A Recipe | Hearty Fish Curry

If you follow me on Instagram you will have seen a photo of my scrummy fish curry. That was a fair few weeks ago now and, as promised, here, at last is the recipe for said curry. 

Ingredients

2 fillets of white fish of your choice (I used Basa)

1/2 onion

1 clove of garlic

1/8 chunk of pumpkin

1 red pepper

4 spring onions

1 red chilli pepper

1/2 sweet potato

Hand full of snow peas

4 mushrooms

1 mango

1 can of coconut cream

2 teaspoons of green curry paste

Pinch of chilli flakes

1 teaspoon of tarragon

1 teaspoon of cumin

1 teaspoon of tumeric

1 teaspoon of parika

I like spices

Method

• Prepare all the ingredients. I chop all the veggies nice and chunky so the final product is a proper heart curry.
• Fry the onion and garlic in a pan with a tablespoon or so of oil until softened
• Add the chilli, red pepper, mushrooms and spring onions and do the same
• One all those ingredients are lightly fried off and the coconut cream, curry paste and spices and leave to simmer for roughly 10-15 minutes to allow all the flavours to infuse in the cream. Once you've left it for a while have a taste and feel free to add more spice to your own personal tastes, if you're not so keen on spice add less then I have recommended and then you can add more later if you want to
• Now add all the other veggies and the basa and bring the curry down to a simmer. You don't want it to boil as the fish will break down into small pieces. 
• You can serve the curry as soon as the fish is cooked however, I left mine to simmer away for an afternoon and the result was much nicer as the flavours had more time to infuse and deepen. 
• I served mine with rice and poppadoms and it went down a treat.

So there we are, a very simple, easy recipe with great results for every one to enjoy on a cold winter evening. I cooked this for three people and there was loads left, until they went back for seconds. I've also made this when I was in a rush and instead of adding all the different spices I added two teaspoons of vindaloo paste which worked well (although I prefer it with the individual spices) so that's another option and you could use any curry paste you like.

Let me know if you try it out in the comments, Enjoy :) 

P.S Don't forget to check out my madeit.com.au Christmas gift guide it's under a month away now ladies and gents.

Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin | Tumblr | YouTube | Goodreads 

A Review | The Name of the Star by Maureen Jouhnson

Buy the book on Amazon here

In the past few years I have heard so many Booktubers get excited about this book and give it great reviews, so this Halloween I decided I’d make it my spooky read. I’m a great lover of Victorian London in literature and Jack the Ripper is one of my favourite characters from that setting, I think this is both the reason for leaving ‘The Name of the Star’ alone for such a long time and for deciding to pick it up. I was nervous that Jack the Ripper couldn’t be executed in the same way in a modern day setting but I was curious as to how Johnson was going to get round it.

Johnson’s premise for a Jack the Ripper story in modern London was a good one, however it was poorly executed.

From beginning until 95% of the way through I felt disconnected from the plot, as did Rory the main character. The Jack the Ripper element got very lost amongst a boring, unnecessary love story, an irrational twist (which ended up taking the story even further from the thing that made me most want to read it), and general nonsense. There were so many blurry, pointless elements to the book, such as the very pointless love story that achieved very little in the way of plot development, that the exciting part ended up being an after thought - in other words too much faff not enough action.

Half way through the book Rory discovers she can see ghosts. This element allows Johnson to incorporate the Ripper idea nicely into the story but also forces her to include very inconceivable elements which made me stop and think - really though? Really? It also dragged everything further from the whole Ripper element which in the end seemed unnecessary as it all unveiled to have very little to do with Jack the Ripper. I found myself wanting more Ripper and less supernatural on countless occasions.

A lot of the characters felt very half hearted and bland and I’ll be honest easy to forget. Very few of them had much depth apart from the Ripper himself. The dialogue between the characters felt very forced and meaningless, almost used as a device to remind the reader that there is a Ripper in the story when the plot got lost on some other element. Rory’s ‘nemesis’ was rather un-nemsisy. A head girl who’s a bit of an over achiever doesn't constitute a dislike in my eyes and it felt a bit immature and over done.

There were good elements to the story. It was an easy read, it took some time to get through because it was all a bit messy and lost but the writing was easy to read and didn’t need to much brain power. The factual elements included throughout were, for me, one of the best parts as that’s really what I was hoping for. I thought she included them nicely throughout but at times they felt like she was just using them as a reminder that there was  Ripper in London but here’s Rory and she’s not that worried about it all. I’ll hand it to Johnson that she definitely didn't shy away from the gore of the Ripper, the facts included, well, all the facts and again it was all well incorporated.

