Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

In honour of this day of romance, I shall spend this evening watching whatever I want on TV as the husband is away on business

Gorgeousness in a Mug

I think I may have stated before that I don't like chocolate cake.

Ladles and gentlespoons, I think I have found the recipe to convert me : Nutella Microwave Mug Cake.

I posted the after pic on Facebook last week and after requests for the recipe thought I would show you all the blow by blow so you can end up with this piece of loveliness :

 First I measured out all the dry ingredients.

Then added the wet ingredients. You don't need to do it in this order, but I like leaving the messy bit until later.

Note to self, after cracking the egg using the same knife you used for the nutella, don't lick your finger, you won't taste nutella, you'll get a tongueful of raw egg - eeurgh!

Mix all of the ingredients together, the mixture should start sticking together and moving away from the sides of the bowl. You can use an electric whisk if you want, but for quickness I used the measuring spoon.

Next, get your mugs out. The recipe says it'll do one large serving, but it does 2 large mugs comfortably.

Divide the mix between the mugs and put one in the microwave for 1 min 30 secs. It'll rise whilst cooking, just keep an eye it doesn't spill over the sides.

After 1 min 30 secs, test the cake with a skewer, if it comes back out clean then it's fine, if not put it back in for 10 sec blasts until it comes out clean.

If you have one of these handy cake testers, you put it in the same way as a skewer and after 5 secs remove it. If it's red then it's the right temperature.

And then you're done, we topped ours with a dollop of ice cream and went in for the nommage.

And now for the ingredients list, as kindly written by Content in a Cottage.

4 tbsp self raising flour
4 tbsp white granulated sugar
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1 egg
3 tbsp milk
3 tbsp nutella
3 tbsp oil (olive or vegetable)
1 tbsp chocolate chips (I added these just for a little extra gooeyness)
Ice cream to serve


I hope you all give it a try, it's honestly worth the whole five minutes it takes to make it!

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year!!!

(Yes I know I'm nearly a month late, but as it's Chinese New Year I thought I might get away with it ... guess not!)

First of all, I am so glad Christmas is over and done with,  the first time I relaxed over this whole holiday was when Paul and I went on our First Anniversary trip.

So yes, I am no longer a newlywed, we have been married for a year now! Eek! Where has the time gone since I got to put on this pretty dress and marry the love of my life ????

I'm now knee deep in mud as it's less than 7 weeks to go until the Chase Walk - aaaaaaaaaaargh!!!!!!!!

It also appears that the random pains I'm getting my foot are an actual medical issue, so also running around (scuse the pun) trying to get that sorted so I can do my training.

Completing things on the list have been sliding I have to admit, but I'm hoping to get the Poi trick done soon.

Hope your Christmases were all good and New Year's were great, and just for a little humiliation, here is my (very last minute) costume for New Year's Evil :

It's not a good sight!

WEVerb11 - 11 - Try

Try. What 12 new things do you want to do/accomplish in 2012?

Given that this blog is already a list, it's difficult trying to think of "new" things to do next year but here goes :

1.       Learn to drive our car on a motorway. I passed my test just this Friday and I will be taking my Pass Plus in the New Year.

2.       Complete the Chase Walk (all 40 miles of it).

3.       Reach peak physical fitness.

4.       Start the process for a little H!

5.       Launch the new blog after finishing this one.

6.       Reduce my chocolate consumption to only the quality stuff.

7.       Work my way through my recipe books and actually try them instead of drooling!

8.       Learn how to take photos properly, even if our camera is only a point and shoot!

9.       Make at least one item from the dress patterns in my sewing drawer

10.   Finish off things from my list – I know it’s not new but some of them won’t get done before March!

11.   Dress better – I’ve let my personal style slip since the massive weight gain and gradual loss, and I need to get it back!

12.   Develop a regular fitness regime I will stick to!

WEVerb11 - 15 - Surprise

First of all apologies these posts are coming in one go, I've not stopped all this week sorting out edible Christmas gifts.

Now, on with the next post :

Surprise. What event of 2011 affected you in an unexpected way?

This will make me sound so bad, but it wasn’t so much an event but the little things that Paul did for me this year. It’s just been subtle little changes which made me think, sh*t, we’re a married couple now, this is my husband.

He’s been more thoughtful than before and has touched me with some of the little things he’s done – like buying me flowers on his way home because I sounded down on the phone.

I can’t wait to make him a father x

WEVerb11 - 16 - Persevere

Persevere. Describe something that disappointed you in 2011 and how you persevered.

Wow, this post is going to open a can of worms.

During the course of our wedding, I was circulating the crowd (as you do) and as I approached one of the tables I realised that one of my best friends was not there. I enquired around my hen party girls as we had all exchanged numbers that weekend and no-one had heard from her. In fact, one of the hens had been in contact with her only a few days before confirming she would be at the wedding.

I put it at the back of mind because as selfish as this sounds, it was our wedding day and I had other things to think about. When we got back to the hotel that night I checked my phone; no text or missed phone call.

The following evening I accessed Facebook and changed my relationship status to Married. Again, no communication from her.

It was only on the Monday night when I put a status update about eating leftover wedding cake that I got a text message. During the following text conversation I was honest with her and said I was very disappointed she hadn’t made it to the wedding, nor bothered to contact either me or the hens earlier. I said I was willing to put it behind us and move on. Subsequently, every time we arranged to meet up she pulled out at the last minute because it wasn’t convenient for her. We then tried to arrange to go and see her, but she told us not to bother making any special effort to go and see her.

This for me was the last straw. I started to realise that it was always me making the effort to meet up and since I moved out of the area; she had never once come over to the new house, despite promising she would. So, I stopped contacting her. She stayed as a Facebook friend and I kept her number in my phone until September, but after no response to the messages about Paul’s dad I cut her off. I have grieved for a lost friend, but in hindsight, had I lost her before the wedding?

It has made me appreciate my girls so much more, I don’t make friends easily and 2012 will be my tenth anniversary with my girlies. And fingers crossed we’ll reach our golden anniversary.

At BT's wedding, excuse the bad picture quality - need to teach husband about camera focus!

WEVerb11 - 9 - Appreciate

Appreciate. In which moment did you find yourself flooded with gratitude? How will you rally around gratitude in 2012?


I know I'm going back to the wedding again, but I am so grateful for the entire day.

I'm grateful that we had relatives travel over from Switzerland, all my godparents came despite not seeing them since my 18th birthday.

I'm grateful to Rainbow and her boyfriend for their efforts on the day, and as a result, we now have a stunning wedding video we hadn't even factored in to our planning process.

I'm grateful to my mum, who in full evening gown at 3pm, dashed to Sainsbury's so I would have a bouquet (that story is to come for my anniversary posts!).

I'm grateful to my dad, who calmed me down right before I made that step into the ceremony room, but I am not entirely grateful for his speech.

I'm grateful to Paul's mum and dad, without them we wouldn't have had outfits for the ringbearer and flower girl.

I'm grateful to BT for her reading, especially as it was given to her on the day of the wedding.

I'm going to stop there, I'm missing people off, but this much love in the morning is making me hanker for the Ferrero Rocher sat next to me on my desk

WEVerb11 - 8 - Choose

What was the biggest choice you made in 2011? What caused you to choose what you chose?


Wow, erm, I'm trying to think now if I made any real significant choices this year.
 The most relevant one at the moment is committing myself to completing the Chase Walk in 2012.

It's a 40 mile hill walk crossing over Cannock Chase, Staffordshire, all in one go. The aim is to complete it in under 18 hours.

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I tried to find pictures of previous walks with some of my team mates, but they appear to be camera shy!

There were two reasons I wanted to complete this challenge :

1. I wanted to complete a Charity Challenge (of some description) before we start a family.
2. I wanted to get fit.

I'm raising money for the Eve Appeal (see my Just Giving page) who support research into gynaecological or foof cancers. (After I said I was doing this I found out about these toys via Bakerella. But Paul says I'm not allowed to carry around a cuddly foof!)

 Source

I did think about completing another type of Charity Challenge but due to my temperamental health, I could complete a sustained trek or project lasting beyond a couple of days. As it is, my problems at the moment seem to be on the level. Plus, I'm not a runner - the frontal ballast does not make for a comfortable ride!

So I decided to do the Chase Walk, Paul has done it several million times throughout his life so would be a perfect coach. I'm currently doing two to three six-mile walks each week, walking from work to halfway home. I'll be stepping this up nearer the time, as well as taking part in the 10 mile, 20 mile and 30 mile training walks (eek).

All this will hopefully get me nice and fit and toned in time for my 26th birthday, and so we can start a family, having given my body the best possible start it would need.

If anyone has any helpful tips either motivation or even nutrition I will gladly accept the help!

WEVerb11 - 4- Haiku

Write a haiku. Sum up your year, via haiku

Snowdrop opens wide
Promise of gifts to discover
My eyes frozen


Btw, this is my first haiku, apologies if it's not the best!

WEVerb11 - 6 - Favour

What was your favorite month of 2011? Why did it beat out all 11 other months?

It had to be January of course!

