Watching the days go by...

So a year ago I set myself the 2011 resolution to make a new recipe each week… I didn’t manage it. I gave it a good go however and made some rather tasty things! I actually made my own pasta sauce last night (not that it’s hard), other notable dishes were the fajitas, a quesadilla, a chocolate banana cake, and sausage casserole.

This year I haven’t really set myself a resolution. Things are pretty good for me right now; I just need to keep on track. There’s no point me setting a reading goal, I have faced the fact I’m never going to beat Denise, I only managed about 35 books last year which is pretty shocking and I don’t make enough time to read. A resolution to lose weight would be great but again that’s a work in progress, my two exercise classes a week are keeping me relatively balanced, I should really introduce more fruit and veg into my diet but I know how lazy and fussy I am. My real target is to save more money, I’d love to go on holiday with my boyfriend this year; I’m rubbish at saving but I am trying.

Baking has fallen by the wayside; it is a bit expensive and time consuming. I did make some very nice, cute reindeer cupcakes in the run up to Christmas; there may be a few baking projects during the year but no big plans.

I love my job and that seems to be going well, need to keep working hard and learning new things. I am blessed with a fabulous boss who really inspires and drives me so that helps a lot. I’m still enjoying living with Denise in our lovely little house in Southsea, I can’t wait for the Spring to get gardening and everything will look better in the sunshine. When I’m not there I am spending copious amounts of time with my Mike at his flat with his cat and tortoises, we pass the weekends and evenings on the xbox, watching episodes of our favourite shows or getting out and being social.

2012 looks like it’s shaping it up to be a great year, I hope it’s fantastic for everyone else too!

Oops!

Wow, I sure have been slacking on the blog front, I've even been baking lately, the reading has most definitely slowed down though.



A proper update will be coming soon though I saw this amazing Sausage and Waffle House on Raising Hope last week and thought I just had to mention it, check it...

The Salt Cave and the Nectarine

Good Afternoon One and All

Whilst crunching on some particularly disappointing spring onions I thought I'd update my blog.

I recently made some beautiful lemon cupcakes that I was very pleased with, they seemed to go down well with the boyfriend's family so they were a winner all round. Haven't made much else recently in way of cakes or dinner mostly due to being broke and too busy!
I have some plans on the horizon though, one of which came to me whilst I was bored lying in a salt cave in a spa. Turns out it's not utterly original but seemed novel to me: an upside down nectarine cake. I do make a mean pineapple upside down cake, but thought I'd change it up a little with some nectarines as they are in season and I imagine they'd work well in syrupy goodness with sponge. I'm hoping to make it tomorrow, wish me luck!
I also have a couple of baby showers coming up this month I plan to make cupcakes for if I have time. I'm a little daunted at the prospect as my imagination is much more creative than my hands, plus one of my mother-to-be friends has a very successful baker friend who is also attending. Got to be worth a try though.

Reading wise I have also slowed down, and it's not like I was even reading something tricky as it was only a lovey-dovey Nicholas Sparks novel. My social life has picked up leaving me little time for reading or tv watching. Currently realising I need to try and find a balance.

Right, I better go trawl the etsy world for fabric for a project I'm hoping Cloudberryskies will assist me with.

Enjoy the sunshine xx

Mini Waffle - wafflette? wafflini?...

Good Afternoon,

Quick blog.

It's a bad day for my baking, the chocolate chips sank to the bottom of my muffins! They taste ok I suppose. Need to find some inspiration for what to bake for Eurovision and Lucy's birthday. Maybe the 30 or so cookbook/baking books I own should help! I am still way to lazy, opting for easy (and cheap) recipes. I need to get more adventurous, but I'd like my dishwasher to be repaired first. Adventure equals lots of baking implements and bowls!!
Finally tried to cook something new this week, potato rosti. I was disappointed but I'm not sure if it was my cooking or maybe potato rostis don't taste exciting anyway. After my holiday I need to try cooking some new things. (Again it's not like I don't have enough recipes with books and the net).

I'm about to start reading my sixteenth book of the year. Granted most of them have been True Blood or teen novels but a couple have been more literary. The book club choice this month was One Day by David Nicholls, I enjoyed it thoroughly, as shown by the 6 days it took me to read it. Quite a record for me as I'm a slowish reader.
In a week I head off for a beach holiday in Turkey, in theory this should lead to lots of reading :)

And that is my waffle over I think.... Until next time x

What's My Age Again?

Those who know me will know about my 'interesting' taste in movies, tv series and music, most would see them as incredibly girly and sad at my age (26 in less than a month) The truth is I've never seemed to grow out of being a teenager. I like to think I'm quite mature but chick flicks and high school dramas are extremely appealing to me.

I suppose my dabblings in this genre started with Buffy the Vampire Slayer when it began on the BBC. I was at secondary school, the American high school seemed a far cry from my school days with its mix of sunny days, sarcastic wit, brooding vampires and dark clubs. I bought everything I could related to the series: posters, soundtracks, novels and trading cards. I don't feel guilty about my Buffy obsession, Joss Whedon is still an absolute legend to me and many. The market for show-related merchandise is still as thriving as ever and still compels me (I still need to get my hands on a True Blood Merlotte's Bar and Grill outfit).

