Happy Birthday to Me!

It’s official, the year of 25 is over. I cannot believe that I am now on the other side of my ‘mid-twenties'..a little scary I must admit..but before I launch into my birthday weekend I must first tell you about another celebration.  For the first time in I can’t remember how many years, I decided to celebrate Shrove/Pancake Tuesday.  Even though I do not participate in Lent, it very quickly become apparent that A LOT of people celebrate Shrove Tuesday in Scotland, so I thought why not get on board.  Still eating sugar like it’s going out of fashion (which by the way seriously has to stop in the coming weeks, yes I’m giving myself another week!) I made a chocolate pancake topped with some oreo biscuits and butterscotch sauce.  Possibly the easiest sauce to make with some butter, brown sugar and cream all melted together, heavenly. 

 

The end of the week couldn’t come quicker and before I knew it, I was at the airport and on my way to London.  This is my last planned trip before leaving the UK so there were a few things I wanted to tick of my list along with enjoying the hustle and bustle that the city has to offer.   After dropping my things at the hostel I made my way into the city with the first thing on the agenda being to get myself some tickets to a west end performance that night.  It was meant to be when I arrived and there were two tickets left to Stomp that night so I purchased them without any hesitation. With my night planned I headed to Covent Garden markets to grab some lunch and watch the word go by.  There were a number of street performers and the weather was lovely so I sat outside to have tasty pizza before going to meet my travel buddy who travelled to London later that day.  We took a stroll through St James Park and past Buckingham Palace enjoying the sunshine.  One other place I simply couldn’t leave London without seeing is the world famous Harrods department store.  A very pretty building but I can imagine that it would look so much better at night all lit up but the inside is amazing.  So much to see and if my bank balance allowed it so much to try as there was a massive food court with the most delicious looking chocolates, macaroons and fresh seafood to name a few.  Time to head back to Leicester Square for a pre-musical cider and a snack after my late lunch. The show started at 8pm and I really wasn’t too sure what to expect, I knew that the concept of the show was to create music with ordinary objects such as rubbish bins or shopping trolleys.  I was however expecting some type of storyline that tied the whole show together so I was a little disappointed when that didn’t happen, but wow it was a very talented bunch and there were some amazing parts of the show.   After an early start and exhausting day I was happy to head back to the hostel and do some socialising which turned into facebooking haha.

Birthday morning! Happy Chloe day haha.  With no real plans in the morning we decided to set off to check out Abbey Road and I am so glad we did. It was so funny watching people trying to cross the road with cars and buses having to wait getting annoyed and honking their horns. It was certainly a fun way to pass the time but there was no way I was going there without getting my photo taken.  Thank goodness there was a small break in the traffic and we pounced before anyone else got the chance.  We continued on into Camden with a small little pit stop at Lords cricket ground for a photo (there is no way I was spending much time at a cricket ground on my birthday!) and then found a lovely little cafe to have some lunch, I decided on a crab and avocado pate served with sourdough which was very enjoyable. Off to the markets to find me some birthday cake before heading to the most exciting part of my trip, the Harry Potter studios.  Lets just say the best part of my red velvet cupcake was the icing!

 

Harry Potter here I come, I was that excited anyone would have thought that it was the first time I had been let out of a house or something! I was warned that you need about 3 hours to work your way through the entire studios but wow, when they allow 3 hours that is going quickly and taking in about half of the stuff.  I could not believe how overwhelming everything was.  There was so much to see, so much to take in and so many things to read! There is so much I could write about but the things that I loved the most were the outdoor props such as the knight bus and number 4 private drive, the Grand Hall (I could not believe they actually built this entire room with the grand doors, it was MASSIVE) but most of all Diagon Alley.  It was easily my favourite part of the entire tour.  Such an amazing experience I totally loved it and was so glad I made the trip down to see it.

