Carrots

Hello my furry friends.

Uni is going well but I'm greatly looking forward to a break. As I was discussing with a fellow Stafford resident as we walked up to Vic this afternoon, we've only been at uni for a few weeks but it already feels like we've been here for ages! Which I guess is a good thing since it indicates that we've settled in. But then I realised that that following immediately after these holidays I have 3 assignments due in. So that kind of sunk my ship... Oh well, no one ever said this would be easy!

Nothing much out of the ordinary has been happening these past few days. Life has settled into a routine. Walk up to uni. Lectures/tutorials. Walk back. Study. Maybe squeeze a bit of work in there too. This weekend Ryan's parents came down from Palmy and I went out to lunch with them which was nice. We went to a place in Lower Hutt which was really cool. It had an American diner kind of feel-bright colours, pictures of Elvis, weird dancing puppet machines etc. I got a bagel with peanut butter, jam, cream cheese and fried banana which you should all know is right up my alley. Backtracking, I also had work on Saturday which was rather horrible. Being Saturday, we had some stealing problems so when I went onto the front I had to check people's bags. It was all fine and dandy until a lady had a go at me. Which was rather unsettling. There had been a little 13 year old boy who was trespassed earlier that day and him and a bunch of his friends hung around the store for about four hours and then started harassing Sam-the person in charge (she kind of provoked it though tbh). So by the end of the night there were only three of us left working and we were keeping an eye out on the front cos they were still hanging around. Then about 20 minutes before closing I was at the front tidying up a rack. The next thing I know, Sam was all, "Erin?! Did you not see that?!?!" My back had been turned so I hadn't seen the group of boys run up to the front table, grab a handful of things and then leave. She had a right to snap at me-it's her job on the line after all-but I'm a little sick of their double standards. First they tell you to rack up as quickly as possible but then they say to stay at the front greet everyone etc. Either we need more staff or they are expecting too much of us because some days this is impossible (especially Saturday/Sunday). If I greet everyone that comes in, I might not be able to rack up well and I'll get nagged to go faster and if I focus on racking up and only greet a few people, I'll be told off. Anyway, Sam was very unsettled after this, and I couldn't tell whether or not she was really mad at me or it was just because of the moment. Work isn't all that bad. It's just really stressful when it's busy. But while I'm on the topic: When I started I had to hand in an availability form which is fair enough, I thought it'd just be used to make the rosters and whatnot. But apparently if they need someone to work in a time we've written as available and call us, we HAVE to work. Even if they only call us that morning. Which I think is completely unreasonable. But that's probably just because I've written on my form ALL the times I'm available. Tomorrow I'll change that.

So there is my rant about work ^^

Other than that, being a money deprived student I always aim to get a bargain when it comes to supermarket shopping. I bought a bag of carrots for a dollar. A few days later I was kind of at a loss as to how to use so many carrots at once. Sifting through my recipes I found a carrot fritter recipe. Perfect. Uses many carrots at once and freezer worthy so I don't have to eat them all at once. Even better was that I had all the ingredients required!

Here's the recipe if anyone ever had an excess of carrots and no other way to use them. I thought they were quite tasty but I quite like carrots.

Carrot Fritters
Makes 12
3 large carrots, peeled, trimmed, coarsely grated
1 large potato, peeled, coarsely grated
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/3 cup fresh coriander leaves, chopped (Although I just used dried because like I'd have something fancy like this :P)
olive oil, for shallow frying

1. Using your hands, squeeze excess moisture from carrot and potato. Place grated carrot and potato in a bowl. Stir to combine.
2. Sift flour in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Using a fork, whisk milk and egg in a jug until combined. Pour over flour. Stir until smooth. Add carrot mixture and coriander. Stir well until combined.
3. Pour enough oil in a large, non stick frying pan to cover the base. Heat over medium heat until hot. Using 1/4 cup of mixture per fritter, cook fritters, in batches, for 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until golden and cooked through. Remove to a wire rack over a baking tray lined with a paper towel to drain.

Easy peasy :) And from the August '07 issue of Super Food Ideas ^^

Now I've got to find something to do with the pumpkin I bought so I can have it for tea tonight...

Love Erin.