Recipe: Spiced Apple and Apricot Chutney

Stocking up my chutney stores! I have a fair few jars now, i might chillour for a bit on my frantic preserving! I love it though, makes me feel all economical and somewhat "Victorian". I used almost all my jellies, jams and chutneys over Christmas as gifts. Homemade preserves, or homemade flavoured spirits (i have made blackberry vodka, raspberry vodka, elderberry vodka, blackberry brandy, etc.) make the best gifts, in my opinion. Because it shows you have put some effort and thought into it, and it's fairly economical as well. This chutney is really nice with smoked cheese, like applewood cheddar....mmm.... have you ever tried that? It's UBER tasty. Reminds me of the countryside, and autumn bonfires, lol!

Spiced Apple and Apricot Chutney (makes 1.2kg)

750g diced peeled cooking apple
250g diced dried soft apricots
1 small white onion, finely diced
50ml cider vinegar
50ml white wine vinegar
200ml red wine vinegar
1 tsp garam masala
½ tsp mustard powder
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp salt
250g sugar

1. In a large saucepan, bring all the ingredients to the boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Ladle the chutney into jars, allow to cool, and seal. Leave for two weeks before consuming.

Recipe: Masoor Dahl

This recipe is a firm family favourite. Would never want to calculate the calories in it, with all that ghee! But it's the ghee and the crispy spiced onions that give this dahl such a beautiful flavour. The perfect addition to a vegetarian indian thali- have a bowl of dahl, basmati rice, a couple of veggie curries and a salad- perfect. I would say that this soup should definitely be eaten fresh- leftovers dont keep that well really- not that we usually have any!

Masoor Dahl (serves 4)

315g red lentils
1.5 litres water
¼ tsp dried ginger
¼ tsp turmeric
130g ghee
2 red onions, sliced thinly
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
Handful fresh coriander
1 tsp salt

1. In a large saucepan, bring the red lentils and water to the boil, removing any scum or white foam that may form. Once boiled, lower the temperature, partially cover (put the saucepan lid on, on an angle, so it is “half covering it) and simmer for 40 minutes.
2. In a large frying pan, melt the ghee. Fry the red onions and garlic in the ghee for 10 minutes, until the onions are beginning to brown. Add coriander, cumin and cayenne pepper, and fry for a further two minutes. Add coriander and cook for one more minute.
3. Once the lentils have had their 40 minutes, pour the spiced onion mixture into the saucepan. Add salt, and stir round until the onions and lentils have been well combined.

Branded corporate gifts that help reduce waste

 

 Catching up with The Green Desk's Yasmin Halai-Carter at 
UKAware 2011

 
This weekend saw me scoot down to London again to visit UKAware, the UK's largest and longest running contemporary sustainable lifestyle exhibition

This was my third annual visit and I have to admit, it was a great excuse to catch up with some of my old friends and have a good mooch around to see what's new.  As ever, I came away buzzing with excitement over the amazing projects I saw, but having had a press pack for the first time ever - and having been accompanied by my six year old, who is a magnet for freebies -  I also noticed I was laden down with stuff!

And it really got me thinking about all the conferences and corporate events out there, where freebies are giving out willy-nilly, to get brands right under the noses of the people with the purse-strings.  Yes, I've been used to a career packed with squashy balls, mouse mats, and laptop bags, not to mention the ubiquitous and equally useless gym-kit style bags to fetch them home in, with carrying strings that bury deep into your hands, but in recent years I've trained myself well to refuse most branded clutter.  You know...applying that age-old mantra of REDUCE!

However, at UKAware I was intrigued by the alternative options that are now available for the more eco-conscious corporate merchandiser and naturally my antennae turned towards the cool stuff that actually helps people reduce waste.  I thought I'd include some of my findings here.


BAGS

If you're giving away reusable bags at your conference or exhibition stand, that's a great thing to do right?  Well, yes, it's a step in the right direction towards waste-busting giving, but wouldn't it be better if that bag was made from recycled materials in the first place!

That's where Onya comes in, with its range of branded bags that are made from recycled PET bottles.  I've been a fan of Onya bags ever since I saw them during my first visit to UKAware and I don't think you could get a bag that is more lightweight or which is so easy at being packed up.  It even comes with its own pouch and clip to make it easier to carry around.  For more details visit www.onyabags.co.uk.





GADGETS

It may be my inner geek shouting here, but I just LOVE these USB batteries that I discovered in my goody bag.  With a house full of remote controls, handheld game consoles, cameras and other gadgets, these energy-packed miracle workers are just the thing!  Again, I'm a long term fan and have even been known to add some to my kids' Christmas stockings and they love them too, as you just bung them into your USB slot to recharge, saving a fortune in batteries in the process.  As well as selling branded batteries, I've noticed there's also a commemorative pack for the Royal Wedding.  More info about these funky little batteries can be found at www.usbcell.com.


STATIONERY

And here's another personal favourite, the staple-less stapler, helping to reduce the office worker's dependency on steel.  This one is branded with the Green Desk's web address, which also happens to be the company that sells them.  It comes with a great quote that reads "If every office worker in the UK used 1 less staple a day we would save 120 tonnes of steel a year".  Wowzer!  For more branded products like this, as well as everyday sustainable office items can be found at www.greendesk.org.uk.


So, I'm pretty happy with the freebies that I picked up at UKAware this year.  It just goes to show that businesses don't need to give their customers ready-made landfill as part of their marketing strategy and can instead offer items that can actually save them money and help reduce their waste in the first place. You just need to find the right places to look and UKAware is just one of those places that is well worth watching for solutions that match your brand's ethics.


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UKAware is now selling exhibition stands for its Bristol event, which takes place on 18th-19th June 2011.  For further details, please visit www.ukaware.com.  And if you've ever wondered where the organisation sources its promotional T-shirts, just check out ethical clothing company Pier32.
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Recipe: Chicken, Cheddar and Sweet Chilli Tortillas

This was a bit of an experiment really but dang did it work! I made a couple of them for dinner all by myself- I know, not the healthiest of choices, but never mind! I love how the cheddar slightly melts and the tortilla wrap become all nice and crispy. A quick and easy thing to grab and nosh on! I would say it probably only takes about 10 minutes to make (if that!) and much less time in order to eat! I reckon cooking a few of these and putting them on a platter would be a good option at a party or a tapas style dinner. With this I just had a little pot of spiced yoghurt to dip in- optional of course.



This recipe helped me win a "Mission Food Services" recipe competition, winning me £250 worth of John Lewis Vouchers! Funny what a couple of little wraps can do, haha (:



Chicken, Cheddar, and Sweet Chilli Tortilla (serves 1)



2 soft tortilla wraps

50g finely grated cheddar

50g torn cooked chicken

Small handful coriander, chopped

1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce (i particularly like to use Blue Dragon Sweet Chilli dip with a hint of lime!)

