High up in my blogosphere

So I have told you I hate my job right? Well, that kind of subsided on payday this friday which means I guess I am a filthy capitalist at heart and not at all the commie I pride myself on being. Ah well.

Anyway, the point is, I have decided to reward myself for all my hard work (who am I kidding?!) with a makeover. A blog makeover! I have been following Elliequent nee The Lucky Nest blog for a while since it featured on Blogs of Note, and the girl has got writing skills. And we all know people like bloggers with skills. She has also just started up a blog template company, which you can view here http://www.rainydaytemplates.blogspot.com/.

I contacted her and she is going to get started on something for me in the near future, so watch this space!

****UPDATE****

You can get a sneak preview of my shiny new template if you click here...
http://rainydaytemplates.blogspot.com/2007/12/sneak-previews.html

Very excited!

Here Come The Girls

I am writing this with a bit of a hangover which can only mean one thing- I had a good night!

Finally, the WAGS got together for a night of wine (quite a lot of wine actually- lying on the cold lino floor at 4am amount of wine...), food and gossip. Sometimes you just need to get it all off your chest and these girls know better than anyone else what I am going through right now.

Menu was as follows:

Starter: A trio of mini starters- The 70's classic Prawn Cocktail, a quenelle of hot smoked salmon pate and filo wrapped king prawns with a sweet chili dip

Main: Beef Wellington with a Madiera sauce, roasted parsnips and carrots, and peas.

Dessert: Chocolate fondant with a Cornish ice-cream and orange crisp.

I have to say that the amount of wine consumed meant that my timings were a teeny bit off and the fondant was a bit more cakey than I would have liked but I wasn't worried, the conversation and company were the main event anyway.

In the morning, after everyone showered and had that oh-so vital morning cuppa, we headed out to Wickham and had lunch in the most gorgeous tea and coffee house called Lilly's. AMAZING hot roasted beef and horseradish sandwich on doorstop white, home-made Yorkshire pud on the side and REAL gravy. Divine!

All in all, a great weekend with the girls, an excellent opportunity to catch up, laugh and moan!

So Monday is upon us again and in a few hours time, once I have got some much needed sleep, I will be getting into my chef whites and getting prepped for a busy festive service. I am praying I get starters or desserts!

Anyway, off to Bedfordshire, my eyes are bloodshot and I am in danger of looking like Amy Winehouse if I don't get some sleep, in a BED! x

College Update

You've all seen MasterChef, where you first meet the contestants and the generic comments are ' I love food, I love feeding people, it's the only thing that makes me happy' etc etc.

And they get through to the professional kitchen round and they crumble. It's too chaotic, it's hot, they have a head chef telling them their dish is crap. A 1000 miles from pottering around in their own kitchen, making steak and chips for a dinner party.

Well, last week I felt like that. Previous times in service I had been on the dessert section, I loved the buzz, the pace, making everything from scratch, and the admiration for our dishes from the other chefs. Last week I was put on mains. I hated it. It was chaos.

My head chef will probably say I'm being too hard on myself but I felt like I sank. I know it was my first time on mains but it was awful. I couldn't remember how many mains I had on order, I had to keep asking. It was hot and fast and unforgiving. I felt deflated. There were tears in the locker room.

Next week sees the start of the Christmas Menu. It is going to be bloody busy. I will have no other choice but to step out on mains again. And that's OK.

A journey wouldn't be worth taking if it was easy. No lessons learnt along the way you see. What I have learnt in that it doesn't pay to panic during service. You have to have fun, relax and enjoy it. I knew it was going to be difficult, I knew I would struggle but you never achieve anything if you stay in your comfort zone. I going back on mains and this time I will be focused. I will let you know all about the Christmas menu when I get that information myself.

For now, I am getting ready to do some baking. A little precision needed with measurements but on the whole a relaxing venture. A lot of love will be going into the biscuits, cakes and slices as they will be sent off for action men to enjoy. Ha, I didn't think of it like this before but my cakes will be shipped into a country in conflict, hopefully raising morale for a few moments. Morale Cakes. I'm seeing a window of opportunity here!

Delia's Classic Christmas Cake

I cannot claim this recipe as my own unfortunately so here I must redirect you to Delia's website and give props where they're due. There is pretty much EVERYTHING you need to know on here. Also the recipe is like, a mile long (just look at the ingredients list!) so I think it is best I leave it to the experts:

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/the-classic-christmas-cake,1293,RC.html

I am still feeding my cake every couple of weeks or so with cherry brandy, man it smells good. I am still wondering about how to decorate- arty things not really being my forte. I shall keep you updated nevertheless.

Changing the subject, my father-in-law and partner are coming to visit this weekend and have kindly offered to take me to lunch (fantastic, seeing as since husband has been away I've been living on things very much toast-based). Instead of the uber expensive 36 on the Quay, we are trying Fat Olives this time, still in the gorgeous town of Emsworth. I will also probably bake some Double-Ginger cake for Maureen as it went down well last time (see September 2008 post, A Cake Fit For A King, for recipe).

