St. Patrick's Day Shenanigans

Well hi there all you lovely bloggers'!

It's Monday. It's the day after St. Patrick's Day... if we thought we were clever by wearing green and consuming abnormally colored beer last night.... I'm pretty sure we're feeling slightly greener this morning than last. The aftermath has kicked in.

I was planning on being my boring old self (yeah right,) last night and staying in with my two kittens and ancient sausage dog, (I swear I'll need to get him a walking stick soon...) but at the last minute I got a text from a friend from out of town.

He lured me over the bridge and into Mo's on Rex where a live band was playing and four-leaf-clovers passed as the holiday decorations :) - needless to say we had fun with them.

I think this is when it's safe to say I'm thankful for photography - as I just do not have it in me to write much right now. So let my shots, (urgh I don't want to hear that word right now...) speak for themselves about my shenanigans last night.

Enjoy!

And that's all I've got for you today friends! The above events have lead me to the not so appealing: Hangover Monday.

At work.

At 6am.

Not ideal.. but a 5am shower this morning was actually really amazing. In truth, I cannot think of a better way to start out the day. I also bought new shower cream the other day... so I smell really good too. Just saying.

I hope you all had a great St. Patty's Day!

May the force be with you.

GFC Closing Down!?!?

I am absolutely heartbroken.

 

ONE away from reaching 100 followers on GFC (OK, so it doesn't seem like much to some of you fancy bloggers,) but for me it was going to be a huge milestone! And now the site is closing down I hear!?!?

 

Don't believe me? Read it for yourself:

 

http://heartifb.com/2011/11/28/google-cancels-google-friend-connect-what-that-means-for-you/

 

I am absolutely devastated and bloggers worldwide have now started to ask their loyal readers to follow them on Bloglovin' as well before the site closes and they lose all of their followers. That means there is going to be a HUGE decrease in Traffic.

 

You'll need start all over again....

 

I don't know how someone could do that!!!

 

If I think of how upset I am after having a measly 100 - I can't imagine what it is like for those who have poured their time and energy into building up a fanbase of over 1000 followers.

 

My thoughts go out to all fellow bloggers today.........

 

Please follow me on Bloglovin' as now I have to start all over again :(

 

The link can be found on the side of my page just below my 'Live Every Moment' quote and just above my Great Blogs advertisement section.

 

I would really appreciate the time and will do the same back to whoever asks.

Rosemary-Garlic Lamb Chops - Recipe

  Ingredients for chops:

• 1 Packet of Rosemary
• 2 Teaspoons of crushed garlic
• Freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 Chopped green chili
• A lug of olive oil
• Chops

 

In a marble mortar, I crushed all of my ingredients together to form a nice marinade to coat my chops in. This would have been better to do 24hrs in advance and leave the chops to marinade overnight.

I then put my chops into a deep set bowl before applying salt and pepper, followed by the marinade. I turned the chops around and coated the other side exactly the same.

 

 

When putting the chops to a pan, you really don't need that much oil as the fat is already enough to cook this meat.

I have a pretty fancy pan that turns on and off by itself, making sure it can never burn my food but for a normal pan, it should take roughly 15-20 mins to cook the chops.

As soon as your meat stops 'bleeding' on one side and has browned, that is the sign that you can now flip over to the other side.  

Once done on both sides you can stack them on their sides, fatty parts down on the pan.

(Can I just say here how absolutely amazing it smells at this point?!)

 

 

 

 

While the chops finish up, I have already made my own chips from potatoes and put them in my chip fryer. I have also started to heat up some canned bake-beans. 

 

This is such a quick and easy recipe with a lovely twist of flavor. It takes roughly 45 minutes to make this whole meal so its so nice for when you are feeling a little tired and need something that won't take up your whole evening after work.

 

 

 



Chasing Maverick's - Movie Review

Last night I watched Chasing Mavericks. 

I’m a sucker for all things surfing, (and Gerald Butler…) so when I saw the trailer for this film a few months ago, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.

Fifteen year old Jay Moriarity (Weston,) had looked up to Frosty (Butler,) his whole life.

Frosty had become a hero to Jay after saving his life when he was only eight years old; he’d fallen into the ocean and couldn’t fight the strength of the waves when Frosty paddled up beside him and picked him up onto his surfboard. 

That moment fuelled Jay’s love for the ocean and for surfing forever more and after cello taping his absent father’s dinged up board back together, Jay dragged it to a local surf spot, looking adorable as he practically drowned in his father’s wetsuit. 

After paddling out and receiving a few hard knocks from his board, Jay paddled his heart out for his first ever wave, standing up and riding down the crest of the wave like a complete natural. 