A few grinds of black pepper



Optional- Spiced yoghurt or hot chilli sauce, in which to dip



1. Put one tortilla wrap on a plate. Top with all the ingredients, spaced evenly, and put the other tortilla wrap on top. Press down firmly(this helps stop all the ingredients from falling out once put into the saucepan.

2. Heat a non-stick pan on a medium/high heat. Put the stuffed tortilla wrap onto the hot saucepan for 2 minutes. Flip over (gently!) and cook for another 2 minutes. Slice into quarters and serve!

Wipe Out Waste Welly Boot Camp

I love my job!  That's if you can call being a roving rubbish-busting blogger a job, I suppose it's more of a vocation.  However, no matter what you call it,  I am just appreciative of the places I end up and the brilliant people I meet in the process.

And this week my adventures took me from the East of England to the West Country, from Suffolk to Somerset, where I teamed up with a host of eco-mentors at a "Welly" Boot Camp for a national schools' award called Wipe Out Waste.  And trust me, this competition is so cool, Jools Holland has even produced the theme song.

The Wipe Out Waste programme is the brainchild of the fabulous Karen Ford, the founder of its platform organisation Footprint Friends, which was launched to raise awareness of environmental issues amongst 10-18 year olds.

Karen Ford, founder of Footprint Friends and Wipe Out Waste

Wipe Out Waste is about reaching out to these children, asking them for innovative ideas that could potentially be pitched to industry or rolled out to all schools to help eliminate waste.  And last year's winning entry is a great example of how the competition can really make a difference to participants and industries that are involved.

Ringwood School Hampshire were last year's winners.  The team is pictured above with Yeo Valley's Graham Keating and eco-mentor Giles Aspinall from The Magdalen Project.  It is thanks to their idea and their working relationship with Yeo Valley that the yoghurt manufacturer's HQ was the location for the boot camp.

I witnessed Ringwood School's pitch during last year's Wipe Out Waste finals, which was for yoghurt pots to be made from standardised plastics that would be easy to recycle across the UK.  They had already contacted yoghurt manufacturers as part of their research and Yeo Valley welcomed their questions and ideas with open arms.  The winning team has since visited Yeo Valley on a number of occasions and has become involved in discussions about improving the plastics used.  The team from Ringwood also came along to the Welly Boot Camp as mentors for this year's entrants and it was clear from conversations how both the school and Yeo Valley have benefited from the competition and the direct link-up.

Coming back to this year's shortlisted entrants (pictured below), the Welly Boot Camp was a fabulous opportunity for school teams from right across the country to meet a range of eco-mentors who coached them through confidence improvement tricks, presentation skills, media training as well as offering a chance to brainstorm their ideas with industry professionals.

Schools included: Abbots Hill School, Hertfordshire; Dixon City Academy, Bradford;  Hollyfield School Kingston; The Mountbatten School, Romsey; Sidcup School; St. Lukes, Exeter and 

St Timothy's, Glasgow.

After such an intensive programme, representatives from each team delivered a brief presentation to the rest of the audience about their experience and what they'd learned from the day.  I couldn't help but be struck by their confidence, enthusiasm and was quite overwhelmed by the realisation that standing in front of us were such an amazing range of leaders.  We often think that children are the leaders of the future, but actually it became pretty obvious that with their ambition and enthusiastic delivery these young people are actually leaders of today.

I'm now looking forward to the finals, where the shortlisted schools will each get an opportunity to use the skills they learned from this week's boot camp and pitch their ideas to a group of 'green dragons', some of whom were part of the eco-mentor team, including my lovely pal author and broadcaster (and WOW project manager) Tracey Smith, the Carbon Coach aka Dave Hampton and Good Energy's Joe Wadsworth, who are pictured below with the rest of the team.

Back row L-R, John (Professor Fiddlesticks), Giles (The Magdalen Project); Karen (Footprint Friends); Joe (Good Energy); Julian (The Environment Agency).  Front row L-R: Me; Ben (Footprint Friends); Dave (The Carbon Coach); Tracey; Robin (EatWeeds.co.uk); Martin (New Energy Thinking); Graham (Yeo Valley)

The only people missing were the guys from media company Nice and Serious, who were no doubt off filming somewhere.  So it's a good job I'd snapped Tom and Matt at work the night before:

The results of the competition will be announced in the Summer, when the schools get a chance to present their ideas in an environment that is very similar to Dragon's Den.  Having chatted to most of the shortlisted schools, I can already see it's going to be a tough decision for the judges.

So watch this space for a summer update and in the meantime why not get prepared to encourage your local school to enter next year...or at least for now join in the Wipe Out Waste sing-song, which you can hear in the video below:



The song is also available to download via  iTunes.

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Recipe: Fillet Steak, with Creamy pepper sauce and Rocket Salad

There are not many things in this culinary world that can beat a good steak. A good steak, to me, is very lean- almost no fat atall- and from the fillet. Not a fan of rump or t-bone. I was making this lovely meal for me and nick's 2 1/2 year anniversary. He kept pointing out that it isnt really an "anniversary" unless it is actually annual- but we basically did nothing for our second year anniversary so I thought i'd cook him a nice meal. I like my steak medium rare- although lately i've been liking my meat bloodier and bloodier, closer to rare nowadays. I get my fillet steaks from M & S, they are perfect, and not THAT expensive either. Although i HAD to take a picture of this, it was hilarious- you can't completely see the writing on the label- but it says "remove before microwaving".....who the hell is microwaving aged fillet steaks??? Lol!

I served this with my 'attempt' on baked oven chips. I didn't really cook them long enough, and they didn't go crispy, so they kinda ended up as rosemary baked potatoes really. Still, quite nice though. My recipe for perfect oven baked chips still definitely needs a lot of tweaking! Anyway, i certainly had to write down the rest of this recipe, the sauce is so simple but it is just TO DIE FOR. And the salad is basic, but delicious, and works well against the richness of the steak and creamy sauce.

Steak with creamy pepper sauce, rocket salad (serves 2)

Drizzle of oil
2 good quality thick fillet steaks
2 handfuls rocket and baby red chard salad mix
6 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp sugar
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
250ml beef stock
2 tbsp extra thick double cream
Lots of freshly ground black pepper
Salt, sugar and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. First, prepare your balsamic dressing. Whisk together the balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, and sugar, until the dressing has become thick and emulsified, and the sugar has dissolved. Set aside
2. Put a frying pan onto a high heat with a little oil. Cook the fillet steaks 2 minutes each side, and put into the oven, whilst you quickly make the sauce. Keep your eye on the steak- removing it when it is done to your preferred state- rare, medium rare, or well done.
3. Into the same saucepan, put in the red wine vinegar- because the pan is still hot most of this ends up evaporating. Add beef stock and bubble down for a couple of minutes. Add cream, and lots of black pepper, and thicken for a further two minutes. Season your sauce with salt, pepper, and sugar to taste.
4. Plate up! Put the handfuls of salad, cherry tomatoes, and drizzle over the reserved balsamic dressing onto two plates. Put the steaks onto these plates and pour over the sauce equally (or pour the sauce into a gravy boat if you prefer). Serve with whatever you fancy- oven baked chips or roast potatoes are my favourite things to serve with this dish.

