Winter and beef ale stew

So winter is on its way, or at least Down Under it is. Now I am a lover of all seasons, I love the change in the earth of spring, the heat and bright blue skies of summer, the vibrant colours of autumn and the chill of winter. Now I am a huge romantic and I have to say that winter is one of my favourite seasons (aside from the other 3 of course) simply because of the romantic nature. Being curled up in blankets, before a fire (or heater in my case), reading a book. All of the hot beverages and the lovely warm clothes. I also love the cute boots, especially the heeled ones. Now some women would be inclined to say that winter clothes are completely unflattering however I think with that with the right cut and of course the right look, winter clothes can become attractive. And they are comfortable which is a plus!

Typically during winter weekends is when I spend the entire day, in bed with my lovely kitty cat and a good book. But one of my favourite parts of winter is the food. There may no snow here in Melbourne however winter is the one time you can eat comfort foods and have the excuse of it being cold. I am a huge fan of stews, not soups but stews. Of course I do love soups but stews happen to be a particular favourite of mine. My biggest love is a beef stew recipe from Jamie Oliver. An amazing cook and a master of recipe invention. I highly recommend this one, the dumplings are amazing. It is typically made with ale but I substitute beef stock and usually use about 1.5L instead of 1.3L. It does say that the recipe serves 6-8 but I belong to a family of five, two males who are large eaters, and I only used half of the entire thing. I have not been able to find this recipe on his website so I will type it out for you all at the end of this.

Two of the books I will endeavour to read this winter (and of course I will) are 'the princess bride' and 'the perks of being a wall flower'. I loved the princess bride movie and have always meant to read the book. It was brought to my attention once again during my reading of Inkheart. Cornelia Funke uses epigraphs at the beginning of her chapter and about three of them were paragraphs from 'the princess bride'. I have never read or watched 'the perks of being a wallflower' however I have heard great reviews of both and the fact that Emma Watson was in it was kind of a closing point.

What books are you planning to read during the miserable winter days? Or the bright sunny ones depending on where you are? And what are your favourite winter dishes? All the best, and happy reading!

Beef Stew with Newcastle Brown Ale and Dumplings.
N.b I use a 5L pot and this just fits, make sure this is a minimum size when making this recipe. It does need a lot but a I promise it is well worth it. With a smaller family it provides lunch for days and is very filling. I also cook this in one pot, the recipe does say to use a frying pan for the meat but I think it's a bit of a waste really. This recipe cooks for about 2 hours so I start it about 3 hours before dinner is served. Maybe 2 1/2 for everyone else as I do like to prepare everything first.

Stew
1kg of beef chopped into chunks
3 tablespoons of flour
Olive oil
3 red onions, peeled, halved and roughly chopped
50g of pancetta chopped
3 sticks of celery chopped
2 springs rosemary
1.5L of beef stock or 1.3l of Newcastle Brown ale plus 285ml water
2 parsnips, peeled and roughly chopped
2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
4 potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
Salt and pepper

Dumplings
225g self-raising flour
115g butter
Salt and pepper
2 springs of rosemary
Water


Method
Stew
Season the beef, sprinkle with flour and toss around until well coated. Heat up your pot until hot, add a little olive oil and fry up the beef in 2 batches until nice and brown. Add the onions and pancetta and cook until the onions are translucent and the pancetta has a bit of colour. Add your celery and rosemary. Now pour in your beef stock or ale and water and add your parsnips, carrot and potatoes. Out the lid on and bring to the boil then turn down the heat and leave to simmer while you make the dumplings.
Dumplings
Chop up your butter into cubes and add everything into a bowl. Rub butter into flour, you will have to add more flour, not enough is listed and I never measured my flour additions (sorry!). Do this until you get a bread crumb consistency. Now begin adding small amount of water and mixing until you have a gathered dough, not too sticky! Roll into golf ball sized balls and add to stew. Dunk dumplings under stew, put lid back on a leave to simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Serve. You can serve with greens or bread but I just leave it. It's a wonderful meal and a very filling one at that!

More Books...