Personally, I’m not sure if anything could quite beat the feeling of that drop. That rush when the wave connects with your board and glides you forward at full speed, that moment when you just know when it is right to raise yourself up with the palms of your hands by the chest and jump up onto your wax covered board. That small drop that awakens all of the butterflies inside, scattering them throughout your body as your board finds the water once more and you slice through the glassy wave for what seems like hours. 

I could understand why anyone would be hooked after that. 

Skip seven years down the line when Jay, still an avid surf lover, discovers the mythic Maverick’s surf break after following Frosty on another one of his secret surf trips  - he seeks the help of the local legend to train him up to be able to surf it himself and survive it one day.

I was truly fascinated by the way the film was able to portray big wave surfers as more than your average, care-free beach bums. 

It shows how much passion and dedication actually goes into what they do; how they study the waves and their patterns and the physical training it entails.

It goes in depth into the athletic side of things which is a beautiful appreciation to them in my eyes.

Although I found myself grinning ear to ear throughout every surf scene, a lot of the visual effects really ruined it for me as well as the odd little drama scene thrown in here and there by aggressive 1980’s teens that actually make you cringe. 

Even so, nearing the round-off of the film, you find yourself gripping the edges of your seat in anticipation. 

I think the moment I discovered that this film was based on a true story about Jay Moriarity, who became famous from surviving the Maverick’s surf break at fifteen and who tragically drowned at the tender age of twenty-two in a free-dive accident – that is when this film became truly magical to me. 

At the end, they show a clip of the real Jay and it makes your heart swell like the ocean inside.

His beautiful memoir with every local surfer out on their boards brought tears to my eyes and really hit home as it reminded me of our local loss, Ross Taylor. 

I’d say this film has great potential – but it wasn’t what I was expecting. 

I feel that many people would be disappointed in it and as a tribute to Moriarity, it could have and should have done better.

I still feel that it was a fantastic film however, perhaps because I have a love for surfing and I could relate to the story-line and so I overlooked the negative.

Give it a watch and decide for yourself.

Happy Watching! 

Almond Pesto Pasta - Recipe

Ingredients for Pesto Sauce:

• 1 Packet of sweet basil
• 1 Packet of almonds
• 2 Garlic cloves (finely diced)
• A few handfuls of grated Parmesan cheese 
• 2 Teaspoons of lemon juice
• A lug of extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients for the mix:

• 1 Chicken breast (sliced into strips)
• 1 Chorizo sausage
• 2 Large mushrooms (diced)
• 10 Sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 Clove of garlic (finely diced)
• 2 Spring-onions (diced)
• 1 Red jalapeno with the seeds (finely diced) 
• Fettuccine Pasta
• Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper

Last night I cooked dinner for my best friend, Kyle, and one of his friend’s that has just moved to town. His friend, Shaheen, is Muslim and Halaal. 

I was really nervous to cook for him as I knew nothing about Halaal – but it was an easy conversation starter and truly fascinating to learn more about their culture.

I made Almond Pesto Pasta with Chicken Breast and Sun-Dried Tomatoes, (with Italian Sausage for Kyle and I).

It was the first time making my own pesto sauce – and I was really proud of it to be honest!

Along with a glass of lime induced vodka in hand, I put almonds into Kyle’s nifty handheld food processor and mushed them up before adding in a packet of sweet basil, destalked. 

I then spooned in my diced garlic (aprox. 2 cloves,) and a few handfuls of parmesan cheese before squeezing in some fresh lemon juice. To loosen, I lugged in some extra virgin olive oil and set aside for later.

To start, I put (far too many,) sun-dried tomatoes into a pan and cooked for about three minutes before removing from the pan and setting aside in a bowl. 

After slicing my chicken into strips and cooking until almost done in the same pan that the tomatoes were in, (letting the chicken soak up the nice acidy juices,) I added two diced spring onions to the pan.

The mushrooms, garlic, chilli and freshly squeezed lemon juice followed shortly after and while I let all of those lovely flavours’ sink into my chicken I put my fettuccine in to boil.

I started my Italian Sausage in a separate pan which smelt divine as it slowly sizzled away, darkening to a deep maroon colour and turning crispy on the outside but chewy in the middle – perfect.

When my fettuccine was done, I started to add it into my chicken mix, dolloping in spoonful’s of pesto sauce with every clump of pasta – giving everything a thorough good mix through.

I then transferred my mix into a massive bowl and dished up three hearty potions – plopping a pretty basil leaf on top of each serving and two almonds to finish.

It was deeeeelicious.

Halaal approved (chicken was bought from Soco and was slaughtered the Halaal way,) and the guys dished up seconds it was so good! 

The spices were just perfect – the whole meal was just perfect! 

Very happy with my latest creation!