Carnaval!

In the UK we celebrate Shrove Tuesday, better known as Pancake Day, the day preceding Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. In other words, we prepare ourselves for a period of giving something up by stuffing our face-holes with delicious sugary goodness.
In the southern Netherlands they celebrate a little differently. The dutchies drink copious amounts, dance to crazy songs about beer and women and have huge parades with bizarre floats, all while wearing ridiculous costumes. This is called Carnaval.
I have celebrated two Carnavals in my years with Arjan and am about to be dunked head-first into my third. We've been joined by three of our Brighton friends who have come to witness the madness and Arjan was so excited that he couldn't sleep the night before they arrived and got up extra early that morning.

The village I'm currently living in is tiny, but this Saturday it will be filled with thousands of people both watching and participating in a big parade, followed by hours of drinking. I will of course be photographing every second of this as proof and will throw together a post once I've regained the will to live on Sunday or Monday.
In preparation for all of this the village residents have been adorning their homes with flags, banners, balloons and posters in the Carnaval colours red, green and yellow. They flutter in the breeze as though restlessly waiting in the quiet before the storm. I went out and took a few pictures today, I'll maybe do a before and after of the devastation that will occur.

The house of this years elected "Prince Carnaval" and "Youth Prince" of the village

This creepy guy gives you an idea of what some of the parade floats will look like

The tent is going up, on Saturday this will be packed with drunken dutchies dressed to impress

Each village has a Carnaval animal, Meers's is the koelekop (tadpole) 

The butcher has gone all out 

These neighbours have 3 stone pillars in their front garden, purely to drape in the carnaval colours once a year.

Outfit: Chunky Knit, Silk and Patterns

I haven't been blogging very much recently a) because our internet has only just been fixed and b) because I've been feeling super lazy. We had a really busy February for gigs and on top of it all both Arjan and I got horribly sick and it's taken me a long time to feel like I'm fully recovered.
So today I vowed I would take a shed-load of pictures of a variety of things and now I have 3 things to post about (plus a massive post after the weekend, all will be revealed in good time).
I decided to start it off simple as I've had a big cooking session today and I'm worn out, plus I've only done one outfit post and I keep thinking I should do more!

Cardigan - Topshop
Top - Hema
Skirt - H&M
Boots - Oasis
Necklace - a gift
Rings - H&M

I'd been eyeing up this t-shirt since before Christmas but I didn't have the money for it at the time (not that it was expensive, I'm just broke) then on Tuesday we were shopping with Arjan's Oma and I saw that it was on sale. I was ummming and ahhhing over whether to get it and Oma came over and said she would buy it for me! (apparently she later said "I've seen her looking at that thing for months and I couldn't take it any more!" haha)
I'm loving these stackable rings at the moment, they were dead cheap from H&M and I like how simple they are. I'll definitely be getting some more to mix it up at some point though!

Now, I'm going to get working on the next post as I foresee some heavy drinking over the next few days and that will definitely hinder my ability to type sensibly…..

Video Review: Garnier Olia vs L'Oreal Féria Preference

Oh golly, I finally did it. My first ever video.

I'm sure with time I will perfect the art of speech and stop waffling so much, but I've wanted to do a video for a while now and so I sucked it up and got on with it.
I decided to do one on hair dyes because it's the kind of thing I watch a lot and conveniently I had two kits to compare! I always find it really useful to know what someone really thinks of a dye before I choose to use it myself and I wanted to be able to contribute to someone else's decision in the same way.

So, enough of that, here's the video. I never actually found the picture of my hair after I used the Garnier so had to make do without. 

I hope this was ok for a first try and I look forward to doing the next one! 

Living Abroad

My apologies for not posting in forever, there have been severe problems with our internet. Countless phone calls and several technician visits have still not solved the problem and we still only get a connection every now and then. It's lasting longer now, but still not great.  

I never thought I would find myself living anywhere other than the UK, but when I started dating Arjan I knew there was a chance I would end up in the Netherlands sooner or later.
I also never thought I would be homesick, I occasionally felt it when I was in a bit of a mood slump in Brighton, I would just long for my mum to look after me for a while and not have to think about grown up stuff. But now that I'm in the Netherlands I occasionally find myself homesick for the UK in general. 

