flapjacks

At Bracknell College they have these absolutely delicious flapjacks in the cantine. It is the tastiest thing they offer on campus I'm sure. It has become tradition now for me to buy one piece during the coffee break. But yesterday I got cravings for more, and so I made my own flapjacks for the first time in my life.

After thinking for a while and looking online for something that might end up tasting similar to what they have in the college cantine, this is my recipe that turned out really good.

Ingredients:

150g butter
1dl golden sirup
1dl demerara sugar
½dl brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
a pinch of salt
(some marshmallows if you like)
5dl rolled oat

Put everything except for the oats in a pot on low heat, when it has all melted and become a creamy substance take the pot of the heat and pour in the rolled oats. Stir.
Put onto a baking tray, press out to about 1-2cm thick. Put in the oven for 15-20 min. For a crunchy flap jack heat the oven to 200*C if you prefer a more chewey version (like I do) 150*C is perfect.

After 15-20 min take out and let it cool. Cut up into square pieces. I like them the best when they are still lukewarm.

You can vary it by adding raisins or nuts, or make a topping by melting some milk chocolate and spread over it.



Good luck!

so much for fasting

I want a semla. Goodbye wedding dress shape and hello wonderfully creamy little thing:



On Friday I think I will make some of these yummy things. I haven't had a semla in 3 years now. How awful! (hehe)

It is actually just a regular white flour bun with come cardemum filled with almond paste and whipped cream. I can't wait!

ikea

So we went to IKEA yesterday. Left around 7pm from Newbold to avoid traffic, and got there around 8. The Wembley Ikea is open until midnight every day, so we had some time. We bought stuff for £440 in total. CRAZINESS!

We bought a coffee table a side table, curtains and rods for the lounge, bedroom and kitchen, rugs for bedroom and lounge. Some bathroom accesories and some pots and plants. A mirror for the bedroom. A new frying pan and some kitchen utensils. I love shopping at IKEA and we were good this time and actually didn't buy any sweets. (For some reason we both keep thinking that it is good for us hehe. Has to change now. Especially for me who am trying to fit into a wedding dress which means - weight loss now por favor!).

Next time we go we need to buy a bed, some hallway furniture, and a curtain rod to have udnerneath the work bench in the kitchen.





We are thinking about buying this LILLESAND bed frame because Andreas can stick his feet out through the bars at the bottom. Poor tall guy =)

swedish class cancelled

And so it happened... I feared it would, and it did. Not enough students. Well at the end of the semester only 3 of them showed up regularly. There were only 5 students. we were hoping to get one more, but now they've closed us down. The department manager asked me if I was willing to teach a class again in the autumn, and I've said yes to that. But we will see if I'll get enough students next time around.

Some of them want personal tutoring, and some of them wants us to continue to meet somewhere else. So perhaps I will be able to get some money in on teaching anyways. I am a bit scared of personal tutoring though, it's a totally different dynamic and relationship with the student. Plus I have no idea what to charge.

Other than that, the PTLLS course really sucks. I usually wouldn't describe a degree in education that way, but this is really beyond what I thought it would be. So far I don't feel I have learnt anything. It is interesting that they are not so keen on teaching me techniques that would be useuful to my students, as they are on feeding me how to do the paper work and know the health and safety rules of the college. I can't help but feeling it's a waste of time, and that it won't make me a better teacher in any way. Which was what I had been hoping for. Oh well, I have 3 assignements for this Thursday. Hopefully I will get them done.

We have moved all of Andreas things into the new apartment now. Hopefully we will go to IKEA tomorrow. I LOVE IKEA! It's the best place when you feel a little homesick, and you can get Marabou chocolate and Ahlgrens bilar. Yummy! Not that candy is the only thing I miss about Sweden, but it sure is one of the top rankers on the list.

I will put up pictures of the new apartment as soon as I've taken some =)

new running shoes

It's now or never.

