Author Archive | Rasa Pelham

Pinterest challenge: curry grilled vegetables with creamy polenta

By Rasa Pelham on February 13, 2015 in Lunch or Dinner, Pinterest challenge, Recipes

The main reason for trying out this recipe is because I have never cooked with the polenta. Ok I did bake or made porridge with it in the past but having polenta for dinner never crossed my mind (especially the creamy type). The outcome? Even though I forgot to add chickpeas, it turned out to be a nice meal (at least for me)! I added some tomatoes as well, which gave some freshness to the taste. Overall really recommended the recipe from Naturally Ella (feel sort of bad that my pics don’t look as good as theirs).

CURRY GRILED VEGETABLES WITH CREAMY POLENTA adopted from Naturally Ella

(for polenta)

900ml vegetable stock
200g coarse cornmeal
2 tbsp butter

(for vegetables)

1 medium courgette
1 red pepper
1 tomato (optional)
1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
2-3 tbsp curry powder
1/2 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed – forgot to add mine :-(
Feta cheese and coriander leaves to garnish

1. Bring the stock to a boil. Stir in the cornmeal and whisk (this is what I found best when I don’t want big lumps stuck together). Cook until polenta begins to thicken. Cover and reduce heat to lowest setting. Simmer polenta for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring and scraping the pan bottom and sides every 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter.

2. Preheat grill. Slice the courgette and pepper into strips; toss with oil and curry powder. Grill until zucchini and peppers are slightly charred.3. Roughly chop the vegetables and toss them with the chickpeas. (I forgot to do this step, therefore my veg is left with no chickpeas!)

4. Divide polenta among individual serving bowls. Top with grilled vegetables, coriander leaves and feta.Enjoy!

Rasa xoxo

Knitting basic socks (part 2)

By Rasa Pelham on February 12, 2015 in Knitting

Knitting socks is super fun. At least this is my favourite thing to knit! And yes it can involve many knitting needles, but this is nothing that you should be scared of! Although I get lots of people terrified when they see me knitting socks, knitting with 5 double ended needles is easer than you think! Last year we talked about sock knitting and we learned (hopefully) to knit socks for adults (with pretty patterns!). This year I am making this learning process even simpler! No colour motive patterns, just pure sock knitting for kids. Yes, knitting socks in kids sizes is fast and easy way to learn. And if you have no kids than you can always donate or give it as a gift! But at least you will be doing same things over and over again (such a good way to learn!) instead of being stuck with one big sock. Click here for a full project. Once you have learned knitting basic socks, you can move on to knitting socks with pretty colourful patterns. Like these here! Although they all been added on Photoshop… I hope you are feeling inspired and ready to knit some socks ;-)

Rasa

Valentine’s day strawberry tart

By Rasa Pelham on February 10, 2015 in Recipes, Sweet Treats

As Valentine’s day is soon approaching I thought I will make a tart full of hearts. Strawberries and cream popped into my mind first (I know I know, that’s not very imaginative of me!). But then I thought how can I twist this classic dessert into something more creative and thats when I thought to add basil to it. Basil? Oh, it totally works! Remember how I made marmalade tart with rosemary crust? Well this one has a very similar concept except more hearts!Care to try?BAKED STRAWBERRY TART WITH BASIL CRUST

200g unsalted butter
6-8 tbsp sugar
2 egg yolks
15-20 tbsp plain flour
1 tsp dried basil
at least 200g strawberries, sliced (+ 2 tbsp sugar if you like them sweet)
icing for dusting
300ml whipping cream
2 tbsp sugar

1. Make the pastry dough by creaming butter with sugar. Gradually add egg yolks, flour and basil. Wrap the dough into cling film and let it rest in the fridge for 15 min or so (it will be easer to handle it later).

