Wednesday bookmarks, June 1

June already?! Spring went by so quickly this year - I guess it's because of the long winter. Anyway, june is here, and it starts off with a very long weekend that we're planning to spend in beautiful Dalarna. Can't wait!

I also have some very exciting news for the blog that I'll tell you about in a few weeks - I think you'll like it!

Now, to some bookmarks. Not that many - but a few. First, a very good-looking baguette from one of my favorite bread bloggers, Pain de Martin. (In Swedish.)

Joy the baker has made what might be the most decadent cupcakes I have ever, ever seen: Chocolate, Peanut Butter dough and Toasted Marshmallows.

After that, it's time for something healthy. How about a lentil salad for non-lentil lovers, with onions, peppers, raisins, parsley and corn. I think it sounds delicious, and am thankful to Kicki for posting it. (In Swedish.)

I keep all of my bookmarks here. For non-food-stuff, I've just started using Pinterest!

To my rapidly vanishing "Twenties"

Now I think I realize what Daphne Du Maurier meant when the Protagonist at the end of the book says rather wistfully I’ll Never Be Young Again. I found this poem while browsing some site last evening. I fell in love with it right at the first line though the very essence of it only came to me after two, three readings. I took a print out home and made my Mum read it. Every once in a while I find some poem which appeals to me or touches a chord somewhere and this one did as I approach the end of my twenties in a little over two years. Okay yes two years is a long time but even then I feel somehow me and a some of us were happier people a couple of years back. The World was going to be our oyster. I say it still will be but that joyous feeling seems to be absent. Now the realities somehow bite me more. Happiness as a state of mind has to be maintained and worked at. Such is life. Some myths have been shattered, dreams broken into fragments but trying to be rebuilt again. That passion and zeal almost vanished in the middle. We were silly, wild and happy 23,24 year olds and we thought the world was at our feet and we shall conquer it all. The follies of youth I tell you. To be 23 again. Sigh! Here’s to my rapidly vanishing “twenties” and maybe Cheers to the approaching "Thirties". Hope you maybe as interesting and in some ways a little less harsh.

To My Twenties

How lucky that I ran into you



When everything was possible


For my legs and arms, and with hope in my heart


And so happy to see any woman—


O woman! O my twentieth year!


Basking in you, you


Oasis from both growing and decay


Fantastic unheard of nine- or ten-year oasis


A palm tree, hey! And then another


And another—and water!


I’m still very impressed by you. Whither,


Midst falling decades, have you gone? Oh in what lucky fellow,


Unsure of himself, upset, and unemployable


For the moment in any case, do you live now?


From my window I drop a nickel


By mistake. With


You I race down to get it


But I find there on


The street instead, a good friend,


X— N—, who says to me


Kenneth do you have a minute?


And I say yes! I am in my twenties!


I have plenty of time! In you I marry,


In you I first go to France; I make my best friends


In you, and a few enemies. I


Write a lot and am living all the time


And thinking about living. I loved to frequent you


After my teens and before my thirties.


You three together in a bar


I always preferred you because you were midmost


Most lustrous apparently strongest


Although now that I look back on you


What part have you played?


You never, ever, were stingy.


What you gave me you gave whole


But as for telling


Me how best to use it


You weren’t a genius at that.


Twenties, my soul


Is yours for the asking


You know that, if you ever come back.

Kenneth Koch

Edolas Arc is (Y).

EDOLAS IS COOL MAN!


A bit slow because I already watched the episode yesterday but only logged in to rave about it now. Triple Lucy!


Eh....... but I still don't like Juvia.


Firstly she likes my Gray-sama.
Secondly, she keeps sticking to my Gray-sama.
Thirdly, she bullies my Gray-sama because Edolas is reversed and it became that my Gray-sama likes her.


BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

You have to find your own peace. You can’t let all this noise get to you.  All this is temporary. Even this feeling of upheaval is temporary. Don’t let this cloud your senses or your mind. This isn’t it and it was never going to be it. You are more than all this brouhaha. This doesn’t define you.  You are more, way more. You are not about to lose your identity with this. This is just a momentary state of mind and time like tide will change like it always has.

Ratatouille Chicken in Crock-Pot

Still really loving the slowcooker! I need to try much more with it, but I haven't had that much time to plan or cook lately. I hope to get a lot done this summer though - it'll be nice to have some time off.

This was the first, but certainly not last, time cooking chicken. I decided I want something simple to go along with it, and settled on a kind-of-ratatouille. It turned out a little watery for my taste, but still very good. The chicken was awesome - very moist and flavorful.

Ratatouille Chicken in Crock-Pot
serves 4

1 1/2 yellow onion, coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 zucchini, diced
100 ml (a little less than 1/2 cup) fennel, finely sliced
1 red bellpepper, diced
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1 can (400 g) tomato "fillets", or regular crushed (or even whole) tomatoes
2 tbsp chunky salsa sauce
1 whole, fresh chicken
salt, lemon pepper

Prepare all the veggies, and mix with the salsa, the tinned tomatoes, and some salt and cumin in the crock-pot.