Hello everyone! Thank you so much to those coming back to read my blogs, I've had quite a lot of traffic lately all thanks to you guys :) and a huge shout out to Michael Porter for his amazing reviews. I would have replied to your comments directly however my iPad decided that I wasn't allowed to. Once again, thank you. It's great that you've been so successful and I wish you all the best for your exams.
Today I thought I'd delight you all by going through a couple more of my book recommendations. Now this is directed at a younger audience or those with Newley teenaged children. Recently I was asked to recommend a couple of books for a twelve year old boy. He was really into adventure novels however was reading books that were a bit too bloodthirsty for his age group. This is what I came up with:

Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke
This book is quite young and I haven't read it in years however it is still brilliant. This is the same woman who wrote the Inkheart series (which I'm currently re-reading). It follows the story of a dragon, a young boy and a brownie looking for a safe haven for dragons outside of the human world. All the while being followed by a man made dragon built to kill dragons for alchemy work. It explores the idea of our ever changing world and the position of myths and legends in our 'scientific' world. Another reason I loved this book is that it contains a lovely map in the centre. I've always loved books with maps in them. I suppose it because they make those other world that little bit more physical. Although this book is set on our earth the map is still magnificent.

The Dragonkeeper Series by Carole Wilkinson
This follows the adventures of a young slave girl, Ping, as she tries to free herself and her dragons from the empire. The series forms an amazing story of friendship, freedom and letting go.

The Inheritance Series by Christopher Paolini
Very well documented series so I will assume that I don't need to give a short description. However I will say to all The Lord of the Rings fans out there, read this series and you will find many similarities however I do think this is consistent with most of the fantasy fiction written after Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Despite this the series is still absolutely brilliant and I was incredibly satisfied with the ending however I do think it may have been a bit short in comparison with the impact that it had to the future of the world Paolini created.

The Rangers Apprentice Series by John Flanagan
Set in medieval times this series documents the adventures of Will, a nameless, undersized boy in his early teens. Will dreamed of being a knight (what he believed his father was before he died) but after being told once again he was too small he became apprenticed to a mysterious ranger. Not exactly a fate he ever imagined. However he soon finds his own worth in the world. A series I'd highly recommend, especially to young teenage boys. It is quite long, taking place over 11 novels but is still very good and seldom repetitive. John Flanagan also is in the midst of writing another series named Brotherband. I have recently read the first book in the series and found it to be exceptionally good. The writing was slightly superior to that of The Rangers Apprentice and it was set after Will's story. However in reading the first book I did notice some issues in the continuity between stories. Some events were not placed correctly in the second series and some attitudes of the characters towards others did not match up. But still excellent.

They Came On Viking Ships by Jackie French
Jackie French is a very talented writer so it goes without saying that I recommend any of her books but this is one of my favourites. Hekja's town in Denmark is raided by Vikings who capture her for her exceptional running skills. She is forced to work on a farm as a slave and also eventually made a messenger for her captures. Her sheer will and determination capture the Vikings attention and eventual respect. A fantastic story of a girls journey from free woman, to slave, to free woman again.

And now I come to the end of my meager list, many books have been left out in order to stop this blog from becoming a novel in itself. Any one who has read these books please leave comments with your own opinions in order to provide a better picture for these novels than I have. Once again I do ask for feedback, what I'm doing well, what I need to improve. I do love feedback so please don't leave anything unsaid. Well that's my contribution for this week, hope you enjoyed it. Good readings :)

I am a Starkid fangirl!

Hello everyone, I'm posting another blog a bit earlier than normal for a very simple reason. A Very Potter Senior Year was released on YouTube yesterday and I've just finished watching it. Now I will take an opportunity to put in a spoiler alert, I will talk about the musical itself and not just how I'm excited that its finally out. So if your planning on watching it but haven't yet, or haven't finished it than go and do that now and then come back.