2. Roll out the dough and line prepared baking tin with it (lined with baking paper prior that).

3. Fill the tart with sliced strawberries as evenly as you can. Sprinkle some sugar on top if using. I did not use any sugar and I wish I did! However Joni said that he liked the tart’s sweetness as it is. So your choice ;-).4. I tried decorating the top of the tart with the heart shapes, although I was suspecting that it won’t survive the baking. There is always a risk if you bake sweet butter pastry on uneven surface such as sliced strawberries!Therefore I baked some hearts using the same dough separately on baking sheet.5. I baked the tart in preheated 170C oven for 40min (other ovens varies so don’t wait if you see the crust is already golden after 30 min). You see! The hearts came out all wobbly! Exactly what I predicted :-S.So after some dusting……and whipped cream with baked dough heart biscuits. Voila! I think it turned out quite alright :-). 6. To whip the cream all you need to do is mix some sugar with cream and whip away!(be careful and don’t over-beat it though) And have fun celebrating Valentines day ;-)

Rasa xoxo

A year with books: “Flora and Grace” Review

By Rasa Pelham on February 9, 2015 in Book worm

Last month I mentioned that I will read at least 6 books this year as my new year’s goal. I set myself to read these books and so far I read my first one: “Flora and Grace” by Maureen Lee (I am so way ahead with my plan right now!). I decided to review it here, although I would not call myself a book critique considering I don’t read many books in general. And I am not revealing the whole plot, because I really don’t want to spoil all the surprises for you in case you are reading this book at this moment. All I can say it is set in the mid of wars and after wars mostly in England (love when they mention places I have lived!) and I still don’t get what the pic in the cover is representing! Maybe you could figure that out?

What I like about it? I loved the twist in the story, one of main reasons why I kept reading it! Even after loosing the book at the GPs (oops!) I was determined to finish it and therefore got iBooks version just for few last chapters. The other thing I liked about this book is how much I learned about that period of time (1944-1956) such as fashion, inventions and culture!

What I did not like about it? I was not a big fan of the writing style. But maybe it is just me! I tend to like lough out load sort of novels, so this book wasn’t it. It was also very easy read (no wonder my mum liked it with her basic knowledge of english). I was not led emotionally even during dramatic scenes! Instead it always made me feel positive about everything in the story (so I guess this is a good thing). I think what I disliked most however that the writer was constantly informing that something bad may happen soon (literally!). Maybe the author thought this will bring the tenseness while guessing what is it that going to actually happen in the next chapter? Well, this certainly did not work on me especially when that unfortunate event did not make me feel particularly upset. Because everything in the story works out for best! Again, I like the positivity here, but not so much the writing style.

Is it worth buying it? I think yes if you want an easy calming read to go with your cup of tea. I found reading it in the evening helped me to fall asleep!I hope you found this review helpful!

Rasa xoxo

Anatomy of pesto

By Rasa Pelham on February 7, 2015 in Preserves

Pesto is a great addition to many meals, not only pasta. You could use it to spread on toast or season a very bland chicken roast. And it does not have to be made only from basil! You could use other herbs! Essentially if you follow a basic anatomy of pesto you could create many flavour pesto.

I wanted to draw the anatomy of pesto, but realised I am not as good in drawing like Vicki. So instead I will try to write it out. So here it goes!

Pesto made out of: HERBS OR GREENS + NUTS OR SEEDS + GARLIC + OIL + CHEESE + EXTRAS

HERBS can be parsley, dill, coriander leaves, mint and so on

GREENS include spinach, kale, beet greens or even broccoli!

NUTS not only pine nuts, but also almonds, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, cashew nuts and list goes on….

When it comes to SEEDS I only tried sunflower seeds, but I am sure there are many more to try out!

GARLIC can only be garlic unfortunately

For OIL I generally use olive oil, but I am sure other oils could work as well!

The best CHEESE for pesto is hard cheeses such as parmesan or pecorino romano. However I use cheddar cheese when I run out of the other cheeses and it still works out ok.

EXTRAS can be red pepper, sun dried tomato, lemon juice…. Why don’t you just go and experiment ;-)

To make pesto all you need to do is whiz all the ingredients in small food processor until it forms pesto consistency. Thats all!Here are few flavours of pesto that I tried the other day!