 

My final day in London, I had nothing else I really wanted to do, so I headed into town to wander around Westminster.   I somehow ended up on my way to St James’s park when I realised it was so close to 11am that I could see changing of the guards at horse guards parade which I hadn’t yet seen.  It was a little bit of a letdown haha but certainly passed some of my morning.  There was one other place I wanted to go back to and this was Hummus Bros.  I had been there once before and thought it was very good, but I was pretty sick at the time so I didn’t take any pictures or make any real reference to it so I thought why not head there again.  I decided on chicken with a side of tabouleh and to be honest it was a little too much hummus and if I didn’t have the tabouleh to break it up it was have been a struggle to eat.  It’s a great concept though and something unique that you don’t see every day.  My last little wander around and I managed to run right into the biggest toy store in London, Hamelys! I was def up for checking that out and when I entered the 5 story building I discovered a level dedicated to Lego.  It was so amazing with Lego figurines everywhere including life size telephone booths and the royal family!

 

Back in Edinburgh now and things are starting to wind down here with about 5 weeks to go before I head to the USA and Canada.  I have a lot to organise so I really should get on that, but hopefully in the coming weeks I have a few plans to share with you and some exciting things coming up.  Until then, take care xx

Sugar, Soccer, Sunderland & Scrolls

Well it’s been 9 months since I left Australia, but I have finally done it!  Yep I have finally ticked off going to an EPL soccer game.  Seriously, why has this taken me 9 months! I couldn’t believe how easy it was to organise a day trip to Sunderland to watch Sunderland V Arsenal but after organising it last weekend it seems as though this week went at snail’s pace.

I am not sure how exactly this happened, perhaps it was all the excitement for the game on the weekend but gosh my sugar intake this week has exceeded my whole sugar intake for the year so far!  It started out with a little chocolate Easter egg and then bam, the next thing I knew it was the middle of the week and I was baking! Refusing to leave the house to give myself this sugar fit, I raided the pantry to find a little flour, cocoa and brown sugar.  Well I could work with this, a little recipe searching and I was making a chocolate self saucing pudding.  A very simple dessert that took minutes to mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa, eggs, milk & butter before covering it with more sugar and cocoa and boiling water and pop in the oven. Half an hour or so later, out comes chocolate goodness with a gooey centre and crusty top.  The only thing I would have changed was adding some ice cream on the side!

 

Still on my sugar high, the weekend finally rolled around and we were off to Sunderland.  Well only just as we did only make the train with about a minute to spare before they closed the doors.  There was some running to the platform, but the important thing is that we made it there!  I was warned before going to Sunderland that there is nothing to do there and we should spend as little extra time there as possible, I can see what they were talking about as it is really just an industrial town with lots of old old buildings then a huge much newer stadium randomly chucked in the middle.  It was a great stadium though and I was shocked at how close we were to the pitch, I could almost reach out and touch the players.  The Sunderland fans were much tamer than I expected but the atmosphere was still electric especially in the second half as the desperation to get a goal intensified.  Arsenal came out winners with a 1-0 victory, I am still not sure if I am going to support them, I’m not really a fan of there away strip haha.  It was a really great day and another big tick off my list of things to do before I go home.  After the game we headed back into Newcastle before we caught a later train back to Edinburgh. We found a pub not too far from the station to have a bite to eat, turns out it was a good choice by us as it was a sports club with more games on the big screen and a lot of supporters headed there after the game.  Since I had already eaten a bunch of rubbish this week, I decided why not continue and have some nachos. I honestly think it’s the best nachos I have had in a long time, the salsa was so fresh and clearly homemade as well as the guacamole being spot on.  Good impression Newcastle!  I wish we had more of a chance to look around Newcastle as I hear it is a beautiful town but we headed back on the train to Edinburgh for the night.

