My Hawaiian Party: Food

Last week it was my 14th birthday and on the day before i had a Hawaiian- Lilo and Stitch party. L&S is obviously my favourite Disney film. I love it because it has so many hidden jokes and it is very different to all the other Disney films. If you didn't know, it is set in Hawaii. My new years resolution was to 'not buy and make more' so mostly everything from my party was made including the food and decorations. This is the first of a series of blog posts which will show you my whole DIY party and maybe give you some ideas. So firstly (the most important) the food...

The pictures above show the main food and not the snacky stuff like crisps and mini roles because they weren't homemade. All the food had a tropical theme. For nine people this was a perfect amount and was very suitable for veggies. Everything here was so easy and quick to make and i think it looked very appropriate for the theme. Please leave me a comment if you would like a full post on one of the recipes. Here is the food we had:

Two (colour co-ordinated) fruit salads

A watermelon rosette

Balsamic rainbow vegetable kebabs

Peanut butter and jam flip-flop sandwiches

Cream cheese and cucumber flip-flop sandwiches

Vanilla Cupcakes with an umbrella

Carrot and celery sticks

Stitch biscuits 

 Pinterest/  Instagram/ Twitter

Noki's First Snow

Noki has never seen the snow before and randomly the other day it started to snow. I took advantage and shot a few photos. My camera is broken and won't take nice pictures; this is the best i can do. The snow makes everything so much more beautiful and pristine. The weather lately has been hot one day and cold the other. I love being able to wear everything in my wardrobe. Sadly, the snow only lasted for the morning and was gone by the end of the day but it was entirely mesmerising. Noki loved to smell around and kick it.

 Pinterest/  Instagram/ Twitter

How to Make Tofu Taste Kinda Alright

Now, being a vegetarian might stink sometimes especially when having to explain to every nosey person the reason for this change in your diet (caused by a mid-life crisis, being an animal obsessor or a hater of blood and guts). But whatever your reason, you have to find a substitutes for meat, like tofu. Upon first trying tofu, it reminded me of a soggy sponge that took a very long time to chew. For once, having a large jaw was a bonus in this situation. I have finally found a way to make it taste, not so much like a cleaning appliance, but more like a juicy, meat-like food.

 Drying: Drain all the water from your pot of tofu and take place the brick on a board. Get a clean, medium sized tea towel and wrap the it around the tofu and gently apply pressure to the towel. Making sure the tofu doesn't break, continue this until the tofu is extremely dry (should take around 10 minutes). After that, cut it into small cubes.

Marinating: Marinading helps give the inside the flavour that it does not get from being crispy like the outside. I chose to add some things to soy sauce to give it a sweeter and less salty flavour. I added ginger, maple syrup, brown sugar and sesame oil. I guessed the amounts of each and kept tasting it to see what it needed more of. Place the tofu cubes into the marinade and leave for as long as possible (i would recommend a whole night). 

Baking: Here is where people make the mistake; tofu is better baked not fried. The outside becomes crispy and the inside still moist. Line a baking tray with baking parchment and arrange the tofu cubes on it. Bake at 200 degrees for twenty-five minutes. Turn the cubes over after 10 minutes and keep checking that they are not burning. After this, they are ready to put straight into a stir fry. 

Pinterest/  Instagram/ Twitter

Drawing Calendar: January

For a few years i attempted to keep a diary but i just felt like i had nothing to say and it was just full of me complaining about teachers. Last year i decided that i would start to keep a calendar and occasionally draw a stick man or write a sentence in the squares everyday. This evolved into colourful drawings. It is my second year of doing this and i find it so lovely to look back on and see very clearly what i did on each day. Although i just do silly cartoon, it is still very fun to have a reason to do a little bit of drawing every day. As you can see some days i literally did nothing except homework and a dog walk.

-Watched Breakfast at Tiffany's
-Found a new walk to do with Noki
-Got four more piecings
-Did a lot of homework
-First day back to school
-Finished my 18 page Geography essay
-One of the fastest at the 12 minute run in P.E
-Learnt about pasta in Food Tech
-Tried out for Cross Country
-Watched The Theory of Everything
-Drew a skull for art homework
-Found £20 on the floor
-First cricket club of the term
-Chosen for the P.E trip to Devon
-Got two teeth taken out
-Went for a walk up a massive hill
-Planned my 14th birthday party
-Went on a walk with my best friend
-Noki Vomited
-Noki got spayed
-Test for contact lenses
-Food Tech was cancelled
-French Homework and doughnuts
-Went to Kenwood House
-Run with Noki
-Choose my GCSE's
-Got my report
-Funniest Geography lesson ever
-Made stir fry in Food Tech
-Got my contact lenses
-Dirty Dancing sleepover with my three best friends

                                                                              Pinterest/  Instagram/ Twitter

The Help Review

I am always incredulous about judging a book by the film adaptation but i think that this has a story line that could only have been written by a author who understands the animosities at this time. For this reason, i enjoyed THE HELP. It is set in a time when racism was everywhere; the 1960s. It includes lots of candid history. You see the bigotry attitudes were not just against the black people but also against the women who worked and people who wanted to class black people as equal to white. 

