I think the lightest, smallest things can feel so perfect every now and then. Little moments you take for yourself to observe something you think is lovely. I have the tendency to take photos for a 'cloudy day' of these little moments - so that I can keep reminding myself that there are beautiful things out there.
Late night tea and cake with a dear friend...
... Some alone time reading and drinking coffee.
Exploring a new city...
... Returning to your own and remembering why you love it.
Going on a walk around the lanes and discovering new treasures...
... Lying in the sun in your garden and admiring the beauty there.
Reading a book and finding one person who really shares what you feel...
... Listening to a song with thousands of other people who share what you feel.
Cooking like a child and mucking about in the kitchen at home...
... Having an extraordinary dinner out with a loving group of friends.
Waking up to find your cat climbing in to bed for a snooze...
... Spending an exhausting day rushing about playing with the sweetest relatives.
Spending a late night at a beach bonfire singing with kind friends...
... Having an early morning breakfast excursion with a thoughtful friend.
I'm supposed to be sleeping before I have a full on day in London with my family tomorrow (ah isn't the holiday season just the best?) but am struggling to sleep. Those late nights working or staying up with friends at university have messed up my body clock big time. So I thought why not be productive and write up another blog? I always type one up and remember how much I miss it. I should really try and find a better balance with work. Ah well.
I mentioned in one of my summer blogs that since I'm living in a house this year I'd have the opportunity to cook for myself every day. Cooking is one of my favourite things to do - so creative and relaxing at the same time! This semester I started off slowly and have worked up to some fun stuff. I've already got so many plans for next semester's cooking it's ridiculous.
One of my fellow foodies and best friends, Gen, is my person to go on food excursions and discuss my latest cooking efforts with. We recently started talking about going out on some 'tummy indulgence' - hence the title of this blog. We've even named our food babies! She's crazy talented - makes pumpkin pie from scratch (no pre-made mixture for her!), has an ice-cream maker etc. Well she jokes that because she's Asian she has to take pictures of all her food - funnily enough this habit has caught on and now I'm photographing stuff I've made. I thought I'd post some pictures from this semester and get in a foodie frenzy. Ahhh yum yum yum!
Salmon. I love how 'sophisticated' this meal looks when it's so easy to put together. It impressed my mum at least! It's basically my dish for throwing together whatever vegetables I have and sprinkling a little pesto and parmesan on top.
Bread. I have always wanted to learn how to make bread. I don't know why it always seemed like such a wholesome idea? Well this term I decided I'd take up that challenge and I haven't been able to stop making bread since. I'm still shocked every time it rises in the oven! There is also nothing more rewarding or yummy than eating your own, freshly baked, warm bread - plus the kitchen smells amazing afterwards! I've only started with basic plain bread but my housemate wants to try honey and apple bread - doesn't that just sound immense?
Butternut Squash Mash. A number of my friends are vegetarians so I'm conscious of cooking for them and how delicious the food is when they cook for me. I think with vegetarian food there's much more of an effort to work with flavour so it always tastes so much better than if you were making vegetables to go with meat. My friends have got me on to experimenting with different veggie dishes and this is one of my favourites - butternut squash mashed with feta, nuts and coriander. You can eat it as a mash or make veggie burgers out of it.
Prawn and Coconut Laksa. Laksa is a spicy noodle soup that derives from Singapore - people have played about with it a bit so you get lots of different types. Again, the title makes it sound so complex and exotic but it's pretty easy to make. It's simply noodles, prawns, vegetable stock, coconut milk, coriander, spring onions and ginger. This dish has become my new comfort food - especially in helping survive freezing Scottish weather.
Oreo Truffles. I only started making these this year and now they've become my sort of 'thing'. It's always fun to make large batches and send them out to my friends. I did this a couple of weeks ago when everyone had deadlines and it was a lifesaver! They're so quick and easy to make it's insane. They're also so addictive that I have to hide them from myself.
My First Christmas Dinner. This year I made my first christmas dinner for some of my housemates. It tragically felt like a big step on the growing up scale! I've watched my parents make christmas dinner and helped with the easier parts for so many years that it felt odd to be in charge of it. Still it turned out pretty well - nothing disastrous happened and everyone lived so I'd count that as a success?
Banana and Chocolate Bread Pudding. This picture was taken before I baked it - it looks rather slimy and gross otherwise! Bread and Butter Pudding was something my mum always tried to make me eat as a child - I don't know why I always had horrible images of it in my head as something that adults ate? Well I thought I'd give it a whirl and see what happened. It turns out it's become one of my new cooking obsessions. My friend accurately described it as being like 'eating a giant toastie'. The recipe I use has soya milk so now I can make it for my mum (she can't eat dairy) to apologise for ever doubting her taste!