ROASTED RED PEPPER & PARSLEY PESTO

I tried this one with pasta. Got the recipe from BBC Good Food actually. Worked a dream!

290g jar roasted red peppers, drained
large handful parsley
75g cashews
1 garlic clove
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
50g parmasan

BROCCOLI PESTO

I used this recipe for quite a while, but don’t quite remember where I got it from

1 head broccoli, chopped and boiled
80g pine nuts
1 garlic cloves
2 tbsp olive oil
60g cheddar cheese
juice from 1/2 lemon

DILL PESTO

2 bunches of dill
1 bunch of parsley
30g sunflower seeds
1 cloves of garlic
3 tbsp olive oil
30g parmesan cheese

Enjoy pesto making ;-)

Rasa

Organised bags are happy bags! (make custom handbag organiser)

By Rasa Pelham on February 6, 2015 in Organisation, Sewing

Today I wanted to share about my most favourite handbag and a little project with it. My “Zatchel” is what I use most of the time as it looks good (get so many praises from everyone!) and it fits only the most important things. So I never end up carrying too much which means I could go cycling with it any time!Another cool thing about “Zatchels” is that it is quite hardwearing. I worn it almost every day for the past two years and everything seem to be still intact! The top that is slightly crinkled and few pen marks inside adds up to that rustic vintage appeal in fact!The only negative thing about this bag is that stuff don’t stay organised inside. I had numerous incidents where I lost my keys in the worst situations! Small things slide out when the inside surface of the bag is hard. So for quite a long time I have been thinking of the solution for this. My solution was an insert that would have a zipper where I could put the keys and other stuff in. I know it may not be the most equipped bag organiser insert, but it really works with the small handbag like mine. Do you have a small bag like this without a lining? Then help yourself to this quick project here! Happy organised bag :-)

Rasa

Pinterest challenge: chicken avocado soup

By Rasa Pelham on February 3, 2015 in Healthy, Lunch or Dinner, Pinterest challenge, Recipes

I love broth soups! I made one couple of weeks ago that I used to often make. This one is different though (one of the reasons for choosing for today’s challenge)! The broth is poured over rather than used as a base for the soup. This is why it tastes soooo fresh as some ingredients don’t even get cooked (some herbs and avocado). I tried avocado baked, not a good taste (to me at least)! But in this scenario it tasted wonderful! Anyway, try it for yourself ;-).

CHICKEN AVOCADO SOUP adopted from Mama Miss

2 chicken breasts (I used 4 as I wanted to use for something else. Chicken cooked this way is sooo versatile!)
3 teaspoons olive oil, divided
salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
bunch spring onion, finely chopped, divided
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tomato, diced
1.5l chicken stock
pinch of cumin
2 avocados, diced
small bunch coriander leaves, finely chopped
lime wedges

1. Season chicken with salt and pepper. In a large cast iron pan over medium-high, heat 1 teaspoon of the olive oil. Add chicken to the heated skillet and place it under the grill. Shred chicken and cover with foil to keep warm, then set aside.2. Sauté spring onions (reserving some for latter) and garlic for about 2 minutes. Add diced tomato; Sauté 1 minute, until soft.

3. Make broth by add chicken stock and cumin to pot. Stir well and bring to a boil. Cover pot and simmer on low for 15 minutes.

4. Layering in separate bowls; Fill each bowl with shredded chicken, diced avocado, remaining spring onions, coriander leaves, and lime wedge (one per bowl).

5. Ladle the chicken broth onto the layered chicken in each bowl. Serve!

Enjoy!

Rasa xoxo

January favourites!

By Rasa Pelham on February 2, 2015 in Updates

It’s february already and instead of sharing about things I look forward in this month I have decided to review the previous month. After all, it’s good to plan and look forward to the future but it’s also great to look back and review your favourite moments and what you have already achieved in your goal planning.