Although I've been telling myself to get off my butt and back to work(ing out) I just never got to it. But now I've done something that should get me started, if nothing else. I've bought great, absolutely amazing, shoes:


They're from Nike, and they are sooo comfortable. It fells like walking on cushions all the time. Now I just need to go to bed earlier at night, so that I actually get up in the morning and can run around the block, like I used to, what is it, 2 years almost nowsince that was a rutine.

Not good. Now I have to get better. NOW!

Please check with me if I have been exercising whenever you see me. That should give me a bad conscious if nothing else.

fun, sexy, safe?

i want a kitten

One of Andreas' co-worker's - Gregor - cat has gotten kittens. 4 of them! They are absolutely gorgeous, you can't let your eyes off them. We went over to visit them on Monday evening. They were sleeping and then they were awake and running around and then they suddenly fell asleep in your knee again. I just wanted to bring one with me home. They were just the cutest little things, so soft and so much fun. They are about 6 weeks now.

Aparently it is really difficult to get a hold of kittens in the UK, so they told us that we should take one now (they'll sterilize teir cat as soon as they've given away the kittens). If only me and Andreas lived together already I would have said yes without blinking, but right now it would be really hard since ANdreas works from 8-5 and I don't live in the apartment yet.

2 dresses in 1 day

Yesterday I went a little crazy. I had to get two dresses in about 20 min. Yesterday was the Valentine's Banquet at the college, and today Natacha and Travis wedding. I went in to Bracknell with not so high expectations. I figured, if nothing else I will try to reinvent something I already have.

I found 2 dresses for 65 pounds! And they were gorgeous! I was so incredibly happy when I first left Topshop with this astonishing piece of fabricÖ


and I couldn't believe my eyes when I found a dress in a size I could fit for 15 pounds (down from 60!!) Definitely best shopping of my life!

(picture coming soon)

The Valentine's banquet yesterday was so much fun. Although I went alone, I had a lot of fun thanks to all my lovely friends. And Natacha and Trav's wedding was absolutely gorgeous. I am so full now from all the Greek food we were served. Thank you so much guys!

Kids...
I like babies. Until they're about two years old. Then they start being annoying... but from time to time, I meet these amazing little people. Then I realise how fascinating it must be to have such a little person and see them develop. I am not convinced yet, but I guess I am starting to change my mind about these things :)

saving for later

Since August I've been trying to save money. I haven't been shopping at all. Not going to Bracknell to sit in the coffeeshop, not eating out etc... I need money for a wedding dress! And I have almost made my mind up. Again and again I am amazed by Enzoani's dresses, and it seems that I will end up in one of them, if I manage to save enough money (donations are welcommed ;) )

But! I still find these things I would just love to buy, I guess after the wedding... a year or so after, when our budget will have recovered, I am going to buy this:

Exotic fruits and spicy delicious tea

No more boring English Earl Grey...

Perfume
Philosophy - Amazing Grace

time for the hairdresser?

I haven't been at the hairdresser since May 2005. Since then I have been cutting my hair myself, and gotten a little help with the parts I can't reach from sisters and room mates. The reason is that I've always felt that it's so expensive. They spend an hour on you and you have to pay £45. Craziness! But now I am feeling like it's about time to have another go. I've been letting it grow for some time now, trying to get it long again (it hasn't been this long since I was in 6th grade), and my hair grows really slow. So here are some pictures of hairstyles I would like to have...






I'm not sure if I want to dye it, maybe some highlights. I will book an appointment in March, until then help me find a good style. :)

it's snowing

I prefer snow with a blue sky and sunshine. But I guess that here in England that is a bit much to ask for. But it is exciting. And nature is beautiful covered in white.
Of course the English can't handle it at all and most schools and roads have been closed.



Maybe Newbold is closed too, although I can't imagine that since most of the students and staff live either on campus or just around the corner. Then again, I don't have any classes today anyway so it doesn't really matter to me :)

The view from Andreas' apartment: