Coastal Girl to City Girl

I’ve spotted that most people have been writing their reflection posts on the A-Z challenge. So I thought I’d better get my ass in gear & write mine. I loved the challenge, I enjoyed the idea of blogging everyday & having an excuse to actually write & get something out into the world. Every day I wrote longhand first in my notebook then typed it up & posted it. My posts seemed to be so much cleverer sounding this way than if I’d just written them straight up lol. I settled on a theme for my posts as I knew I’d probably end up rambling on about anything & everything, so I chose to write about food & drink. Excellent & easy I thought. Oh how wrong I was. It was fun, exciting & interesting but also very challenging especially when my internet decided to let me down for over a week. That annoyed the hell out of me but I came back fighting & flooded my poor readers with more posts to go through than even I would manage to read! I...

I tried to think of a food beginning with ‘Z’ but nothing came to me so I thought Zest would probably be a good ending to the A-Z challenge. I started on a dessert & I’ll end on an ingredient that goes into desserts. Ooh now that made me look clever & imaginative. At school I did food technology as part of my GCSE’s, most desserts I made listed the Zest of a: orange/lemon/lime. Zest seemed to be put in everything & I felt like I was always grating a fruit of some kind. Then it advised in the recipe that you could always decorate the dessert with a sprinkle of Zest. If you watch cookery programmes you can see that by grating or peeling the chefs always manage to use the zest of a fruit. I mean it does give the dessert an extra zingy taste & it does help a good dessert taste that little bit better. I wonder who came up with the brainwave of using the zest. ~~~~~~~~ Well that's it, the end of the A-Z Challenge. It has been a roller coaster r...

I love Yogurt especially Greek style yogurt but unfortunately I can no longer eat it unless I want stomach cramps for days. Recently there was a new Greek style yogurt that appeared & I wanted it badly, each time I saw it advertised I thought yep I’d love that, it would taste divine but I knew I’d be risking my poor stomach. I’m quite good now at knowing what I can & can’t risk eating. My normal chicken kormas are out because of the cream & so now is yogurts. Which is a shame but it’s better that way than to suffer 24 hours down the line. Obviously I miss eating good things like yogurt & I wish the companies made alternatives for those who can’t eat them. I’ve tried searching the shelves but there is no alternative out there. Maybe I need to write to them & pass on my thoughts then if they made an alternative I could finally enjoy a nice yogurt again. 

Ok again I had trouble with this letter & by doing a little search I came up with Xmas cake which I know is a little cheat as its technically called Christmas cake. But hey I always use the word Xmas so here goes… I have no idea why people came up with this idea. We now have birthday cakes, Easter cakes, Mother’s day cakes, Valentine’s Day cakes & of course Xmas cake. A cake for all occasions! To me it’s crazy & to be honest a bit of a con. I feel that the industries pray on people’s feelings etc to make us buy these things at special times of the year where they make billions. Ok enough politics ha! I have never eaten Xmas cake. I used to watch my mum making one every year for the whole family to enjoy, she would decorate it & alongside that she do the Xmas pudding with brandy sauce to pour on top which you then set light to. I would look at the cake & smell it but never wanted to eat it. I don’t know why, I guess it just never really appealed to me...

Wine. Ooh how I love that word & even more so the drink itself. I do enjoy a nice glass of cold dry white wine occasionally. I do not drink red wine or sweet white wine but I do also like a Rosé wine again when it’s cold. I’ve tasted some really nice wines & some really awful ones. But there’s nothing better than on a warm summers evening having a glass of chilled white wine, extremely chilled, in fact so chilled that the glass becomes wet. Savouring the taste, allowing it to slide down slowly & to do the cliché thing of going “ahhh” after each sip. Then you have champagne to put into the mix. At Christmas I drank champers with orange juice which was delicious & a perfect drink to have alongside a good turkey! Yes the good old wine, something that supposedly gets better with age…is there anything more I need say? Ha. 