Recipe: Dark Chocolate,Coffee and Walnut Cookies

This recipe is lurrrvely. Coffee and walnut are such a classic combo, and mixed with the flavour of good quality high % cocoa chocolate- such a dream! Also, the coffee flavour doesnt completely overpower, it just compliments the other flavours really- my boyfriend doesn't like coffee (or tea! I don't know how he stays standing to the end of day!) but he still really liked these cookies.

Dark Chocolate, Coffee and Walnut Cookies (makes about 10 cookies)

90g butter
1 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tsp instant coffee
100g golden caster sugar
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla extract
150g plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
60g good quality dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces
30g walnuts, chopped into small pieces

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Melt the butter and dissolve the cocoa, instant coffee and sugar in a saucepan, until all ingredients are smooth. Remove from the hob and leave for 5 minutes to cool a bit, Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until well combined.
2. Stir in the flour and baking powder until well combined. Stir in the chopped walnuts and chocolate. Put in the fridge for about 10 minutes (this makes the mixture easier to work with)
3. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper. Dollop on the mixture, about a tbsp for each one, spaced out so they don’t merge together. Put into the oven and bake for 10 minutes (you will most likely have to do this in batches).
4. Remove from the oven, leave to cool on a cooling rack for 5 minutes and serve.

Competition: Delia Online + New Zealand Lamb Competition

Hey y'all! So I entered a New Zealand Lamb and Delia Online recipe competition, and I was shortlisted! When I got shortlisted, I won a shiny new panasonic camera, and I had to video myself making my recipe. My recipe is the 'Spiced New Zealand Lamb and Fruity Wild Rice Salad'- a recipe I have on this site. Now, mine and two other peoples recipes, are vying to win a new Neff Oven- which, lets face it, as a poor poor student, I could really do with!

If you all could vote for my recipe, it could really help. I really really want to win this, especially since all of that "Linda Mccartney Bollocks"- which seriously, dont get me started on, my parents almost got into legal action with em.

Anyway, if you could go onto this link and vote for me, it would really help, thanks V V V much- Mel wants to win!!!!.......again.....

http://www.deliaonline.com/home/NZLamb.html

Recipe: Moussaka

I'm not one for blowing my own horn(....allright I am....just a bit!) but this is one of THE NICEST things I have EVER cooked. EVER. I mean, i'm not sure how traditional it is when compared to Greek or Cypriot recipes, but it's still lush. I believe roasting the aubergine off first, in nice thin slices, avoids the aubergine from becoming hard or slimy- a horrible texture you get sometimes in some other Moussakas. Try serving this with a delicious cucumber, tomato, kos lettuce, and mint salad.

Moussaka (serves 3)

1 aubergine, sliced into thin rings
2 tbsp olive oil (plus extra for drizzling)
1 small white onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
500g minced lamb
1 vegetable stock cube
1 tbsp concentrated tomato puree
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp dried mint
300g diced ripe tomatoes
30g butter
1 level tbsp plain flour
100ml skimmed milk
15g finely grated parmesan
30g crumbled feta
1 egg yolk
Small handful Fresh parsley, chopped

1. Heat the oven to 200C. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper, and lay the slices of aubergine on it. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and roast in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.
2. In a saucepan, fry the onions, garlic and olive oil on a medium heat, covered, for five minutes, stirring occasionally. Increase the heat, and add the minced lamb, stock cube, cinnamon and mint. Cook for ten minutes, or until browned.
3. Add tomato puree, and cook for a couple of minutes. If there is a lot of fat, drain some of it away from the pan. Add chopped tomatoes, and cook covered, on a low/medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Whilst the lamb/tomato is slowly simmering, make the cheese sauce. Melt the butter, stir in the flour, add milk, and once thickened, add the parmesan and feta and stir in. Remove from the heat and quickly stir in the egg yolk. Don’t worry if the sauce is ‘lumpy’, once the dish has cooked in the oven it will even out.
5. Preheat the oven dish to 180C. Pour the lamb mixture into an oven proof dish. Evenly layer the aubergine slices on top of the lamb. Pour the white sauce over the aubergine, and smooth over with a spoon. Put in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, garnish with some freshly chopped parsley, and serve!

Wakey wakey, it's UKAware.

(photo taken during UKAware 2009)

If you've got any free time on Friday of Saturday and can get into London, I've got a real treat for your diary, as the end of this week sees the launch of the 4th year of  UKAware, the UK's leading sustainable living show.  

Running from Friday 25th to Saturday 26th March, at London Olympia, it promises a fun packed programme of activities, seminars and workshops as well as aisles full of eco and ethical companies highlighting their products and services.

This will be the third year that I have trekked down to London to visit the show and I love it!  Not only does it give you a chance to keep up with the latest news and solutions in sustainability but it is also a brilliant opportunity to catch up with old friends and meet new people too.

If you want to find out more about what's going on at UKAware this year, then your first port of call is their website, where there's a fantastic blog showing what's coming up.  Also, check out Lucy Siegle's Guardian article on Danny Carnegie, the founder of UKAware, who reveals a few unexpected things about his background.  I suppose you could say he's not your average event organiser by any means.

So what am I looking forward to the most this year?  Bearing in mind I'll have one of my kiddiwinks with me for the first time ever, I think it might be the children's activities are most likely to be the highlight this year.  However I'm also looking forward to catching up with my favourite stallholders, some lovely pals whom I've met through this blog and a few of my literary friends too, including author of The Frugal Life, Piper Terrett, Book of Rubbish Ideas author, Tracey Smith, and sustainability writer Brigit Strawbridge, who will all be busy leading inspirational workshops and panels.

Whether you're coming from a serious angle, or just want to have some fun, UKAware is definitelly one of the unmissable events of the year. 

So if you fancy coming along and want to meet up on the Saturday, then do let me know.  I've also got TEN FREE TICKETS to give away to followers of this blog, which are valid for either date. These will go to the first ten people to email me at karen@therubbishdiet.co.uk.

So go on...I know you're tempted, even if it's just a little bit........ and it really really really would be lovely to see you.