Obviously one of the biggest issues is the language. Despite the fact that nearly everyone here speaks close to perfect english, I still find it a little disorientating not being able to understand what is going on around me all the time. I am learning dutch, but right now 'learning' is a little more proactive than the reality of it...
I understand a LOT more than the early days and I can pick up the gist of most conversations now, but I still find myself nervous with replying, I'm a bit of a perfectionist so it can be difficult to get me to try things if I'm not 100% sure I can do it with reasonable accuracy. 
One of the main struggles in the language area is the dialect. My in-laws live in Zuid-Limburg, the southern most province and they have their own dialect, which means some things are just pronounced differently and others they have completely different words for. 
This means that when I occasionally try out a sentence on Arjan I can end up with something half dutch, half dialect which does not work. 

One of the other main 'difficulties' I have is the food! I didn't think it would be that different, what with The Netherlands and UK being separated by such a little bit of water, but there are surprisingly few similarities in cooking styles and 'traditional' meals. Brits are big roasters, they like to use the oven for lots of things and a sunday roast is no-doubt one of the best examples of British cuisine. The Dutch, however, are stampot-ers. Basically, they like to boil, mash and combine things (along with a vast selection of deep-fried 'snacks'). There is also a huge indonesian influence over here because of the historic colonisation of the Dutch East Indies, so you can find 'Chinese' restaurants and takeaways in every town, but all the food is actually Indonesian; bami and nasi goreng, krupuk, loempia etc. Brits wouldn't recognise it as chinese at all and even though all these are nice in their own way, as someone for whom London's Chinatown is holy ground this is tricky. 
This results in me having the strangest of cravings. For instance, today I just HAD to make jacket potatoes (something I was never that enamored with previously) because I got a taste for them yesterday and over the weekend I made a full roast chicken dinner (Yorkshire puddings and all) for 7 people with fresh scones for dessert! It was madness, but by golly, did it taste like home. 

Luckily, the travel expenses aren't too bad and there are a few airports I can choose from within a 2 hour drive/train ride. My parents both work long hours and, with my sister at university and my brothers pretty much un-housetrained, my mum is always more than happy to book me a flight home so I can go play house-slave for a little while, get the house in order and feed them a proper meal or eight. 
I love going home and I can feel a weight instantly lifting off my shoulders when I step off the plane and realise I won't have to worry about getting lost in translation for a while. 

Arjan and I are both applying for jobs at the moment in Maastricht, the closest city, so we can work and commute to save up for our own flat again. Originally we were planning on moving to Amsterdam and even had our perfect place lined up (a friend was moving out of his apartment that he kind of housesat for the owners for a very low rent) but then that fell through and we started looking at costs of other flats and I suppose it's the equivalent of London rates, you pay ridiculous amounts for tiny places just because of the location. It just wasn't feasible, to get the place you need the money, to get the money you need the job, to get the job you need to live in the place! It would have been much easier for me to get a job in Amsterdam, there are so many tourists that a majority of bar and shop staff you come across won't speak any dutch themselves. Although Maastricht does have a large university with lots of international students there are still few english speaking jobs on offer, even Arjan who is fluently bilingual is struggling to find something. It's putting a lot of pressure on us and starts a lot of arguments these days, if it goes on much longer we may need to start thinking up a plan C (change our names and head for Mongolia?). 

I see now that this could all sound rather negative, don't get me wrong, I am loving living in the Netherlands, playing with the band is so fulfilling and I'm sure that once Arjan and I can afford our own place again that will alleviate a lot of stresses. But moving abroad isn't without it's difficulties and you should definitely not go into it unprepared. I never thought about registering or insurance or health care, it never crossed my mind that they didn't have something like the NHS in the Netherlands. It's cost a lot and taken many hours to get documents officially stamped and things signed up for, but I'm lucky to have very caring family and in-laws who have done so much in helping with all of that stuff. 

I have met so many brilliant people and made some fantastic friends and I know it can only get better from here and that's what's keeping me soldiering on, that and I'll have some interesting stories to tell the grandkids 50 years from now!  

Recipes: Beans Galore

First off, I hate the internet. More specifically, the providers of it. There is always some problem that they are trying to fix, or some scheduled maintenance or one of the other million excuses and thus, we have been without a consistent connection for the past 3 days. Arjan has phoned the company about 4 times and each time has been given different ‘advice’, none of which has solved the problem.

