Nine years of blogging

Nine years ago this month I sat at my boyfriend's dads house bored as he watched Man Utd on the telly. I'd been reading blogs for a few months after a lecturer on my journalism course encouraged us to read them and perhaps start one of our own. I was trawling though my favourite ones on my laptop and just decided there and then to bite to bullet. I clicked on Blogger, created one and wrote my first post. Never in my wildest imagination did I think I was going to still be writing on this little piece of the internet nine years later.

Blogging has evolved into a monster and it's something I hardly recognise now. It's been a wild ride for everyone involved. I never quite kept up to speed with my peers and got left behind in the blogging world. But my passion for it has never diminished. I may not wrote as many posts as I used to and I may not read that many blogs at all but there's something quite special and therapeutic about writing down your thoughts. I love having a visual diary I access at any time. I love having something that is all mine. I don't have to follow any rules and I don't have to please anyone. This URL is mine to do what I want with.

I have made some of my best friends because of this blog. I speak to them every day and feel like I can tell them absolutely anything without any judgement. I have been able to do some incredible opportunities that even now I still have to pinch myself. My life certainly would have been a lot duller! I have been very kindly been gifted some amazing products over the years and it's been amazing to be able to take my loved ones to events, to show them how the 'other half' live.

If I'm honest I can't quite imagine my life without this blog. As life gets busier my blog suffers. I don't have the time to invest in my blog anymore and it does make me sad. Gone are the days of writing 15-20 posts a month. Now I'm lucky if I manage one a week. But even though I neglect this space sometimes, I don't think I'll ever be able to pull the plug on it. It's become part of me as cheesy as it sounds. It's probably one of the things I'm most proud of in my life.

Thank you all so much for reading. It wouldn't be what it is without you! Here's to the next nine years.

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Postcards from Malaysia

I'm home after an incredible two weeks in Malaysia and I still can't quite believe it has happened. It was my first time to Asia and south-east Asia is a region I've wanted to visit since I was 17. I was determined to take a gap year there but it never quite materialised. One of my biggest regrets in life is that I didn't a gap year when I was younger. The older I'm getting the more I thought that I had missed my chance. That the ship had sailed for the chance for me to travel and see the world. But after this trip I realised that that type of travelling wasn't really for me. I feel like now I'm older I appreciate the world so much more than I would have back then. And also I've figured out I can only do sharing bathrooms and sleeping in rooms with no windows for no more than one night!

So Malaysia eh? What an utterly incredible country. It was so unlike anywhere else I have ever been before and I spent the entire 14 days just wandering around in awe, unable to believe just what I was seeing. I feel like it was a great introduction into south-east Asia. It is quite westernised in some parts but yet also quite unfamiliar so it wasn't too much of a culture shock. I'm really glad I decided to come here first before I explore more of the region. I feel like now I'm ready to explore more of the other countries.

We spent the first week doing a road trip with our friends and covered so much ground. Our friend drove over 1200km over six days so I feel like we literally saw the whole of the country. We visited Malacca, Ipoh, Fraser's Hill, Cameron Highlands, Kuala Lumper and spend time in their city of Seramban. It was mayhem but so much fun.

After they went back to school, Connor and I headed north and explored Georgetown and Langkawi. I really did feel we was away for months and I can't quite believe it was only two weeks.

I can't wait to write about it, I've got a lot to say! The food was absolutely insane, in fact I'm still dreaming about the Laksa now and dying to recreate it home in my kitchen. The culture blew my mind. Experiencing Chinese New Year really was one of the best things I've done. It was slightly annoying that everything we wanted to do was shut but it was so cool to experience it that I'd do it all over again. The scenery and architecture was stunning and my camera roll is filled to the brim with images of temples.

If you've ever had the slightly thought of visiting Malaysia then book those flights. It's a country you definitely have to see!

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#52recipes - numbers 1-5

So I mentioned earlier on in the years that my New Years resolution is to try 52 new recipes this year to help make me more adventurous in the kitchen and finally use those hundreds of cookbooks I have collected over the years. I said I would blog about them every time I had achieved five so here we are! I have mostly been cooking from Meera Sodha's Fresh India book and I'm obsessed. We're trying to eat more vegetarian food and for me, I find curries one of the most flavoursome ways to make vegetables taste good and not feel like I'm missing out by cutting meat out. So what have I rustled up in the kitchen so far?

1. BBC Food's Sage and Onion Stuffing Balls
My best friend did us Beef Wellington on New Years Day. I had some left over sausage meat in the fridge from Christmas so decided to attempt stuffing balls for the first time. They were so easy and so tasty! I'll never buy shop bought ones again.

2. Bengali Coconut Dahl from Fresh India
I've recently discovered an Indian/Caribbean mini supermarket in my town and have been obsessed with it. I've never seen so many types of lentils before! As a result I've been making a few dahls because I kinda went overboard with the lentil buying. I really enjoyed the hint of coconut and this made the perfect winter warmer dinner. It tasted even better the next day when we had the leftovers for lunch. Definitely one I'm going to make again.

3. Sally's Baking Addiction Brown Butter Sugar Cookies
I've made these twice now but the second time wasn't as good because I got distracted and left them in the oven so long. They tasted more like biscuits rather than cookies that time! I love Sally's blog, I could read it for hours. I was scrolling one day and realised I had all the ingredients in the house for these cookies so decided to take the plunge and attempt my first recipe. They spread more than I like but they tasted exactly like Millie's Cookies. They're very sweet thanks to the insane amount of sugar. But they're also very addictive!

4. Savoy Cabbage, Black Kale and Potato Subji from Fresh India
We've been after some lunch ideas for work other than a sandwich so I gave this one a whirl. This dry curry makes the perfect packed lunch! I really like potatoes in a curry, although to be fair I really like potatoes in any form. This was delicious to eat cold and warmed up in the microwave. I felt really good eating it thanks to the cabbage and the kale. Definitely felt like I was upping my vegetable intake! I'll make this one again for sure.

5. Aubergine and Pea Curry from Fresh India
Aubergines are one my favourite vegetables but Connor isn't as keen as me so I don't to eat them that often. We struggled to find some aubergines in Aldi so went to the grocers near our house. It turns out there is a shortage of them so we have to pay £7 for four. Not the cheapest curry I've ever made! I was hoping it would be worth the money and it was! We had it with naans for dinner then the leftovers for lunch the next day. I really enjoyed it and it reminded me of a samosa filling which isn't a bad thing!

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