Vegemite. It’s like Marmite. Or a Marmite alternative. The slogan for it (& Marmite) is you either love it or hate it. For me I hate it. Vegemite I believe you can only get from Australia. You can’t get it in the UK, thankfully! My sister loved Marmite. She used to spread it on toast; in sandwiches & to be honest it stunk! It was thick black/brown goo in a jar. I can’t even really describe the smell, the minute she opened the jar I was out of that kitchen. I really cannot stand the stuff. It looks like grease, smells vile & would never be in my cupboards. Nope I’m not a fan of either & never will be. Instead I’m a hate it fan!

Ok yes I was stuck for a food beginning with ‘U’. A quick search on my phone produced this word: Unagi which is Japanese for eel. Well what can I say about it…I do NOT like eel. Full stop. There… They are slimy, rubbery, long, curly, horrible looking, smelly, just gross really. You get the picture. Would I ever eat eel? Urgh nope! No way! Not in my lifetime. Do I admire those who can stomach it…yes I guess I do because to me it looks chewy & tasteless. If anyone has tried it please tell us all what it tastes like & I hope they don’t say “it tastes just like chicken”! 

Tea. I am a tea-oholic. I love my cuppas. They can’t be too strong & definitely can’t be too milky. They have to look medium in strength & then it tastes divine. I used to drink too many cuppas in a day; I would constantly have my cup topped up & think “ooh I’ll just have one more”. I could never get enough of tea but then I suffered from not sleeping because of the caffeine. Catch 22. You love a good cuppa but have too many & you can’t sleep. I’ve cut down my consumption but sometimes I do crave just one more. I am never bothered as to what tea I drink; I have a cheap branded teabag or a nice PG tip. To me it doesn’t matter & it seems to taste the same. However the other day we got a good bargain on Twinning’s tea. Now there’s a brand that tastes wonderful. Yes I can tell when I’ve had a Twinning’s but normally this brand is so expensive hence this bargain could not be missed. What’s the point of spending £3-£4 on a box when I can get more in a box of a...

Spinach. Nope I’m not Popeye…although his muscle power would be good sometimes. But like Popeye I do enjoy a bit of spinach, even though I haven’t had it in ages. It wasn’t until I saw a lady in Iceland’s buying a frozen bag of spinach that I remembered how much I do like it. I did not know that they now provide frozen bags of the stuff & it may be something I’ll have to try; I mean it can’t be all that bad can it? Yes I know that perhaps sometimes frozen vegetables are not good for you but at other times they are quick & easy to do. You just throw them into a pan of boiling water for a few minutes & bobs your uncle they are done. I will definitely give this bag of spinach a go as there’s no harm in trying it & as I eat it I’ll imagine I’m turning into Popeye & developing very strong muscles to help save the world.  

Rice pudding. When I mention to most people that I enjoy rice pudding I get strange looks & the reasons why no one should like rice pudding. It all boils down to school days & in particular school lunches. Every school lunch contained sloppy rice pudding. Kids everywhere hated the stuff. It looked disgusting, smelt awful & tasted gross. I actually seem to be the only person who enjoyed & liked rice pudding. Ok yes it doesn’t particularly taste of anything special & it doesn’t look appealing but it is a great winter warmer. Heat it up & pour in a bowl, snuggle under a blanket & enjoy. It’s filling but doesn’t over power your stomach. I can understand people’s fear of rice pudding but I feel it’s one of those things that will keep going & going even though you rarely hear about it or see it advertised anymore. I say hail the rice pudding! Plus you can put any topping on it: honey/jam etc, it’s versatile & great to eat. 

