A taste of traditional Thai

Today is a day of the traditional, cooking and a show. We're very excited. Our day started by being taken to the market by the executive chef of the hotel. He took us round the fruit section first, making us try the traditional tropical fruits mangosteens and the potato fruit. Little worried about the ants over the fruit but soon get past that. He then bought us two bags worth! Then we hit the fish section with some of the biggest lobster you ever did see then round to endless rows of veg and herbs stalls - all the way making us smell and name the ingredients. we stopped at a dry spice stall where we explained we usually use pastes as there are some ingredients we just can't get so he bought us some spice mixes! He's too nice. We stopped at the noodle stall with every noodle you ever did see and picked ones to cook with so we went for the large flat ones which you can't get at home and then finally got some desserts on the way out like sticky rice filled with banana little parcels - the desserts are nowhere near as sweet as we are used to. It was fun - we didn't go round the meat bit but did everything else!

When we got back and gave them half hour to set up the heavens opened - a good day to do a cooking course! We returned to the restaurant, donned our chefs hat and apron then set about making a green curry paste from scratch. We made the curry with shrimp. Then we made the traditional spicy soup - this with chicken then the chef made up a dish with the noodles we picked at the market and had that with squid. It was amazing. We then had to eat it all! It tasted amazing - all because it was made with love, ahhh. We had our picture taken with the chef and our certificates. Definitely something different to do on holiday. Hopefully Daniel will use some of his skills when we get home - hee hee!

We didn't do much in he afternoon as we were picked up at 5ish for our night out to Siam Niramit. Our next instalment of our traditional Thai day. Back in the minivan this time off to Phuket town to see Siam Niramit - a show that takes you to the historic areas of Thailand then through their belief system - which ironically was similar to Dante's Inferno which is talked about in Dan Browns Inferno that we are both reading. Hell, mythological world then heaven. It then takes you to the celebrations Thais have throughout the year. But before the show there was dinner to be had and demonstrations to be seen. We had dinner first so we didn't miss any entertainment, it was a buffet and I have to say they had an impressive dessert section. Whilst eating we could see out the window an almighty rain shower. What now - all the demonstrations were outside!

We walked down the stairs and straight into the Thai boxing demonstration they had moved indoors - not as great an atmosphere but we were at the front of the action. That finished we turned around and right in front of us again were two elephants first picking up baskets then cash off the floor with their trunks, then hula hooping on their trunks. They also looked really happy. They had a little dance to some music then also took a bow! We didn't unfortunately get to see the elephant war parade but did see some Thai dancing. Squat and tiny steps with very precise fingers! Very fancy costumes as well!

We then had to hand in our cameras in a very efficient system I must say and we were seated.

The sets were amazing - colourful and at one point a whole river of water appeared which was deep enough for a guy to dive in. There was rain inside and an array of animals from chickens to goats, to an ox and of course the elephants. The baby one still looked soo happy dancing, placing a basket in the water and bowed at the end. There were boats, large heads, aerial displays, mythological creatures, dancing, lights, it was excellent. You name it - it had it! What we couldn't understand was why the Scottish family on our trip moaned so much about everything, from getting the tickets, the buffet, the show - there is no pleasing some people. They went back to their hotel to have a sausage on a stick - clearly uncultured!!

Fuddle - food with a cuddle

Whenever we have a fuddle at school one member of our department always brings homemade smoked mackerel pate. We love it! So much so we've taken the recipe home to make it ourselves. I've just given it a go and it's so easy I highly recommend trying it.

You need:
a pack of smoked mackerel - 3/4 fillets
a pack of cream cheese
3/4 ramps
black pepper
smoked paprika

Grill the mackerel to warm through and remove the skins. Slice and fry off the ramps then blend the mackerel, ramps and cream cheese together. Add black pepper for seasoning and a pinch of smoked paprika then ensure you chill before serving. Simple as that really but tastes delicious.

Oh if anyone is wondering what a fuddle is - food with a cuddle! Buffet style lunch where everyone brings something different to share. Yummy.

The Bake Off is Back!!!!

As you can probably tell I am very excited about the new series of The Great British Bake Off! We didn't even know it was coming back on and luckily noticed it just before it began!  I'm looking forward to seeing what they will make this series.

Over the summer hols I have been baking, first a cream tea for guests, then tweaked the cakes from the cream tea to take back to London when I visited. They are lemon and elderflower and are lovely. Then I thought I'd make some quiches, this was really to use up the goats cheese as it was towards the end of its life. Turn into a delicious goats cheese and onion quiche. Have since made some small individual vegetable and cheese quiches too for packed lunches.