Star Wars Treats. I had the opportunity to do some very creative baking for Greenpeace this semester. I just joined the St Andrews Greenpeace Society this year and have been having such a good time. It feels so good to be active and part of a team where you feel like there's real meaning to what you are doing. Greenpeace currently has an ongoing campaign against Volkswagen for their funding of the activities of groups lobbying against emission laws. The campaign was Star Wars themed which meant that I got to get creative in the kitchen. It took me a day to produce everything for the campaign and it was ridiculously fun. I ended up making: chocolate and raspberry Deathstar cupcakes, red velvet Princess Leia cupcakes, oreo truffle Ewoks and lemon biscuit Yodas.
Hmmm so this blog hasn't been the cheeriest thing recently? Well, maybe sad poetry does it for some people? Bah, it could have been worse.
Anyway, I thought I'd turn that around with some lovely music. I've just had a couple of songs in my head recently that I think are fantastic. Do they go together? Not really. Are they similar? Not really. Ah well. They've been my soundtrack in the last few weeks of work before coming home for the holidays! I find myself creating a ridiculous amount of facebook posts with music people should listen to so I thought I'd cut that down and post a bunch on here instead.
1. Pumped up Kicks (Acoustic) - Foster the People
I've really come to like the acoustic version of this song over the original. Not that the original isn't great in itself and people should listen to that too. Just what I noticed when listening to this is that the upbeat style of the original song masked the incredible lyrics. It's quite sinister really (did I say this blog was supposed to be more uplifting? Whoops!) but tells an interesting story. Also in losing the heavy layering of instruments etc. the beauty of the tune on the guitar and the warm quiver of Mark Foster's voice really come to light.
2. Holocene - Bon Iver
What was that about making this blog cheerier?!? Well, to be fair, I don't find this song sad. I find it beautiful but I can see why people may read it as sad. The subject isn't particularly happy and there is the usual melancholy in Justin Vernon's voice but... I find it so light and dreamy. Justin Vernon does have the most otherworldly voice - it's especially striking considering that when you look at the guy he really looks like some rough lumberjack who should be out in the forest shooting deer or something?
3. The Fear - Ben Howard
The song title may not suggest it but I swear this is happier! I've had this discussion with so many people - a beautiful voice or a powerful voice? For me it's always a powerful voice. I will always prefer a voice where I can feel the artist's energy and expression. Ben Howard is my new 'powerful voice' - he's up there with Florence Welch, Marcus Foster, Newton Faulkner, Adele, Gotye etc. I just love his roughness and that broken quality that goes so well with the guitar.
4. Every You, Every Me - Placebo
I know a lot of people think Placebo aren't happy but I think the energy and power in their reflections breaks away from this. Lyrically and musically there's a rawness and a franticness to them that I really love. You really feel like you're in the ramblings of someone's head - there's no hesitation or guise. Lyrically, especially in this song, there is such honesty about the narrator's character flaws and their violently passionate relationship with their partner. Anger and passion is a powerful combination and I think that's how I'd describe Placebo.
5. Midnight City - M83
This is my new motivation/dance song. M83 never fail to provide good electronic music to walk down the street to. Like most of these artists, in their later work I think M83 developed a greater subtlety and energy in their new tracks. Also the saxophone at the end makes me nostalgic and wishing that I had the time to pick mine up again - in the instrument world it is the definition of 'cool'.
6. No Light, No Light - Florence + The Machine
I know Florence got a lot of slack for this video, which is a shame because I think it's the best song from the new album, so I'll ignore the video for now. My favourite track on the last album was 'Cosmic Love' and I think this is a development of that style. The song begins so beautifully and then swoops in to the dramatic Florence everyone loves. She has a powerful voice but I think the start of this song demonstrates how beautiful and soaring it can be. Lyrically, it's a really interesting focus on the lightness and darkness of a relationship.
7. For You - Tracy Chapman
I can finish on a happy note! Not that I don't think the other songs are great and they make me happy - they just don't seem very happy. Ah! so be it. Tracy Chapman is a goddess. This song is simply her singing the loveliest lyrics known to man twice round. Just her voice and an acoustic guitar. Tracy Chapman's simplicity and her beautiful deep voice make her timeless. People know her for 'Fast Car' (which hands down is utterly divine) but I think her other songs should be explored as well - she's by no means a one song artist.
