Secret Life of Walter Mitty – Review

iMDB’s blurb on the film

‘A day-dreamer escapes his anonymous life by disappearing into a world of fantasies filled with heroism, romance and action. When his job along with that of his co-worker are threatened, he takes action in the real world embarking on a global journey that turns into an adventure more extraordinary than anything he could have ever imagined.’

I heard a lot about this film from various sources but the thing that resonated with me and I’m sure a lot of you out there was that it was the new Forest Gump. That’s a lot to live up to. I had been intrigued and when my flatmate said to me ‘We’re off to see WalterMitty in 15 minutes do you want to come?’ my answer was ‘Sure’. So off we popped to our local Cineworld, thankfully only 10 minutes away, grabbed our popcorn and settled into watch the film.

The moments where Walter slips into his fantasy world are brilliant, wonderfully filmed and heart warmingly farfetched they can’t help but bring a smile to your face. The plot line was obvious and it’s is easy to guess where the twists and turns are. However that somehow didn’t matter. You wanted to follow Walter on his journey despite knowing where it would lead him.

The story fits in with recent time; economic downturns and people losing their jobs, feeling despondent with your life and having other people who have never spent more than 5 minutes looking at what you do deciding your worth. This I’m sure resonates with a lot of people and it’s dealt with in a sensitive but comedic way. Something that Ben Stiller and the cast he had to work with are just made to do.

I give this film 4/5. It’s not the new Forest Gump but quite an enjoyable film nonetheless. One that most people would get something out of but I’m not sure it’s the epic memorable piece of work some were making it out to be.

16 Things I love and hate about winter in equal measure



Wrapping up with lots of layers and being all snuggly and warm

X​Walking onto the tube or into a shop and having to shed and somehow carry all these layers as shops have the heating on full blast and the tube is a sweat box



The dark nights and warm fires with a mug of hot chocolate

X​The fact it gets dark at 4.30pm and you have to light the house up like Blackpool illuminations to see anything.



Snow – what’s not to love! Skiing on fresh powder –mwah bellisima.

X​Ice and rain – meh not so great. Soggy flats, having to de-ice car, floods, delayed trains – you name it’s happened this winter. Although it rains frequently in Britain regardless of the season so it’s a bit disingenuous of me to put it in this list.



All that yummy hearty winter food – roast dinners, cottage pie, sticky toffee pudding.

X​All that winter weight you put on because of said food!



Christmas – being jolly, seeing friends and celebrating the good in your life with the ones that matter to you.

X​The amount said celebration costs and how consequently hard January is to get through.



January being a time for new beginnings thanks to NewYear’s resolutions

X​Dry January – where your friends are miserable because they won’t have just one glass of wine and won’t meet up with you for fear of being tempted



No mosquitos, wasps or other biting things

X​The house crawls with things like Daddy long legs



Evening in pampering yourself with face masks, doing manicures and soaking in the tub.

X​Chapped lips – see other post

To be honest without a proper winter like the one I have described above I don’t think I would appreciate the summer anywhere near as much. I’m not a big boiling heat person. I have lily white English skin which tends to burn before remotely bronzing and I hate sleeping without a duvet.

Winter for all your faults I love you! However clocks feel free to change soon and sun please stay out a little longer….

 

Making quick and easy homemade pasta

Making pasta is dead easy. My best friend’s boyfriend is Italian and an ex chef. He loves to cook still and I’m an eager student. The other day he casually said ‘Hey George do you want to make tortellini’. I of course jumped at the chance. The first thing he taught me was how to make was 10 egg pasta.

The ingredients are simple: 10 eggs and 1kg of 00 pasta flour

Directions

1.

On a clean work surface place the flour and make a large well.

2.

Break 10 eggs into the centre of the well making sure the sides don’t break as this gets very messy.

3.

With your hands slowly but surely bring the flour into the eggs and combine.

4.

Soon enough this will form a dough which you will need to work for around 5 mins. It should all be combined, smooth with a light yellow colour.

Once made this can be wrapped in cling film to rest in the fridge whilst you make fillings for Ravioli, Tortellini or whatever else you’re making. It can also be frozen but I recommend using it within 2-3 months of making it.