The book was rounded up nicely, everything was solved and the characters were comfortable though there was enough of a cliff hanger for those who are interested in reading the next book in the series.

Me, I’m undecided whether I will or not as of yet.


Follow me Goodreads for all my reading updates and also on Instagram for #currentlyreading

P.S Don't forget to check out my madeit.com.au Christmas gift guide it's under a month away now ladies and gents.

Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin | Tumblr | YouTube | Goodreads 

NO MORE EXCUSES

I used to hate any kind of fitness. Running made me feel sick at the simple thought of it, workouts made me want to laugh at myself, and yoga was for wierdo hippies. Then I grew up slapped myself in the face and told myself to stop making lame excuses.

Until recently the most exercise I got was running for a train but last year I made a damn promise to myself to get fit and keep fit and I think I've  kept it so far. The answer cutting out the excused. Trust me I used to make them all. I haven't got the money, I haven't got the equipment, I haven't got the time blah blah blah. The answer is you have you just don't want to have.

Travelling has taught me you don't need any flash equipment to do a workout. Filled litre bottles of water work great as weights, a chair can easily be made into a step and piece of old rope works great for skipping, how do you think they skipped in the olden times? But in all honesty you don't need to save three weeks wages for fitness equipment anymore. You can pick up relatively cheap fitness stuff all over the place now, shops like Argos, Tescos, Target are all likely to have what you're looking for at an affordable price. You don't need to go out buy every fitness item under the sun just those you know you'll need. I keep it simple with weights, rope and a step. 

Even fitness wear is cheap to come buy now. I picked up some fitness leggings and two sports bras for 30 AUD (about £17) the other day and you can do the same in the UK at places like Matalan and most supermarkets. Ok it won't have a Nike tick or the adidas logo but who cares it keeps you covered, absorbs the sweat and basically does the job you need for half the price.

But I can't afford a gym membership! I hear you cry. YOU DON'T NEED ONE. Gyms are an expensive waste of money, if you've garden, live near a park or have a relatively big room in your house say hello to your new free gym. Find some free workout guides online, check out youtube fitness gurus such as blogilates and you're well away. You can pay money for fitness guides and they'll work and they're good but you don't have to if you don't want to. There's also good old fashioned options like running, walking and cycling. I've told myself once I feel fit and active enough and really committed myself to keeping fit then I might consider joining a gym but I don't see the point if you're not really going to go for it and you won't know that until you try. 

In this ever busy world it can be hard to find a spare half an hour, yes that's all it takes a day to make a difference. But as we've discovered you don't even need to leave the house to workout it's made this predicament a little easier to solve. I find just getting up half an hour earlier makes it easier to squeeze that workout in. After a work out and a cool shower you're pumped for the day with a tonne more energy than normal and you won't spend the day thinking about when you're going to get it done and putting yourself off the idea. However, if you feel happier doing it in the morning and you're not the type of person who easily dissuades themselves from something that do it when you walk in the door in the evening. 

So hopefully that solves a few problems for anyone with all the same excuses I had. I'm no fitness guru I know that, but I'm getting fitter and these are all things I faced when I made my decision to get fit so just have a think about them.

One thing I would spend a few of your hard earned dollars on however, is a pair of decent running shoes. It's ridiculous how much proper running shoes, no flat soles, will make. Better posture, less next day pain and better generally for your body. I have a pair of New Balance's which I love and are super comfy but Asics are ones I would highly, highly, recommend.

Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin | Tumblr | YouTube | Goodreads 

Road trip - Yamba NSW to Eaton WA

Jack and I are now in Eaton, Western Australia. That's a bloody long way from Yamba, We're here staying with my family and working, well Jack's working, I'm still looking at the moment. We arrived nearly three weeks ago after a long, tiring and boring five day drive from Yamba. In case you're wondering, and even if you're not. Yamba is on the very east coast of Australia and Eaton is on the very west coast with a 4,408km distance between them. Yes that's a long way. I'll be honest it was the most boring drive of both our lives and we do not ever want to do it again, although we'll have to. Jack was very fed up and tired understandably as he does all the driving so he had a very long rest before getting back to work.

So instead of boring you with a very interesting post about barren land, no cars and few petrol stations I thought I'd make this a mainly picture post but before that a quick break down of our five days just to give you an idea of the vastness of it all.