If I had to describe january in one word I would call it “calm” or “peaceful”. I felt so much more in control of things this month then any other. Could that be because I had spend the first week of this year at the beach (well, almost), or is it because I set more realistic goals this time? Anyhow, my new calendar (that I designed and planned myself, free printable is here) really helped me to take small steps towards my monthly goals! One of my goals this year to read more books. I am on my last chapters of “Flora and Grace” and I am so looking forward to sharing with you about it!I am also getting slowly addicted to Instagram (only slightly). Although I don’t post many pics myself, I love following some creative people out there! @andsmilestudio is my fav! However I quite miss Pinterest system where you can save the pins into a board (so you could come back to it later). Instead I worked out that I can take a screen shot to save some of very very very inspiring Instagrams! And I also thought I will post this pic of Leia helping me to organise my yarn stash! Surprisingly she is not the one who messes it up (it’s me mostly), but the most trouble she creates when I try to focus on my work and she want to be right there in front of me… grrrr!One of my most fun weekends this month were spend with Vicki. She came to visit us all the way to Bedford (from Surrey)! And not to mention snow (first this year) by the end of the month! Last chance to wear my super woollen boots :-).Happy week everyone!

Rasa xoxo

Creative ways to say “I love you”

By Rasa Pelham on January 31, 2015 in Gift Giving, Paper Crafts

It’s a last day of the month and you know whats happening in February?! Valentines day is going to be super special this year as this is going to be my first Valentines day after getting married. So I thought I will start getting ready early this year. I thought I would share some of my thoughts on potential thoughtful and creative gifts for your significant other. Hope you will like them!

First I am very proud to announce that we have a new craft kit in our shop! With the contents of this box you can not only enjoy some biscuits but also make four custom message heart magnets to convey a special sentiment. It’s like love heart candies that can be stuck onto your fridge (please don’t try to eat them). Let us know what you think!If making hearts is not your thing, than you can always buy ready made hearts! My friend and fellow blogger Jacolien crochets really cute ones and sells them on their own or attached to a ready made card. Check out her Etsy shop!I also could not help but share about this gift that Joni left me a few weeks ago. It is one of those thoughtful/creative gifts when you know that person well. Joni knew that Lithuanians (in olden days not now) often wear these flower garlands on their heads. So here we are, he got me a cactus with a wreath of dainty pink flowers around it’s head! I was super impressed! And if baking is what you enjoy most then these Graham Cracker Conversation Hearts (we call them digestives over here) will steal your heart! The recepie can be found here. To be honest I fell in love with that blog in general!Have a lovely weekend!

Rasa xoxo

My favourite breakfast smoothie

By Rasa Pelham on January 29, 2015 in Break-the-fast, Drinks, Healthy, Recipes

A long long time ago I got this Juice recipe book from a sale and for a while I was following it religiously (sometimes I set myself a goal to try every recipe in the book). Unfortunately I never managed to try all the juice and smoothie recipes (one of the reason was that I did not have all the needed juicing equipment for it), but I did find some smoothies that I still make sometimes these days. The Blueberry breakfast smoothie is one of them, because the flavours are not what you get in a regular berry smoothie. So please have a try!BLUEBERRY BREAKFAST SMOOTHIE adopted from Juice! by Pippa Cuthbert & Lindsay Cameron Wilson

juice of 1 orange
2 handfuls blueberries (fresh or frozen)
4 tbsp plain yogurt (love Yeo Valley natural yorgurt, not promoting just saying!)
2 tbsp quinoa
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp runny honey

Blend the blueberries with orange juice, yogurt, quinoa, oil and honey! Thats all! If you want to make it pretty then sprinkle the smoothie with some quinoa and blueberries. Enjoy!

Rasa xoxo

5 steps to basic budgeting

By Rasa Pelham on January 28, 2015 in Budget £, Plans&Goals

At the beginning of this year I promised I would share a little bit about the budgeting system I use. I hope that this will be of help to you. I have made plenty of money related mistakes in the past and by 2008 I was in debt and my wage was not covering my expenses. This is when I have started budgeting and with a few breaks I have continued applying my method to this day. So if you are completely lost and maybe in debt, I know how you must feel.