Quiche. Ok what is it about quiche that you either love it or hate it (a bit like marmite…& for the record I hate that stuff) anyways I do like quiche particularly the one with bacon & cheese in it. The only thing I can never decide on is if I prefer it hot or cold. When I eat it hot I wish it was cold & just out of the fridge then if I eat it cold I wish it was slightly warm. Yes you may call me odd/strange or fussy right about now & yes you would be right in thinking that! Ha. I like the smell of quiche cooking & then I enjoy the crust around it when it’s hard & crunchy. Yum! I’ve tried a vegetable one but it wasn’t to my liking. So I stick with what I know, love & trust. It may be less healthy with all that cheese & bacon but hey no worries if I put lettuce with it I’ll kid my body into thinking I’m being healthy lol! 

Pimms. It’s Pimms o’clock time. That’s the catchphrase here in the UK for this particular drink. The minute the sun comes out then so does the Pimms. The only way to drink it is in a jug, with lots of ice, slices of fruit: strawberries/cucumber/apple/orange/mint & then top up with lemonade. All I can say is OMG! This summery drink is divine & perfect for warm days & long warm evenings. The fruit in this drink gives it an extra taste that is hard to describe, yes it’s alcoholic but as long as you don’t overdo the Pimms in a jug & put plenty of lemonade in then hey you could drink it all night…just don’t drive! So next time the sun is shining or when it’s warm & you sit in the garden perhaps watching the sun set grab a jug of Pimms, pour yourself one, sit back & enjoy. After all its Pimms o’clock.  

OJ. Not OJ Simpson but orange juice. I’m an OJ addict especially when I’m feeling under the weather. If I have a cold or a sniffle I turn to the orange juice & drink litres of the stuff. My body knows when I need it & will beg me to fill it up with the sweet liquid. I do not like the one with bits in. ooh no way! The bits make it actually I don’t think I can find the right words to describe it so I’m just gonna say yuk! The orange juice I drink has to be smooth no bits just smooth sweet juice. If I’m feeling under the weather I know glasses of OJ will make me perk up & it seems to work within a few glasses, I always feel like I’m glowing. If you probably squeezed me I’ll end up producing juice! Ha.

Nuts. Not as in how I would describe myself but the food nut. My husband loves nuts, he nibbles on them most days & has a habit that makes me giggle where he’ll pour a few out of a packet (dry roasted are his favourite) onto a plate & he’ll pick at them over the evening. Whereas I would pick at them straight out of the packet, I only eat salted nuts occasionally but only if I crave them but my husband will graze on nuts all evening. I used to remember when bowls of nuts were put on bars for people to nibble on, the reason being was that the salt would make you thirstier & therefore you’d drink more making more profit for the owners. Oh yes they were not silly! Until the health facts came out & they found that the bowls actually contained many people’s urine! Yuk. It told people that “hey many people don’t wash their hands” & “that you’re eating people’s pee!” oh yeah we loved them for letting us all know that information! I bet people stopped eatin...

Ooh how I love a melon. A watermelon perhaps with the pink juicy fruit that is so watery in your mouth as you bite into it. Or perhaps a honeydew which contains a sweet flavour in a whitish flesh of fruit alongside the softness as you nibble it. The trouble with me & a honeydew is that I put extra sprinklings of sugar on it before I eat it. I know it’s bad when you’re eating a healthy piece of fruit but for me it gives it an extra kick. I actually do love melon & would happily eat it every day but I’m one of those people who get bored with food & so if I brought a melon I know I wouldn’t eat it all. Anytime I fancy some melon I might buy it as a treat & hope I’ll finish it in time before it can’t be eaten any more or I’ll buy it in a can even though it may not taste the same. Even thinking about melon makes my mouth water & watermelon is always the first thing I’ll eat when I’m on holiday…I actually probably over eat on it!  