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Recipe: Vegetable and Chickpea Cous Cous

What a feast! This is a perfect side/ salad dish to make for a big gathering, like a barbeque or coctail party- because it is delicious, filling, and suitable for the vegetarians as well! It's absolutely scrumptious, and freezes very well too. I've used a red pepper here instead of the yellow pepper. Any colour will do, no worries!

Vegetable and Chickpea Couscous (serves 6 as a main, or 10 as a side dish)

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, diced
1 courgette, diced
1 yellow pepper, diced
3 chestnut mushrooms, diced
700ml (using 3 vegetable oxo cubes) vegetable stock
300g couscous
1 tsp paprika (plus extra for sprinkling)
2 cardamom pods, crushed in a mortar and pestle
Small handful fresh coriander chopped
1 tin chickpeas, drained
1 large tomato, seeded and diced
½ tsp salt

*for garnish*
15g finely grated Parmesan cheese
Paprika
30g Toasted almond flakes

1. Cook onion and courgette, covered, on a medium heat, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add pepper and mushrooms and cook for a further 10 minutes, covered.
2. Add paprika, cardamom, salt, and coriander, chickpeas and tomato, and cook it for a couple of minutes. Add vegetable stock and bring to the boil.
3. Once brought up to the boil add couscous. Cover immediately and take off the heat. Leave for six minutes then fluff up with a fork. Place into a serving dish, sprinkle over the parmesan, almonds and paprika, and serve!

From St Edmundsbury's Zero Waste Week to Zero Waste Europe

Zero Waste Europe - representatives from 13 European countries

I hope you're prepared for another one of those moments where I proclaim, "I would never have guessed that when I signed up to St Edmundsbury's Zero Waste Week challenge, that I'd end up throwing out just a plaster or visiting landfill or going on the BBC............... or even still blogging about it three years later.

Well, I trust that you're sitting down, because I most definitely could not have guessed that three years to the exact week that I took the Zero Waste Week challenge I would end up at an international strategy meeting in Brussels.

Trangressing away from the question of "how the blimmin' 'eck did a housewife from Suffolk end up in an international forum on the continent,  and more importantly ...who was left sorting out the recycling back at home",  I really want to emphasise what an important step, the creation of a Zero Waste Europe alliance actually is to the future of sustainable waste practices on the global platform and at local level.  Anyone who is at all interested in the subject of reducing waste should certainly keep the development of this alliance at the forefront of their awareness, and if appropriate tap into the emerging network of Zero Waste expertise that is developing across Europe.

So what is it?  At its most simple definition Zero Waste Europe (ZWE) is an alliance that brings together municipalities, companies, universities and organisations committed to work to eliminate waste in Europe.
It's about raising awareness of the philosophy, the strategies, and defining practical tools that seek to eliminate waste, not just manage it and the alliance coordinates the development of these concepts throughout Europe and organises activities to promote it.

With links to the Zero Waste International Alliance (ZWIA), which itself was created in 2003, ZWE works at a more local level, acting as an umbrella group for the Zero Waste interest groups that are starting to emerge throughout Europe.  Some of these groups were represented at Monday's strategy meeting, including the ZWUK, Zero Waste Italy, Zero Waste Catalonia, and  Zero Waste Hungary, along with waste reduction campaigners and strategists from organisations such as Friends of the Earth, WasteWatch, the European Environmental Bureau and Centre national d'information indépendante sur les déchets (CNIID). 

I could go on, but I think it's enough to say that with representation from countries that included France, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Croatia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Romania and the UK, we are looking at great potential for change and sharing of best practice.

As well as coming together to define the strategic direction of the alliance, the group was also able to hear first hand about the successful experiences in developing local Zero Waste vision and practical examples within communities, ranging from villages to municipalities. 

Rossano Ercolini, founder of Rifiuti Zero Italia shared the latest update from Italy, where over 35 municipalities have now formally adopted the Zero Waste goal in a move that improves waste reduction processes for a combined population of over 12 million people. They have also developed an official Zero Waste Research Centre, an idea that demonstrates the necessity of knowledge management and research in the move towards Zero Waste economies.

The UK's Mal Williams, founder of ZWIA, ZWUK and trustee of CLYCH, Wales Community Recycling Network, outlined the success stories of Zero Waste areas in Wales, including St Arvans and more recently Presteigne,  With news that the community should achieve an 89% recycling and waste reduction goal by the end of the year.

One thing that struck me about Mal's presentation, was that aside from the practical processes and economic or sustainable benefits of Zero Waste, his vision is to implement the philosopy as a productive instrument for social change.  By rethinking the whole idea of waste management,  there are opportunities to empower ownership within communities and to redistribute wealth drawn from recyclates back into the community, supporting a movement towards renewed self-reliance and self-sufficiency.

With so much information that was shared at the ZWE and strength of collaboration that exists, I have to concede that this blogpost could not even stretch to covering it all.  Just this minor snapshot cannot do it proper justice.

However, the message that I really want to convey is that the goal of Zero Waste is certainly here to stay, as is the visionary journey towards it.  And it is thanks to the commitment, knowledge and skills of professionals and practitioners who are developing a world where the idea of waste will eventually be regarded as historic as a world without wheels.

So, if this is something that you or your oganisation supports and would like to find out more information, then I'd encourage you to make contact with your local representative body.

In the UK, your first line of contact should be the Zero Waste Alliance UK, which also happens to have its AGM taking place in April.  Of course, if you're elsewhere in Europe, Zero Waste Europe will be able to direct you to your local alliance.

Finally, would I ever dream of coming back without a souvenir of my recycling memoires?  Of course not.  So, courtesy of Eurostar and Brussels-Midi train station I'll leave you with a photo of the most colourful and fabulously designed set of recycling bins I've ever had the fortune to experience.  And look at those holes, so reminiscent of a toddlers' shape-sorting toy, I bet I could have kept my kids entertained for days!

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Recipe: Chicken and Mushroom Hotpot

This a delicious, warming, and moreish chicken hotpot. A perfect dinner for two, served with some steamed broccoli. Using the slicer attachment on the food processor makes the prep for this recipe so quick as well- such a handy peice of kitchen equipment! If you dont have a food processor, just slice the potatoes as thinly as possible, and add an extra 5 minutes to the cooking time at stage 4.