Oh we got given a bread maker as Daniel's parents no longer use it so have been trying that out too. It's OK, makes nice bread though the loaves are quite small so only do for a couple of days. That's OK I guess for now but might need to supplement the home made loaves with bought ones when I go back to work as we'd be baking them every day!

Not sure what to bake next - maybe coffee and walnut cakes. Or I might wait for inspiration from the next GBBO episode!

Earth cake!!!

For my Year 11s last lesson I made them a geographical cake! One of them suggested that I should make them an Earth cake and as they have worked so hard and are a fab class I'd thought I'd give it a go. The result was awesome!!! Not to blow my own trumpet too much, it was a lot of work and I was very pleased with the final cake. The cake itself was chocolate Victoria sponge with chocolate butter cream. The 'earth' icing was originally white, I had to dye it blue and green, kneading the food colouring in was not easy I tell you! But the end result was worth it. The countries were cut free hand too. The kids were very grateful and gave me a round of applause, bless, they also said the cake was yummy - I don't think they would have said even if it was awful! Here is the completed cake - I hope Cake Boss would be proud!

Puttanesca Pasta

Many people i speak to rave about this pasta dish, saying how delicious it is. I'd never tried it as i thought it would be too salty due to the ingredients but i thought I'd make it to see what the fuss was about. It was nice - i adapted the recipe a little and made it spicier as we like chilli and as the breadcrumbs at Jamie's Italian were meant to be awesome (so I've been told) i thought I'd add those too!

For the puttanesca sauce for 2 people you need:
1 garlic clove
pinch of chilli flakes (of a couple of large pinches if you are like us)
6 anchovy fillets
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
Black olives - as many as you like (I'm not a massive fan so we only had a few)
Tablespoon of capers
zest of a lemon

In a pan with olive oil add the anchovy fillets, garlic and chilli flakes until the anchovy fillets break apart, add in the tomatoes, capers and olives, season and simmer for 15 min. For the breadcrumbs i toasted a slice of bread, left it to go cold then blitzed it with some mixed herbs and Parmesan. I then popped the breadcrumbs onto a baking tray and put them in the oven for 5 min to dry them out further and crisp them up but i guess that is not necessary. Before serving add the lemon zest and voila! Toss your favourite shaped pasta in the sauce then top with the crispy breadcrumbs!

Simple and yummy - give it a go!

Tonight as it is the end of the holiday - boooo - I'm making a Chinese feast! Prawn spring rolls, soy and five spiced beef and egg fried rice, all from scratch! The holiday has flown by and yet still no moving date. Shouldn't be long now though and then we can move and think about our summer holiday! Over the last couple of weeks as well as making scones I have also made a second cushion the same as the first to practice on the sewing machine. I'm not brilliant at it yet but I'll try another project before attacking the curtains!

The Great Bake off...

Lately i have turned a little into Nigella and become a kitchen goddess (i did once say i was being like Mrs Beeton to which mys sister told me she died at 27 so changed my mind!). Here are a couple of my cake bakes made recently, toffee apple loaf cake and chocochino cake, both yummy and come highly recommended!

2010 update...

OK hasn't time flown! Now in April and what can i say has happened? Not a lot really! Lets start with school, as per usual the same crazy day to day goings on are happening, though now people aren't happy. As well as dealing with post Ofsted stuff we now have the problem of too many staff to the number of children coming to the school in future years, solution...making people redundant, nice! So the process has been happening and it is not fun, except for the bit where the union reps went hell for leather at the head and governors, it was like watching Prime Minister's question time! So rather than being pushed, i jumped! Without meaning to i saw a job advertised, Daniel drove me down to check it out as it is in Derby and i ended up applying for it. Well turns out my luck has changed with interviews as i ended up getting the job! Yay. I have escaped finally to an outstanding school with excellent results and a completely different atmosphere to where i am at the moment. It will be a shock to the system when i start in September but i am looking forward to it!

Holiday's are also booked for this year, China in the summer and back to Vegas for mine and Sarah's 30th birthday! How exciting. Lots to sort for the summer, visa's, if we need jabs, currency and all the other normal holiday related tasks like making lists of things to take and do! Should be an amazing holiday though.