Lemonade. I’m normally a cola drinking girl but there would be only two occasions where I would drink lemonade: 1. when I have dry Martini Blanco with ice & slice of lemon topped up with lemonade 2. & when I have an upset stomach…probably from drinking the Martini above ha! But joking aside it does work for an upset stomach. I learnt it working behind a bar & still swear by it. If you pour lemonade into a glass & then stir it with a fork until it goes flat, then drink it. Flat lemonade for some strange reason actually helps ease a dodgy tummy, I have no idea how or why but it does. Sometimes I do enjoy a cold glass of lemonade especially the cloudy lemonade. When I see a bottle of cloudy lemonade I have to buy it then drink it non-stop. It has a much sweeter & nicer taste than normal lemonade. But I haven’t tried cloudy lemonade with the Martini…maybe I should just to see what it would taste like…now there’s a thought.

Kiwi. Nope I’m not talking about the animal from New Zealand. I’m talking about that brown hairy fruit that is green inside. Ok yep it sounds disgusting. Actually it sounds of putting to eat but it’s not, it’s rather lovely. I do really enjoy eating this fruit. As a kid I liked the hairy brown skin, it was odd & made me giggle when I touched it as it kind of felt like that fuzzy felt stuff. When my mum cut it up I would stare in wonder at the green squishy fruit inside. It fascinated me & I thought it looked amazing. I would eat it on its own or in a fruit cocktail. I really liked it & actually I think I was the only one who did! From a kids point of view it looked like frog spawn. It was soft & really squishy to eat. I’d make my mum cut the skin off first then I’d gobble the green fruit up in delight. I do the same now. I’ll buy one or two, spend ages peeling the skin off then slice it up into pieces & eat it, still thinking about how it l...

I have to apologise to my followers & readers. My internet decided to let me down right in the middle of the A-Z challenge! Perfect timing huh! I was being charged extra to go on the internet on top of the monthly allowance…not good at all. So the internet was off limits until now. I have been writing these up in a word document & will now have to flood my blog with each post as I really wanted to complete this challenge. So sorry in advance for the flood of posts. I will also get round to the wonderful comments left by my readers; I appreciate each & every one of them. So here we go with the rest of the A-Z challenge…oh how I’ve missed posting these up… Jelly. I remember eating jelly as a child at birthday parties mixed with ice cream. It was always presented in a colourful paper plate with a plastic spoon. You’d sometimes get a mixture of jellies with a blob of melting vanilla ice cream. Why are jellies mainly suited to children? & why are they given...

As a child my favourite thing was ice cream. I would only eat it during the summer months (as I felt stupid eating it in winter…I was cold enough so I didn’t colder things entering my system!) & then I’d be lost for choice when faced with the task of choosing an ice cream. Mr whippy 99 with a flake was always my favourite. The soft fluffy ice cream within a crunchy cone & a chocolate flake. Summers were never the same without having one of these. If I couldn’t have that I’d choose an orange ice lolly or mini milk or a feast. Now there’s an ice lolly. Chocolate wrapped in chocolate filled with more chocolate. Yum…a messy ice lolly but a delicious one! The one I had at home was a Neapolitan…the ice cream of different flavours in one hit. Oh my how tasty that was. Then I discovered Vienetta. Now that was one dangerous discovery lol. I would munch my way through that in days & go back for seconds. I always love the sound of the hard chocolate cracking under t...

Hamburgers. One simple word…yum! I love hamburgers especially with melted cheese on them & a dollop of ketchup. Not too much ketchup though as it spoils the taste! You put just enough in to give it a small kick. I don’t like/need/want anything else in a burger. I don’t like it when they are over filled with onions, lettuce, tomatoes etc & if I have a Macdonald’s cheeseburger then the first thing I’ll do is rip out that slice of Gherkin thingy. Yuck! One time my sister produced a homemade hamburger to me. I eyed it with fascination & with a watering mouth took a bite. Then when I looked down I gasped, to me it looked pink. I talked to her about this but the problem now with chefs is that their burgers are always served slightly on the rare side. I told her to take it away & cook it for longer. Me & rare beef do not gel. If you eat meat then it has to be cooked well & that goes for hamburgers too. I know when I need red meat as my body st...