time.

Basically I had a very very basic version of this recipe which included;

• 1 small onion, thickly sliced
• 1 bay leaf
• 600 ml UHT milk
• 450 g unskinned cod fillets                              any fish you like (one smoked)
• 225 g undyed smoked cod fillets
• large knob of butter
• 45 g plain flour (about 2-3 spoons)
• 5 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
• 1.25 kg peeled floury potatoes, such as King Edwards or Maris Piper (about 5-6)
• salt and pepper from a pot. 

I made my sauce too thick as I put 4-5 spoons rather than 2-3 and I would do exactly that again because it was extra tastey! Follow the instruction as Rick suggests in the recipe.

To the side of this dish I decided to make minted peas, as I don't like peas by themselves but minted they are bearable! I found in the latest Morrisons magazine a recipe for a pea and mint dip, so instead I tried that..

it went;

peas (as many as you'd like)
fresh mint leaves (probably about 4-5 for every handful of peas)
Garlic clove
small knob of butter
salt and pepper

Boil all the ingredients on the hob until the peas are cooked (not all of the mint leaves, only about 5 and leave the rest out). Drain most but not all of the water, and then place all ingredients (and the extra leaves) in the blender and add some olive oil. Taste to test the seasoning. Pulse until a smooth paste.

I personally found the peas a bit chalky, like humus, so I would not pulse into a paste again, just a little blip for a chunkier side dish.

Drain into a bowl and swirl in some olive oil if you think you're fancy enough.

I also had some garlic bread alongside mine, even though it wasn't necessary with my individual portion sizes being a bit ambitious! and look what I found when I got it out of the packet.

Half cut and buttered. What a con!

Hope you enjoy the recipe :)