I'm on count down!

Only two and a bit more days to go!

My parents are flying over from the UK to spend just under two weeks over here in New Zealand. They arrive earlier Saturday morning, then we're off to see England v Scotland that night at Eden Park. Then Sunday we're going to the Wales v Fiji game in Hamilton- then I expect they will want to sleep for most of the next day because they are going to be exhausted!

Next week they will be heading up to the Bay of Islands whilst I stay here and work, but on Friday the school holiday starts and I'm FREE!! We're driving down to Wellington via Taupo for the Quarter Final in Wellington on Sunday, then coming back up to Auckland via Nelson and Rotorua. They fly back home again on the Thursday and on the Friday I'm going on a roadtrip around the East Cape of the North Island. Hopefully the weather is nice :)

I am soooo much in need of a holiday right now, it's not even funny. But not long to go now, yay!

Helen x

Salmon and Spinach Stir Fry

Morning!

The vegetable garden is overflowing with spinach at the moment so I've had to use it quite a lot recently, and this is what I decided to make last night. The family were very enthusiastic about it, so here is the recipe for you guys-

Ingredients

• 400-500g salmon fillet, skinned and pin-boned
• 1 courgette
• 4-5 sticks of celery
• 15-20 green beans
• 1 onion
• 150g brocolli
• bunch of spinach, rinsed and chopped(As I use fresh I just cut about 25 leaves(?))
• Udon noodles (or whichever noodles you prefer)
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 2 tsp garlic
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp mirin (japanese rice wine)

1. Marinate the salmon in the mirin, sesame oil and soy sauce in a oven ready dish (don't worry if you don't have time for this, you cook it in the sauce and add it to the stir fry anyway so it isn't essential)
2. Chop up the vegetables into thin strips, ready for frying
3. Heat oven to 180C and cook salmon for 15 mins
4. Whilst salmon is cooking heat 2 tbsp oil in a wok, add the onions and celery and garlic
5. Add the beans, courgette and brocolli
6. Add the spinach and stir and cover until wilted
7. Stir in the udon noodles (or cooked noodles if using a different type)
8. Take salmon from the oven and flake into pieces with a fork
9. Add to the wok and stir so sauce covers everything
10. Serve with extra soy sauce and sweet chilli if you like :)

Hope you enjoy!

Helen x

Random ramble

No posts over the weekend this time- I couldn't get within ten feet of the laptop. Not bringing mine with me was a mistake, I think, though it does weigh a ton and probably wouldn't have survived the journey over here. I just miss being able to email and go on facebook or read JAFF whenever I want to, rather than only when no-one else is around. Oh well, nevermind.

Went to the park this weekend with Pipi (two year old chocolate labrador) and the neighbours dog Libby (four year old black lab) on Saturday with the girls- the weather was amazing and it was nice chilling out in the sunshine whilst Pipi and Libby had a run around. Then we watched the All Blacks beat France in the RWC, though our viewing was interrupted when the cat, Molly, caught a baby rabbit and brought it in the house! I managed to save it, though, and safely put it back in the garden before going back to the game :)

I was disappointed last night when Scotland lost, and I have to admit I found it pretty annoying when the person I was watching it with decided to support Argentina just because she knew I wanted Scotland to win. Argh, that is a total pet hate of mine. I never do it, and I would never purposely support the team playing against the All Blacks just to annoy any nearby Kiwis. It's just mean.

Had to be up at 5.30am this morning to take the girls to school so I'm pretty tired, though it looks like it is going to be another beautiful day. My parents are coming on Friday/Saturday- will be strange to see them here, I think. Hopefully we manage to have a good time whilst they're here, though to be honest I'm not holding my breath.

And that is a very long story so I think I'll leave off here.

Helen x

Coconut Crusted Lime Chicken

Another recipe for you today. I have a little book where I write down recipes I want to use again and I'm slowly sharing them with you guys.

Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

• Zest and juice of 2 limes
• 2 tsp garam masala or curry powder
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 50g dessicated coconut
• 10 chicken drumsticks

1. Heat oven to 200C
2. Score the skin of the chicken
3. Mix all the ingredients together and coat the chicken
4. Cook on a rack above a baking tray for 30mins (maybe longer, depends on your oven etc)

I served this with potato wedges and curried cabbage which uses up any left over spice mix from the chicken. Simply chop up about half a cabbage, cook it in chicken stock, drain, add a little cream and the spice mix and serve.