Chicken and Mushroom Hotpot (serves 2)

3 tbsp olive oil
1 small white onion, diced
100g chestnut mushrooms, roughly chopped
200g diced chicken breast
1 tbsp plain flour
100ml chicken stock
100ml white wine
100ml skimmed milk
½ tsp dried thyme
450g red rooster potatoes, peeled
40g butter
Salt and pepper

1. Fry the white onion in 2 tbsp of the olive oil, on a medium heat, in a casserole dish. Add the mushrooms, chicken, the other tbsp of olive oil, and fry for a further 5 minutes.
2. Stir in the flour until the ingredients are well coated. Add stock, wine, milk and thyme, and bubble down for a further 5 minutes. Season to taste.
3. Heat the oven to 180C. Put the peeled potatoes through a food processor with the slicer attachment on. Layer the thin slices of potato on top of the creamy chicken mixture, and dot pieces of the butter all over the top.
4. Sprinkle over a little salt and pepper, cover, and place in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove the lid, and put under a hot grill for about 5 minutes, or until the potato slices have become golden. Serve!

Guest post:: Mrs B gives up rubbish for Lent

 Melanie Bennett blogs about living, riding and eating in Yorkshire over at

www.mrsbsstuffandnonsense.blogspot.com

Today's post comes courtesy of regular Tweeter and blogger, MrsBYork, aka Melanie Bennett, whom I first 'met' when she left a comment on The Rubbish Diet several years ago and have since met properly during a visit to the city of York. When Mel told me last week that she was giving up rubbish for Lent, I was naturally intrigued to pick up on her story and asked if she'd mind writing a guest post.  I'll now leave you in Mel's company where she kindly shares news of her fantastic challenge.

Over to you Mrs B.....

I've never claimed to be hugely religious - I'm nominally Christian, was baptised into the Church of England as a baby, attend Quaker Meeting for Worship when I can (I wish I could make it more often, that life didn't get in the way so much) but in recent years I have got into the habit of observing Lent.  It's as much about challenging myself and developing better habits as it is about making religious sacrifices.  In previous years I've given up alcohol, meat, junk food - and always felt better, in body and mind, by Easter Sunday.

This year I've decided to give up rubbish - both in terms of what I eat and what I put in the bin.  There shall be no takeaway food, and no ready-meals, between now and Easter (technically, Sundays are not included in Lent, but as I'm committed to my proper Sunday dinners we don't tend to eat such things on Sundays anyway.)  And there shall be no rubbish going into my landfill bin, or at least as little as possible.  As a long-term follower of The Rubbish Diet I like to think I'm already doing pretty well - but I do get lazy at times, and I don't always make the effort to choose well when I'm shopping, so by making a concerted effort for 40 days I'm hoping to get back on track.

So, where am I starting from?  Well, I already have:

• A tiny bin.  When we moved to this house a couple of years ago I decided that I didn't want to give house-room to rubbish, so I bought the smallest bin I realistically could - this little guy from IKEA tucks into the cupboard under the kitchen sink and holds 14 litres of waste.  He gets emptied, currently, about once a week.  My aim is to not empty him again until Easter weekend.

My kitchen bin, spray bottle shown for scale

• A good kerbside recycling program.  City of York council collects waste and recyclables on alternate weeks.  They take paper, card, glass, plastic bottles (though, as many other councils, not any other plastics), metal cans and foil.
• A Household Waste Recycling Centre within walking/ cycling distance, for those things the kerbside collection doesn't deal with. It would make my life easier if the full range of facilities were available to pedestrians & cyclists though - at the moment we have to drive there if we want to recycle our tetrapak cartons!  Local shops also have collecting points for things like batteries, water filter cartridges and plastic bags.
  
• Composters!  I volunteer for York Rotters, a local  composting advice service, my back yard is my trialling-ground and I've just taken delivery of my latest toy - a Green Johanna hot composter, which is suitable for all types of food waste.  I also have a standard "dalek" type compost bin, a wormery and a (rather unsuccessful, I'm afraid, & thus neglected) bokashi set.
• Bags.  I hate carrier bags with a passion, and keep a collection of Onya bags in my handbag.  I have a couple of sets of Onya Weighs too, & need to get back in the habit of using them.

At the time of writing we're currently on the second day of Lent, the bin is empty - long may it remain so!

So you see there's always an opportunity to give yourself a rubbish challenge, not just when it's New Year or when the kids go back to school, and this is truly an inspirational idea for anyone who follows Lent.  Mel has promised to update us on the progress of her challenge and I'm looking forward to hearing her news.  In the meantime, if you want to find out how she's getting on, you can follow her on Twitter at @MrsBYork, or visit her blog Stuff and Nonsense, where she's got a great blogpost about the Green Johanna. Thanks for sharing such a great idea Mrs B. I hope it's a real success.

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Recipe: Quick Cajun Chicken

This is very good for those occasions when you come home late and you just can'y be bothered to cook. It's basically just chucking some chicken and red onion in a dish with some spices, chucking in the oven, and 35 minutes later it's all done! I've been a bit poorly over the last couple of days so have not really been bothered to cook, and have mostly been surviving on chicken noodle soup (or get-better-in-a-bowl as I call it!), but this was nice to have for dinner. The green things I have on the side of this dish are spinach pancakes (in honour of shrove tuesday this week!). They were quite nice, but theres still a few tweaks I need to make here and there, before they're ready to write up on here!

Quick Cajun Chicken (serves 1)

250g diced chicken breast
1 red onion, diced roughly
1 tbsp Schwartz Cajun Seasoning
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper
Fresh coriander to garnish (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Put all ingredients into an ovenproof dish, mix up until everything is coated equally with the spices and seasoning. Place in the oven for 20 minutes.
2. Remove from the oven and stir up. Put back into the oven for 15 minutes, and serve, garnished with coriander.

Ideal Home Show engages bloggers in its 103rd year

It's been at least a whole decade since I visited the Ideal Home Show.  The last and only time I came was when I was working in London in the 1990s.  Gosh that actually makes it seem much longer...especially as I now realise that it was in fact some time last century.

But there's nothing quite like being offered a press pass to get me racing to a top London lifestyle show that itself is now over a century old, and all because I wanted to have a proper nosey around the eco refit of a replica of No.1 Coronation Street.

Yes, I admit to being a Corrie fan even from the olden days of Albert Tatlock and it was very interesting being behind the scenes while William Roache, aka Ken Barlow, was being interviewed for Daybreak.  However it was the comparison between the old and the new that really grabbed me, focusing on products and solutions that are available to householders who are considering making their homes more energy efficient and eco-friendly.  And of course, it was a real bonus being able to take snaps before the busy crowds appeared....and trust me, this is the Ideal Home Show so it IS very busy!

(William Roache meeting designer George Clarke, just after the Daybreak broadcast)

The celebrity architect George Clarke, aka Restoration Man, responsible for the eco refit of the fictional terraced home took us on a preview tour of the Coronation Street house, highlighting that the challenge for the UK is that there are around 25 million older homes which are far from energy efficient, whether through lack of insulation, sub-standard boilers and heating systems or choice of appliances. Naturally that represents not just an issue with rising fuel prices, but also a major market opportunity for suppliers targeting the eco market.

