Isn't it funny

How something that once meant so much doesn't seem to mean anything anymore?
I'm back in London now after the end of the rats. I think that work experience was one of the best things that I've done in my life... PhD is definitely in my mind now but medicine is definitely first first first!

UKCAT is looming, it feels like doomsday is just around the corner.

I feel a bit funny right now, maybe because it's like the end of an era *cry cry*....

Sorry i'm talking crap right now.

Over and out.

I heart Taylor Swift S2S2S2

Horticulturist in the house

Oh yea, this is going to be a short and sweet post. MY PEAS HAVE GROOOOOOOOOWN! I got so excited when I saw a pea =P I think I'll be a professional farmer now thank you very much =]

some of my crops =) carrots, cress, flowers, peas and some salad ^^

the peas have started growing!!!

on a different note i went to the Banksy exhibition today and waited in the queue for 3.5hours, it was most definitely worth it! =D i'll put my fave ones up here soon, the rest are on Facebook =)

Chinese soup

I was thinking that I need to cut down on my intake of what I like to call 'Kevin food'. As some of you know, my little brother's diet is made up of entire JUNK and crap that the body subsequently turns into more crap.... So tonight I thought I'd go a bit healthy.

Sifting through my freezer I found some lamb neck which I assumed was still edible (1/2 year is still alright right?)... and defrosted it under a cold tap (we are still microwave less *sob sob cry* - yes I am so very dependent on modern technology and yet unable to keep up with current technological advances)... Now this may look very plain, simple and boring but believe me, it's bursting with flavour and you are going to wish you had some after reading this =P

You start by boiling up some roughly chopped lamb in salted water. Fry up some ginger (very important!) and some onions and other vegetables (I chose carrots as those are the only vegetables I have left in my fridge). Once the lamb is boiling skim off the crap that floats to the top and add your stir fried vegetables. Add other non fried vegetables, I added chinese leaf, choi sum, wintermelon and soft tofu (note: different vegetables cook at different speeds eg. Tofu goes in the very last minute and only needs a gentle boil to 'cook'). Season with salt and sugar (yes, that's it!). In the meantime boil up some noodles, whatever tickles your fancy and place nearly boiled noodles in a serving bowl, the heat from the soup will finish off cooking the noodles to perfection. Scoop in the soup and veges and serve with a sprinkle of roughly chopped spring onions. Simple non? ^_^Y The gentle flavours will come from your selection of meat and vegetables (and the fresh ginger + spring onion), this light soup is perfect for a quick and nutritious meal any time of day! =]



Ps. My mum normally just makes the soup and we'll have it as an accompaniment with the rest of the meal which will consist of a lot of other vegetables but this is the easy studenty all-in-one 'recipe'. This is the way I cook it, the way I like it, but it will be different wherever you go etc etc etc...

Bristol Harbour Festival

Last weekend was the Bristol harbour Festival. When my flatmate told me on Saturday that she bought some "good cheese" there I thought it would just be some random old market which happened to sell some "good cheese". So, seeing as I was meeting a friend on the Sunday we thought we'd head over and not expect much. To my surprise it was bustling with lots and lots of people, many a stores and fun activities! =) For lunch we had the Thai salad that I was mentioning before (but this time I forgot to take the seeds out and nearly choked to death.... homemade sushi probably what I like to make most for dinner parties as everyone likes it and it's rather easy and cheap to make hehe:


We also had some very yummy spinach lasagne and cheesecake with no eggs, surprisingly delicious!

lots and lots of people!

We found a free science showing there too and thought being scientists plus token lawyer/compsci dude we should check it out! To our surprise we were rather stunned by the experiments that he carried out including nearly stopping my heart when he burst a balloon full of Hydrogen =P Did you know that you can fry an egg using a cradle made up of newspapers on a burning flame? hehe! These people were actually from the BBC, a programme called: Bang goes the theory, check it out if you have time. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00ly58z/Bang_Goes_the_Theory_Series_1_Episode_1/

*BANG!*

On a complete separate note, look at this little cutie =) My Bonnie was digging around in the gravel and a bit landed on her back =P also, spot the other frog! hehe =]


Hope y'all enjoying the sun that was bound to come out eventually ;)

Fish sauce smell much?

I attempted my first Thai style salad today with the all important fish sauce. So, I had a bit of this stuff stashed at the back of the cupboard or rather in one of many identical looking cardboard boxes and was inspired by Rick Stein's adventures in the far east: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00lyfqf/hd/Rick_Steins_Far_Eastern_Odyssey_Episode_3/. So I decided to grab the bottle and start the making. The result was surprisingly nice to my very asian palate but I don't know how it will be to another so I shall have to try it out tomorrow on some western palates =P

The picture is not very good but this 'dish' is very easy and since I didn't have many ingredients this is a Thai salad a la Rinny hehe!


Salad ingredients: Cucumber finely chopped, carrots grated, chinese leaf, 1 spring onion finely sliced and a large handful of small ready to eat prawns.
Salad dressing: 2 tablespoons fish sauce, 1/2 red chilli chopped finely, 1/2 lemon (or lime) juice squeezed, 1 garlic clove crushed then finely chopped, 2 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon sugar.

It's amazing how such little ingredients can make such a delicious dish!

You can tweak this ofcourse! Try adding: finely sliced shallots, shredded green mango, basil, kafir lime leaves =]

On a different note, I dissected 6 rats today and my lab partner tried to dissect a rat brain but ended up decapitating the poor rat and accidentally cutting a chunk of brain out! She also dropped rat gut onto her jeans, lovely (!). All in a days work ^_^Y