During my school days the other big show was Dawson's Creek though it was something I only dipped into, the soundtrack not bought only borrowed and copied from a friend. Movies like Clueless and She's All That offered me ideals of transformation from ugly, lonely geek into a cool, pretty popular girl. These themes still show up time after time in movies and tv shows like Ugly Betty.

Science-fiction or fantasy combined with teen drama has always worked for me. I found my way to Smallville which amused me for a number of seasons before I got tired of the Lana/Lex storylines. (However the episodes I've caught lately look like it has become exciting again with the Green Arrow and members of the Justice League showing up). Roswell satisfied my need for teen romance with it's heartbreaking relationship between Max (an alien in human form) and Liz (a journal writing, sneaker wearing waitress). Although I own all three series boxsets I rarely watch them anymore and mostly find my heartstrings played upon in film format instead. Quite often these are Katherine Heigl movies;, she's come a long way since Roswell.

Once again, those who know me will know how much and how easily I will cry when watching something (it could be anything, even Eastenders or DIY SOS). To be honest, a film that doesn't make me cry clearly hasn't moved me enough, I perversely enjoy a good sob through something like the Notebook if there is a tasty man for me to watch. In my house teen 'dark' fantasy books have become something of a phenomenon. Denise and I consume all sorts of vampire/faery/werewolf series for teens and adults due to their compelling nature and interesting subject matter. The Twilight saga has captured many girls across the world and sadly I have to count myself amongst them. Despite my loathing for Breaking Dawn the rest of the books played on things I love in a book or a film, and have been portrayed pretty accurately in the movies. I am geek enough to say I'm team Jacob (Edward is far too much of a drip for me

Knowing what a weirdo I am, Denise recently passed onto me 'My So Called Life', a nineties high school drama that I had missed. Starring Claire Danes, and 30 Seconds To Mars rockstars Jared and Shannon Leto. I was captivated by the characters and their relationships and then shocked to find only one series was ever made.

Glee gives me a weekly fix of high school musical fun, and True Blood provides my adult vampire fantasy fix with lots of men to oggle. Combining the two, a boxset was lent to me by a friend, something that I hadn't managed to catch on tv and I was a bit hesitant about checking out... The Vampire Diaries however, has me hooked. A disappointment to some that I love it so much, I expected it to be very teeny and tacky and perhaps it is in places, but there are elements like the vampire's thrall that lead me to like it. Along with a character called Katherine and two very hot men, one brooding, one cheeky, I was doomed to like it. I am highly anticipating series 2 when it is released.

I'm not sure I'm ever going to grow out of my fasincation for high-school dramas and attraction to Darcy-esque men. Maybe I just need to find myself a good man, though sometimes I feel I'd rather have a good predictable book or boxset to enjoy. One day I might possibly be able to share my collections with a teen of my own guilt-free. Well there we have it, I've confessed, I'm a 14 year-old in a 25 year-old's body.

Tonight I look forward to kicking back and watching The Vampire Diaries all over again for the second time in a couple of weeks. Before reading the lastest Wicked Lovely book whilst listening to the Twilight Soundtrack, wearing my Sunnydale High School t-shirt. ;)

Coming Soon....

Two months without a blog post, I'm soo lazy!

And this post is really just cheating.

NEW BLOG COMING SOON!

Possible subjects include:

• John Cusack
• My new year's resolution failure
• Sunshine
• Mother's Day/Come Dine With Me recipe ideas
• Something you choose for me to write about?!!

Comments would be appreciated.

Squiggles and Skittles,

Kat.

A quiet desperation building higher

Good afternoon one and all.

The baking seems to getting worse!
I made some of Nigella's everyday brownies which were far too gooey, not sure if this was my own doing through a difference in sugar or just a weird issue. There was also some awful icing this weekend when attempting to create Being Human inspired cupcakes. The bloody buttercream centres worked great but the wolf chocolate icing topping didn't work due to my bad icing and lack of edible facial features!


In other news: I'm currently reading Stephen King's 'Under the Dome' for our book group. It's my first Stephen King read and it's incredibly good. From others who've read more King apparently its a little like many of his other books all thrown into one, but as a newcomer it is extremely compelling and interesting. Only 200 pages to go (its 880 long). As much as I'm enjoying it I am keen to get on and read other things. Still keen to compete with Little Miss Bookseller who is the world's fastest reader! It's not like I even take it all in; I will have forgotten everything about this book within a month most probably. My memory is dreadful these days, maybe I need more Omega3?

One thing currently distracting me from reading is a boxset of 'My So Called Life'. This 90s American tv series passed me by and has been very kindly lent to me. It stars Claire Danes and a very young and beautiful Jared Leto. It makes me feel like a teenage girl again (not that I have changed much and am still a 14 year old at heart). It is a very moving drama revolving around the character of Angela and her struggle through high school, her home life and her love life. A precursor to Dawson's Creek, Roswell, Buffy and I suppose the OC; although My So Called Life only survived one series.

February is to be another month where I'm strapped for cash so there will be lots of time spent at home reading, though perhaps not being able to afford any extravagant baking or cooking. I'll see what I can do with what I have in order to keep that new years resolution ticking over!

Toodles.