Rain.
At this rate, the world will be consumed by a flood. If not the world, Wellington at least. The newspaper says that it is going to keep raining because of an enormous low or something or other. Perhaps it is the same in Palmerston North. There is an upside though! I get to wear my new jacket. Beautiful colour. Keeps me dry. Perfect :)
Now that all my assignments are done, I must focus on the million I have in Japanese. I'm getting through the draft for my writing assignment at the moment. There was a famous author in Japan called Natsumi Souseki (I think?) and he wrote a series of short stories called 10 dreams (or something like that). Our writing task is accordingly based on this - we have to write about a dream starting with "この夢を見た" (This is the dream I had - sounds nicer in Japanese) and ending with "その時目が覚めた" (and then I woke up).
After much deliberation, I'm writing mine as if I had a dream in which I am paralysed and all I can do is open my eyes. It's quite emotionally intense, so hopefully i'm able to convey that in Japanese.
Then Ryan and I will start working on our conversation tonight.
In POLS today we had our last guest speaker - The Minister of Foreign Affairs whose name I don't know how to spell. He's also the minister for the rugby world cup though. His talk was fairly interesting but it was cut short when a fire alarm went off. I don't know whether or not it was the real deal - there was no smoke or anything - but it stopped the lecture.
Love Erin
Monday, May 24, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Honey cake
Yatta!
Finally got my last essay done yesd
I certainly haven't baked ANYTHING in such a long time. And I was missing it. So I made a cake for the Ryan.
Of course it had to be in the shape of a heart.
And honey flavoured to represent the new craze that has swept the nation (or just the two of us).
Honey Cake
Ingredients:
170g Honey
140g Butter
85g muscovado sugar (I used brown sugar, maybe they're the same thing? Maybe not. I just worked with what I had)
2 beaten eggs
200g sieved self-raising flour
Tblsp water
Method:
1. Put honey, butter, sugar and water together in a saucepan and heat lightly until melted.
2. Add eggs and flour and mix.
3. Put into a Greased tin and cook on 180 C for about 40 minutes.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/honeycake_67599
Voila!
You now have a cake :)
I only made half the recipe but it came out the perfect size as a mini cake. Not too big as to be impossible to eat. But not too small as to just be cupcake size.
There is a recipe for the icing as well but I just mixed some honey, icing sugar and water together til it came out the right consistency.
I admit, one of the reasons I chose this cake is because it has only a few ingredients. I had all of them in fact, apart from the icing sugar. Which I could buy in a small quantity for only one fifty.
Mmm. Cake.
Love Erin
Finally got my last essay done yesd
I certainly haven't baked ANYTHING in such a long time. And I was missing it. So I made a cake for the Ryan.
Of course it had to be in the shape of a heart.
And honey flavoured to represent the new craze that has swept the nation (or just the two of us).
Honey Cake
Ingredients:
170g Honey
140g Butter
85g muscovado sugar (I used brown sugar, maybe they're the same thing? Maybe not. I just worked with what I had)
2 beaten eggs
200g sieved self-raising flour
Tblsp water
Method:
1. Put honey, butter, sugar and water together in a saucepan and heat lightly until melted.
2. Add eggs and flour and mix.
3. Put into a Greased tin and cook on 180 C for about 40 minutes.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/honeycake_67599
Voila!
You now have a cake :)
I only made half the recipe but it came out the perfect size as a mini cake. Not too big as to be impossible to eat. But not too small as to just be cupcake size.
There is a recipe for the icing as well but I just mixed some honey, icing sugar and water together til it came out the right consistency.
I admit, one of the reasons I chose this cake is because it has only a few ingredients. I had all of them in fact, apart from the icing sugar. Which I could buy in a small quantity for only one fifty.
Mmm. Cake.
Love Erin
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Deliciously bizarre
Rain rain go away, come again another day.
Please T_T
When I walked up to Uni early this afternoon it was only a light drizzle which a hat sorted out nicely. But in a few hours it became a bit more heavy. Luckily I borrowed a sturdy jacket from Ryan. I really need to get my own.... Overall, although it is raining, there is a somewhat unnatural lack of wind. The rain only falls vertically and on a day like this an umbrella would also be an entirely viable option. Unfortunately, I have a lack of umbrella as well....
