Last night I attended an event at the Purcell Room in the Southbank Centre, it was kind of a promo book tour type of thing with Jodi Picoult. I had seen it online and just bought three tickets immediately as mum, my sister and me read her books alot!
It was a really good night, we went to Pizza Express and had 2 for 1 wednesdays with garlic bread, and dough balls to share and then legerra pizzas for main. Yum. I also tried their (I think it is new but not sure!!) raspberry lemonade which is super yummy!!!
Anyway back to the main point.
The event started with an interview between her and a journalist then she did a reading from Lone Wolf and finally the floor was opened for questions.
The first book I read of hers was My sisters Keeper it has remained on my top ten list ever since and when they made the film I was so excited but they ruined it! An all star cast and the director made a film about dying with dignity which was great as Jodi said but isnt what her book was about. I was so glad when she said that because it just wasnt right when I watched it.
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| Jodi's New book |
A lot of people say Jodi sticks in her niche and her books are all the same, and I would agree to a point that the books can be in a similar format but for example last time she wrote a novel based around a gay music therapist and there was a cd that went along with the book! Too cool, and she has just finished writing a novel with her daughter for teen readers, (totally going to read it) The thing that I love about her is her passion. Last night she was talking about researching the books, for this one she went and met with a wolf specialist who lives with wolves, its so intense and I think that is pretty cool.
Jodi mentioned last night that some of her books were released in a different order over here, she has pretty much had a novel published every year for almost 20 years, but they came out at different times and often together over here. I think I might have to reread them all in the correct order lol!
This is the actual order:
Songs of the Humpback Whale (1992)
Harvesting the Heart (1994)
Picture Perfect (1995)
Mercy (1996)
The Pact (1998)
Keepng Faith (1999)
Plain Truth (2000)
Salem Falls (2001)
Perfect Match (2002)
Second Glance (2003)
My Sister's Keeper (2004)
Vanishing Acts (2005)
The Tenth Circle (2006)
Nineteen Minutes (2007)
Change of Heart (2008)
Handle with Care (2009)
House Rules (2010)
Sing You Home (2011)
Lone Wolf (2012)
I read a lot of books and I am not ashamed to say I love a great variety and I also know that Jodi Picoult is not everyones cup of tea. However after last night I am sure she will remain one of my favourite authors for a really long time..... Who is your favourite author?
Ingredients
Essentially I am a massive history geek. Once I get my teeth in to a subject I read everything and anything I can get my hands on about the subject. In the past my small obsessions have been on topics such as the Waitangi tribunal (a tribunal set up to consider the rights of the Maoris in new zealand following a treaty in the 1800s that left things more than murky) the abdication crisis which has become very fashionable recently what with the kings speech and madonnas new film w and e, the history of local asylums and the guards regiments who used to be based in Caterham, where my museum was last year.
My current obsessions are the history of fundamentalist polygamous sects in America following my interest into the Sister Wives programme and as of last week a little known suffragette I m researching for work.
Friday found me in the National Archives in Kew and the Womens Library in Aldgate both fascinating places in their own rights and ones I had never visited before. During my degree nd my masters I used the British newspaper library at Colindale, senate house library which is the main uni of London library and the British library itself. I am sad I never ventured to Kew before but even sadder I never discovered the womens library. It consists of a selection of books on subjects related to women from the suffragettes to mother and baby homes and womens rights. Along with an archive put together from numerous private collections.
There is nothing better than the feeling of finding a personal letter or piece of information about someone or something you are researching that hasn't been uncovered for years.
I realise this probably makes me a bit boring but i care not...anyone else willing to share their obsessions
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Even if they aren't like mine....,
Recently I have been trying to sell a few things, to get ready for the move, ie to condense and also to make a bit of moolah. I came across two websites I wanted to share with you.
The first www.mazumamobile.com is a website which essentially buys old mobile phones, I sold an old HTC phone on there £18.00 it was not working anymore, but it would have been £40.00 working….worth a look if you are holding on to old phones!!!
The second is www.greenmetropolis.com its a second hand book selling site, that takes 75p of every £3.75 book sold, you can sell for charity and it tells you how much each book should cost to post. I have been selling my old history textbooks from my undergrad on there. Its a really interesting site and though there is that charge for the book I have had way more success than when I tried to sell on Amazon.
Anyhew…..just thought I would share them!
My dad makes this and its sooooo yummy!