(Restoration Man, George Clarke highlighting the inadequacies of Ken Barlow's heating system)

As we walked through the replica terrace, it did feel like nothing much had changed from the days when such a house would have been built, except for the odd pieces of retro technology such as the ancient old boiler (and I don't mean Deirdre Barlow) and the infamous set of flying ducks.

But moving into the refit next-door, you could see what opportunities are available, with a bit of imaginative wall-removing and addition of clever eco-features.

Out go the cramped rooms and in come the open plan designs that offer a more spacious feel for modern living.  Not only did it feel more roomy, but it was more heat efficient too with home insulation, double-glazing and under-floor heating.  George highlighted that it is what you can't see that really makes the difference and could not emphasise the importance of insulation enough.  His top tip before you do anything else, was that great insulation should be the priority.

Of course my interests as ever are in the recycling elements of modern design, and as the group of journalists and bloggers continued upstairs, I couldn't help get just a tad distracted by the kitchen worktop, which was made out of recycled glass bottles from London bars and restaurants as well as old underground Tube train windows.

(Recycled glass worktops from http://www.glasseco.co.uk/)

I also noted that just because it's a modest sized house, plenty of room can still be made available for simple clutter-free storage (now wouldn't that sort out a space for your recycling).

By the time I reached the first floor, the eco architect was extolling the virtues of the tiles in the ensuite bathroom, enthusiastically describing how they "magically" convert Carbon Dioxide into Oxygen.  I know, I had to read that twice too.  Although I can't quite get my head around the technology I can confirm they are made from 95% recycled materials.

 (Floor and wall tiles, available from www.ecofriendlytiles.co.uk )

Now that the preview tour is over and I'm sat in the specially equpped Bloggers' lounge, perched on a stool just behind the the Corrie replica house, I can see the queues of visitors waitng patiently to take a peek at the houses for themselves.  All I can say is that if you're visiting the show and are considering an eco refit of your own - or are indeed a fan of the long-running soap - it is worth having a look around.  The tour of the house offers a great opportunity for reminiscing AND forward thinking...and if you are a Corrie fan, you may even get to hang out in "Ken & Deirdre's bedroom" and admire the creases in Ken Barlow's trousers.

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Scrapping your car? Ever thought about doing it for charity?

 Tom Chance, founder of fundraising organisation Give A Car

Now don't fall off your chairs at hearing from me twice in one month will you!  Well it is March you know, almost springtime, which means I'm coming out of my winter hibernation and getting out more.  I even ventured down to London AGAIN last week, to celebrate MyZeroWaste's shortlisting in the PEA Awards, where they were just pipped to the post by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Landshare campaign.  Great news and well-deserved for the Landshare team but MyZeroWaste was also a real winner in my eyes.


The following day, while I was still in the big smoke,  I also took the opportunity to find out more about an amazing but relatively new social enterprise that I'd discovered only hours before I'd left Suffolk.  Called Give A Car, it won't surprise me if they too make it on to the green carpet of some prestigious awards during the next twelve months.  Their concept is none other than genius!

Based in Putney, Give A Car was founded in January last year by graduate Tom Chance, with the aim of raising money for charity.  Since its inception, the fundraising organisation has processed approximately 3,000 cars nationwide, distributing a whopping £250,000 amongst 250 registered charities.

And the idea is simple.  When a driver needs to scrap their car, they simply contact Give A Car, who will arrange its collection at no cost to the owner.  The vehicle is assessed and is either resold at auction or sold for salvage.  Either way, 75% of the return to Give A Car is given to the charity of the donor's choice . The remaining 25% is retained by the fundraising company to cover administration overheads.

And everyone benefits, especially charities who are always on the look out for new and inventive ways of raising much-needed funds.

So if you know a friend or relative who's about to send their old banger to a scrapyard, do tell them about Give A Car won't you.  You can find out more about how the organisation works at its website www.giveacar.co.uk or call them on 020 0011 1664 for more details.

I'm rather getting used to my trips to London and tomorrow it's the turn of the Ideal Home Show, where I guess I'll be one of the rare breeds of bloggers specifically going along to hunt out recycling bins.  If there's anything novel that jumps out at me, I'll be sure to report back.  Yes, I know, that'll be three posts in a month, so you'd better watch out and I'd better be careful or my laundry will soon be piling up!
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Recipe: Briam

"Briam" (Bree-Am) is a delicious traditional Greek potato and vegetable bake. I had this dish loads of times when i went to Crete a few years ago, and completely fell in love with it. It's the simplicity of Greek food that i adore so much. I got a traditional Cretan cookery book, and most of the recipes have a few ingredients, cooked simply, and all of which usually(even the desserts) contain lashing of good olive oil! Traditionally you would crumble a type of mild goat's cheese called "Mizithra" over the top once it's come out of the oven, but I can't find it anywhere in England, so I use Feta, which seems to me to be the closest alternative to it.

Briam (serves 4)

550g courgettes, halved and sliced
550g potatoes, peeled and sliced fairly thinly
4 large ripe tomatoes, 2 squished up, 2 sliced into wedges
1 red onion, sliced thinly
3 garlic cloves, crushed
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, plus extra for garnish
1 tbsp cumin
2 tbsp dried oregano
200ml vegetable stock
60ml extra virgin olive oil
Salt and black pepper
50g feta cheese, crumbled

1. Heat to 180C. Mix all the ingredients together well in a large bowl. Pour the mixture into a large baking/roasting dish, and smooth over as much as possible.
2. Put into the oven for 55 minutes. Every 15 minutes with a spoon, “pat down” the vegetables as much as possible. This is to make sure the potato cooks. You should not stir the mixture; otherwise it will break down too much.
3. Once the potato is cooked, and the dish looks well roasted, take out of the oven and crumble over the feta cheese and some extra chopped fresh parsley. Serve!

Saving energy on a supermarket sweep

A couple of weeks ago I attended a sponsored bloggers lunch at a sustainable restaurant in West Hampstead to mark the launch of Sainsbury's consumer energy-saving initiative, in conjunction with British Gas.

British Gas and Sainsbury's had already partnered to offer customers gas and electricity services through Sainsbury's Energy but the buzz of the day or indeed that week was the launch of a new range of products and services that can actually save their customers energy while they shop!

Yes I know, I too have got that same image of busy customers flocking to Sainsbury's and being wafted with natural fans and fruity cocktails, while the fresh young interns do the supermarket dash to fullfil that part of their training programme, leaving them suitably recharged to go about the rest of their business.  Ok, only in my own dreams then!

Cutting back to the real world, what we are really talking about here is a prime opportunity to help shoppers become more sustainable in their energy usage, through new services such as home insulation, solar panels and energy monitors.  This stuff that is normally reserved for the mysterious world of eco or sensible- living enthusiasts has finally made it onto a mainstream supermarket floor.