Broccoli were only 99c at New World the other day. And because broccoli is delicious and it was at an unnaturally cheap price, I bought it. I have consequently made some spontaneous broccoli recipes for lunch that you may (or may not) be interested in. As the title of this post suggests, they are deliciously bizarre. Or perhaps bizarrely delicious.
1. Broccoli fritters
Makes approximately four.
Ingredients (this is just a guess, I chucked stuff in without measuring because it was a spontaneous idea):
1/3 of a broccoli
1 egg
1/3 c of flour
1/2 tsp vege stock
salt and pepper
A bit of grated cheese
Method:
1. Boil the broccoli nice and soft and then mash it up with a fork or your preferred masher.
2. Add everything else.
3. Mix vigorously.
4. Divide.
5. Fry them in a bit of oil until cooked.
OK. I like broccoli. I like fritters. This worked for me well. I don't know if anyone else would like it. But I certainly did ^^
2. Broccoli salad.
OK. This one is a bit of a random throw things together recipe. I thought it might be nice and it was. I highly doubt anyone else would. It consists of: Broccoli, lemon & pepper flavoured tuna and half a can of beans. With some salt to season (don't need any pepper, plenty in the tuna!). Just chuck it all together and eat it. I had it cold but whatever floats your boat.
So if you're feeling particularly dangerous and have an abundance of broccoli, your horizons are now broadened.
Or you could just boil it and eat it with soy sauce.
I eat way too much soy sauce. I almost need a new bottle....
Love Erin
Please T_T
When I walked up to Uni early this afternoon it was only a light drizzle which a hat sorted out nicely. But in a few hours it became a bit more heavy. Luckily I borrowed a sturdy jacket from Ryan. I really need to get my own.... Overall, although it is raining, there is a somewhat unnatural lack of wind. The rain only falls vertically and on a day like this an umbrella would also be an entirely viable option. Unfortunately, I have a lack of umbrella as well....
Broccoli were only 99c at New World the other day. And because broccoli is delicious and it was at an unnaturally cheap price, I bought it. I have consequently made some spontaneous broccoli recipes for lunch that you may (or may not) be interested in. As the title of this post suggests, they are deliciously bizarre. Or perhaps bizarrely delicious.
1. Broccoli fritters
Makes approximately four.
Ingredients (this is just a guess, I chucked stuff in without measuring because it was a spontaneous idea):
1/3 of a broccoli
1 egg
1/3 c of flour
1/2 tsp vege stock
salt and pepper
A bit of grated cheese
Method:
1. Boil the broccoli nice and soft and then mash it up with a fork or your preferred masher.
2. Add everything else.
3. Mix vigorously.
4. Divide.
5. Fry them in a bit of oil until cooked.
OK. I like broccoli. I like fritters. This worked for me well. I don't know if anyone else would like it. But I certainly did ^^
2. Broccoli salad.
OK. This one is a bit of a random throw things together recipe. I thought it might be nice and it was. I highly doubt anyone else would. It consists of: Broccoli, lemon & pepper flavoured tuna and half a can of beans. With some salt to season (don't need any pepper, plenty in the tuna!). Just chuck it all together and eat it. I had it cold but whatever floats your boat.
So if you're feeling particularly dangerous and have an abundance of broccoli, your horizons are now broadened.
Or you could just boil it and eat it with soy sauce.
I eat way too much soy sauce. I almost need a new bottle....
Love Erin
Monday, May 17, 2010
Tuesday
Today our POLS class had a visit from Winston Peters.
Our lecturers had been encouraging us for weeks in advance to start thinking of questions to ask him and more recently, been telling us to bring our friends along to the lecture so that Winston had a full house to talk to. It worked. Attendance practically doubled and the lecture theatre (one of the very big ones) was nearly full.
He was slightly late as having just arrived from a the airport with one of our lecturers (Jon Johannsson) picking him up.
He began by talking about the cuts to the intake of students at Vic, while mentioning that the number of paying international students hadn't cut. And I guess there is sense to this argument, but then again I am swayed by practically anything I hear. I need to find a viewpoint and just stick to it or I'll be floating around in the inbetween forever!
