Monday, June 21, 2010

Can you see what I see?

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all together now...skip skip skip on the spot while flapping you arms up and down in joy!!!

Oh another thing...I lied about the green jewels of my garden - no not intentionally. I seriously thought it was gooseberries until the lil buggers turn colour on me! So....its no longer 'gooseberries'...but ta-dah! red currents! RUBIES OF MY GARDEN!!
Even prettier!

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Sunday, June 20, 2010

Sunday rubies

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we harvested 2 radishes today....not my favourite veg but such pretty colours. Only reason it made it into my veggie garden. Shallow me?

Visiting Rule No.1

My mummy always says never visit someone empty handed
I think Uncle Tam and Aunty Vee Mon like their veg bouquet from my garden

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pak chois, rosemary, bay leaves

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Bane of my life

bane of my life

This is one of those blog post that needs some swearing to justify the picture - ok here goes....f£$% f£$% f£$% stupid snails!!!!

Check out how many snails there are from 3 days of hunting around the garden. The most obvious way to look for them is to look out for slimy trails they leave behind after they had their dinner. Another is of course looking for any green baby shoots / leaves that was there yesterday but not anymore today! 3 baby kale shoots and one courgette plant have results in nil produce as the f£$%er ate everything!

So question is...how should I make them suffer? Pour boiling water over them (quick death) or salt (slow death)?

Banana Bread

banana bread

banana bread

What is a girlfriend to do when the boyfriend is engrossed with the World Cup?

1) Internet shop but budget is a little limiting this month
2) Look around the flat - a little dusty yes but can I be bothered to clean it? No
3) Watch the game - that takes up 5 minutes
4) Pull funny faces at him - "stop that you're so annoying!" (that also takes 5 minutes)
5) Hunt snails - more of that later
6) Saw 2 sad brown banana that will end up in the compost bin then "light bulb moment" banana bread!

I love this recipe - so easy and always turn out perfect. Done this 4 times and it hasn't disappoint. Must try as guaranteed success :)

This recipe is obviously not mine - something I nicked off Waitrose recipe online.

Ingredients
1 Large egg (I have used medium egg - it still turns out fine)
75ml Vegetable oil
125g Caster sugar
3 Bananas, or 2 bananas and a handful dried banana chips
30g Rolled oats (any oats will do really - my favourite is those 2 min microwave golden syrup oats Scott has for brekkie. ok - maybe favourite is a bit of a stretch, it's a favourite because that's all I have)
150g Plain flour
½ tsp Baking powder
½ tsp Bicarbonate soda
1 tsp Ground cinnamon
40g Dark chocolate, finely chopped (always run out of choc so I replace it with a handful of raisins - turns out fine)


Method
1) Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas 4. Line a 1 litre (15cm x 7.5cm) loaf tin with buttered, non-stick baking parchment or silicone paper. Whisk the egg, oil and sugar together until thick. Slice 2 bananas finely and whisk into the mixture. Set aside 1 tbsp of the oats; fold in the remaining ingredients until the mixture is smooth.

2) Pour the batter into the prepared tin and sprinkle the surface with the reserved oats.

3) Slice the remaining banana and arrange the pieces on top, or use the dried chips.

4) Bake for 40–50 minutes or until golden.

5) The cake is done when a metal skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Allow the tea bread to cool in the tin, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Friday, June 11, 2010

5

Happy...

Salcombe

not 1...

Wireless O2 festival 07

not 2...

Arran 08

not 3...

Singapore Zoo 06

not 4...

London

but 5 anniversaries!!!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Taste of Summer

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We picked our first strawberries yesterday!!! 11 perfectly formed strawberries - they smell and taste of summer
I was worried the first batch would be sour but OMG - so so sweet. It was amazing!

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one perfectly formed, one not quite
but both are yummy - who cares!

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as big as my cheeks!

Weekend in Pictures

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Recent addition to the flat - vintage jam jar and enamel pink jug. Love love them!

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fresh salad - everthing from the garden. ok...i will stop rubbing it in now

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raspberries popping out of the bud - they are turning colour now!

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BBQ with the Chees

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grilled banana with chocolate - yum...

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Run Scott Run

Bank Holiday Monday yesterday and I was up by 7.30am. Not by choice obviously as it is a public holiday and I love a lie-in but Scott has decided to run the Bupa 10k run at St James Park which starts at 10am. Damn...considering he gave up alcohol for the weekend before (very tough - he was displaying early signs of alcoholism come Sunday!) I guess I can be supportive and give up my beauty sleep.

He trained and trained - kept a running diary and he finished at an impressive 39 minutes!(cue - imagine my proud face here!) If you know anything about running, that is suppose to be a pretty shit hot time.

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Team Scotland (Scott, Adam, Barry)
Before the race - hence the nervous smiles

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After the race - smile of relief. Run for charity and get a t-shirt free! What great incentive!

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I was obviously not running (no chance) hence the 'civilian' clothes

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if you ever get a medal - instinctively you put it in your mouth and bite it - don't ask me why. Now it hangs proudly with the garden and shed keys - we need to keep it real ok - it is 10k, not Olympics!

Adam and Barry (and wife also named Kelly) stayed overnight at our flat and we have our youngest ever overnight guest so far - meet Emily Rose Fudge! Age: 2 months
Sweetest girl ever - slept from 11pm-6am without crying. Magic baby!!
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