Why you may ask, well :

1 - We got married!!


2 - The day before the wedding, Mr H got offered an interview for his dream job.

3 - We spent a week in the Italian Tyrol, skiing and eating gorgeous food.

4 - We returned from holiday, and Mr H had got his dream job!

5 - I had nearly a month off work due to the wedding and honeymoon. Whilst I don't hate my job, who wouldn't mind having a month off?!?

So all in all, a very busy but definitely kick ass month, oh yeah!!

WEVerb11 - 5 - Befriend

Befriend. Did you meet any new friends this year? How did they impact your 2011?

I'm trying to think now if I made any new friends this year, and in the real world I don't think I did. In fact I cut one out of my life.

I suppose the closest thing I have to new friends has been since I began this blog. Mr H frequently reminds me that the blogs I read and the ladies I have received comments from/commented on are not my friends.
But I don't know quite how to classify you all.

You have all given me help and support, even if you didn't know about it this year.

So I suppose this is the time to say thank you to you:

Jenna - Some of your earlier posts have settled my mind on a topic I will cover in my new blog as it's a bit premature for this one just yet. But I have also been inspired by your weight loss,

Brandi - Whenever I want to picture myself in a calm and beautiful place, I think of the trees at your wedding, continuing up into the heavens. (that sounds creepy doesn't it? sorry!)

Morgan - You reassure me that my need to have everything colour coordinated and matching is not just a me-thing. There are others of us out there!

Cat - You make me laugh so much in the office, and you make me laugh at the British idiosyncrasies.

Kate - There's no such thing as too much cake!

I've definitely missed out on some other bloggers, and for that I'm sorry, but I've had to draw the line ( mainly because I need to get off my lunch break)

WEVErb11 - 3 - Learn

Learn. What lesson did you learn in 2011 from “The School of Life” rather than a classroom?

Hmm, this year I learnt that you need to communicate effectively in your relationship.

Since we got married, Mr H and I have subtly changed. Our marriage is a lot more comfortable, there's less fighting and we're both responding to the other better.

How did we learn this lesson? It has been a gradual thing, but we found out that my FIL and MIL didn't discuss certain things, which to us are very important, and I wonder, had he been around, would he have done things differently?

Eee this is a bit of a melancholic post. Fingers crossed tomorrow is more upbeat!

WEVerb11 - 7 - Travel

Where did you travel this year? What was your favorite part? If you didn’t get to travel, where do you want to go next year?

This year we kept it pretty low key, we travelled to Matlock for our wedding :

Source

Then onto Folgarida, Italy for our honeymoon

We were due to take an epic roadtrip around France, but that's indefinitely on hold for the moment.

As for next year, we're going back to Matlock for our first anniversary, and then come May, having a big old holiday in Malta.

I don't know if we'll end up anywhere else, or if we'll get the tent out next year. Just have to wait and see what happens

WEverb11 - 2 - Listen

Listen. What song did you listen to in 2011 to completely change your mood?  Think about ways you can you add more music to your life in 2012

I discovered Caro Emerald quite late this year, and That Man is the best song to put a wiggle in my step and make me feel tip top.

Even now, I am channelling my inner 50s chick, with my full skirted dress, red cardigan and red lipstick.

For 2012, I am hoping to buy more music. Particularly as my favourite band have reformed and are just putting the finishing touches to their next album - ya hoo!!!
When I move across to my new blog, after this year is over, I'll be posting about all sorts of music that I'm coming across, from the popular to the downright weird.
As a side note, I think my husband may ban me from listening to Radio Two's musicals programme, singing Under the Sea at the top of my voice in the car on Sunday wasn't appreciated. Especially not with my (horrendous) jamaican accent!

WEVerb11 - 1 - Select One Word

Choose one word. Encapsulate the year 2011 in one word. Explain why. Imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2012 for you? In the spirit of where this all started… this

So how do I encapsulate 2011 in one word?

Stabilising.

(And not this kind)

 8th January 2011 saw us become Mr and Mrs H, and that stabilised our relationship. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't rocky before, but the marrieds of you out there  know that feeling of security and stability that comes from having the ring on your finger and the piece of paper stating you're married.

We were tested this year, with the death of my father-in-law and I think that has further stabilised our relationship. It was tough at the time, but we have come through it.

As for 2012, I'm hoping  the words New Beginnings will be appropriate - and yes I know it's two words. Just humour me please!

Om Nom Nom Nom

Tick! I tried a food stuff I couldn't pronounce this past weekend, and some other delicacies.

Husband decided to whisk me away to Manchester for the weekend and visit the Christmas Market there.