With six permanent energy centres and one mobile unit, Sainsbury's customers will be able to get advice instore whilst picking up their weekly shopping, and for many, their starting point will be to book a home-assessment to calculate their current energy rating.  Of course, customers are rewarded with a range of Nectar points for any of the services and products they choose.

Now what I find quite interesting about all this, is not the service offering itself...  (despite the urgency for us all to save energy due to issues of peak oil and climate change, I'm afraid that the subject doesn't quite float my daily boat)...but more so the increased opportunities that supermarkets have in influencing consumer behaviour.

With so many shoppers dependent on their local supermarkets for the bulk of their shopping, it makes sense that such major retailers can offer a range of services to help consumers become greener.  The more profitable the service is to a retailer, the more it can expand and deliver the message, and the more customers there will be sat at home saving energy and benefiting from reduced fuel bills. 

Now being one of life's dreamers, during the last couple of weeks, I've let my thoughts wander in a rather frivulous direction about the power that supermarkets have to influence consumer action and how they can actively raise awareness to help customers keep their green halos polished to a sparkle.  And I have to admit, I've seen some great examples on the Sainsbury's website about what they're doing in the particular area that does get me very excited... i.e..reducing waste.

And in this sector (with the exception of some understandable localised disappointment) Sainsbury's generally seems to be stepping up to the mark on strategic waste reduction initiatives, including reducing product packaging, leading a UK based  mixed plastics recycling trial and diverting food waste from landfill through donating surplus food to Fareshare, before even considering solutions such as anaerobic digestion.  The company is also working hard on its stock control and forecasting to reduce surplus food in the first place.

I suppose the only key things on my wish list that aren't yet fulfilled are comprehensive onsite Tetra Pak recycling banks for customers to return the ubiquitous carton in areas where kerbside collection isn't available.  And I also think that supermarkets should give their support to washable nappies and sanitary products too, to help raise wider awareness that convenient products are available in our disposable oriented culture.

But coming back to the subject of energy you don't need to be a Sainsbury's Energy customer to add loft insulation to your basket of energy-saving solution or any of their other products for that matter, but if you want to convert, bear in mind that their Green Energy solution is not available yet.  Apparently it's in the pipeline (what a relevant turn of phrase) and won't be long.  For the moment the energy-saving products are the priority.

And finally, if you're a Sainsbury's customer and you haven't done so already, you might find it useful to hunt down the low energy lightbulb recycling bank. Apparently, news on the street is that there's now a bank in every store, making it a convenient solution to recycling your energy-saving bulbs.  And you can tell how long it's been since I've popped down to our local supermarket.  I took a tourist snap for my memoirs and made a mental note that it's another service that's closer to home than my household waste recycling centre..it's just a shame I forgot to take my bulbs while I was passing.  Oh well, no-one's perfect!  Maybe next time eh!

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Blogger disclosure: the blogger lunch was arranged by PR company TVC, who also covered travel expenses to the event and provided attendees with a range of Sainsbury's products as a thank you for attendance.   This has not influenced the nature of this post or indeed my opinion, as I would have attended anyway and reported back in the same way.  It just means it cost a lot less to get there, I had some food I could cook when I got back and if my hob was electric I could have monitored how much energy I used to cook it!

Recipe: Chargrilled Pork Loin with Mustardy Mash

When I served this to my brother, he took one bite and said "you better have three more of these coming after this one- these are soooo good". O.k so it doesnt take much to impress my brother- as long as it involves a large slab of meat he's a happy boy, but i've gotta agree with him here- this is certainly the nicest pork dish i've made. Pricking the meat with a knife or fork, helps the marinade to permeate the pork. Marinating in the lemon juice also helps to tenderise the steaks before griddling.

Chargrilled Pork Loin Steaks with Mustardy Mash (serves 2)

For the pork:

2 nice plump pork loin steaks
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp lemon juice
10g chives, chopped finely
Salt and pepper

For The Mash:

700g red rooster potatoes, peeled and chopped into large chunks
2 tsp English mustard
2 tbsp of double cream
30g finely grated cheddar
Knob of butter
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Put the steaks into a bowl, and prick them all over with a fork or knife on both sides. Put all the other ingredients over the pork, cover, and leave to marinade for at least 2 hours.
2. Start boiling the potatoes (they should take about 15 minutes to be soft enough).
3. Meanwhile heat a griddle pan onto high heat. Remove the steaks from the marinade (reserving the marinade) and place onto the hot griddle pan, and cook for 4 minutes. Turn over to the other side, spoon a couple of tablespoons of marinade over the top, and cook for a further 3 minutes.
4. Drain the potatoes and mash. Stir in the English mustard, double cream, cheddar and butter. Season to taste, and serve with the pork.

Recipe: Apple and Mint Jelly

This jelly is really lush. Since I made all those different flavours of crabapple jellies last autumn i've really got into the nack of making them! They aren't much harder to make than jams really, it just involves two more stages, the boiling of the fruit and then the straining. Then you just chuck the liquid in a pan with all the sugar and neccessary flavourings, and heat up until it gets to a setting point, like you do with jam. This jelly goes fantastically with roast lamb- a big chunk of melt-in-the-mouth roast shoulder of lamb, with a generous spoonfull of mint jelly- what more do you want!?!?

Apple and Mint Jelly (makes about 600g)

800g diced cooking apples (cores and all!)
1300ml water
15g fresh mint leaves, torn roughly
350g sugar to 500ml of drained apple liquid (70%)
50ml of white wine vinegar, to 500ml of drained apple liquid (10%)
1 tbsp dried mint

1. In a large saucepan add the diced apples, water and fresh mint. Bring to the boil and then simmer, lid on, for 35 minutes.
2. Strain through a jelly bag/muslin for 3 hours.
3. Put the apple liquid with the appropriate measures of sugar and vinegar into a saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil, skimming any scum that forms at the surface. Stir constantly for about 15 minutes.
4. Pour into jars and wait to cool and set. Seal with a lid.

Recipe: Garlicky Roasted Butternut Squash

This is such a scrumptious side dish, so nice to be honest I could eat a whole bowl of it on it's own! I love butternut squash, and coating it in this delicious herby garlicky oil really helps it to get a beautiful texture whilst it roasts away in the oven. This would be a lovely accompanient to any cut of meat, or it is VERY nice (this is how i had it last night) on the side of a feta and spinach pie, with some salad.

