Pass On At Least 5 Recipes

Remember last year when Jamie Oliver was banging on about passing on recipes to your neighbours and colleagues etc, in an attempt to  ‘get the country cooking’ ? I don’t think it really worked, but I did adopt the idea for one of my 101 in 1001′s.

I naïvely thought it would be easy, giving recipes to other people, but it’s been harder than I thought. Most of the people I know can already cook, they have no need for me and my preachy skills barging into their life.

I have, however, been trying. I think. The first recipe I passed on was my Smoked Salmon Paté recipe, to my (now ex) boss. It went down a storm and I came away feeling pretty happy because it wasn’t a recipe from a book, it was one of my mothers that I’d adapted to suit. (if you want it, let me know. It’s blindingly simple).

The second came a long time after that. My mum and I are undertaking the ” Try a new dish once a week for three months” of my 101, and one of those recipes was Tuna Burgers. I’ve passed that recipe on to at least three people, but I’m not sure if they’ve actually been made yet.

The trouble now, is that a) I don’t know who else to pass recipes on to and b) what recipes to use. Should I try to find people who can’t cook, and teach them? My gift to my friend Owen this year (hi, Owen!) was to teach him how to cook, since he’s moved out of home and can just about manage beans on toast. But I haven’t been able to do any of that yet, since I’ve had to move back home. & does it count if you teach one person three new recipes?

I guess since I made the list I can decide my own rules. I’d like to pass on five recipes to five different people, but I’ll settle for three people if I really can’t find anyone else willing to put up with my nagging. With that in mind, er, anyone wanna learn how to cook anything?

101 in 1001 – February Update

So! It’s that time of month again, time for a 101 in 1001 roundup.

In Progress: 20
4. Declutter - progress is slow, but I’m getting there.
8. Delete all mp3s I don’t like - I am doing this letter by letter. So far, a & b are done.
21. Send birthday cards to my closest friends – I’ve been pretty good this year, so far, at doing this.
23. Pass on at least 5 recipes – this deserves a separate post really, which I’ll do sometime this week. Stay tuned!
40. Spend £15 a week for a month (excluding petrol & bills) – first week of this, going well.
44. Try one new dish a week for three months.
47. Take better care of my teeth
50. Pay off my car
57. Read all Terry Pratchett’s books
58. Read off Toby Litt’s books – reading the last one now
63. See two live bands - I saw Los Campesinos! play last week. They were awesome, they played all my favourite songs and I really enjoyed it. Only one more to go and I can cross this one off my list
69. Keep the bedroom inhabitable
73. Reach payout on www.onepoll.com  – £37.05/£40.00
74. Send a real letter to one new person a month
78. Use all of something before buying something new
82. Nothing from McDonalds for the full 1001 days
84. Get 20 hrs on Wii Fit
88. Limit how much TV I watch
89. Try and pay off one of my credit cards
94. Wear my contact lenses more

Completed: 1
#64 Create a paper address book - I found my old one so I tippexed out all the irrelevant people and filled it up again It’s nice to carry it around in my bag, actually. Plus it’s kind of encouraging me to write real letters to people again (yay! If you want one, let me know your address and I’ll sit down and write you one.)

Slow completion month this month, but I have some plans for March to tick a few more off

Fancy Coming Around For Supper?

In a bid to improve my culinary skills and repertoire (I’m a bit sick of stir fry and lasagna to be honest) I am attempting to complete #44 of my 101 in 1001 – Try one new dish a week for three months.

So far I’m three weeks in and it’s going well, so I thought I’d share the recipes in case anyone else was feeling so inclined.

Week 1 – was tangy tuna burgers. I’d rate these as a SUPER EASY to make, and a 8/10 for tastiness. We’ve actually made them again since this time, so definitely a success.

Week 2 – was roasted butternut squash with goats cheese. Again I’d say it was an EASY recipe, but only a 6.5/10 on tastiness, it could do with something like chorizo or sausage to really pep it up.

Week 3 – was turkey korma from scratch. This was SUPER EASY and it tasted great, so I’m going to give it a 9/10.