 

Today I have spent the day just pottering around the house and have actually been in the kitchen baking some snacks.  I wanted to give something new a try and I stumbled across a recipe for savoury scrolls so I gave it a whirl.  Similar to a scone like recipe I suppose I made the dough and kneaded away until I had a reasonably smooth mixture and then rolled out with a make shift rolling pin, aka a glass, topped with some cheese, bacon and tomato paste then rolled it up, cut into 12 little scrolls and popped them into the oven. 20 minutes later and out came some very successful looking scrolls.  They were not quite as light as I would have liked them but still tasted good.  Apparently this wasn’t enough to satisfy my scroll craving so with some spare pastry lying around I also made some sweet chilli, spinach and cheese pin wheels.  Very tasty and you can never go wrong with anything that involves puff pastry!

 

Time now to maybe clean up the mess I have made and prepare myself for another week at work before heading to London next Saturday morning for another action packed fun filled birthday weekend.  Until then, keep smiling :)

Let it snow!

Well it’s about time but I finally have a snow story for you!  Edinburgh, it’s taken you close to 4 months but you have delivered the goods.  It’s almost like I have never seen snow before, which is not the case, but I just can’t explain to people the difference between going away to ‘the snow’ for a skiing holiday versus waking up to a snow covered back yard (not that we have a backyard in our apartment, but you get my drift!).  It’s such a magical feeling to watch out the window and everything you look at is blanketed in white. 

Lucky for us the snow came on a Friday so we had all weekend to enjoy the winter wonderland.  We decided why not kill two birds with one stone and go and play out in the snow and climb Arthurs Seat, the main peak in the centre of Edinburgh.  In retrospect, maybe not the best idea we have come up with as my runners are not really equipped to walking in snow/ice.  Lets just say there were times that I was meant to be walking up the hill and I might as well have had ski’s on my feet and going down as I was on my butt a lot!

It is a spectacular view from the top of the mountain and ended up being a beautiful day.  There were so many families that had taken the opportunity to enjoy the day outdoors and many who had brilliant ideas to sled down once they had conquered the climb. Being the cheap civilians we are, our version of a sled was a garbage bag, nothing like these fancy sleds others were using!  I had spent enough time on my butt already making the decision very easy to get down as far as possible without having to walk.   It was so much fun but being overtaken by the real sleds certainly made me jealous! If it snows again, I think I may have to step up my quality of sled.

After an exhausting day of trying to stay on my feet, I decided to try and make a new and delicious lunch.  I have always enjoyed veggie burgers but I have never really tried to make my own. Trying to avoid the carbs in potatoes, I boiled up some sweet potato and mashed them up mixed with grated carrot, grated zucchini, celery, capsicum, egg and flower.  To give it a bit of flavour I added some curry powder and then kabaam, burgers were made!  I decided to coat them in some muesli to give it bit of a crunch and then cook them up in the fry pan.  I was surprised at how delicious they tasted with some salad and natural yoghurt.  I have already given them another crack and they certainly still need a little more perfecting but if you want a nice twist to having vegies, I would highly recommend giving this one a go.

That’s about it for me at the moment, but be prepared for a few interesting blogs soon as I have some exciting weeks planned with a trip to see a REAL soccer game, I couldn’t be more excited!  Come on Arsenal, I knew there was a reason I stumbled across your arena in my first few weeks of arriving.  For the less sporty fans I am heading to London for my birthday to go to the Warner Bros studios to see the making of Harry Potter! YAY!! Until then, keep smiling xx

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

After what seems like forever (realistically a month or so) of not having internet at home, I’m back baby!!  I am sure there are some of you that must be thinking I have gone into winter hibernation and others that haven’t even noticed that I have been MIA but I have so much to catch you up on as I spend my Sunday indoors watching the snow fall out my window, that’s right, SNOW!  Our second day of snow for the winter although it seems to be melting the moment it hits the ground so no sledding stories for you just yet.