Helen x

Wielding an Axe is Strangely Therapeutic

No, I'm not an axe-murderer- just thought I'd cover that before anyone gets the wrong idea...

We have a wood burning stove to heat the house and I have to chop kindling. Today, though, for some reason I decided that I would have a go at properly chopping wood; turns out I'm pretty good at it. And hell is it fun! Swinging the axe over my shoulder, smacking into big blocks of wood, spliting them in half with one hit- amazing! Oddly satisfying too. And very good stress relief. I shall remember that little fact in future whenever I feel like I'm about to lose my cool.

Here's hoping I don't accidently chop my foot off or something equally annoying!

My Talented Friends

Morning!

Some shameless, if not self-promotion, friend promotion from me today.

My friend Adam is the bass player in a four piece band from Coventry called Arabella. The band got together whilst at university, and Adam now works in the Music department there so that's where they still record and produce all their music.

Their band website is- http://www.arabellamusic.co.uk/

Their Myspace page is- www.myspace.com/arabellamusicuk

And this is the video for their song, No Easy Way, produced and directed by another friend, Paul Rook, who did film at Lincoln university.

See what I mean about friend-promotion? :P

Slow Cooked Beef Stroganoff

I absolutely hate cooked mushrooms, with a passion. I cannot eat them without feeling ill so this meal is always interesting for me, but the family love it so I've got the recipe for you guys. This makes enough for about 5 people.

Ingredients

• 4 Beef schnitzels
• 300g mushrooms
• 1 large onion
• 4-5 large gherkins
• 2 handfuls of peas
• 1 1/2 cups beef stock
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 tbsp mustard
• sour cream/plain yogurt

1. Cut the beef into strips and season with pepper
2. Chop up the onion, mushrooms and gherkin and put into the slow cooker with the beef
3. Mix together the wine, stock and flour and add to the slow cook and stir all together
4. Cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 3-4
5. When cooked, stir in the mustard and add in about 3 large dollops (sorry, not very precise!) of either sour cream or yogurt
6. Season with salt and pepper and serve with pasta or rice

Hope you enjoy!

xx

Jane Austen Marathon

Morning all!

I've just finished reading the complete works of Jane Austen- back to front. As in I started with her last publish book and finished with her first. No idea why I did it that way, I just felt like it.

I've read Pride and Prejudice about 10 times since I first picked it up as a teenager, but the other books I'd only read the once so I really enjoyed going back to them. I was surprised by how easy to read they are- I remember finding them much more difficult when I was 13/14, whereas this time around I was breezing through them in 1-3 days.

My favourite is still Persuasion, there is just something about Anne Elliot that I love and Frederick Wentworth is I think my favourite JA hero. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Northhanger Abbey though- I think I was too young to appreciate all the humour in it the first time round! Henry Tilney has hopped a few places up my list of JA heroes :)

My least favourite was probably Sense and Sensibility, if only because I cannot stand Edward and Elinor's commitment to him really irritates me- but that's just my opinion.

I'm reading Jane Eyre again now, and the contrast between Bronte and Austen is rather marked- there is really just something about JA that I love. She has such a light touch :)

xx

Tree One, Landrover Nil

And my week was going so well. It is only two weeks until my parents come over to NZ for a visit, Scotland won their match against Georgia, I got a really nice letter from my grandparents...and then I crashed the landrover.

Friday was just generally a crappy day from start to finish. I slipped over on the wet floor rushing to answer the phone and smacked my leg, the cat went psycho on me and bit my hand, I had to take the girls out for dinner and sit for 2 hours in the car park waiting for them (sigh) and I put a dent in the landrover.

If anything I was pissed off at myself for doing something soooo dumb. My phone rang as I was turning around in the driveway, I looked down for a second and the next thing I know I was in a massive rhodedendron (sp?) bush. Sigh. At least it was only a minor prang- I'm just annoyed because normally I'm a really safe, reliable driver and it was just...stupid.

Fortunately the damage isn't too bad, there is a dent in the bonnet and the bumper is a bit cracked (though it was cracked anyway) but that's all- the bush looks, funnily enough, like it's had a 2 tonne landrover driven into it, but hey, it'll grow back!