Anyhoo, if you are reading this then I have managed to get online for long enough to transfer it from a word document and upload the pictures!

I was feeling lazy this fast-day and rather than thinking up my own recipe I just found one online and gave it a try. I found this one for Cheesy bean & sweetcorn cakes and thought “cheese?! Surely not!” but heavens above, there is actual cheese in this recipe! Now, I may have mentioned it before, but Arjan is a complete cheese-fiend, I’m fairly sure he would bathe in it given the chance, so I knew this would go down well.

The recipe was very simple but I was a little sceptical as to whether this would be filling enough, but the 8 patties you get are pretty big and considering they are about 80% beans they do a good job of staving off the hunger.

I added a bit of extra chilli powder to the mix because instead of jalapenos we only had pickled peppers (the super long, pale green, mild ones) and I wanted a little spice in there. 

I would definitely suggest using this method to keep the patties separated, although I would try putting another sheet of parchment between the bottom layer and plate as they were very stuck. 

One thing I will say is that the patties did not hold together well when cooking, I suppose the egg was put in to try help with that, but it didn’t seem to at all. I had to be very careful when flipping them over and then reshape them quite a bit by pushing the edges in.

They tasted pretty good though and the salsa went very well with them (I make a mean salsa if I do say so myself).

All in all they were a success and I’ve got a second batch in the freezer just waiting for another diet day. 

BBC GoodFood has some good dieting recipes and even a slider where you can set the limits for calories per portion or you can choose what type of diet you are on. Last week I also tried these Cajun meatballs and they were awesome! 

Food Porn

Those of you who have read a few of my previous posts may have figured out that I enjoy food. I like to cook it, eat it, read about it etc. and one of my favourite things is watching youtube videos of brilliant recipes! I find it's so helpful not only to have a full recipe for a dish, but then to also be able to watch how it's supposed to look step by step in the cooking process. It's always reassuring when you think somethings not looking quite right to check the video and see that it's exactly how it should look.

Like my favourite blogs, I have a list of cooking channels that I check religiously for new videos, so I decided I would share those with you and say what it is that I like about them.

First up is Cooking with Dog.

I LOVE this channel. It is hosted by 'Chef' and Francis the dog. 'Francis' narrates the show, beginning every episode with "Hi I'm Francis, the host of this show, Cooking with Dog" in the most adorable accent, sometimes he even has little hats or bows in his hair.
A majority of the recipes are for traditional Japanese dishes, which for a japanophile is just brilliant! I have only actually tried a couple of the recipes from CWD but I have watched every one, some several times, just because everything is done so beautifully and the end result never fails to get my mouth watering. I would probably try more of them if I was back in the UK and could find Japanese ingredients more readily, but foreign foods can be very hard to find (or expensive) outside of Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
I'm also a member of the CWD facebook fan group where people share all kinds of recipes and meals they've created.
Here are some of my favourite videos:
Kansai-style Sukiyaki  - I have made sukiyaki before (using a different regional recipe) and it is incredible!
Hiroshima Okonomiyaki - I would love to try this
Takoyaki - I tried takoyaki for the first time the other week (albeit at Yo! Sushi), they are so good!

My next favourite channel has to be Food Wishes.

This is Chef John, the culinary king. He makes the most tantalizing, down-to-earth, stick-to-your-ribs, good, home cooking. I've tried several of his recipes and the biggest success of all is that he made me change my bolognese recipe! It's been one of my favourite crowd pleasers for a good while now and I'd tweaked and changed the recipe until I had something I thought was pretty close to perfect. Then I saw Chef John's Marcella Hazan-Inspired Meat Sauce and I changed my ways, who would have thought of using milk in a bolognese?! I have tried a few Food Wishes recipes and all with spectacular results.
I recommend:
French Baguette - So easy and definitely worth the wait!
Chicken Mushroom Chimichanga - amazing with freshly made salsa, guacamole and sour cream.
Country Gravy - Definitely one to avoid on a diet, this is sinfully tasty served on fresh, warm biscuits.
For tips, hints and explanations of methods also check out the Food Wishes blog. 

Another fun asian channel I watch is Maangchi.