On the Friday night we walked from the hotel to :

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Kro Bar in the Trafford Centre

I persuaded husband to buy the Danish Meat platter for dinner, and it was delicious!

Although he was quite disgusted with the prawn and egg mayo in the middle topped with caviar - ah well his loss!

The following day we visited the Christmas Market in Manchester City Centre. Apologies for the lack of pictures but it was too busy to pull out a camera for piccies.

But ...  I got to try some Raclette from the Swiss stand

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and then a Canoli from an Italian stand

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Muchos nommage!

Book Reviews - Full of Phonies

So I've been a bit lax on the book reading front and I think I've currently got four on the go at the moment.

To go back to a book from a while ago, Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger. A couple of weeks ago I went to a talk as part of Literary Leicester, on Catcher in the Rye. When I read it a few months back I honestly didn't get it.

I got that Holden was trying to find his place in life and his apathy meant that all the things he deemed to be phony would never be tackled. His solution was to hole up in a cabin in the wilderness, come on!

But I didn't get why it was so acclaimed, however, after attending this talk, I sort of now do. Dr Sarah Graham, University of Leicester, explained the context in which the book was written and what came before it. I can now see that at that time, it was one of better books which encapsulated the teenage experience and it's sense of disassociation from the world when dealing with grief. (Flip, that sounds vaguely academic for me! eek!)

I think this is one of the books which I needed the classroom atmosphere to digest fully, or at least a copy of the footnotes! Not sure who I would recommend read this, I wouldn't say it's a universal book because the book demands a certain empathy from its reader, because let's face it, some people won't really care about a teenage dropout drinking his way around Manhattan.

I'm currently reading Moby Dick so lead on Ishmael ...

And Down to Earth With a Bump!

Although I'm relearning my French, and I thought I was doing well, I was brought down to earth with a bump today!

I work in a University and one of the members of staff was needing some help deciphering the French answerphone system. Evenutally we got the problem sorted but it was a mix of French and English in the end that did it. Whoops! Oh and my Sexy Foreign Woman providing me with vocab words when I got stuck, thanks darlin!

Maybe I should have more lessons :



Or not ...

Happy weekend guys, I'm off for a dirty weekend and to improve the lives of Mancunians by smiling at 100 of them!

Up!

As fun as it sounds to try and make our house take off with loads of balloons, Mythbusters totally busted that one!

But ...  we did do the balloon release this weekend. We took Paul's niece and nephew out to the Build a Bear Workshop for her birthday treat. (Got to commend BABW in Leicester, they were fantastic!)

And then we came back and did the balloon release :

Look at the joy on those kids faces!

We had also planned on doing Chat Roulette that night as part of Paul's birthday celebrations, but this happened :

Cocktails at Hakamou, Dancing at Mosh, Bed at 3am ... whoops

Ooh, and as another side thing, I tried my hand at icing a cake (albeit a dinky one) but for my first try I am pretty chuffed :

Can I count this as having properly iced a cake?!?!?!?!?!?

If I was a ... I'd be ...

Season :

I'd be winter. I count down the days until the snow begins and spend far too much time frolicking in it (so if you see strange footprints in the snow in Leicester - there's a good chance it's me!) Plus, I'm one of the strange people who overheats in winter and doesn't require 16 million layers! This winter will be extra special as we celebrate our first wedding anniversary.

Colour :
I would be the deepest shade of blue - the colour of Van Gogh's Starry Night, the sky twinkling with stars - bliss. Hence the colour of my wedding dress.

Scent :
I'd be home baking. I aim to do at least one bit of home baking each month, and usually end up doing more. Nothing is more enjoyable than the scent of cakes and biscuits coming out of the oven.

Time of Day :
I would be three o'clock in the morning. It's the hour where most people are asleep in bed and the world is still and dark.

Food :
I'd be coconut - white creamy goodness that's perfect for any occasion - cocktails, cakes you name it.

Drink :
I would be a tall glass of Baileys, because let's face it pub measures aren't big enough - it has to be a tall glass!

Stone :
I'd be Snowflake Obsidian. I own quite a few chunks of the stuff and I love the contrast of dark and light, plus who doesn't love a snowflake!

Flower :
I would be a Crocus. I love the carpets of crocii at the onset of spring. Although I'm sad winter is over, I love seeing the little champions emerge from the soil and snow.

Place :
I'd be a hidden woodland copse. I think these places are so magical and beautiful because they untouched.

 

Sources : Season, Colour, Scent, Time of Day, Food, Drink, Stone, Flower, Place

I found this post via Silver Pencils and An Imperfectly Perfect Life.

So what would you be?