Serves 4
Ingredients:
Low fat cooking spray
6 shallots or 1 large onion chopped
1 garlic clove sliced thinly
200ml reduced fat coconut milk
1 veg stock cube dissolved in 425ml boiling water
3-4 teaspoons of thai curry paste (green or yellow)
350g butternut squash peeled de seeded and cut into chunks
1 red pepper de seeded and cut into chunks
125g fine green beans halved
2 tablespoons coriander(fresh , half if dry)
1 tablespoon Thai Fish sauce
1 teaspoon ready prepared ginger
1 teaspoon lemon grass
1 fresh green chilli sliced thinly
200g white fish (haddock or cod)
200g cooked large tiger prawns
salt and pepper
Instructions:
Heat a large wok and lightly spray with cooking spray. Add the shallots or onion and garlic and cook over a medium heat for about 4-5 minutes until softened
Add all the remaining ingredients apart from the haddock prawns and coriander. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer gently for about 20-25 minutes until the butternut squash is tender.
Add the fish to the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the prawns and cook for 2-3 minutes. Check the seasoning adding salt and pepper if needed.
Ladle the curry in to four bowls and serve garnished with fresh coriander if you have it.
Remember curry is to your taste so you might want to add some more paste! But add what we say so far and then add extra if you need it.
so….enjoy and sorry for the lack of photos, he hasn’t made it for a while!
I am not a huge drinker, I would much prefer a big bottle of water to anything else during the day. Having said that I prefer fizzy water to still if I want to be different! And I drink a lot of coffee (to me it is a lot, around 2 a day, though thinking about it I havent had any today and feel fine!)
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| Night Night :) |
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| The most amazing tea ever! |
After that we get to cold drinks
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| Great for a hot summers day |
Tesco does an amazing Diet Cloudy Lemonade which we used to buy quite a lot last year at the weekends. It doesnt have that kind of strange off taste that normal Diet Lemonade has as its covered up by the Cloudyness!!! Or some rubbish. Its well worth a look at if you get the chance
Just a quick mention for two recent additions to the hot list, alongside usual coffee (with froth prefarably) I have discovered a love of Apostrophes Chilli Chocolate Espresso, which again was ordered by accident. It hits you with the energy of a normal espresso (I would expect as I have never had a normal espresso) but the chocolate is creamy and there is a sharp hit from the chilli. Well worth a try. And then there is their hot chocolate. It comes in two forms as a usual hot chocolate and then as a thick mess than can only really be described as melted chocolate. It is AMAZING! I had one at a meeting with my boss once and we sat there and ate it with spoons. Not good if you are expecting a normal hot chocolate though!
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| Peach Bellini |
So what is your favourite drink? or drinks?
Macaroni Tuna Bake is the first thing I ever learnt to cook. Its easy and a favourite of mine. So I wanted to share it with you. I make this when I am looking for something quick and easy, generally when I have been at work and not prepared before I left for work!!!
My boyfriends mum makes an even tastier version with a different sauce and crisps as a topping, I will try and find the recipe at some point.
What you will need:
Pasta (my favourite is penne tubes or little bowties)
Tuna (the best is in brine or water not oil as this is fatty!)
Sweetcorn
Peas
Hollandaise sauce mix with milk and butter to make it up
Grated Cheese
breadcrumbs for the top
Green Salad to go alongside.
A Dish to grill it in,
Cook the pasta according to packet instructions, and then just before the end add the peas to cook through, drain. Drain Tuna and canned sweetcorn.
In a saucepan mix the hollandaise sauce mixture together. In the pasta dish pour in the pasta and peas, mix in sweetcorn and tuna, when the hollandaise sauce is cooked pour over the pasta. Top with breadcrumbs and cheese (at this point you can add herbs should you choose such as parsley) place under the grill for a few minutes to crisp up and serve.
Enjoy, boy its making me hungry!
It seems of late that the trains are getting worse, they are delayed, broken down, the heating doesn't work, there is too many people. I could go on. However one thing makes it worse and that is people not sticking to the most basic of train etiquette!
If you live in London and have to deal with the commute everyday you do become hardened and expect less from people and possibly yourself and yesterday this hit me.
In the morning the train had been late again while we waited for another delayed train to leave the station and then there was no heating on the train and when I got to Victoria I had to queue for the tube outside the gates that they put up when the platform has overcrowded. On the way home someone had sadly jumped in front of the train at Norbury and we couldnt get anywhere. Thats when it hit me, when I had been physically pushed over for the third time on the platform whilst waiting for a train it made me really sad. I posted it as my twitter status later and someone reminded me to use my elbows....that shouldn't be what it is all about.