Time to back track to late November when I left you on the edge of your seats due to my excitement of working at Scottish Rugby Union.  Before I even get into what happened there and what I have been cooking, I must first explain to you how unbelievably happy I was to see my travel buddy return from her trip to Aus but more importantly what came back with her.  Anyone who knows me, should be able to guess the first thing I would want from home, but for those of you who are trying to think of something to post me as a present..hint hint.. I will happily share with you that a caramello koala is the way to go!
Sadly my time at SRU came to an end just over a month of working there as the autumn test series wrapped up.  To say a little thank you for all of the opportunities I was given there I decided what better way than turn up with some food.  I stuck to the Aussie theme and made one of my favourite slices as a kid, hedgehog.  A huge hit in our family, possibly my sisters all time favourite thing to eat ever, and if there is not hedgehog in the fridge or freezer at any given time there is a serious problem.  A simple simple simple slice that requires crushed sweet biscuits combined with melted butter, cocoa, eggs & sugar left to set in the fridge overnight was as tasty as I remember it.  After the serious sugar hit I needed to work off some calories and we headed to an Elvis cabaret night organised by one of the ladies I worked with.  Something I would never have considered doing unless I was perhaps in Las Vegas but it turned out to be a fun filled night and something I would definitely consider doing again.

After finishing up at SRU on Friday I was lucky enough to have a new administration job at Energy Saving Trust on the following Monday.  Not really knowing what I was walking in to, in typical Chloe tradition I decided to get organised to at least have my lunch for the week.   I decided to bake a very simple cheese and bacon quiche, simple seems to be a theme recently!  Another dish that was a regular in our house for lunch as a kid was our version of egg and bacon pie consisting of bacon, eggs, cheese, carrot, milk, salada biscuits, spring onions and seasonings.  Lacking on a few ingredients at the time I made an adapted version of this, admittedly not as delicious as normal but a fairly healthy lunch with some salad on the side.
I am now over a month into this role where I am processing government grants for energy saving schemes and its going along rather well.  My contract is until the end of March so will just see how things go over the next few months but I think that will bring me to the end of my time in Edinburgh.

As Christmas was fast approaching, Edinburgh seems to come to life at this time of year.  The town gardens transform into a winter wonderland including an outdoor skating rink and a huge daily market.  We decided to head down to check it out on a Friday night and taste some mulled wine, apparently a tradition that is loved by all. I on the other hand, can’t say that it was love!  I think the best way to describe the taste is to imagine a nice big batch of sangria and imagine it hot.  I probably wouldn’t have it again but glad I can say that I have tried it at least once and sticking to my plan of trying the local cuisine and beverages.  Haggis definitely wins this battle as the better of the traditions in my opinion!

As Christmas time is a time to embrace traditions, I was invited to a pantomime, something I had never even heard of before, which is apparently an annual performance best described as musical comedy where each year a different fairytale theme is used.   This year was Mother Goose and I admit I really had no idea what to expect as it is aimed at families with younger children and relies on audience interaction.  It was surprisingly good but there were a lot of little Scottish jokes I did not understand making it somewhat harder to join in!  It was a fun way to spend Christmas Eve though and certainly helped get in the spirit to prepare for over indulging on food the following day. I was invited to spend Christmas lunch with some friends I worked with at SRU and indulge we did on a roast turkey with all the trimmings.  It was certainly a different Christmas to what I am used to, instead of being outdoors in shorts and singlet or inside under the air conditioner I was wrapped up in a jacket and scarf!  I did take some time to make sure I had a little taste of home and I made my sticky date pudding with butterscotch sauce for dessert.  So light and fluffy but packed full of flavour, I regret not taking photos of this one as I am still to this day wishing there was more left over to eat as it was so so so good.  I think it won’t be long before this reappears on my blog, I may even make the excuse that I need some photos to share with you so I can cook and eat it again!