For Week 4 I’m attempting a 5 a day tagine, sounds tasty right?

As a bonus, I’ve also learnt how to make gingerbread (giraffe shaped no less!) and this week I made a cherry bakewell cake, which was gorgeous. (I substituted raspberries for maraschino cherries because a) I didn’t have any raspberries and b) I love maraschino cherries).

I’ve actually really been enjoying it – it’s nice to learn new things and new ways of cooking, plus it means I get to tick something off my list when I’m done

Projects Update

On the 101 in 1001 side of things, I have crossed two more off my list.

28. Find and shoot film for both my old cameras Completed 2010
Actually, I only managed to find film for the Fuji Instax 200, but I sold my Becini Comet and threw away the Kodak Instamatic that I bought for £3 in the charity shop because really, I was never going to use it.

33. Buy at least one new lens for the DSLR Completed January 2010

Okay, technically this one is a cheat too, as I am yet to purchase any glass that will work with the DSLR, however, I did buy my first lens for the 35mm SLR, so I’m going to count this one as completed too. (Give a girl a break, it’s been a tough month.)

I’ve also updated the book list page here if anyone is interested to know how I’m getting on with my challenge of reading 100 books in 2010

 

 

101 in 1001 Update

Plus a general life update, I guess. But first, the list.
Completed since I last updated in October 2009:
49. Finish my 365 project
There were several times when I didn’t make it to the end of this project. So glad I did.

Failed Goals:

41. Make packed lunches for Chris and I every day for a month
45. Post at least once a week to www.exquisitefunction.com for a year

Life has changed quite a bit since we last conversed. Chris and I split up after three years together, and I am currently in a state of limbo – half my belongs here with me in my parents house, half still in the house in Cambridge. I quit both my jobs, and have a new job in Cornwal that starts on Tuesday – I don’t know what it’s going to be like but I do know that it will be temporary.

The overall plan is to save some money and then move to London. Much as I love my family, and the opportunity to spend some extended time with them, Cornwall is not my home. It’s strange to say, since I was born here, and grew up here, but the years away have taught me that – I do not want to live here again. My friends here are sparse, the job situation and money situation is poor, and housing is non existant.

I am too young to get stuck in this never ending rut of work-pay bills-work-pay bills. I want to live my life. Being in Cambridge with Chris wasn’t stopping me from doing that, but being in Cornwall will.

So, onwards and upwards.

101 in 1001 – October Update

Completed Goals:

27. Donate clothes I know I will never wear – finally clearing out all the old stuff I know I’ll never fit into again, or just plain don’t like anymore. No more baggage!

70. Keep on top of the washing – We have a new system, and it’s working well, so I’m going to consider this one done.

61. Do something memorable for my birthday – I did this actually, the trip to London is burnt into  my brain, hehe. Next year I might try something a little different tho

38. Buy new perfume - Paul Smith  Women. Mm.

42. No fizzy drinks for a month - I’m pretty sure I lasted longer than a month, and I actually don’t enjoy fizzy drinks that much anymore. Result.

68. Get 50+ views on at least 200 of my 365 portraits on flickr – this is completed and I am so glad!

86. Clear up my acne – you know what, I think I’m going to mark this done, because altho my skin isn’t clear, I definitely no longer have acne. Result!

That’s it for October, but there will be more coming soon

101 in 1001

On the 1st of January this year, I commited myself to another 101 in 1001. The premise is simple, 101 items, to do in 1001 days. I decided to move it over here as I originally had it on my livejournal which I really barely use anymore.

Here’s what I’ve completed since I last updated it:

14. Attach flower holders to the wall – Completed June 2009
19. Clean the inside of my car – Completed September 2009
48. Get a cat – Completed August 2009
51. Grow a full salad (lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber) - Completed July 2009
81. Get a cineworld unlimited card - Completed October 2009
53. Try and journal more - Completed August 2009

which gives me 28 completed out of 101.

It’s a fun project to be doing, I think now I have it here I’ll remember to try and do it more! If you want to help me out with any of my tasks, let me know