So here are my five steps to basic budgeting.

STEP 1. Review your expenses and be honest with yourself! Because you need to have a clear view of your spending before setting an actual budget. See how much you spend for food, rent, transport not forgetting those sneaky annual subscriptions. Write a list of what you spend money on and how much in each category. Try to keep it monthly, so items that are annual should be divided by 12 to let you know how much you should budget towards them in any month..

STEP 2. Set monthly allowances! Once you reviewed your expenses you can start deciding how much you should spend each month in each category. e.g. food, transport or some craft supplies. Don’t forget to set some money aside each month for unexpected expenses and even Christmas costs (I know it’s little early to think about Christmas but it really helps to have a lump some at the end of the year ready to spend on all those gifts, food, and hosting). When it comes to the lifestyle budget, I would say be reasonably generous (unless you are paying off some debts). Because you need to treat yourself often enough! I used to set a very small budget for my lifestyle and often used to overspend it leading to even quitting budgeting all together sometimes. So it’s better to keep your budget then trying to save unrealistic amount of money. Another thing I would suggest is to make a spreadsheet for your budget. It’s so much easer to your goals when it is placed in writing! STEP 3: Put some money to savings. After you have worked out your budget you can now work out how much you have leftover. Some people say that you should first set money to save and then count your budget. But I think my way is easer, because I believe that it helps to save more when you earn more and then use some of the savings when you earn little. Your choice! I generally set up a standing order to go out each month for saving. Online banking is awesome!

STEP 4: Track your expenses every time you shop. Back in 2008 I had a spreadsheet to record my spendings. I used to collect receipts and then at the end of the day I used to type it all up. Luckily in 2009 I have got myself a smartphone where I could track my budgeting on the spot (The app I used and still use is called “Spend”). As you can imagine my purse got slightly without that bulk of those receipts!

STEP 5: Review your budget once in the while (not only in January). You need to constantly check what you are spending and whether it is less then expected and maybe set a smaller budget. Or maybe there are expenses that you don’t have a budget for?Recently we realised we needed a new budget category as Leia our cat was constantly draining our grocery and lifestyle budgets. We would not have noticed that if we did not do our budget reviews!I hope you found this useful!

Rasa xoxo

Pinterest challenge: “love it or hate it” vietnamese beef stew

By Rasa Pelham on January 26, 2015 in Lunch or Dinner, Recipes, Winter Warmers

This may have been the love of first sight but definitely not the love of the first taste. As soon as I saw One-pot Vietnamese Beef Stew pic on Pinterest I was sure I wanted to try it straight away. I was particularly interested in trying all those spices that I have never used before (such as lemon grass or kaffir lime leaves), so I followed the recipe quite literally (not substituting a thing!). The result? Well, it was something that me and Joni was not quite prepared for! Aniseed taste took over the overall flavour. Maybe I have overdone with star anise? So my initial response was to add more sugar to reduce that strong flavour, but nothing helped. Eventually realised that if you eat it on toast with some soft cheese on top then the stew taste blends in quite nicely. So you could say that we got used to taste! I cooked quite a lot of that stew so had a chance to eat it in many ways although I was so tempted to throw it away (even if I hate waste). So there you go, thats my feedback. So if you like that kind of flavour, then go ahead, it was fun cooking it!VIETNAMESE BEEF STEW practically copied from Supergolden Bakes

900g beef, cut into cubes
2 tbsp plain flour
1 tsp Chinese five spice powder
1 tsp ground pepper
2 lemongrass stalks, finely chopped
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp palm sugar (or dark brown sugar)
4 banana shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
2 green chillies, finely chopped
4 large tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise
2 kaffir lime leaves
625ml | 2 1/2 cups hot beef stock
450g | 1lb butternut squash, peeled and cubed
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
Basil leaves, chopped to garnish

1. Combine the beef, flour, spice, pepper, lemongrass, garlic, soy sauce and sugar in a bowl and mix well. Leave to marinate for an hour.2. Preheat the oven to 160C and have all your vegetables prepared. Place chopped chillies and shallots separately from tomatoes and carrots (you don’t have to, but it helped me to keep organised as these were going to the pot at separate times). 3. Put the oil in the frying pan and heat over medium high heat. Once the oil is hot, lower the temperature to medium-low and brown the beef cubes. Add the shallots and chillies and fry for a couple of minutes.

4. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, carrots, cinnamon stick, star anise, kaffir lime leaves and stock and bring slowly to a rolling simmer. Transfer to the casserole and to the oven.5. Cook for an hour then add the butternut squash (be careful the pot will be very hot) and give the stew a stir. Return to the oven and cook for a further 45 minutes to 1 hour until meat is very tender.6. Add some chopped basil leaves, check the seasoning and serve with crusty bread.And try it on top of the bread with some crumbled soft cheese on top!Have a lovely week!

Rasa xoxo

How to organise your knitting/crochet stuff (in little spaces)

By Rasa Pelham on January 23, 2015 in Budget £, Crochet, Knitting, Organisation, Upcycle

In the beginning of this year someone have asked me “How to keep all your knitting gear organised, needles, thread etc etc etc?”. Ha ha, you got me there! The pic above is exactly how my yarn looked like yesterday before I tidied it up for this post. Although I am proud to say that my needles and crochet hooks are organised nicely (at least current method is working for me for now).

The thing is when you live in a small rented flat it is difficult to keep your yarn and needles organised. Like every crafter I dream about one day when I do have an actual craft room or a study at least! But for know small space is the reality and here are my few tips to keep organised in situations like this.

1. Make it as part of your deco! I don’t know about you, but I don’t like a minimal looking home that looks clinically pristine (unless this represents your personality). So if you are someone who knits/crochets why hide it? Yarn and needles can compliment your home!

I store my needles and crochet hooks in upcycled jars that are placed on the shelves. These go well with other jars stuffed with dried branches and other pretty stuff I find outdoors. If you have a large selection of needles and stuff then you can split them into jars according to their types and sizes and label them. I don’t have a large selection of needles so I sometimes just wrap my jars with wrapping paper and some ribbon. But when I do have lots and lots of needles then probably I am going to crochet around those jars and label them like this! I have seen some people storing their needles in rolls or pouches. I guess if you are constantly crafting on the move then this is great. But for me that would not work. I like to take only one project at the time when traveling so I only need one size needle/hook and some yarn that I just stuff in my handbag.

When it comes to yarn I keep it low (see the next tip). I only have one big basket that also sits there in the open (ok, not so open, because we have a very curious cat in the house). Because colourful yarn looks sooo pretty! I have a dream one day when I do actually open my dream cafe I will have a wall full of yarn! If you (unlike me) would like to keep your organised yarn stash in secret then here is a solution for you…You could sooo keep that in your secret closet!2. Keep it low, I mean your yarn stash! I never saw a point of keeping a large amount of yarn in the house. If I buy a yarn, I always try to think of what I am going to make with it. And even if I think of what to make I try to consider to giving unused yarn a chance! 3. Prioritise your yarn stash. Go through once in the while (it took me 15ming to reorganise my basket yesterday). See which yarns you are going to use one day (usually itsy-bitsy stuff) and separate that from the yarn you are working with now. Place those unused yarn balls at the bottom while leaving the “current” wool on top! 4. Keep records of your yarn stash! This is if you have lots of yarn and keeping them in many separate baskets, crates or boxes. In this case I would try recoding in a notebook or folder with little samples of yarn. I would record their name, colour, size, location (where it is stored) and how much of it you have left. If you prefer a more virtual organising system then you should definitely have a go with Ravelry! I did sign up but never used. But I heard good rumours that it lets you to take pics of your yarn and record it in same way as you would with the folder I mentioned here. I hope this has been useful!