On the subject of holiday's Daniel took me out in the pimped up converted AA van during Easter camper vanning! We had an amazing time and the weather was so nice. We went to North Wales, Conwy and went to the Welsh Mountain Zoo. That was fun especially the big brown bears who were entertaining the crowd. We also saw a bird display as well as an array of other animals.

The next day we went into Conwy, took a walk round the city walls and i can tell you i was not best pleased with how high they were! We also went into the castle where even Daniel was not the most comfortable with the height of the towers! We also spent a large portion of the day walking around the town looking for a betting shop as it was the Grand National. After seeking out a Betfred, bets were made but unfortunately our horses did not come in, boooo. There was a statue that Daniel was calling Conwy's Nelson, however after seeking it out it turns out it was no bigger than two foot tall! Which was similar to the world's smallest house that they have in Conwy, it was tiny even by my standards!

We decided to spend out last day in Llandudno at the seaside. It turns out that Snowdonia was not open to the peak so rather than going half way up we thought we'd save it til another time you can get to the top so rather than up a mountain, we went up the Great Orme! We were not best pleased when we got all the way up the hill to the cable car station to find out that they only take cash! We were further displeased when the lady said there was a cash point at the top of the Orme! Helpful! So we trekked all the way back down into the town and then back up again! The cable car was not the easier journey to make, dangling in mid air over virtually nothing, again you could probably imagine i was not best pleased! But once at the top it was a geographers haven! I obviously went rock collecting! When we came down we took a walk on the pier only to see a giant evil seagull hover above a guy eating an ice cream, who when he turned away pecked it out of his hand, cone as well! He looked like he papped himself and everyone around him couldn't help but laugh! Needless to say when we got our fish and chips we sat with the lid on sneaking out a chip when no seagull was looking!

During out little camper vanning trip we became awesome camping chefs! Our food was amazing, aside from the running out of camping gas mid sausage cooking, it was smooth sailing on the one camping stove we had. Because of the foodies we are we took many a picture of our camping cuisines, next time we're going to try some recipes from the camping cook book! I'm looking forward to it. The van itself is amazing, not your normal camping experience i can tell you. A futon style bed, fridge, microwave, sink and DVD player all installed in the back and it is currently getting a heater put in too! Once you've experienced the van you won't want to go back to a tent!

























I will keep you posted on the next camper vanning adventure!

The Last Supper

So it's the last day of the holiday's today before going back to school, booooo. I really don't want to go back, but i think no one does! I did today though try to recreate my delicious dinner from Bahama Breeze in Vegas - chicken with Jamaican jerk seasoning and mango glaze, mango and pineapple salsa, cinnamon sweet potato mash and seasonal veg which was green beans. So i couldn't completely recreate it as have no mango but it was a twist on this meal. Cajun chicken on a bed of spinach with cinnamon sweet potato mash and seasonal veg, green beans. It was yummy, am very pleased with myself! Awesome!!!

A relaxing weekend...

Just as I settled down to update you all here a strange knock at our door sent us into confusion. Upon opening the door a very strange person indeed was asking for Mr Rich?? Trying to get information out of someone who can barely speak the same language as yourself was proving too much work for a Sunday evening and eventually it turns out he'd come to see the room - what room? Odd ball...he was sent packing!!!

It has been a relaxing weekend - partly because I now can not move due to my over enthusiasm on my new Wii Fit. I do think though the Wii Fit is awesome especially my jogging buddy who turns around and waves at me every now and again to check i haven't collapsed into a heap!! I also made a lovely dinner this evening - roasted peppers stuffed with Moroccan spicy cous cous on a bed of wilted spinach with salad, mmmmm. Maybe I'll do some baking soon as i haven't done some for a while.

It is going to be a crazy week this week. School is busy as usual, with a few exciting additions this week - rare to say that when it involves school work but I'm quite looking forward to observing one of the deputy head candidates teaching on Tuesday, followed by a day in Leeds on a course Wednesday, where they always give you a good lunch, behaviour policy meeting Thursday and the quiz in the evening and then get to the weekend and I'm off white water rafting. Busy busy...can't complain i have nothing to do this week!!

Another weird dream this week, i went to play bingo with a Friend and when we got there to a very glamorous bingo hall we walked into someone we wanted to avoid, unsuccessfully as they came and joined us playing bingo, our bingo cards were made up of the alphabet, not numbers, of which i remember highlight the O's and the guy sitting next to us had three mouths!!! I am definitely looking up the meaning to this!

So time to now chill before the alarm goes off tomorrow morning at 6.30am and the madness begins...