So, yeah, really crappy day on Friday but then Ireland beat Australia last night in the RWC and now life is great again! :D

Fingers crossed Wales win today...

Lamb with Rosemary and Red Wine

This is an absolute favourite of mine. It is my mum's recipe so of course I can never make it as well as she can, but it is still pretty fabulous!

Ingredients

• 8 Lamb chops (I use rib chops but normal ones work too)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
• salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 150ml red wine
• 200ml vegetable stock (or lamb if you have it)
• 1 tsp redcurrant jelly

1. Cut the garlic in half and rub over the lamb chops. Season with salt and pepper
2. Chop up the rosemary and sprinkle half over the chops
3. Heat the oil in a heavy based pan and cook the chops for about 5-6mins on each side (or until cooked through)
4. Remove from pan and cover to keep warm
5. Add flour to the pan juices and blend, then cook for 30 seconds
6. Gradually blend in the wine, stock and jelly and bring to the boil, stirring all the while
7. Add the chops back into the pan for 2 mins and serve with remaining rosemary sprinkled over the top

Serve with lots of yummy mashed potato to mop up the sauce :)

Some Kiwi humour

Just a quick video that pokes fun at the Kiwi accent :)

"Beached as bru!"

To publish or not to publish

Morning!

I haven't mentioned this yet, but writing Jane Austen Fan Fiction is a hobby of mine :)

I've written two stories so far, both of them hosted on the site A Happy Assembly under the name "niping" (the link to the site is in the list at the bottom of this page). I've been a member of the AHA community for a number of years now, and love reading all the stories posted there (though I really really need to post comments more often!) and taking part in all the discussions, from the whimsical to the slightly more serious.

At the moment I'm in the process of researching self-publishing and trying to decide whether to try and get my first story, Better For Loving You, published. It will need some serious editing but fingers crossed someone over on AHA will help me out :)

I really enjoy writing, a part of me wishes I was better at it so that I could be a real writer (no slight intended to fanfiction writers) and publish amazing books! Oh well, a girl can dream. And having BFLY published would be an awesome achievement, even if I say so myself!

I think I need to do some more research and get another opinion before I make my decision....

Gourmet Burgers (sort of)

These went down a treat last night with the family, and I'm in the mood for another post today. They aren't really gourmet burgers, they're just homemade and healthier than your usual burgers.

I made the burger buns to go with them as well, but I wasn't pleased with how they turned out (they didn't rise very well) so I won't be using that recipe again, and won't bother posting it here. The burgers were yummy though, as were the accompaniments

The Burgers
To make 6 fairly large burgers

• 800g lean beef mince
• 1 onion
• 1 egg yolk
• one slice of bread
• salt and pepper
• small bunch of parsley
• 3 tsp minced garlic (or crushed garlic, maybe 2 cloves? I find the fresh stuff is so much stronger than the minced stuff from a jar)
• 1 tsp Lea and Perrins (Worchester Sauce)

1. In a food processor, turn the bread into breadcrumbs and then add in the onion, parsley, salt and pepper, garlic and lea and perrins- process until finely chopped
2. Add the egg yolk and then the mince- process for a few seconds
3. Tip into a bowl and use your hands to combine all the ingredients
4. Shape into six fairly large burgers, or more if you want them smaller
5. Put in fridge to firm up until ready to cook
6. Place on wire rack above cooking tray lined with tin foil to catch any fat
7. Cook for 20mins at 180C (or you can grill them if you like, but I just shoved them in the oven at the same time as the chips)

The Chips

• One large sweet potato per person (I usually aim for about 6-8 chips per person)
• Salt and Pepper
• Olive oil (how much depends on how many chips)

1. Peel the sweet potato and cut into wedges- long thin shaped potatoes make the best wedges :)
2. In a bowl season with the salt and pepper and toss with oil
3. Cook at 180C for 25 minutes

The Veggies

• 1 medium sized courgette/zucchini
• 1 leek
• 2 tsp garlic
• Fresh spinach (or frozen etc- we grow our own and I just pick it as I need it)
• Butter to fry
• 50g feta cheese
• Pepper

