Veggie dining

A weekend back in September I met up with one of my very good friends, Rosita, to say goodbye before setting off for Uni. She is a vegetarian, and I decided to cook for her. I was really excited as I often eat meat-less food, but have never actually made my own falafel. This was to be the day.

We started with halloumi, humous and griddled vegetables

Which was followed by sweet potato falafel wraps, with more humous/ perinaise and salad.
For the falafel I used this recipe.

Having fun with the huge and pretty aesthetically unappealing sweet potato!

We chopped up the beast of the sweet potato, microwaved it, and peeled it.

We then mixed it with the flour, lemon juice, coriander, cumin, and garlic.

After shaping them into balls and popping them in the oven for about 30 mins we griddled them to get a bit of a crunchy outside.

And there you have your falafel wrap!

I found these wraps in Sainsburys, I tell you this because they really were great; they were a kind of flatbread/ wrap consistency and I haven't seen them before.

It was a very tasty, easy and relaxed dinner, definitely to be repeated. I had a wonderful evening with Rosita. Throughout the entire evening we had 'Gangham Style' in our heads- definitely a good cooking and washing up anthem!

Has anyone been to 'Leon', a healthy fast food restaurant? I love it, and this meal reminded me of their food.

I hope you have a lovely weekend!

Winter Warmers: Plum and Almond Cake

As the weather cools down nothing is more appealing to me than cuddling up on the sofa eating a freshly baked cake. My friend, Rosita, came round for dinner before I left and so I made this Plum & Almond Cake, (for pudding.) Unfortunately I can only reminisce about how lovely it was, rather than actively delight in it, as I am currently in my room frantically reading 'The Odyssey' between cups of tea, minus cake.

    

I chopped up the plums and laid them on the first layer of cake mixture, then covered them with the remainder of the mix.

After it had done it's rising, (about 30mins through the cooking) I placed a few of the remaining plums on top.

Finished!

It was then generously sprinkled with icing sugar and ready to serve!

Caught in action: having a little taster, 

(just checking it was ok!)

Then it was time to enjoy our cake during Downton Abbey for a perfect relaxing and indulgent Sunday evening. 

                                                                                                                       

Have a wonderful evening, whether you're having a relaxing one in front of the TV, or working for the upcoming week!

And unusually the main course to this meal will be featuring soon.. why conform to these conventional chronological constraints anyway?!

Life recently

... in a hazy blur of forgotten antics,  as is perhaps for the best

As I wrote this last night I could hear the chanting of a neighbouring group of newly formed friends with far more stamina than we have left. I have no doubt that I could hear the all too familiar, always regrettable, and completely irrevocable words,'chug chug chug' emanating from their kitchen. A kitchen in which they are excitedly gathered around a table. The floor has become adhesive when one attempts to take a step, 'squelch', the table inundated with alcoholic beverages, and every horizontal surface overflowing with dirty dishes.
It's Freshers' Week. In fact, Freshers' Week is nearly over, so I thought I would share my experiences.

It was my birthday early on and I was aptly cheered in at 12am with a group of intoxicated flatmates.
The morning after I was surprised with a cake, and a signed card!

Our themed night for the week was 'Slag & Drag' which was just as classy as it sounds.
Never have I ever had as much fun walking into H&M, picking out clothes, and watching males as they come out of the changing rooms thoroughly transformed into their female counterparts.

The girls went for a slightly more demure look with lots of lace.

During the week, an awful lot of alcohol was consumed, and our college tshirt - as the required apparel- worn on too many nights with its horrendous spills and juvenile scribblings.

Monday marks the first day of lectures. I cannot wait to get stuck into some reading, to wake up feeling fresh rather than urmm dizzy and possibly still tipsy, and to attend some societies' meetings.

I hope you're all having a lovely Sunday, hopefully not experiencing the onset of Freshers' Flu.

Uni life from a fresher in the North

Now it's time to wish goodbye to summer, to the South, to my family, to my friends, in exchange for the North of England, cold weather, student accommodation, lots of reading, and even more partying.
It's safe to say I cannot wait. I've known, for as long as I can remember, that I wanted to go to University and now it's time!

I've had a lovely summer full of wonderful moments:
walks, picnics, meals out, tennis, cocktails, celebrating my results, and luckily I have these memories to remember during the cold and long nights full of reading and essay writing.

lots of reading...
In truth, I can't wait to get stuck into some reading and working. Although I haven't been completely dormant, I do feel the need to achieve and to feel challenged. 
I am really keen to embrace all my new opportunities (as cliched as it sounds), and to meet as many people as possible.

This last week has consisted exclusively of packing, worrying that I've forgotten something,

enjoying my beautiful anniversary flowers from Joe before I have to leave them

and spending a nice last week with my family.

Tomorrow I'm moving in, as are all of my possessions, I only wish they'd take themselves up the stairs and unpack themselves like in some disney film!

Leaving the house, minus my clutter, it feels very bleak and desolate. Or perhaps it is tidier and slightly more minimalistic- I imagine that's what my parents would say anyway!

Goodnight from the Southern me,
and tomorrow morning it will be a Goodmorning from a newly adopted Northerner!

Weekend retreat: Day 2.

We woke up later than planned and popped down to breakfast. We both enjoyed a wonderful English breakfast with a well needed cup of tea, (it had been 24hrs since my previous one!)
After reluctantly packing up our things we had a cup of coffee on the terrace.

 

During our coffee we spotted a putting green and decided to have a little go ourselves. It was really good fun, predominantly because of my good fortune. 

Yep, that's right, I WON; Joe was not happy. This is actually the understatement of the century; Joe was really unhappy. Although I was perhaps a little lax with the rules, I did definitely win, and I couldn't help but show my happiness- much to Joe's disapprobation.

We then had a final wander around the grounds before heading off to Barcombe.

Joe then proceeded to navigate us through some very narrow roads into the heart of the countryside. We barely met anyone on the way, until we wound up at 'The Anchor Inn', whereupon we found where everyone had congregated. The place was packed with happy families, the pub inundated with people in want of refreshment. Before too long, we got ourselves a boat, grabbed the nearest paddle, and hopped in.

Once again, we were returned to blissful solitude.

Until...

...We were attacked by the plants on the riverbank.

Who would have thought we'd set ourselves up for some extreme sport...

Next I had the extremely good idea of hopping out of the boat for a quick drink and a little rest.

(Elegantly) I reentered the boat. Joe, on the other hand, did not have the same intention. After pushing the boat back from the land on which we had wedged it, he hopped in, but we weren't moving. So he used the bank to push off from. Heather (that's me), suggests he borrows a paddle. The next thing we know Joseph is 'planking', although rather unintentionally, (as his arms have stayed where they were and his legs are still on the boat which has now been dislodged.)

I have never laughed so much. Poor Joseph got himself in a right pickle, and although he wasn't over the moon about me taking photos, (I really couldn't have helped), I'm so glad I did! (muaha)

After a momentary aggrieved and moody Joe, he returned to his former self and we had a right old chuckle.

As I write this I ponder, surely this rivals a scene in 'Hitch', or even the 'Bridget Jones' boating accident?

We then popped off back home, with the addition of a soggy bottom, but no dampened spirits. With a quick detour to Blockbusters we picked up 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.' We enjoyed it with some of our picnic's leftovers- which were embellished with salmon and stilton on several crackers. The film, accompanied with far too much popcorn, topped off one of the very best weekends of my life. Laughter, Relaxation, a little drama, Heather knowing what's best, and lots of fun: a capsule year.

Thank you Joe!