Day 1 - Yamba NSW - Gunnedah NSW : 503 km, 6 hours driving
Day 2 - Gunnedah NSW - Broken Hill NSW : 951 km, 10 hours driving
Day 3 - Broken Hill NSW - Ceduna SA : 881 km, 10 hours driving
Day 4 - Ceduna SA - Norseman WA : 1,200 km, 14 hours driving (yes 14 hours, the joys of time difference)
Day 5 - Norseman WA - Eaton WA : 877 km, 9 hours driving

The van in Yamba all prepped and ready

A quick stop at Coffs Harbour

The biggest strawberry I'd ever seen

The first of many sunsets

You can take a photo but I'm NOT smiling

A project worthy of a road trip

Don't forget your thongs

This has a special name over here but I can't remember it

Yes, that's go straight for 1,196km

We made it half way

Some unusual possible predicaments

The Great Australian Bight

Us ruining said Australian bight with our tiredness

I wonder how far I am from Moscow? Was not a question I asked whilst on the road 

The last of the sunsets

Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin | Tumblr | YouTube | Goodreads

P,S, Don't forget to read my last blog post and visit MadeIt for great handmade gifts. 

Make it homemade with MadeIt this Christmas

Yes ladies and gents it's that time of year again. Bonfire night has been and gone so I can, with almost 100% certainty, tell you that my mother will be stressing out over Christmas. Christmas is upon us and if you haven't unfollowed the annoying ratbags yet, someone on your Instragram feed will be able to tell you exactly how many sleeps it is until that day.

Christmas is great, I love Christmas not for the receiving anymore but just the whole Christmas spirit and feeling. One of the things I love every year is going Christmas shopping for this few special people in my life for whom I part with some money. Christmas shopping is the best way to get in the Christmas mood but sometimes it's ridiculously hard to find something special for someone on the high street. Everything's the same and someone's bound to already have it. So why not search a little further than your high street and try out madeit. The online, homemade market open 24/7.

Yes you heard me. 24/7. As if I need to say anymore to get you wandering over but I will. Madeit sell unique products from hundreds of different creators and crafters. All the items are handmade. This all adds up to mean the products are totally unique and there's more variety than on all the highstreets within 100 mile radius of you. And you can shop 24/7 which will obviously take away from some of the Christmas shopping stress.

There are hundreds of great gifts, homeware products and other bits and bobs just to make Christmas more Christmassey but I've scoured through these hundreds of products, for you, to find four, yes just four, of my favourite items that I think would be great for Christmas.

Christmas candy cane romper/playsuit by bubbymakesthree

A baby in the family? Friends just got a new addition to their family? Is there a cuter gift for a wee ones first christmas? I don't think so. The colours, the pattern, the cute little bow detail all add up to Christmas and this playsuit is divine and available in four sizes up to age 1.

Price 38.00 AUD

Personalised santa sack by Tiges and Weince

Children, and yes nearly 21 year olds, love stockings and sacks and a personalised one is even better. This personalised santa sack is available in different designs. Not only is great for kids on their bedroom door but also just as a Chrismas decoration in the living room. The sack is completely machine washable and durable so hastle washing it before next Christmas if the selection box melts. But be quick cut off order date for arrival before Christmas is December 4th. 

Price: 34.95 AUD 

Three finger puppets by Love From Annie

The perfect fun gift for young children, or my dad, these finger puppets are cute and clearly handmade which, for me, adds to the magic. With a reindeer, a snowman and gingerbread man kids, or my dad, can have loads of fun playing with these on Christmas day. Also great for telling bedtime stories around the Christmas period. Great stocking filler.

Price 10.00 AUD

Merry Christmas gift pack by Sweet Health

We all know someone who love to bake, why not make it super easy for them with this gift pack of already measured ingredients to create two different bakes - Santa's cookie mix (oat and chocolate cookie mix) and Christmas cookie mix (oat, white chocolate and fruit cookie mix). Yummy cookies perfect for the festive season and just think they might rustle them up so you can have a taste, a definite winner. There are other varieties of this gift on the Sweet Health store on Madeit. 

Price 23.95 AUD

There are loads of other great ways to discover gift ideas from madeit. If you want to find great ideas of Christmas subscribe to the XMas daily finds mailing list. You can also check out the gift guides, shopping guides and blog all found on the madeit website. You can also follow madeit on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook so make sure to hit that follow button for your daily dose of homemade goodness and gift ideas. 

Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin | Tumblr | YouTube | Goodreads 

Books about missing women - which one's for you?

Thrillers aren't normally bag when it comes to reading. I like a book to curl up with in bed that will send me off into a peaceful sleep feeling safe and happy - most of the time. Though I'd like to call myself an adventurous reader (slightly oxymoronic?) I like to branch out and try new things as often as possible so when 'One Step Too Far' by Tina Seskis was send to me earlier in the year I jumped at the chance to read something slightly out of my comfort zone.

Before delving into 'One Step Too Far' the most thriller/crime book I'd read was probably 'Great Expectations', so that gives you an idea of my wanderings in the genre. I was excited to read it and I wasn't disappointed

'One Step Too Far' is the story of a woman who disappears of her own free will in order to escape the life she's been living. Told from mostly Emily/Cat's (same person) point of view, we see her leave her happy, comfortable life and begin life as a slightly reckless Londoner. The question of what drives her to live in squalor with too many flatmates is what drives the novel, Seskis throws clues around - her rebellious twin sister, the possibility of a dark secret, just a path to find herself again. The 'big secret' isn't really necessary as a plot device other than to keep you turning the pages but without the book wouldn't be a mystery/thriller esque book and Seskis uses the device well.

There's snippets of the book told from Emily/Cat's mother, father, sister, best friend and husband Ben which give the book a more rounded perspective and aid in keeping the reader guessing and turning those pages. All the characters are well fleshed out each with their own story and all pretty dark which makes for fun reading.

So it sounds like a great read huh? Shame about the ending.

For me the ending was too contrived, extremely far fetched and out of keeping with the rest of the book. 80% of the book I loved reading and couldn't put it down but the ending just let it down, though I'd still recommend reading it if you're thinking of dipping your toes in this genre or if you're already a big fan and want something a little different and a not quite as thriller-esque as say Gone Girl.

Oh what a smooth transition.

I read 'Gone Girl' in August after being given it by the farmers daughter of the second farm I was working on. When Sarah gave it to me she said 'It's a bit slow to begin with, I couldn't stop reading the middle but the end was crap.' And after reading, if I wasn't writing a whole blog post about the book, well half a blog post, I'd leave it there because it sums it up quite nicely.

The movie for this book has just recently hit cinemas, and has probably finished now, but if you haven't seen it read the book before you pick up the DVD because, although I'm not sure, but I'd assume the film would completely ruin the book for you.

Similarly to 'One Step Too Far', 'Gone Girl' is the story of woman who is, well, gone. Amy Dunne disappears on the day of hers and Nick's anniversary. Nick finds the house a mess showing signs of a struggle. The narrative starts from Nick's point of view and flicks between that and Amy's diary. Parts of Amy's diary added to clues the police keep finding seem to suggest that Nick has caused Amy's disappearance.

The first part of the novel unravels through Nick's story telling and Amy's diary to reveal that Amy and Nick's marriage wasn't all as perfect as it seemed. Nick becomes more and more unlikeable as a character and as a reader you pity Amy though you feel you probably shouldn't. I personally felt slightly uneasy reading this part of the novel. Nick was an uncomfortable narrator and as Sarah had said it was slow, but she had promised it would get good and she was right.

The second part of the book is the part that kept me reading. It's wicked twist changed everything. It kept me hooked and kept me engaged as a reader. I literally didn't put it down for two days. The narrative voice changes, probably for the better, and the story picks up a lot. Sides of the characters were revealed there shocking but also completely entertaining and the story infinitely more dark. Flynn revealed her talent for writing, dark, gritty, unlikeable, crafty women and I loved it.

After all that excitement the ending was bland and boring - simple as that.

Again the book is worth reading for the exciting middle part and I would still recommend it to most people but you have to be willing to plough through the beginning to get to the good stuff and you have to read the end to work out all the little tricks within the middle.

Out of the two I feel 'One Step Too Far' was a more enjoyable read and was more suited to me as someone who was just entering into this genre. It was an easier read and the excitement I got reading it made me want to read more into this genre which I am intending on doing soon. Perhaps the issue with 'Gone Girl' was that I had high expectations for it as I heard a lot of people raving about it and I was quite late on the particular bandwagon.

What's your favourite book in the genre, any recommendations or thoughts on the books let me know in the comments?

Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin | Tumblr | YouTube | Goodreads