Anyway, his speech was basically about Maori and how we should stop making separatist policies like we have been. Basically that we should just promote equality, rather than trying to create a separate Maori nation. And as someone noted afterwards, it's great that he can actually say this (as half Maori and former Minister of Maori Affairs) because if any white person suggested something of the sort, they'd surely instantly be labelled racist.
After his speech, there was time for questions in the last 15 minutes or so.
I certainly can see why some people like him now. He's a very charismatic person and he made lots of jokes (about Rodney Hide) and he seems to stick very firmly to what he believes in. Although what he said was very rhetoric.
Definitely an enjoyable lecture :)
In fact, it's made me think about lecturers and whatnot. I didn't realise before University, but lecturers seem to be quite well established in the realm of academics. For example most of mine have written and published books either individually or co-authored and I cite them in my essays. They talk about all the things they've done and the people they've met and involvement they've had in political issues. It's really impressive!
That's just my point of interest today.
Love Erin :)
Dinner
Hello, and welcome to cooking adventures in the kitchen of Erin.
Tonight we will be making stuffed mushrooms.
To make this recipe you require:
Just thought you guys might like to see what I've been feasting on. Tonight it was indeed stuffed mushrooms. From a magazine. Which I was able to cook. In the oven.
I was even able to learn something in the process: Brown rice takes a miiiiiiiilllion years to cook. I see why the recipe told me to get ready cooked brown rice now... But considering that one bag of pre-cooked rice costed about the same as a bag of uncooked rice which was about four times the amount, I had to make the budget decision ;) (Other recent budget decisions include: Budget bread which was $1.50 over molenburg which as $4.50). But in saying that, I buy budget bread and then $5.00 pots of white chocolate spread for my toast.... DON'T JUDGE ME! It was necessary.....
Back to the cooking.
So after your rice has cooked (if it ever does....) you mix everything together, put it in the mushroom, put cheese on top and then in the oven. Simple as that. But don't forget to cut the spring onion...
Voila,
Dinner!
I very much enjoyed it! I must say, I quite enjoy brown rice. It is different, but good. Another thing I have come to like: Soy milk! I tried it at Majas once and fell in love. Although, I made the mistake of getting the cheap dodgy Asian option the first time which tasted a lot like I was drinking tofu.
NO.
BAD.
It was disgusting. I forced Ryan to try some and he was still going on about how bad it tasted the next day. I bought some legit stuff the second time around and it was very nice (to my relief).
I also bought some storage containers from Briscoes. Ryan was with me at the time and ending up being my muscle and carrying them all around town. Because Briscoes is reeeeeally far away. I bought a huge one for all my clothes and a few small ones. In fact I went to Briscoes hoping there would be a sale and surprise surprise, there was! I swear, everything is always on sale there.... Then went to the Warehouse in search of a cheap bookcase. They actually had some too! But they were an awkward shape so I decided against getting one. But everything worked out well in the end as I moved everything into my new storage containers and lo and behold, there was more space than I realised! So now I have one shelf entirely dedicated to tea (and hot chocolate).
Tomorrow is Winston Peters.
And then I'm coming home for the weekend.
Hurrah! :)
Love Erin
PS. You guys should comment.
I feel like I'm writing to a brick wall.
Or a rock.
:)
Tonight we will be making stuffed mushrooms.
To make this recipe you require:
- 100g (cooked) brown rice
- 1 spring onion
- 1/3 can of chopped tomatoes with garlic and herbs
- 2 large mushrooms
- grated cheese
Just thought you guys might like to see what I've been feasting on. Tonight it was indeed stuffed mushrooms. From a magazine. Which I was able to cook. In the oven.
I was even able to learn something in the process: Brown rice takes a miiiiiiiilllion years to cook. I see why the recipe told me to get ready cooked brown rice now... But considering that one bag of pre-cooked rice costed about the same as a bag of uncooked rice which was about four times the amount, I had to make the budget decision ;) (Other recent budget decisions include: Budget bread which was $1.50 over molenburg which as $4.50). But in saying that, I buy budget bread and then $5.00 pots of white chocolate spread for my toast.... DON'T JUDGE ME! It was necessary.....