Like I said we made Tortellini (recipe to follow), a huge amount in fact, most of which is in freezer bags and can be boiled up at a moment’s notice for a great quick dinner. We don’t have a fancy pasta maker in my flat we used the old fashioned rolling pin but if you were to make spaghetti or linguini I would really recommend getting one. For my first foray into pasta making I was surprised how quick and easy this was. I really recommend that everyone give it a go and see for themselves.

Post photos of your pasta making and I’d love to hear of any tasty filling combinations you’ve come up with.

Chapped lips - is Vaseline the answer?

So a question that popped into my head the other day was ‘Does Vaseline (or any other petroleum based product) actually help dry lips?’

With January in full swing so is the chilly weather and the propensity for lips to become chapped. I’ve suffered quite a bit in the past few weeks and have been turning to my trusty pot of Vaseline to solve the problem. What I found however was it felt like a temporary solution that needed replacing every 30 mins when it had slid off.

Now with a bit of research (Google mainly if I’m being honest) I found out the following:

1)

Vaseline is petroleum based – it’s in the title this shouldn’t be news. It is a derivative of petrol, again it’s in the name. It is therefore non-renewable and therefore not very environmentally friendly.

2)

It coats your lips and protects them from further air/ wind damage.

3)

It does NOT however hydrate your lips in anyway.

4)

Ingesting it isn’t great and can cause stomach problems so why anyone would knowing this continue to put it on their lips is beyond me.

5)

Beeswax based products however like Burts Bees do the same thing, come from a renewable source (well that’s if we save the declining bee population) and won’t damage your insides.

Really the whole truth is that time is the greatest healer of chapped lips and lip balm prevents further damage.

Ravercise the full body workout

Wow.... So as I type I've just finished my first ever Ravercise class. 

It was quite simply AMAZING. I'm a workout class junkie, you name it I've tried it, from Zumba to Body Pump (including the devil that is spinning). I can quite honestly say I've never had so much fun and felt like I've had a brilliant workout at the same time. 

Classes are in Mother Bar, in Shoreditch, an apt venue for a rave. Many of you who know the place will certainly agree. Everyone comes ready to get going in their vibrant gymwear prepared to get rid of all that pent up frustration that work undoubtably causes. Our instructor Kim stands at the front, introduces the class and gets every one pumped up for their hour long workout showing the superbly crafty and easy to follow steps.

Arms start swinging, legs kicking and there's even jumping and squatting involved. It is non stop. Our DJ (the very talented Ivan) is up in the DJ booth playing music that keeps us going for the whole time. Even if you're not a hardcore dance music fan the music is great fun and very accessible. It may even turn a few of you into converts. 

By the end of the first track I realised this is indeed a workout and I'm sure I will feel the effects the morning but I simply don't care. That's the name of the game and why I came in the first place. I was so energised at the end I can't wait until my next class. 

Right at the end the class enters into the "skank out" free style; 15 minutes of pure unadulterated craziness. Any move goes and you have an MC spitting on the mic to make it feel like a real rave. Everyone in there was having a great time and it's the perfect way to top what was a new and engaging experience there to brighten an otherwise exceptional day. 

I am a complete convert. No more boring over coregraphed gym classes for me. Working out can and is amazing fun with a crowd like that. So a great big thank you to those that came up with the concept and I wish you every bit of your well deserved and inevitable success. 

To those whose interest has been peaked go check them out a ravercise.me and sign up.

You won't regret it! Oh, and come say hello because I'm certain to become a regular. 

Here is a quick video I managed to take and post on YouTube 

http://youtu.be/6DNird4IO7Q

Hot Cross Buns - comfort food for those shorter days

• So yes, despite it not being Easter I made Hot Cross Buns the other night and took them into the office. This was mainly because I wanted to do a 'dough' bake and couldn't find my trusty Cinnamon Roll recipe.

  This one however did pop up in my search and is rather simple if you have the time to wait between rises. My flatmates had just finished drying some clothes in our utility cupboard leaving the perfect conditions for me to leave my dough there to rise (if you do the same make sure the machine isn't on when you sit the dough on top... Sounds silly but I did it and it unsurprisingly knocked all the air out). 