Maangchi is Korean and makes wonderful looking traditional Korean dishes. I love to watch her videos, she is so sweet and enthusiastic about her food and I would love to taste everything she makes! Sadly again, asian speciality ingredients are very hard to find in the Netherlands so I've never tried any of her recipes, but I have taken inspiration from some of them for flavour combinations and the like.
They are so fun to watch (not when hungry of course! bad idea) even if you don't plan on testing your Korean cooking skills any time soon, I suggest you check them out.
Take a look at:
Crunchy Korean fried chicken - I love fried chicken and I could probably polish off about 50 of these.
Korean Ramen - A simple way to spice up instant noodles.
Spicy pork BBQ - I am a sucker for BBQ of any kind and I could eat pork every day.

Unless you hadn't sensed a theme in my food loves, here's another asian channel I love: Runnyrunny999

Runny-san is another person who does traditional Japanese food (for the most part) but rather than just posting random recipes, he asks viewers to send in 'orders' for things they want and he comes up with something to fit that. I think it's a really cool way of doing a cooking channel and I love the way he presents the recipes and gives a little review at the end of each video. It's also amusing when he makes fun of himself for pronouncing things wrong.
Watch these:
Katsu Kare  - A brilliantly tasty dish and a pretty simple recipe.
Hiyashi Chuka - I will definitely be trying this when summer finally arrives.
Rice Burger - An awesome fusion recipe that I would love to try.
Miso Ramen - I think ramen would be my desert island food.

So there you have it, these channels are great and I hope you'll find something that inspires you to get in the kitchen!

Face Masks!

Who doesn't love a good face mask? Smearing gunk all over your face, lounging around for a while and letting all the goodness soak in, ending with baby soft skin.

Last year I tried making my own a few times, the ol' banana and honey mush, which was ok. It worked nicely, but was pretty gross to have on and I ended up picking dried bits of banana out of my eyebrows for ages after doing one.
Then for Christmas, my sister-in-law and I both received a pack of Dr Van Der Hoog facemasks! This is a really good, dutch company that offers a full range of facial cleansing products etc.
They have 19 different 'flavours' of mask available, from Amazing Avocado to Tipsy Tequila Sunrise! We were given an envelope pack that contained 4; Charming Chocolate, Crazy Cranberry, Passionate Pearl and Romantic Roses.

The first mask I tried was the Crazy Cranberry, which is "Nourishing and Protective". The website says "Let's go crazy! Pamper your face with this delicious Crazy Cranberry mask. The perfect face mask for extra protection and nourishment. Cranberries are naturally full of vitamins. They give your skin that little bit extra that it needs sometimes. After use, your face will feel soft and supple again." and boy, did it!

The tiny sachet that came out seemed very small and I was doubtful that it would be enough to get a good covering. I was wrong, so wrong. I applied a thin layer to start, just making sure I would get good coverage, but then more and more kept coming out and I practically needed a trowel to layer it all on. The packaging said to apply generously (no kidding) and leave it on for 10 to 15 minutes, but with nothing better to do I idled in front of a film with this mask on for about an hour.
The smell was very 'clean' and nothing like as fruity as I'd expected, with an almost clay-ish earthiness.
When the time came to wash it off it did take a bit of work, but considering how thick it was that didn't surprise me. After drying my face I had a little rub and it was sooo soft and smooth! I felt like it had taken years of my skin and woken it up beautifully! Big success.

The next mask up was the Charming Chocolate, billed as "Euphoric and Revitalizing". The description for this mask was "Chocolate makes you happy, every woman knows that. But it also makes your skin happy, maybe that you didn't know. This delicious chocolate mask contains pure cocoa extract that stimulates the production of beta-endorphin. It gives the skin a huge boost and provides a blissful feeling. In addition, the natural cocoa butter provides a soft skin. The skin is cleaned by pure kaolin and vitamin E protects the skin from external influences. Can skin care get any tastier? This mask gives you a few moments of happiness."

Again, huge amounts, smear smear smear, lush. The mask smells like the rawest chocolate, healthy and fresh, again with the earthiness from the kaolin (china clay) not a hint of over-sweet, sickliness to be found. I did this yesterday, a lazy Saturday (our one day off in a string of gigs), so once again left it on for an inordinate amount of time. My face felt so light and rejuvinated after and not dry at all!

