Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Artist of the Week - Sara Bareilles

Artist of the week may or may not be happening weekly - we shall see how my workload is like over the next few weeks. I chose Sara Bareilles today because her song "King of Anything" was all over the radio in Hawaii, and it reminded me how much I like her music.

Artist of the Week - Sara Bareilles


Sara Bareilles is a singer-songwriter from California. She acheived mainstream success in 2007 with her (now platinum-selling) debut album Little Voice and hit single "Love Song". She released her second album Kaleidoscope Heart last month. Her music is lead by her strong and distinctive voice, and her piano playing (although her second album has fewer single-voice-and-piano songs). Apparently the Obamas really like her, since she has performed at many White House events, and she has done quite a few collaborations with other artists, one of which I will feature here.

Gravity
Quite a popular one, off her first album

Machine Gun
I think this one really shows off her amazing voice


Winter Song (with Ingrid Michaelson)
Favourite of many youtube users, a simple and gorgeous duet

Between the Lines
She is well known for her honest and relatable lyrics


King of Anything
Definitely one of those "you go, girl!" songs!


Say You're Sorry
Deceptively upbeat



Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Back to the Grind

A couple of weeks ago I gave a hint about what I was up to during reading break, and I can now reveal that I was in Maui, Hawaii, with my parents! I went last year at easter with my Mum, but this time around my Dad came too, which gave us a lot more freedom since he rented a car and is up for a lot of activities.
We had about a week, we stayed in a very nice hotel, did the road to Hana, snorkelling, paddleboarding, kayaking, swimming, tanning, and lots of eating and sleeping! We saw humpback whales, and green turtles, without even stepping on a boat, as well as colourful lizards, and lots of lovely birds (although none were endemic), amongst other things, including some biting insect that feasted on me when we stopped for a taco on the road to Hana!
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Mum and Dad in Keanae

Now, however, I am back at school, trying to get back to work. The trip to Hawaii has lifted my winter blues somewhat, and I think the rest and sun did me good as I'm feeling a lot healthier (not to mention fatter!) than I was before the break. So, seeing as I haven't posted in a while, I thought I'd put up a recipe. I had this for dinner tonight, it is very warm and comforting, and brings a little spice to a winter night.

Easy Kedgeree


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serves 4-6

Ingredients
1 cup uncooked rice
4-6 eggs
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp butter
1 onion, diced
2 heaped tsp curry powder
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp minced garlic
250g hot-smoked fish (eg kipper, salmon or mackerel), flaked or chopped
3/4 cup chicken stock
1/2 bunch asparagus or other vegetables of your choice


- bring a pot of water to the boil and cook the rice according to the directions on the package. Ten minutes before the rice is done, add the eggs, whole, to the pot. When the rice is cooked, drain it, and run the eggs under cold water until they cool.
- in a deep frying pan, heat the butter and oil, then add the onion and soften for a few minutes, then add the ginger, garlic and curry powder and cook for another minute.
- add in the fish, and stir it around to get coated in the spice mixture, then add the stock. Bring to the boil for a few minutes until it becomes a thick sauce, then add in the rice and asparagus and heat through*
- peel the eggs, then cut into halves or quarters. Serve the kedgeree topped with the eggs.

*I like asparagus to be crispy, but if you are using other vegetables, such as carrots or peppers, you should add them between the onions and the spices.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Short Hiatus

If you read my blog regularly (though I'm not sure many do) you may have noticed that I haven't posted very much in the past month or so. This is because I am very busy with schoolwork at the moment, amongst other things. It is important that I get good grades this semester, which is more difficult than usual since I am taking 6 courses. Therefore I just wanted to give everyone a quick heads up that I will probably not be posting as much as I have done in the past for the next couple of months, and also that there will be no update this week, since I have 3 midterms to study for. I hope you will bear with me, I should be back soon with some interesting posts :)
ps - here's a hint at what I will be up to the week after those midterms!