Rasa xoxo

Heartwarming chicken tomato soup with brussel sprouts

By Rasa Pelham on January 22, 2015 in Healthy, Lunch or Dinner, Recipes, Winter Warmers

When it is so cold outside it’s difficult to stay on diet. You just want to stuff yourself with food and roll into bed. Can you relate? Or maybe it’s just me! But I did find a solution to it! A soup! Soups based on broth (not chowders, purees, or cream soups) have an extremely high water content yet can be filling and warming. Here is a chicken soup that originally started as a stew but have been modified sooo many times and now it’s just a soup (a very lovely soup). I hope you like it ;-). CHICKEN TOMATO SOUP WITH BRUSSEL SPROUTS

1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 carrot, pealed and grated
2 celery sticks
a knob of butter
1kg chicken drumsticks
1.5l-2l chicken stock
8 tomatoes, chopped
1 large potato, pealed and cubed
200g brussel sprouts, pealed and sliced
salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat a knob of butter in a large pan and add the onion, garlic, carrot and celery. My granny used to always say that fried carrot in butter gives that sunny colour in soup… awww!

2. Add the chicken drumsticks and stir until coated in butter as well.

3. Add the stock and bring it to the boil.

4. Add tomatoes, potato and brussel sprouts. Simmer everything slowly for up to an hour, on the low heat with the lid on.5. Once all cooked, have a quick taste to check the seasoning, pull the meat from the bone (unless you want to eat drumsticks whole) and serve.Enjoy!

Rasa xoxo

A year with books

By Rasa Pelham on January 21, 2015 in Book worm, Plans&Goals

One of my New Year resolutions was to read more books. I am embarrassed to say that the maximum number of books (and by books I mean novels) I read in the year was about 3. And 3 is a very small little number. No wonder I so often get stuck for words when I write this blog! So this year I promised to myself (and you if you are taking any notes) to read at least the double, or more if things work out… So basically I have queued up 6 books to read this year. Some of the books have been recommended by my friends over the years, some are from the authors that I love and some are just classics that I should have read long long time ago! So here is the list:

1. “Flora and Grace” by Maureen Lee have been recommended by my dear mum. In fact I suppose to get this book for her but I forgot to take it with me when I went to Lithuania and now it is sort of staying with me until march. Anyhow, I am half way in and I must say the english here seem quite basic and slightly boring. Thankfully the story is interesting and I am really looking forward to know the end of it!2. “Oh Dear Silvia” by Dawn French going to be a second book I read by the same author. I absolutely love Dawn French and her humour sense! I read “A Tiny Bit Marvellous” three years ago and it almost physically melted in my hands. So looking forward to the start of reading this one!3. “Two Caravans” by Marina Lewycka have been recommended by Vicki and I have a feeling I will want to read all of this Author books! I have been told it is super funny and who does not like funny? Most importantly the author is Ukrainian so I can relate a little since I am Lithuanian!4. “Sense and Sensibility” by Jane Austen is an obvious classic. Have watched a movie already and ready to read an actual book. Guess what?! The real reason for buying this book was because the new edition with arty cover is really pretty! Just so you know, polka dots can practically sell me anything :-D. 5. The Undomestic Goddess” by Sophie Kinsella have been recommended by somebody from my knitting social group long long time ago. The cover looks a bit tacky, but I have decided not to judge the book by its cover and give it a chance. Will let you know how it goes!6. “To Kill A Mocking Bird” is another classic. I did not have a chance to read it at school because the schools in Lithuania don’t include this in their reading lists. I suspect it is a bit dark (I could be wrong, I have no idea!), but I knew I need to read this as is referenced so often in other books and movies. So I decided I will have a go!I hope you feel inspired today to read or at least set the goals to read this year. If you like any of the books in my list you can of course “steel” them, I honestly don’t mind ;-). Come back for my reviews, they might be silly and probably quite unprofessional. But oh well, its fun to share with others what you thought of the book! Wouldn’t you agree?

Rasa xoxo

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