1. Finely chop the zucchini and leek into slices
2. Thoroughly wash the spinach and chop into strips (Tip- I make a pile of leaves with the stalks all at one end, roll it length-ways and chop it into strips that way)
3. Heat the butter in a heavy based frying pan and cook the garlic, zucchini and leeks
4. Add in the spinach and cover until wilted
5. Crumble the feta and cover with pepper; add to the pan and combine with the vegetables
6. Serve under or alongside the burger and chips

The Relish

• 1 Capsicum
• 3 small tomatoes
• 1 tsp garlic
• 1 tsp minced chilli
• 3 tsp Red Pepper paste (or tomato pesto etc- just something to thicken it up)
• 1 tsp Tomato Ketchup

1. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and serve on top of the burgers

Ta da! Gourmet Burgers. Enjoy!

Helen xx

Lemon and Chocolate Layer Cake

Morning!

So, I said I would post the recipe for this cake if it went well, and in the end...well, it tasted amazing, but there was a minor disaster on the presentation front. Fortunately though my camera is off somewhere being fixed, so I couldn't take a photo even if I wanted to.

This is a picture of how the cake should look, taken from the book-

This recipe is from a cookbook back at home (in the UK) which I scanned before coming out here and I can't for the life of me remember the name of- I don't suppose it really matters though, as long as I give full credit to the author, whoever she is!

Anyway, ingredients-

• 12oz plain flour
• pinch of salt
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 4 1/2 oz butter
• 4 1/2 oz caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp lemon rind
• 200ml milk
• 6oz grated chocolate (I put the bar in the fridge first and then grate it, to stop it melting all over my hands!)

What to do-

1. Pre-heat the oven to 190C and grease a 7 inch cake tin and line the base with baking paper
2. Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder
3. Rub in the butter
4. Add the sugar, eggs, lemon ring and milk and mix until smooth
5. Pour one third of the mixture into the cake tin, cover with one third of the grated chocolate
6. Repeat the layers until all the mixture is used and top the cake with the last of the chocolate
7. Turn down the oven to 180C and cook for one hour
8. IMPORTANT PART- remove the cake from the oven and leave in the tin for 30 mins before removing and allowing it to cool

I didn't leave my cake for long enough after I took it out of the oven and after I removed it from the tin one side of it fell off! But it still tasted great :)

Hope you enjoy!

Helen x

RWC 2011 Opening Night

I forgot I had this. The New Zealand National Anthem, "God Defend New Zealand", sung by the crowd on opening night. They sing it first in Maori then in English.

It sounds awful! It didn't seem so bad at the time...Like I said though the atmosphere was amazing, as you can probably tell from the cheer at the end!

Let's Get This Show on the Road...with rugby.

I have never, ever written a blog post before and, if I'm honest, I have never really read that many either. I tend to stumble my way through life though so I guess I'll just do that here!

As I'm sure everyone already knows (at least I hope so) the Rugby World Cup has just started here in New Zealand. Being a massive rugby fan it was certainly a deciding factor in my decision to move over here for a year and I can't say I'm regretting it! The opening game was on Friday between the All Blacks and Tonga and, like the rest of New Zealand, I went to Auckland to watch the game and to see the opening ceremony. It was amazing. The game was so-so, but the atmosphere where we were was fantastic- everyone was just there to enjoy themselves. And it was funny seeing how the Kiwis reacted to so many people!

(I feel I should add a small explanation here- New Zealand is not that big a country, it is only a tad bigger than the UK, but it has a TINY population. Only about 4-5 million. So when tens of thousands of people gathered in Auckland for the game, many of the Kiwis (including those I was with) had never seen so many people in their lives!)

I planted myself in front of the TV for the rest of the weekend to watch the rest of the games and I have to say that whilst the results all conformed to prior expectations, the way the games were played certainly didn't! I have a soft spot for Scotland (don't ask) and was on the edge of my seat watching them play Romania. And Wales came so close to beating South Africa! Needless to say I think Hook's kick was over, but I guess I'm a little biased...

The next game I'm looking forward to is Scotland v Georgia, and then Australia v Ireland at the weekend.

I haven't decided who I want to see win yet, so don't ask me!

 Hmm, think that's probably enough about rugby today. I'm off to make a cake. Might post the recipe if it goes well!

Helen xx