Still to come are Passionate Pearl: "Pore Refining and Mattifying", "A gift from the sea forms the basis for this jewel of a mask, Passionate Pearl! A beauty mask that perfectly combines luxury and passion. The ideal base for your makeup. The natural pearl extracts are full of nourishing and protective properties. This refines your pores and expression lines. After using this mask your skin will be smooth and feel velvety."

and Romantic Roses: "Relaxing and Smoothing", "Ready for romance? Then this Romantic Roses mask is perfect for you. This face mask is developed based on three different roses: the rosa canina (Dog rose), the rosa damascena (Damask rose) and rosa centifolia (Cabbage rose). The creamy texture and natural sweetness make for a relaxing and delicious pink pampering. Your face will feel relaxed and silky again."

I'll let you know how I get on with those at a later date. Check out the full range of Dr Van Der Hoog products here. Sadly, I think it is only available in The Netherlands.

So, get a face mask on and happy pampering!

On Being A 'Musician'

I have been really bad at posting regularly for the past few days, but I swear it's with good reason. My band, Southern Sunrise, is just getting back into the swing of things after the Christmas holidays and we've got a pretty busy February! This week we spent the day in Rotterdam doing a radio show on Thursday, yesterday we had a gig in a theatre in Heerlen and tomorrow we're playing the music cafe of Mezz, Breda.

I never dreamt that I would see the day I would say "I'm with the band". I thought the closest I would ever get would be that time my god-sister and I performed for our parents at the ripe old age of 6.
I was always someone who sang in the shower or when I was drunk, but never thought I was any good, so when my (at the time) new boyfriend, Arjan, asked me to assist him with a performance assessment for university because he was too ill to sing, I was a little taken aback. Could I do this? Would I freeze on stage and only emit a strange croaking noise? would I pee myself?!
It took almost a whole bottle of wine for me to even be able to rehearse the night before, so at 9am the next morning in the cold, sobering light of day I was a little nervous to say the least.
Anyway, I got through it and Arjan got an ok grade and I put it behind me, thinking that would be the end of it.

When he came to me a few months later asking for help writing and recording a song in the style of Laura Marling (one of the artists they were given to choose from) I was a bit surprised, but reluctantly agreed to do it.
It was fun this time, writing our own song, thinking up all the other parts for instruments we could use, recording in a friend's studio. There was less pressure than the performance and I felt much more at ease. I realised that I enjoyed this and I'd quite like to do it a bit more.
Arjan and I started playing with the idea of writing more music together and eventually decided to give it a try.
We struggled through a couple more songs and recorded demos for them, played them to some family members and friends to see if we could give it a shot.


Fast forward 2 years and here we are, competing to open one of the biggest pop festivals in the Netherlands, having played some of the most prestigious venues.
I still don't quite believe it sometimes and I think the adrenaline rush I get from going on stage is the closest I will get to sky diving.

It's amazing fun, we always have such a good time with the boys in the band, but it's also incredibly hard work.
Writing songs can be such a frustrating process, I always find that the first verse is really easy, something will come to me and flow really naturally, but then it can take me a month to think of something to follow it and complete the song.
And gigging! Oh my gosh is it draining. Most of the gigs we've done recently are at least a couple of ours drive away and before that there is the game of car boot tetris as we try to squeeze everything in. Then there's the drive, the unloading, the setting up, the sound checking and finally the gig, then you have to do all that in reverse before getting home.
I'm sure it gets easier when you're famous enough to pay people to do all this for you (it would be nice to reach that stage) but for now we just have to struggle on and do the best we can.

I had no idea how fulfilling doing this would be, now I can't imagine not doing it. I've always been a fairly quiet person so it takes a lot for me to get up on the stage in front of a crowd but I think every successful gig we have is building up my confidence little by little and I think I'm becoming a better person because of it.
Moving to the Netherlands has been a big part of that, in the UK the new music scene is so saturated with artists trying to make their mark that it becomes impossible for bands to get gigs outside of local pubs, bigger venues even ask that you bring your own audience and they'll only pay you if you bring X number of people. It was quite shocking for me to see the difference in treatment that new bands get in the Netherlands compared to the UK. Here you are treated like real musicians, everything is organised on such a professional level, most venues have trained sound technicians, make sure the band gets fed and watered throughout the evening, promotes the night and pays the band a pre-arranged fee!
At several UK gigs we were lucky to get a can of beer each.