The lack of food posts on my foodie blog can be attributed to a few dents in my soul since my husband left for a sandier-terra. My passion for food deserted me for a while there, but I can feel my interests being pipped once more as my eye was caught by a Vietnamese cookbook in the library the other day. Hopefully we will see the return of more food orientated posts here at TwentyFour Blackbirds, just want to say thanks for hanging in there.

Star-Gazey-Pie Struck

Heston is coming to South Downs.

*hyperventilates slightly*

Heston is coming to cook. At. My. College.

There is a charity dinner being held at the college, in aid of ARC, the charity that helps rehabilitates chefs that have fallen into drugs and alcohol as a result of their job. There is going to be a whole posse of celeb chefs cooking in the college kitchens including Heston, Marcus Wareing and Angela Harnett. Jamie Oliver is coming as a guest (£200 a ticket!) and the best thing of all is that the students will get to help out. Not everyone will get to cook but either way I will go and meet them.

I am very excited.

It will be a chance for me to meet some of the best chefs in the business. Marcus Wareing, (is it two or three Michelin stars?) is a personal favourite of mine. I am going loaded with my books and getting them signed. Oh and talking of books (husband take note!) if there is anything I would like to find under my tree this year (or more likely Gary, my Yukka plant) it would be the Fat Duck cook book r.r.p £100 but on Amazon a whopping bargain of just £60. It is THE definitive cookbook for all foodies. Heston is a legend. And all from the man that had no formal training.

Remember, Remember the 11th of November

In my last post, I said how I hoped for the British people to come together when the time came to stand up and have a voice. Well, I know we can do it because all across the UK people are wearing their red poppies, in support of the Royal British Legion charity, and in Remembrance of the men and women that fought and died for our country. As an Army Wife I know only too well the fear of widowhood,on a daily basis, as my husband packs his things and heads to a country deep in conflict. My life is very different to my civilian sisters, they may have to contend with their husbands or partners working long shifts, at night or away for a few days but I am separated from the love of my life more than we are together. I entered the military world not knowing how hard it would be, and I soon came to realise that the rest of society have no real concept of the sacrifices made by 1000's of families. Do people realise we are living in a time of war?

To see so many people in support of the services, at this time of year, lifts my heart. Unfortunately, the government have made no effort whatsoever to unite military families with the rest of society, we are the outsiders. The BBC as well, on many occasions reporting deaths of soldiers before the families have been informed. Why can't they use their resources to promote the services, to inform people that men and women, just like their brothers, sisters or sons and daughters, or parents are being killed and shot at, because the government will not even give them equipment that works or protects them.

The Royal British Legion is a charity. It is not run by the government. And like Help for Heroes or the Army Benevolent Fund it relies on the public. Ultimately we, we look after the troops that risk everything for us. On the 11th Hour, on the 11th day of the 11th month, be silent for all those who died, for us, for freedom and peace, and remember those that today are fighting, forgotten by their government, but not by us.

For The Fallen

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,

England mourns for her dead across the sea.

Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,

Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal

Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,

There is music in the midst of desolation

And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,

Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.

They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;

They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;

They sit no more at familiar tables of home;

They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;

They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,

Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,

To the innermost heart of their own land they are known

As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,

Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;

As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,

To the end, to the end, they remain.

Laurence Binyon (1914)

It's a New Dawn, It's a New Day.

Last night I was moved by a nations politics that wasn't even my own. I stayed up until 2am, despite having work the next day, to see the votes come in for Barack Obama. Only when it looked like a landslide did I go to bed. I had goosebumps. I awoke feeling positive and buoyant, and so, so hopeful that when it comes for Britain to have a voice, we shall look to the States and KNOW that anything is possible.

Last Night, a country built on war and slavery, elected a black man as their 44th President. 53 years after Rosa Parks refused to giver up her seat to a white passenger. 43 years after African Americans were given the right to vote. 40 years after Martin Luther King was assassinated. ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. Race relations in the US have a deep and colourful history, but now bigots and racists are the minority as people queued for hours and hours yesterday for their voices to be heard.

Barack Obama certainly seems to be an assured, cool and calm person. He treated his opponent, John McCain with grace and did not stoop to his dirty tactics of mud-slinging throughout the campaigns. He promises that he can bring change, and I believe him. His victory speech was so inspiring and instilled a strong feeling of hope, and the belief that anything is possible.

''I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington — it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.
It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this earth. This is your victory.''

''...And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world — our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: Tonight, we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.''

It is also an astonishing fact that Barack is the only anti-war candidate to have ever been voted in during war time. So what happens now? Will he expand the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq or will he finally send the young men and women, fighting for Bush's administration, home? I hope so, and I hope Parliament is sitting up and taking note. Gordon Brown, our PM by default, witness this change, the British people have seen what people power can do and the raping of our financial system, the neglect of our elderly, infirm and sick, and our failing education system will not be tolerated anymore. We will not accept sending our men and women to war zones with equipment that does not protect them, when they give the ultimate sacrifice so people can sleep safely. But we can look to America and see that we CAN bring change. WE choose.

It's a New Dawn, It's a New Day

And I'm feeling good.