First Snow....

Reawakening my senses

 

So after having my hope and faith a little bit restored there is nothing like a walk in the park on a cold sunny day to reawaken the senses. That and the fact that I have not  taken the camera out in a long time. I won't say they are the most amazing pictures but I certainly felt good afterwards.

Nelson's Monument

People's Palace

Doulton Fountain

All hope is not lost?

It's hard coming back to Glasgow after having lived and experienced the lifestyle of New Zealand. I agreed with or probably forced hubby to not make comparisons between Glasgow and New Zealand. We made the decision to come home and we could not look back. The funny thing is it's affected me probably more than it has my husband. I think the mother instinct has kicked in and raising a child in Glasgow just ain't that appealing. Especially when I am forced to pass certain areas where I would not want my child to witness certain of the goings on. I kick myself sometimes because it was me who pushed us to come back to Glasgow. I had some crazy idea that I would be closer to family and the grandparents. Especially as hubby's parents will be first time grandparents it seemed kind of important. Yet I still feel far away from home and family even though we have come back, my own family anyway. As much as I love my extended family it will never be the same. The hope of settling back into Glasgow life seems rather dim these days.

One of the things I miss most about New Zealand is the nature of the people. When people always used to talk about the reserve of the British people I never understood what they were talking about until I went away and decided to confirm it. It's just the general welcoming nature you get in New Zealand that you don't get in the UK. People generally smile and look happy and tend to acknowledge each other without the necessity of having met each other before. Here in Glasgow usually when a stranger speaks to you it's to ask for a light or for spare change. Yet over the past week on 3 separate occasions I had 3 strangers stop me to speak to me just to...well...say hello. I was actually passing by a guy in the car park and for some reason he decided to tell me that twice he has parked here now and both times someone has offered him a day ticket they no longer need. Maybe he was taken aback as I was over the little kindness that can happen in Glasgow. They weren't drunk and they weren't abusive and after they spoke to me they just went about there business.

As silly as it sounds...it seemed like a small sign that...all hope is not lost.

Make it reggae

So no surprise this video is doing the rounds with all my Jamaican friends on facebook. Maybe it's time for me to introduce the bean to Bob Marley! The things is Bob has never been a favourite in our household...surprising I know. But before you get up in arms we listen to plenty of ska, rocksteady and reggae. I have to be honest for me Jimmy Cliff will always trump Bob and when he sings 'Miss Jamaica' I secretly (or not so secretly any more) imagine that he is singing to me.

Ode to the Rolling pin

Okay so I was actually given this ceramic rolling pin as part of the hen night tradition where an older woman in the family gives a rolling pin to the bride to be to keep her future husband in control. Cheers to my big sis!!! Thankfully I have never had to use it on hubby and considering it's weight he is a lucky boy. The thing is I actually use the rolling pin weekly to make home made pizza and it works a treat. Ok and the handy pizza trays can get a little look in as well.

Here's to you rolling pin!

Yummy apples

So here are the apples I got from the green grocer to bake hubby's favourite apple pie. I can never be bothered to mess about with the pastry so I always end up making a cake. I got the simple recipe from the silver spoon which as it has an absence of spices I assume rests on the tastiness of the apples. We like it spicy though so we added some. 

Recipe

80g/3oz unsalted butter, softened
300g/11oz self-raising flour
3 eggs
150g/5oz caster sugar
3 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
whipped cream, to serve (optional)

Method

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease a cake tin or mould with butter and dust lightly with flour. Whist together the eggs and sugar until pale and fluffy, then beat in the butter until thoroughly combined. Sift in the flour mixture,  then add the apples and mix gently. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin or mould and bake for 30-40 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool, then turn out, or serve immediately while hot. Served with whipped cream, if you like.

To my flour mixture I added a tsp of cinammon and some nutmeg. Once I added the flour to the mixture it became really thick and I thought how the hell am I going to get apples in here. As usual though I forge ahead and not just add apples but raisins as well! There was loads of mixture and it was interesting getting it all in the tin but...yep...I just forge ahead. I put a tray underneath the tin in the oven just in case there was spillage but surprisingly there was not. It turned out pretty good and tasted even better.

Whipped cream was not optional!

Yam Soup

I have been turning everything into soup these days (other than the odd freaky salad for lunch) as it's autumn. I want to cook things that will warm us up. It's especially a welcome home for hubby after a long day at work who has to then take the train back usually in the cold and wet these days. We got excited when we saw Yam at our local green grocer and just had to buy a piece. I have to be honest that it is something I have eaten from when I was young but have never attempted to cook it myself so was on the hunt immediately for a recipe. I was pleased to find a rather simple soup on line for which I pretty much had all the ingredients! You will find the source here. 

Ok so I did have some variances. Firstly we were all out of wild rice...or admittedly I never buy wild rice. Then I tend to prefer creamy to chunky soup. Hubby thinks I just like to hear the sound of the blender. I also started by softening onions with fresh garlic before adding the yam and stock. Then of course hubby likes it spicy so I added a touch of cayenne pepper as well as the curry powder to give it a kick. After it simmered for it's appointed time into the blender it went. OMG!!! How was I to know that it would turn out so thick. I guess that is what yam does and had I known I would definitely have added more stock than had been advised!  I ended up adding some milk in the vain attempt to thin it out a bit (the vain effect is evidenced in the picture below).

Anyway it still tasted rather nice and what a filling experience it was. I use the word filling literally here as a bowl of this soup certainly leaves you feeling extra stuffed. An experience definitely to be repeated.

A small piece of yam was reserved and is now being roasted with my chicken in the oven as we speak!