Because Arjan and I are in a relationship as well as the band, we have to be very careful to try not to let one interfere with the other. I suppose it's the same for any couple who works together. It can be really tricky at times, if we have a big argument at home before a gig, I have to work hard to get myself out of  my mood to perform. Luckily a couple of beers and chatting with the guys usually helps that.
I find it is especially testing writing songs together. I write a majority of the lyrics and tend to get an idea of how a song should sound in my head, but because I can't play any instruments and don't know any of the notes it's a tricky process trying to get Arjan to understand what I want. It can result in a LOT of arguments that end with me sitting their pouting and refusing to do any more (yes, I am very childish sometimes).

All in all, I love this band. I have a great time doing the gigs and I'm lucky to have such a brilliant group of guys to do this with. I hope it's something I can do for years to come.

Nailed it!

Today I was reading through my regular blogs and I came across this. I have long been amazed at the designs that The Dainty Squid creates on her nails and wished I could do the same, wondering what her secret was! Nail art classes? The steady hand of a sniper? Magic? And now she has revealed it's scotch tape! (Sellotape for all the non-americans)
I was instantly eager to try this technique out! Here's my attempt:

Revlon Super Top Speed Polar Pink

No7 Stay Perfect Betty Blues

w7 Diamon Top Coat

Sellotape 

I never dreamed it was so achievable! I decided to start with something fairly simple as I didn't have an small scissors anywhere, in hindsight I think it maybe wasn't smart to go to the edge of the nail as it was very hard to trim the ends evenly. I have a sneaking suspicion it might peel off in an hour or two if I'm not careful.

Anyway, give it a go and see what happens! And check out more of The Dainty Squid's polish adventures, they are awe-inspiring!

Recipe: Kedgeree...ish

I've been really hankering for some fish recently, not sure why as I don't really like it most of the time, but occasionally I get a craving.
Seeing as today has been a fast-day, I knew it couldn't be fried and encrusted in some sort of tasty batter, so I tried to think of the next best way I like fish. Kedgeree!
My mum used to make this every now and then when I was little and I've always enjoyed it, the warm curry spice, the crumbly fish and the creamy egg all go so beautifully together. Perfect for the cooler months.
So, I did the maths and worked out a recipe that was low calorie and incorporated the essential elements of kedgeree.
Sadly, smoked haddock is hard to come by here, but I made do with regular and it came out just as nicely in the end.

Kedgeree: Serves 5

600g haddock (smoked if available) = 444 kcal

370g rice = 477 kcal

200g frozen peas = 136 kcal

3-4 onions = 46 kcal

5 poached eggs = 320 kcal (64 each)

1 tbsp butter = 102 kcal

2 tbsp curry powder

1 clove garlic

salt

pepper

fresh parsley

squeeze of lemon juice

Total = 1542 kcal

Per portion = 308.4 kcal

• Cook rice either in microwave or pan, whatever method you prefer. Set aside until needed
• heat a pan with enough water to cover the fish, with two bay leaves, pepper, salt and a halved onion (you can also do this step with milk or with half milk, half water) until simmering
• Add the fish, simmer gently for 4-5 minutes, remove from liquid and cool slightly before removing skin and flaking (luckily mine was already filleted and skinned so I just had to flake). Set aside until needed.
• Chop onions, it doesn't matter how, I did a mix of very small and very large pieces to add to the texture of the dish.
• heat butter in a pan (use oil if you like but I think butter tastes better in this) and gently fry the onions until softened, then add the spices and fry gently. 
• Add the finely chopped garlic and fry until aromatic, then add the rice and mix through. 
• Defrost the peas by running under warm water in a sieve, then add to the rice mix. 
• Add the fish to the rice and heat through. 
• Whilst heating, poach the eggs making sure they do not over cook and the yolk stays runny. 
• Check the mix for seasoning and add a squeeze of lemon juice and finely chopped parsley.
• Serve in a bowl with the egg over the top.

You will no doubt find more authentic recipes for kedgeree online, but this was really tasty and who can argue with those calories?!