Now for those of you that are left, oh my goodness I loved it. Now I do of course understand that it was just a stage reading, not a full production however it was (like all Starkid performances) truly magnificent. All actors carried scripts but you still could tell who was more rehearsed than others. But considering how little time everybody had to accomplish this it pays homage to their acting abilities for just how well it went. Now I must put in a very special mention to A.J Holmes who made an amazing Professor Lockhart. I must say that in every role I've ever seen him in (all of two now!) he has done an amazing job. And also to Meredith Stepien who did a brilliant job in the role of Hermione despite not being the original. Now I, like many other Starkids I'm sure, noticed a lot of influence from other Starkid musicals, especially from MAMD. And I loved this! I think that it adds a lovely continuity to their musicals and gives way to lots of inside jokes. Although I think they've stolen a lot of potential fan fiction ideas. Originally it was just Voldemort and Quirrel but now even a naughty Hermione? However that scene was absolutely hilarious and yet I still can't figure out why Lockhart needed so much money just to shrink himself to the size of a f***ing mouse. He's a wizard for goodness sake!
I really enjoyed the focus on The Chamber of Secrets for this musical, as it was a previous untouched adventure within the Starkid musicals. And I did notice that they tried to fit in most of the untouched concepts. Hagrid was amazing and Brian Holden did such a brilliant job and of course Jeff Blim as Aragog was genius, despite his absolutely disturbing song that will probably stay with me for the rest of me life. "Get in my mouth!"
Joe walker once again made an amazing and sexy Voldemort. I never though I'd get that excited when Voldemort ripped his shirt off and would never have even expected it of him however I did and I did and it was awesome! Starkid also brought a lovely depth to the Voldemort character by exploring exactly how his past had shaped him. Of course it was explored in the books but its still nice to see it in the parody musicals.
I almost died laughing when Lockhart held up a Harry Potter book and when Voldemort and Quirrel showed up at platform nine and three-quarters with their daughter. And yet I'm still upset, I almost cried when Scarfy was killed and would of had it not been for the accompanying humour. I do think that the simplicity of Scarfy made him one of my favourite Potter characters, and he wasn't even in the books!!
This musical, like all Starkid musicals, was hilarious and witty and yet still managed to hold up to the true values of the books. This musical focused on the idea of letting go as well as the ability to love and I do think this was important. For us Starkids the saga wasn't over until this last musical. Some people only had the books and movies, other just had one. But we were lucky. We had an amazing cast of amazing actors and brilliant writers who made the story come alive once again. But now it's over. Nothing lasts forever. The story will live on for a while, but it won't continue. Not anymore. So thank you to the amazing people who let this continue for just that bit longer, it's been one hell of a ride. And yeah, I'm glad I went back.

John Green and Markus Zusak

So finally for the literature section of my blog, yay! There is not particular pattern to my blogs however I will try to get a bit of everything in here at some point. Suggestions for topics would be fantastic as well. I've discovered two absolutely fabulous writers already this year, the first being John Green. Now I've just started my second John Green book called 'Looking for Alaska'. The first I read was 'The fault in our stars'. Both are brilliant and both are love story's. Tragic love stories but amazing ones. Honesty I'm a big sucker for romance but finding intelligent, well written, MODERN love stories was almost impossible. Maybe I'm not as well read as I think I am but the most recent intelligent love stories I had found before John green were the works of Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë. I must admit that going into the works of John Green I was a little hesitant. Shortly before purchasing 'The fault in our stars' I had learned that two of the most intelligent women I had ever know both read his novels. Safe to say I had very high expectations. And he surpassed them all. Finally the highest recommendation I can put in for John Green is that in addition to all of this he is the only writer I've ever read who had the guts to disagree with Shakespeare. And most likely got it right.
Now for my second writer recommendation for 2013, Markus Zusak. While on holiday in Lakes Entrance I found his novel, 'The Book Thief'. Now I had heard a lot about this book and had been anxious to read it for quite a while so naturally I brought it. I loved it. This book was intelligent, thoughtful and utterly moving. I can honestly say that I spent the last twenty minutes of reading this book crying my eyes out it was so tragic (probably why it took me twenty minutes to read the end, I couldn't see the pages). Now I had been told that this book was about a girl in Nazi Germany who steals books from book burnings and other such places. This is not true! It is, admittedly what happens in the book however it is not what the book is about. This book contains so much more than just a girl who steals. Now fair warning, the book is a bit strange and will take some getting used to. It is narrated by death (no spoiler alert, this is revealed at the beginning) which gives it a very interesting narration style. There are many interesting insights that come with this particular narrator and many are quite humorous.
So now hopefully I have fed your minds a little bit and provided just enough information to get you interested and excited without revealing very much about the books at all. Happy reading and I will write you on Sunday.

