hobbling goblin gobbling

This is a little celebration post to celebrate .... me! What a surprise! Well actually to celebrate my success in the exams and essays so far! This is my way to let the world know that I passed all of my exams and essays and am more or less pleased with my results and am averaging about 65%, which is very pleasing. Woooo!

Other than that life is nearly going on as usual. Nearly because at the moment I am hobbling around with big blisters on my feet from being to energetic on the treadmill. Am a bit sad about this because it was going very well and I was getting quite into the running thing. Anyway all this hobbling and nastiness on my feet means I am missing meetings and things that I would have liked to go to in order to air my feet and let my wounds heal but still there is plenty of things going on: Human Rights Film Series tonight, lectures and seminars tomorrow, meeting with someone from the Red Cross to hopefully organise some volunteering, and with a potential (hopefully not only potential!) supervisor for my research project on Friday, day trip to York on Saturday, and then lots of visitors, first hand-in date, counselling workshop, etc next week! Sounds exhausting just reading it.

Not sure if I had already mentioned the snow in one of my last posts but thought I would mention it again. The UK (and I think the continent too) is suffering from bizarre extreme weather periods. It has snowed about three times in the last week here in Nottingham and we have had snowball fights and built a snowman. Now it is back to the usual mixture of sunshine and grayness (usually both on one day) but other parts of England are still having snow I think. My wellies certainly came in very useful. Hopefully the weather will be ok on Saturday to go to York and next week when Lena & Co. are here. I think I might have said this already in one of my previous posts... Sign of old age. Heyho.

xxx

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

Let me introduce one of the most dangerous cake recipes in the world - the five minute chocolate mug cake:

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
a small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts (high). The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous). And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

an elephant never forgets

I have not forgotten my blog - I have only been too busy to write anything! And when not too busy then too lazy... And now so many things have happened since my last post! Four days in Switzerland seeing friends and feeling at home in the cold and familiarity of Basel, two weeks in North Carolina enjoying seeing family again, celebrating Christmas and New Year and in between a few days relaxing in the sun in Oriental (and trying to get over a particularly nasty cold). Then back to Nottingham for a week of revision, just under a week of exams (one of the worst weeks of my life), just over a week of writing four essays, and then straight back into new lectures last week! Now with Anne here visiting from Switzerland and so busy being tourists, making delicious food (i.e. me actually cooking Risotto, and parsnip mash for example, and making tomatoe and Mozarella salad - but also the two of us making a rather yummy Zopf that disappeared in less than 24 hours), visiting Sherwood Forest (home to Robin Hood) and Newstead Abbey (home to Lord Byron), going down the caves in Nottingham, and making snowmen and having snowball fights with my housemates! Nottingham has had more snow in the last day or so than in the last 18 or 13 (depending on source) years and it is expected to carry on snowing for the next few days! Schools have been closed, lectures, cancelled, etc. Thankfully we didn't try and go to Liverpool or London this weekend but stuck around to experience Nottingham in white! Further past activities: cinema (Slumdog Millionaire and Defiance - both fantastic and moving!), pub quiz, exploring new places to go out in Notts, walks, Chinese New Year celebrations, regular things like going to the gym, etc. Possible future activities: Volunteering with the Red Cross to do some admin/fundraising work, more cinema (The Reader and Vicky Christina Barcelona), more pub quizes (hopefully with some real success soon), lectures, research project proposal, reading, more essays, more friends from Switzerland (Lena & Co.), trip to York and hopefully London and Liverpool still, etcetcetc - Phew. More news soon.