To prepare the chicken, remove as much skin as possible. (It won't be great slow-cooked.) Season with salt and lemon pepper. Place the chicken, breast down, on top of the veggies. Cover with the lid, and cook on high for four hours.

Serve with some sort of grain - we had bulgur wheat, which was great.

Recipe in Swedish:
Ratatouillekyckling i crock-pot

Discover Atlantis

Atlantis was one of the first resorts which opened its doors on Dubai’s revolutionary island, Palm Jumeirah, a man-made island that has captured the world’s imagination with its magnificent scale and ingenuity. From the moment you arrive, you will be immersed in a dazzling world of imagination, pleasure and luxury.

I never went to Dubai, but the more I read about this resort, the more I think that it would be a great place to spend my summer holiday. Atlantis Hotel offers relaxation but also thrills, including unique marine habitats, an exhilarating water park, pristine white beaches, world-class cuisine, indulgent spa and cosmopolitan boutiques. I can even see myself enjoying the beautiful beaches out there, in that perfect venue for a range of beach activities from volleyball to football matches. Or, maybe I would enjoy an up close and personal meeting with one of their dolphins: touching, hugging, holding ‘hands’ and playing ball being only some of the activities that can be experienced during this interaction. And what to say about the ShuiQi Spa? It is like a journey into another world, a memorable experience, awakening senses, within inspiring and serene water surroundings.

If you want to win a holiday of a lifetime, all you need to do is to create your personalised Spotted in Atlantis video and register automatically for a chance to win a five night stay in Atlantis for you and three friends. More specifically, all you have to do is to upload a photo of yourself or one of your friends in this interactive video, and then you will see yourself having an amazing time around the luxury and sheer opulence of the Atlantis in Dubai. Also, you will have the chance to win cool weekly prizes like gift certificates from PayPal or Amazon.

In conclusion, I really think that visiting Atlantis Hotel from Dubai is like living out your dreams amidst the warm Arabian seas. So, what about you? Enter the contest for having a chance to win this great holiday!





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Tutti Frutti in Reading - a Gem Tucked Away in Reading's Railway Station

Tutti Frutti in Reading Railway Station's concourse

Railway station food. Usually, at best, it's a couple of fatty rashers of floppy bacon in a pale doughy baguette. And I should know - I've spent years travelling up and down the country eating food from establishments in railway stations. You don't expect to find good, homemade food in the hustle and bustle of one of the busiest train stations in the south east. And yet, in Reading, huddled amongst some of the world's most famous fast food joints, here it is. Here, you've got AMT coffee kiosks, the Cornish Pasty shop, Burger King and Subway. And that's just a few of them. But before you instinctively line up amid all the flourescent signs and order your BK Whopper, turn around and take a look at Tutti Frutti.

They've been going for six months and already have a steady stream of customers enjoying coffee, cakes, ice creams, sandwiches and soup. And it's not difficult to see why. Jane, the owner of the store, welcomes me when I arrive with a spoonful of freshly made mushroom soup. "Do you want to try some?" she offers. The soup is rich, slightly peppery and has that unmistakable fresh woody taste of the mushrooms - there are no instant soup powders here.

Rows of sweets in glass jars line shelves and give a traditional feel

What struck me most about the place is that Jane genuinely cares about the food she makes, food that she describes as "comforting". The cafe has a homely, welcoming feel - she tells me that the chocolates are made by a friend, the ice creams are made by her and that it took them a year just to track down the right coffee beans.

The beautifully made chocolate selection includes chocolate bunnies, spaniels and sheep

And the coffee is without a doubt one of the silkiest, richest and most refreshing cups of coffee that I've ever had. And at £1.50 for an espresso, it's very reasonable too. A bowl of soup with bread costs just £2.95 and sandwiches are freshly made, costing around £2-3 each. There are no shortcuts with the sandwiches either - the king prawn sandwich is generously packed with with large, juicy prawns in a Marie Rose sauce - and the ham they use is crumbly 'real' ham too. None of that processed, plasticky, luminous pink stuff here.

Ice creams are all freshly made - flavours include Chocolate Brownie, Banoffee, Lemon Meringue (my favourite!) and Strawberry Sorbet - sold by the scoop in tubs or cones

As I sipped my coffee, surrounded by busy commuters hurtling around I glanced at the queues of people at the brightly-lit fast food restaurants in the station's concourse. And just for a second I can't blame them, in a way. Everyone is in too much of a rush here that they go into autopilot when they're hungry and exchange their cash for something they already know, something safe. Tutti Frutti is not only worth taking the risk - but once you do you might find that you're in there a lot more often than you think.

Tutti Frutti is a real gem at the heart of this busy railway station. You wouldn't always expect to find really good produce in the concourse of a train station but here it is. If you find yourself waiting at Reading station for your connection give them a try. I promise you will not be disappointed.