The film follows the story of Skeeter, an independent, white aspiring author (unexpectedly Emma Stone), who has humourlessly been given a column in a local magazine on cleaning, which she is entirely clueless about. She was given this job after acclaiming a degree instead of a husband (much to her mother's disappointment). Her new project is to interview the black female servants that raise white women's children and look after their houses for many years. They aren't allowed to use the same toilet as the white people and are treated unfairly. Only Aibileen, the housekeeper of Skeeter's best friend, will talk at first. As the pair continue the collaboration, more women decide to come forward and tell their story. The interviews eventually turn into a book. Skeeter's friends are appalled that she is mixing with the lower classes. The film includes how little power some of the men had in their homes. Women were above men in the household but not outside. 

THE HELP takes the idea of unexpected friendships and puts it into historical context. It was interesting to see that Skeeter didn't want to do what other people wanted her to. The way that she reacted to discipline varied. I learnt a lot about the history and the mind set of people at this time. I was not aware that Emma Stone could play such a serious role but still invoke her personality into the character. Overall, her character was whimsical and confident. I liked her. For a film like this, i would have preferred if there was no 'lovey doveyness' but near the ending, she does find a man (he looks a bit like Zac Efron so i don't mind too much). I think the other characters were astoundingly believable. Not one character was similar to another. The film somethings broke away from the strictly serious scenes to incorporate farce. Wait for the toilets in the garden scene...

3 and a half out of 5

Pinterest/  Instagram/ Twitter

Side note: Just wanted to say that i am aware that i review the most cliche films and they are all very modern and have a-list actors in. I am a film aficionado, which means i love every single film no matter what. Every film interest me and i always want to know how they are made and who came up with the ideas. Film is like art to me. Every single film i watch i review, which shows that films that have been on television lately have been all the modern ones and the ones in the cinema have been biopics. Soon i will start reviewing more alternative films because they are compelling and challenging to review. I prefer films that are not modern but i feel like they are helping me develop my film critic voice. 

Dad's Squash and Feta Mush Recipe

I don't really know what this is but it tastes mighty fine. It is perfect for vegetarians that are struggling to find healthy foods. The recipe doesn't require multitask-cooking and tastes a whole lot better than Quorn. The squash and feta are both very creamy so i would recommend serving with rice or tortilla chips. All the flavours compliment each other but you could add chilli if you like spice. The feta going soft and moist when heated, which tastes amazing.

Ingredients:
3 small butternut squashes
A handful of pine nuts
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
Half a bar of feta
Two handfuls of olives
Tarragon
Pepper

1. Peal and de-pith the squash (take out the squashy bits in the middle) and cut into medium sized segments.

2. In a baking tin, sprinkle the olive oil and put the squash in there. Here you can season with salt, pepper and herbs. Bake for 30 minutes at 180 degrees. Do not turn off the oven.

3. Cut you feta into cubes. You can change the amount you want depending on your preference. Put the feta, squash, pepper, black olives, pine nuts and tarragon into a casserole dish. Bake for another 15 minutes at 180 degrees.

Good Night and Good Luck Review

GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK is a modern black and white film set in 1950's America when Communist beliefs were considered a crime of being un-American. This film offers the true story of the predicaments the CBS Television Station encountered when Senator Joseph McCarthy accused some of their staff of committing anti-American acts. At this time it was very dangerous for a respected news station to break their unbiasedness and shares their notions of the political problems occurring at the time. A very public predicament develops between CBS and McCarthy, who responds by accusing the show host and workers at the station of being communist. This political war, caused by censures, advances throughout the whole film with more accusations and altercations. A forbidden marriage, a tragic suicide and a stand against the government are major occurrences in the film. The film has a clear message; stand up for what you believe in especially if it means saving someone else too.

This is one of the only modern films that has managed to make a black and white colouring look realistic and acceptable to the era they are trying to portray. Another reason why the monochrome is successful is because the film includes original footage of the ruthless and devious speeches and court hearings made by Senator Joseph McCarthy (which are in black and white). The atmosphere is authentic because of the constant subtle sound of a female jazz singers voice singing mellow blues. The audiences vision is constantly obscured by the storm of smoke hanging around the rooms. The accents were believable just like the persuasive costumes. So much concentration is on the costumes, props and set that i found that the small-role characters were lacking an empathy or inspiration. The speeches, although emotional, took up a large proportion of the film. This is definitely a film about language not action.

This time in history is commonly compared to the Arthur Miller play, The Crucible. They both include a lead character that everyone is scared of and believes will always have the right answer. This character accuses people of serious crimes if they disagree with them. If you enjoy films that are more concentrated on history and emotions rather than big moments and thrilling scenes that this is for you. Not a lot happens but the concentration is on the inspirational speeches that altered peoples opinions at the time.

2 and a half out of 5