Blogger On The Move + Foodie Penpals October

Wow!  It has been a long time since my last post.  A lot has happened in the month and a half since I last wrote.  Dave and I bought a house and the past weeks seem to have been full of packing, moving, unpacking (repeat).  Followed by endless cleaning.  And then, of course, the inevitable shuffling around of everything you have just put away punctuated by brief pauses while you wait for new storage solutions to arrive.

Seeing just what a state my kitchen is in, and just what little progress I have made with my Challenge, I have made the decision to extend the time in which to complete said Challenge.  Instead of the year I was going to take to cook at least one untried recipe from my collection of books, I am now going to take a year.  And as 2 years is such a long time, I am now lifting my ban on cook book purchases!  Hooray!

Our new home used to belong to a little old lady with eccentric tastes in colour coordination and an inexplicable strategy of buying the best, but not following through with the tiny extras that would make her changes perfect.  For example, she recently installed the best boiler on the market but decided against the wireless thermostat that would have cost her a fraction more.

She also seemed to be a fan of gas, which, when it comes to hobs, I can say I am also.  But it seems (following our electrician's investigations) that she gave up an electric oven for a gas one.  This has made things interesting!  I shall keep you postedon how me and the gas oven find our feet.

The whole moving saga was pleasantly interrupted recently by a delivery from my foodie penpal this month, Emma.  Emma has a lovely blog (Adventures of A London Kiwi), which currently has some amazing-looking Halloween Afternoon Tea pics.  She has obviously got into the Halloween spirit (get it?!), because I received a big bag of ghostly marshmallows in my package.  Dave came home a little bit merry that night that I opened my package and I offered him a one of the tasty treats, but he replied robustly that he didn't like ghostly marshmallows.  The next morning, spying the package, he exclaimed "ooo! yum!!", but I had to remind him that he left me in no doubt the night before about his feelings towards the ghostly marshmallows!

The rest of my package from Emma also contained different rices, spices and a big back of dried chillis (which Dave was also very enthusiastic about).  I cannot wait to get settled into my kitchen and start cooking properly again.  Dave and I had a glorious week of student-style takeaways during the move, but that was thankfully short-lived.  Fast food is not a lifestyle choice I want to make.


Dave has been doing a great job getting my kitchen into shape.  I have a shelf for my jars, a rack for my pans and a spice rack.  I also made a very happy discovery when emptying a box when I found holes in my block of steak knives that would allow to hang them up!  Living the dream peeps!