So from here on in I am going to try and stick to some rules:
Smile at at least one person during the journey
Make sure my music (which I rarely listen to on trains) is at a minimum
Make sure my phone conversations are quiet
Offer my seat to those less able to stand
No shoes on the seats
Make sure you are only taking up one seat.
Be Polite and move out of the doorway so people can board and leave the train.
Try not to push
Move out of the way if someone is trying to get past you.
If you still have to push to get on a train so you are not late for work just remember that everyone else is trying to get somewhere just as important as you and try and be nice about it.
Well at least I will try! Anyone else with me?
Over the Christmas break we went away with some of my boyfriends friends. We went and stayed in a converted barn near a place called Ludlow. It was wonderful. We went last year as well and this year there were 16 of us.
The first night we had spaghetti and Ikea meatballs for tea and hung out together catching up and having a few drinks.
It is such a charming place to stay with real log fires that need to be lit and checked and two huge living rooms. One is stocked with board games, old films and books!
The floors are mainly wood and stone which I had forgotten when packing! A lot of our friends brought animal onesies to keep warm. There was giraffe, red panda and a monkey and then for fakemas dinner out came the Santa and Mrs Claus Onesies! I was very jealous.
Then in the morning some of us headed into Ludlow for Sausage sandwiches and a walk before having a huge fakemas dinner for tea in the beautiful barn.
Some of the lovely ladies had lit candles and there was a huge row of tea lights running along the back wall. It would be the perfect place for a really intimate wedding reception.
We had a great time at dinner, everyone was able to sit around and chat and noone was in a rush to get up and do things. Later we all got dressed up and took part in a murder mystery. (Last year when we did this we were practically stranded due to the bad snow!!)
The Second Living Room! Complete with guns and foam darts. The boys terrorise us with these all weekend!
Unfortunately for some of us the weekend ended on Sunday when had to return to London for work so on Sunday morning we got up and had bacon and eggs before heading to a local castle called Stokesay (technically a fortified manor house) for a bit of an explore.
I had such a great weekend and just wanted to share some photos with you of our brilliant break and the wonderful people we shared it with.
I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year and got to do some fun stuff with your friends!
On New Years Eve Day we went to Dudley Zoo and it was awesome!
After Christmas which we spent with my family we ventured to the Midlands to stay with my boyfriends family. We did lots of fun things while we were up there but the best (I would say!!) was visiting Dudley Zoo. We went on New Years Eve during the day and the zoo was nicely quite but the animals were very active. I wanted to share some of the amazing photographs with you…so here goes….
Dudley zoo is built around a castle, it forms kind of an intersection of circles around it. The first animals we came to were the flamingos.
Standing in a row in the pond looking very serene and beautiful! This one was away on is own and just had to be photographed! 
It always surprises me how many different shades they are from orange/coral to pinky to almost white it varies depending on the animal and what they have been eating!
Let me just explain now that both of the cameras failed as soon as we got to the zoo so I apologise in advance for the photos, they were taken on my phone!!
I don't have pictures for everything but next up was the Snow Leopard. There were two snow leopards at the zoo, one outside and one inside, the sign mentioned that they had just received one and were planning on mating the couple, so I expect it was to get them ready. The leopard inside was (we think) the female was lying down stretched out on the bed wriggling around and playing for attention she was absolutely beautiful…
If you know me at all you will know that I want a pet penguin, alas this is not to be so instead I have settled for a dog called Dibdin (Pauls fault!) and a tortoise called Charlie…. and as a result I always visit the tortoise/turtles/terrapins in zoos!
Our friend Kate got to feed the giraffes once as part of a zoo keeper for a day experience. There are three giraffes at Dudley Zoo a mummy, daddy and baby… This is the Daddy… he was busy eating but looked up when we took the photos!! We watched the giraffes go back inside while the keeper cleaned their outside area and it was soo funny baby giraffe couldn’t wait to get back inside but mum took some persuading… until the keeper said STOP!! And low and behold she listened!! and stayed inside.
And I have saved the best until last…the penguins!!!
Dudley has the biggest colony of Humboldt Penguins and they are wonderful. I was a bit worried when we got there to see the eat their lunch that they were really far away!! But I was sooo wrong…..
They are amazing, queuing up to get their lunch!! and my favourite Elliot. Elliot was hand reared and as a result seems to think of herself as a little different from some of the other penguins…she seems to think she’s almost human. For example she forgot to eat because she was too busy trying to attract our attention and then Luke (the keeper) had to come and pick her up to a) feed her and b) escape out of the enclosure after feeding time…
SO here is Elliot…
You have to admit she is cute right!!!
And I would thoroughly recommend a day out at Dudley Zoo if you are ever in the area…. 