  
  
  I think they turned out ok, certainly not my best. My biggest tip is FOLLOW THE RECIPE e.g. Use skimmed milk and low fad spead.  This is a low fat option for making Hot Cross Buns and it tastes just as good. Changing the ingredients to the full fat versions will change the amount of fat (oh yes it's a shock I know...) in the recipe and in the chemical reactions that take place. I myself was lazy and use full fat milk and butter the other day and it didn't quite work as well as I wanted them to. They still tasted good but that combined with over kneading meant I didn't get that all important rise I wanted. Not that anyone in the office noticed....phew. 

  Ingredients

  	450 g Flour, wheat, strong white (breadmaking)
  	1 teaspoons Salt
  	1/2 teaspoons Allspice
  	1/2 teaspoons (level) Cinnamon, Ground
  	1/2 teaspoons (level) Nutmeg, Ground
  	zest of 1 Lemon
  	10 g Yeast, Dried, (1 sachet)
  	25 g Low fat spread
  	300 ml Milk, Skimmed, tepid
  	2 tablespoons clear Honey
  	1 Egg
  	150 g Mixed Dried Fruit, e.g. currants and mixed peel
  	1 teaspoons (level) Honey, to glaze

  Instructions

• Sift the flour, salt, mixed spice, cinnamon and nutmeg into a large bowl. Stir in the lemon zest and yeast.
  
  
• Whisk the margarine into the warm milk, until it melts. It's very important that the milk is room temperature and not straight from the fridge. Add the honey and egg to the mixture and beat together well.
  
  
• Blend the tepid, milky mixture into the flour with the dried fruits, mixing until you have a sticky dough. Turn this out on to a lightly floured surface and knead well, until the dough becomes smooth and elastic - around two minutes. As I said earlier I over kneaded, as you can see in my pictures, which meant I didn't get the rise I wanted. Also note I added sultanas as I love the flavour of them so feel free to do something similar just don't add more than 150g of fruit overall as this again will change the ability of the dough to rise and we all want springy soft buns.
  
  
• Place in a lightly floured bowl and cover with lightly oiled clingfilm. Without the cling film the buns get a hard skin before baking - again impeding the rise. Leave in a warm place to 'prove' until it doubles in size, about 1 hour.
  
  
• Lightly spray two baking sheets with spray cooking oil. Knock back the dough, divide into 12 equal pieces and knead each one for 1 minute before shaping into a bun. Space six buns on each sheet. Cover lightly with a piece of oiled clingfilm and leave in a draught-free area, to double in size again. 
• 
  
  
• Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 6/200°C/400°F. 
• 
  
• Use a knife to cut a cross on each bun. Mix 2tbsp of flour and 2tsps of Caster sugar with enough tepid water to make a paste. Place mixture in a piping bag with a plain writing tool nozzle. Now following the lines of each bun pipe the white crosses onto each bun. 
• 
  
  
  
• 
  
• Bake for 20-25 minutes, until well risen and golden.
  
  
• Transfer to a wire cooling rack and glaze the hot cross buns by brushing a little warm clear honey over each one. 
• And that's it! They are wonderful toasted with lashings of butter and with all spices even though it's not necessarily Easter, they are something that fits in quite well with this times of year and comfort food. 
• 
  
  

Do let me know how you get on and if you tired any modifications.

Quote to start the blog....

Ladies and Gents,

Welcome to my blog and my very first post. I found this today as a quote on cake and it made me smile so I turned it into a typography picture to share with you. (My first attempt at typography - so let me know what you think)

I personally have dieted from time to time like most women out there but have always found room for the occasional treat which includes cake. Why make yourself miserable I say?!

This leads me on to the purpose of this blog- there should be a cake recipe up before the end of the week - potentially a YouTube video depending on my filming, editing and general tiny kitchen issues I will have to contend with. I will try to share my experiences in the kitchen with hints and tips and recipes as well as general food bits and bobs that come about, restaurant visits and such. Along with any escapades I may think you will find amusing so watch this space.

I'm really looking forward to this new challenge and getting to know some fellow food enthusiasts so please get in touch and spread the word.

Ciao for now

George

xXx

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