Job searching

I'm not going to lie to you, finding a job is hard. With the recent (and partially current) global financial crisis small businesses are cutting down, recently I learned that even Bevilles is downsizing. Because the cost of living is going up more and more people are beginning to look for higher paying jobs which increases the competition even in the high caliber jobs. The only way to get through nowadays is to be fast paced and successful yourself. However what happens when you're not looking for a high paying job? What happens when you just need a small job to pay for uni or because you have no experience? Well not much, you will have to strive much harder than anyone else to get a job because everyone want someone with experience and no one is willing to give it. I know this personally. I've just graduated high school and I decided to focus on my schooling so I didn't get a job. After I graduated I spent four MONTHS looking for work. In fact it was only on Friday that I was successful (go me!) I understand the strain and stress that go with trying to find work. I've become depressed multiple times throughout this job search and the only reason I didn't give up was because I am ridiculously stubborn. Now I'm not telling you this to make you miserable or to scare you but to share my experiences and to warn you how difficult it can get. And I had an 'easy' run. Many others I knew had been unemployed for over a year. However I must point out that currently in Australia long term unemployment is only about six months! So when you find yourself in an employment rut here's my advice. Go for a survival job, don't expect something brilliant unless your qualified to expect brilliant. Go for a kitchen hand or a call centre operator. Because you will get these things. Call centres will employ almost anyone if you have a nice phone voice. Now these jobs are for beginners because that's where I am and where my experience lies however the general idea does belong to all areas. If you are unemployed, no matter how qualified you are, and your finding it tough to get a new job go for something that may be a step down. And then keep looking. The reason behind this is that you are more likely to be employed by someone if you are already employed. Doesn't make any sense in terms of fairness but this is what happens. I would also recommend doing some resume or interview work shops, especially if you are new to the work force. The people who run these are generally professionals and understand what employers are looking for. Even when it's demeaning, stick with it because there may be something you're missing. Or it could be just that its taking time to find a suitable job. Another tip is to widen your search range. If your an accountant who's having issues finding employment don't just apply for accounting positions. Find similar areas, do research, find out what else you can do because the more you apply the more interviews you will get and the more success you will have in finding a job. I was doing a successful transition to work course which was demeaning, I and everyone else were treated like children. However they had an application target of 20 jobs a week. I started this course last week, did one weeks quota of applications and now I have a job. I'm not saying this happens for everyone but I must repeat, apply for as many jobs a week as you can, it will help. And try to keep it consistent. Don't apply for 50 one week but only 5 the next because you will get into a habit of thinking 'well I applied for all of these jobs last week, missing this week won't matter'. But it will! And finally, be confident. No matter where you apply, most jobs will prefer or require a confident person. I am not generally a confident person, I start off shy and only get confident when I've known people for a while however I had to really work on that. So even if your not a confident person, act confident. Don't lie, or make stuff up because it will come back to bite you but be confident. And that dear readers is my weekly contribution. Hopefully it was some help to all of those job seekers out there and perhaps provided a thoughtful read. I'd love feedback so feel free to leave it in the comment and I will write to you on Sunday.

Introductions

Hello fellow Internet users! My name is Catherine Cobb. I'm an 18 year old Australian and i have decided to start a blog. I must first point out, I don't know if I'll be a particularly good blogger and I am open to any suggestions you may have. In fact I'll welcome them. I am an avid reader and shoe shopper so the majority of my blogs will be about my recommendations and recent purchases. I will also share my opinion on recent issues that I am aware of and of course my brilliant ideas. I hope to get some frequent readers and many ideas for future blogs. My plan is to upload at least one blog a week and this schedule will take a while to adjust to so feel free to berate me should I miss my quota. Well now that I've introduced myself and my blogging plans I think I'll close up for now. I promise that my next blogs will be longer than this introduction. See you in a week!