Christmas seemed to come and go and before I knew it I was back at work!  Not for long though as the build up to Hogmany was very exciting.  Something that is a ‘must do’ according to all the travel books so we booked our tickets months ago and New Years at the street party here we come!  We first met up with a bunch of Aussies that we have become close friends with for a few celebratory beverages with dinner.  Now one way to know you are with a bunch of Aussies is when they spot something that looks like a choc ripple cake and come running into the lounge room and ask “are they REAL choc ripple biscuits!?”  Sometimes we are such a sad bunch but the excitement that we were having a real choc ripple cake with some biscuits that were from the Aussie shop in London possibly, in fact did, make the night that much better! Heading down to the street party we, and the other 80 thousand people that were there, were so lucky with the weather that it stopped raining the night before making it a perfect night to be outside.  To see the fireworks so close was certainly worth it as I have never see anything like it before and was an enjoyable way to bring in the New Year.

Like I am sure most of you are, I am back into the swing of things at work now and spending some time indoors to try and save some money over the next few months.  I hope you have all had an enjoyable start to the New Year and I look forward to what 2013 will bring for me, hopefully more adventures to share with you but more importantly if all goes to plan, not too long before I see you all back in the land of Aus!  Take care, keep smiling and I will do my best not to leave you waiting on the edge of your seats for so long for an update in the future xx

My Macaroon Disaster!

Last time I left you I had just gotten the news that I would be starting a job the following day but was yet to find out where.  Well I couldn’t have been more excited when I found out it was at Scottish Rugby Union, hello dream workplace!! I have been working at reception for the last two weeks and have been given some amazing opportunities including meeting the players, checking out the change rooms before the game, watching the pre-game and kick off from the tunnel and greeting a few celebs including Gerard Butler and Princess Anne.  WOW, I couldn’t be happier at this workplace and I am not looking forward to the end of the placement that is for sure.

In preparation for my first day I decided it was time to get back into baking some healthy snacks and first on the list were zucchini muffins.  One of my favourite snacks to have mid morning I try and keep these more like mini quiches than a muffin using at least 4 eggs mixed with milk and just a little self raising flour, around two tablespoons, to add to the grated zucchini, carrot, cheese and bacon that makes this a flavour sensation.   These managed to last less than a week and I have sadly been too exhausted, maybe a little lazy haha, to make another batch so it has been carrot and celery sticks for my snacks since then.

 

Two weeks in and I still cannot believe that I have been able to work for a national sporting team with athletes that are representing their country at the highest possible level.  Even though I don’t know who any of the players are (and let me tell you that has led to a few embarrassing moments!) I jumped at the opportunity to check out the change rooms prior to the first game of the series against New Zealand.  The work that goes into getting the rooms ready for a game is amazing! 
To say a little thank you the following week and perhaps to try and avoid some afternoon boredom I decided to give macaroons a try.  Wow never again will I attempt to cook something without the correct equipment.  Who would have though a piping bag makes such a difference but they turned out to be massive plus I am not sure I made them properly in the first place.  They tasted ok and I still took them into work and reports were that they tasted great, but if I ever attempt these again there will need to be a few extra purchases prior to attempt number two.  Maybe I am a little hard on myself but I am still going to call these my macaroon disaster as I thought they were an epic fail!

My second week flew and after working 11 days straight I was so exciting to not only have a sleep in but also have the opportunity to go to the South Africa game. Lucky for me one of my friends from home who is currently living and working in London also had the weekend off and decided to come visit.  Probably not Maree’s idea of an ideal girls weekend, although she did prove me wrong with her barracking skills, we were both so excited to be having a weekend together.   Apart from spending our Sat at the game we also ventured to a farmers market that is a about a 20minute walk from my flat.  It was a great little market with lots of cheeses, vegies and fresh meats, I think I will be heading back there again one weekend to try some cooking with some fresh local produce. Our weekend sadly came to an end but not before she helped me out in the kitchen cooking a delicious dinner.  After testing out a lot of salmon recipes I couldn’t let her leave without giving her a taste of oven baked salmon on a bed of sweet potato with a tomato and avocado salsa.  I must say I am now perfecting the cooking time of the salmon and have discovered that it is always best to undercook the salmon that overcook it, not more than 12minutes in the oven and it’s a winner.

As I am settling into my routine and life here I have just signed up for a netball team and hopefully will be playing my first game tomorrow night which I am very excited about.  Until next time, have a wonderful day and keep smiling xx

Autumn appreciation..with a little salmon

I was lucky enough to have a week with one of my best friends from home who made the huge trip over to visit, so we took the opportunity to head up into the highlands and check out some more of this magical country.  I was shocked that the 6 weeks between my last trip can make such a difference to the scenic views.  I have never appreciated autumn, to me it’s a sad reminder that the sun is disappearing and the rain and cold nights are about to set in.  It’s amazing how a small three day trip can change my views on an entire season.  I was blown away by the landscape and how the colours of the trees can change something from looking kinda cool into one of the most spectacular views. 

 

Our trip couldn’t have started off better when we picked up our hire car and we were upgraded to a BMW, oh yeah!  Our first day and we headed off around the coast to St Andrews and then continued up to Inverness.  We saw some amazing views on the way including the ruins of St Andrews castle not to mention some beautiful landscape.  Time for dinner and wine at a very upper class pub looking out over Loch Ness just incase we saw any monsters pop their heads out, lucky for you we were safe.  I decided to give a fish tasting plate a try and might I say wow.  All of the fish was amazingly cooked (if only I could remember what they all were), although to my surprise it was served cold, but it was all fresh and local and I would love to go back up just to have some more.  

Next morning we were up early for a beautifully cooked full English breakfast before heading further north to Ullapool and then looping around the coast back down to the bottom of Loch Ness.  This is where my appreciation for autumn began.  We decided we would stop at a few random places on the way as the weather was being very kind to us with the sun shining and no rain at all.  First stop was a fast flowing river waterfall, it was amazing.  But the most spectacular scenery came later in the day when we found a mirror like lake with such amazing trees lining the banks, not to mention to snow covered peaks of the mountains in the background.  A spectacular day driving with a few quick stops for food, including lunch at a little cafe where I had some local smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich from the cutest little locals.
Heading back to Edinburgh we were much less fortunate with the weather and could hardly see in front of ourselves for most of the day due to either rain or fog, so we decided to do some indoor activities and go on a tour through the Ben Nevis whisky distillery.  Although similar to the distillery that I saw on the last tour I did, it was interesting to hear the differences that make each whisky unique.  One thing we could not possibly leave without doing was heading to the mountain tops to get a look of the view, it’s a shame we saw nothing at all except rain haha but it was worth going up in the cable cars just for the experience. 

 

Our week was coming to an end quicker than I had hoped but we made sure we squeezed a few more things in, including Halloween.  Never have I celebrated this holiday in Australia but it seemed to be all the rage over here so why not get on board and give myself an excuse to eat some chocolate and lollies.  We had an interesting mix of a witch, a pirate and me being a vampire in our household and headed out to meet up with some friends.  A fun night and I think I would be willing to celebrate this again when I get home.

I seem to be lacking some food reviews for you here so I have saved the best for last.  Jamie Oliver has a restaurant in Edinburgh so as a little treat we headed off there for lunch on our last day together.   The place is huge, I could not get over the size of the restaurant and that it was full of people, we literally got the last table in the building.  It is an Italian themed restaurant so what better way to start than with an antipasto sharing plate.  A unique way of serving it, the waitress brought two tined cans of tomatoes and rested the chopping board on top of them.  It was rather impressive with an array of meats and cheeses.   It was a great start but my main of salmon was superb.   Yep I cannot seem to escape salmon, it tastes amazing and is a much healthier option than some of the other foods out there that I just can’t seem to say no to it at the moment.  This was served on a bed of ricotta with a garnish of beetroot and rocket, a combination I would never have put together but it seemed to work, although perhaps a little too much ricotta than what I needed.