Garlicky Roast Butternut Squash (serves 3 as a side dish)

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp olive oil
10g fresh parsley leaves (plus a little extra for garnish)
½ tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp paprika
1.5 tsp sugar
4 cloves garlic
800g (about 1 medium) peeled and diced butternut squash
½ large white onion, diced roughly
Salt and pepper

1. Heat the oven to 200C. In a food processor, blend together the extra virgin olive oil, normal olive oil, parsley, rosemary, paprika, garlic and sugar.
2. Put the diced butternut squash and white onion in a bowl with the garlicky herb mixture and mix it all together with your hands until the vegetables are well coated.
3. Put the squash into a roasting dish, season with salt and pepper and put into the oven for 20 minutes. Take out of the oven, stir the mixture in the roasting dish, and put back in the oven for a final 15 minutes.
4. Garnish with a little extra freshly chopped parsley, and serve!

Recipe: Smoked Paprika Chicken and Bean Stew

This chicken dish is absolutely beautiful- the combination of the hot smoked paprika with the sweet sherry and the earthy beans and kale is PERFECT. A sort of spanish-inspired dish really. One of the last wintery recipes i'll have until i start getting onto the seasonal spring ingredients, like young greens, asparagus and broad beans. If you can't get borlotti beans, kidney beans are a good substitute.

Smoked paprika chicken, kale and bean stew (serves 2)

1 tbsp olive oil
2 chicken breasts, diced
1 red onion sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp smoked paprika
100ml sherry
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin borlotti beans, drained
½ tsp sugar
100ml chicken stock
100g kale
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional garnish: natural yoghurt

1. Cook onions, garlic and chicken for 10 minutes, or until starting to brown.
2. Add sherry and smoked paprika, and cook for 4 minutes.
3. Add all other ingredients except kale, and cook for 5 minutes. Add kale and cook, covered, for 15 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Season to taste and serve, maybe with a few dollops of natural yoghurt.

Travel: New York Day Five

Guilt-trip all over from last night, this morning we got all packed up and put our cases behind the reception. We were still leaving today, but at 11:50pm, so we didn't exactly wan't to be hauling around all our heavy luggage through Manhattan all day! We had some breakfast, i had some sausages with fried potatoes which was lovely, and LOADS of coffee this morning. I knew I would need that caffeine boost for later on in the airport.

We didn't have much planned for this day i guess, as part of the day involved leaving the hotel and all that airport malarky (which by the way, takes 10 times more if you are travelling to or from America, when compared to Europe. The Americans are SO careful about all the checks and everything. I suppose you can't blame them really...). However, today me and my friends went shopping in Soho, and had a meal in China Town. Bought a few lovely things in Soho- a nice bracelet, a cool neon orange croptop (to wear in Glastonbury Fest- not EVER anywhere else of course!!) and a nice cheap pair of skinny jeans. I'm not sure though that i was terribly impressed by Soho, or Chinatown infact. I thought Soho would have been a very posh area, but really it was just a bit of a slummy place with a few expensive shops really- thats all. And China Town- My God! How terribly underwhelming! I mean,I have been to the one in LA and it was much nicer, much more colourful exotic fruit + veg stalls and dragon-y things lying about. This place was just a dump really. Our tutor took us to a little restaurant called "Jaya". The food was allright but i wouldn't really reccomend it that much. Our group of 31 ate in a sort-of "banquet style"- they brought out several dishes and we all served ourselves from these big platters. That would have been a cool idea if the different dishes hadn't arrive at such radically different times like it did. It was like, yaay, a few spoonfuls of beef in black bean sauce........waiting.....waiting....oooh here comes another dish! Oh wait its just some plain rice, which we dont have any other dishes at this time to have it with. And the chinese female managaress, even though she had agreed previously with our tutor how much the group was going to pay, she tried making him pay more AND tip more at the end- which was so rude and ridiculous, they were like properly arguing and everything. Its like- we just brought 31 people to this dump that was completely empty, and now your making us pay more? Yeah- Basically, a little lame. Still, the group had fun, messing around with chopsticks though, haha.



After the meal it was kinda time to go back to the hotel, grab our bags, and start our long journey back to good ol' blighty!

So what did I think of The Big Apple? Well i had a wonderful time, and i found the trip really interesting- as usually all the people I hang around with/ my friends are all at least 30, so i suppose it was a bit of a change to suddenly be hanging round with two dozen 16 year olds, lol. It made me realise that in some ways, I am younger than i think, and that every so often i do miss having friends my own age to hang around/ go out for meals/ socialise with. The girls that I was staying with reminded me so much of my friends i had at school as well, so the whole experience was fairly nostalgic. But then again, i reckon there must be a reason why over the past few years i haven't made any friends my own age. Don't know what it is, but perhaps i act like i'm in my forties without even realising it. Also, my opinion about my own generation still remains the same- 90% of the people my age that I have ever met (and basically everyone on this trip except the girls I was hanging about with) are utter screaming morons. They are into crap music, they are repetitive, they talk about absolutely NOTHING, they have no class, and they are utterly obsessed with how themselves and others look. And they say the most stupid things as well, its just like, GOD shut up. They may be able to get better A levels than me perhaps, but could they cold a reasonable conversation in a group of people at least double age- No. Hell no.

Sorry, going on a bit of a rant there. I liked New York, but i'm not sure I liked most of the "New Yorkers". Here is a brilliant example of the New Yorker attitude:

I see them as more British in a way, than America. Remember- I am totally over-generalising here. But i have met Calafornians, Nevadans and Floridians, and overall they much more friendly and more what we would think of as stereotypically American (you know, the whole "have a nice day!" thang). New Yorkers (the middle aged/older ones at least- the true new yorkers) are much more sarcastic and ironic, like the english, and they don't suffer fools gladly. If you say anything stupid, or ask perhaps a bit of a touristy question, they are a bit aggressive about it, like "what? you mean The Chrysler building? whaddaya mean? huh!?". But i guess you tend to have more rude people in capital cities- a lot of people will say people in London or Paris are ruder than people in the rest of the country. I could certainly vouch for that.

I felt like i got so much done and saw so much. The only thing i didn't really bother with was going to see a Broadway show, but i feel like i hadn't missed out too much really. It was really expensive (about $130/£100 a ticket) and i'm not too big on the theatre anyway.

I didn't fall in love with the city, and i think the only reason i would come back would be to go with my boyfriend or friends again- and show them around the sites. I feel the most knowledgable about a city after leaving it than i ever had before- after five days i feel like i could bring back people and show them round- as if i had lived there!

Overall a fun, yet tiring trip. When i go for my next holiday, i wouldn't mind having a bit of a lazy beach holiday really. Just sleeping as much as I want, eating loads, drinking coctails, and getting a bit of a tan. I love all these holidays when you see all the sights, and walk around everywhere- but next time i go away, i just want to relax, let go a little- have a bit of a break.

I'm thinking somewhere in Italy next, so maybe my next foodie travel blog entries will be all about pizza, pasta and gelato! Until next time, Ciao Bella!