Back to the cooking.
So after your rice has cooked (if it ever does....) you mix everything together, put it in the mushroom, put cheese on top and then in the oven. Simple as that. But don't forget to cut the spring onion...
Voila,
Dinner!
I very much enjoyed it! I must say, I quite enjoy brown rice. It is different, but good. Another thing I have come to like: Soy milk! I tried it at Majas once and fell in love. Although, I made the mistake of getting the cheap dodgy Asian option the first time which tasted a lot like I was drinking tofu.
NO.
BAD.
It was disgusting. I forced Ryan to try some and he was still going on about how bad it tasted the next day. I bought some legit stuff the second time around and it was very nice (to my relief).
I also bought some storage containers from Briscoes. Ryan was with me at the time and ending up being my muscle and carrying them all around town. Because Briscoes is reeeeeally far away. I bought a huge one for all my clothes and a few small ones. In fact I went to Briscoes hoping there would be a sale and surprise surprise, there was! I swear, everything is always on sale there.... Then went to the Warehouse in search of a cheap bookcase. They actually had some too! But they were an awkward shape so I decided against getting one. But everything worked out well in the end as I moved everything into my new storage containers and lo and behold, there was more space than I realised! So now I have one shelf entirely dedicated to tea (and hot chocolate).
Tomorrow is Winston Peters.
And then I'm coming home for the weekend.
Hurrah! :)
Love Erin
PS. You guys should comment.
I feel like I'm writing to a brick wall.
Or a rock.
:)
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Bonjour
Hello all,
Having a good week this week. I'm a little worried concerning the two essays I have due next week and the (lack of progress) I have made on them... One is 2000 words, the other 1200-1500. Both worth 25%. I'll get there in the end. It just seems a long way away at the moment....
Vic has a programme called 'language buddies' in which you can sign up and they pair you with someone who is a native speaker of the language you are learning. The idea is that you become friends and spend roughly half the time speaking in your language and half in theirs. Ryan signed up for one a while ago (I didn't at the time because work complicated things) and his language buddy is 23 year old Momo. He met her for the first time a few weeks ago and yesterday we were introduced as well. We went back to her hostel and she made us Japanese curry and talked in a mixture of Japanese and English. Well, Ryan did most of the talking-I was feeling a little shy. It takes me a while to warm up in Japanese.... But she's really nice and she got my number, suggesting we go shopping together sometime. I was thinking of signing up for a language buddy myself now that I don't have to worry about work, but I don't think I'll need to.
Today I got another assignment back. To my great suprise, I got an A+. It's really motivated me to do these essays I have now which is gooooooooood.
So i'll be off to do those.
Ciao!
Having a good week this week. I'm a little worried concerning the two essays I have due next week and the (lack of progress) I have made on them... One is 2000 words, the other 1200-1500. Both worth 25%. I'll get there in the end. It just seems a long way away at the moment....
Vic has a programme called 'language buddies' in which you can sign up and they pair you with someone who is a native speaker of the language you are learning. The idea is that you become friends and spend roughly half the time speaking in your language and half in theirs. Ryan signed up for one a while ago (I didn't at the time because work complicated things) and his language buddy is 23 year old Momo. He met her for the first time a few weeks ago and yesterday we were introduced as well. We went back to her hostel and she made us Japanese curry and talked in a mixture of Japanese and English. Well, Ryan did most of the talking-I was feeling a little shy. It takes me a while to warm up in Japanese.... But she's really nice and she got my number, suggesting we go shopping together sometime. I was thinking of signing up for a language buddy myself now that I don't have to worry about work, but I don't think I'll need to.
Today I got another assignment back. To my great suprise, I got an A+. It's really motivated me to do these essays I have now which is gooooooooood.
So i'll be off to do those.
Ciao!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
1 year
If anyone was interested, twas mine and Ryan's one year on Monday :)
Stuff has been OK lately. Working hard to memorise my Japanese speech and do other study and whatnot.
Not much else to report. Just chugging along on the train of life.
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