 

Sadly our week together ended and back to job hunting but I did say that by the next time I update you all on my adventures that I would hopefully have some job news.  Well while writing this, I have had a call from my temping agency and starting a reception job tomorrow for the rest of the week and possibly next week, eek! Wish me luck x

 

Its finally all homemade deliciousness

It is two weeks today since moving day, we are settled in and anyone would think that we have been here for months with the way we quickly adjusted to our new ‘home’.  I can’t say I ever thought that I would be able to live in a tiny two bedroom apartment as I love having a whole house, but wow how huge it feels after not sleeping in a room of my own for many many months.

I have decided it is time to get back onto the healthy eating and exercise bandwagon and try out some new and exciting recipes.  When I got back from Ireland I grew an addiction to soup and that sure hasn’t stopped.  As soon as I got the chance there was a pot of vegetable soup on the stove to tide me over until I decided on some new ones to try.  This is my adaption to my Mum’s vegetable soup which I make with grated carrot, grated zuchinni, celery, leek and parsley as well as some chicken stock and salt and pepper to season.  I have actually made at least 3 batches of this in the last 2 weeks already!  Once the first pot was gone within a day or so I decided to try making a tomato soup, something I have always enjoyed but have never had a ‘homemade’ pot before.  I did a little googling and decided to settle on tomato and capsicum soup. I did not realise how much effort went into this but I seasoned my vegies, popped them in the oven to cook, removed the skins (this was the time consuming part), blended it all together and wallah tomato soup!  The flavour was not as strong as I imagined and there will need to be some tweaking to this recipe to get a stronger tomato flavour in the future but it was a fun new challenge.  Last on my soup list was cauliflower with bacon and leek, one I have made before but it was as tasty as always, possibly one of my favourites.   

In between all the soup making there has been some shopping, a little job hunting, a job interview, my first ever day time trip to the movies and holiday planning, yep I’m already out the door in less than a week to head back up into the highlands when my friend arrives from home to spend an entire week with me.  I am that excited to be seeing a face from home that this week is going at snails pace.

There have been a few other new dishes I have tried for dinner but to be honest most of the things have been simple veggies with things such as mustard chicken or lightly seasoned grilled fish.  I will share a couple with you that I have never cooked before and I am looking forward to perfecting them over the coming months, the first being salmon.  I know from my many reviews on salmon over the last 5 months that I am rather picky and love a perfectly cooked salmon that is not dry and overcooked so I was extremely nervous to give this one a go.  I decided to do a crusted oven baked salmon but without any breadcrumbs I needed to improvise a little and tried a crushed vita wheat type biscuit with some fresh basil and I think it was a winner.  Served up with some fresh salad the salmon was not overcooked, big sigh of relief.  I will definitely be giving this one another try in the near future.

 

Today has been a slow recovery day after celebrating my housemates birthday last night, I even broke the healthy kick and had a cupcake with her, so we are trying one of our favourites from our trip, mousakka.  I had no clue what to do with an eggplant so I needed to do a little research and turns out that the eggplant needs to sit for at least an hour with some salt to remove some of the bitterness and then grill it before layering up.  So with this out of the way I cooked the meat the same as I would for a lasagne or a spaghetti bolognaise, making sure I added a generous amount of tomato paste to give it that extra flavour and then covered the top layer with a delicious white sauce and cheese.  A short stint in the oven and out came a delicious looking meal and it was damn tasty as well.  Certainly one I am going to cook up for a dinner party when I’m back home to show off some of my new recipes. 

 

Time to get back to reading my book, I am already on to my second, and I am really enjoying the freedom of being able to read, cook or just pop down the street when I please at the moment, so the thought of a full time job is far from appealing at the moment, but with the bank balance slowly decreasing hopefully by the next time you hear from me I will have some kind of exciting job to share with you, but until then, keep smiling xox