Thursday, 31 January 2013

A Photo A Day - January 31st 2013

During my hours of procrastination on the internet I often find things I'd like to bake or cook and then make a note of the recipe and forget all about it. However, this recipe was not forgotten about. I'm not a very good brownie maker - they're never quite right. Ohhh...how times are a changing! 

I saw this recipe on BBC Good Food a while ago and was interested/disgusted/intrigued/baffled by the secret ingredient. Mayonnaise? In a brownie? Really? Still, I thought 'I want to try it'. And so today I did.

I didn't have all the correct ingredients and so in true Holly fashion I made up the bits I couldn't lay my hands on. I didn't have enough dark chocolate so did half dark, half milk. I only had brown sugar and caster sugar so used that. Buttermilk - in Thailand?! No chance. I used natural yogurt. I also didn't quite enough mayo so I added about 2 tablespoons of melted butter (hardly anything considering normal brownie recipes!)

The mixture looked pretty good before going in the oven. My oven dish was too big so instead of 12 chunky brownies I've got about 25 mini ones. Suits me fine. They smelt fantastic while they were cooking and, for once, didn't take longer than the recipe said. 

Here is the finished result:



Verdict? Gooey, sticky brownies with a slightly crunchy, chewy top. Perfect! They taste incredible. I've already eaten 4. But they're pretty healthy, right?! 

I will definitely be making these again. I'll make sure I have the right amount of mayo, but will keep the half dark, half milk mix as they're quite rich as it is. The sugar didn't seem to be a problem, although when I move home I'll try the real recipe to see what its like. Next purchase: a 20cm brownie tin for slightly deeper brownies. 

So today, there are two photos of the day because they were just sooo good! 

Wednesday, 30 January 2013

A Photo A Day - January 30th 2013

Hawaiian party for Chatrium residents this evening - a whole spitroast lamb
as part of the meal. AMAZING! Never had whole roast lamb before! 

Tuesday, 29 January 2013

A Photo A Day - January 29th 2013

The music from chamber choir. I was invited to go
as they were singing madrigals. Was lovely to
join in and sing some old favourites. Miss you
Crowle singers! 

Sunday, 27 January 2013

A Photo A Day - January 27th 2013

Salsa and a Paloma cocktail at Josie's Mexican evening. Excellent
quesadillas, lovely company and a pretty impressive knitted hat! 

Saturday, 26 January 2013

A Photo A Day - January 26th 2013

Strawberries! These are sweeter than the last lot, but not as good as a
British strawberry picked from the local farm shop in summer!

Friday, 25 January 2013

A Photo A Day - January 25th 2013

My new Moleskine diary. Now I'm an intellectual and can coordinate
all my social engagements. 

Thursday, 24 January 2013

A Photo A Day - January 24th 2013

Cottons lined up neatly at the tailors on Charoenkrung when I went to have
my dress altered. 

Wednesday, 23 January 2013

A Photo A Day - January 23rd 2013

My Orange Blossom Karma Kamet candle (birthday present from RAW)
is my new favourite thing. It smells divine, lasts for ages and looks so
luxurious. I plan on buying a few more next time I'm at JJ market or Central
World. I have my eye on a few: Cherry Berry, Pomegranate and some of the
floral ones too. Definitely a treat!

Tuesday, 22 January 2013

A Photo A Day - January 22nd 2013

Pretty flowers in the lobby - I might try this when
I get home. It would look lovely in a white room.

Monday, 21 January 2013

Sunday, 20 January 2013

Saturday, 19 January 2013

Friday, 18 January 2013

Back to Bangkok


After a lovely week away in Khao Yai, it was just as nice to be back in Bangkok. While everyone in the UK has snow...the weather at the moment is glorious. We definitely didn't have this last January. The skies are constantly a clear blue, there is a light breeze and the sun is warm and gentle. It's like a perfect British summer day and I feel like going to a country pub garden and drinking cider on the grass until the sun goes down. Beautiful! 

The weekend ahead will mostly be spent working on my masters, which I'm determined to finish before half term, so I can go away for a week to Chiang Mai.

A Photo A Day - January 18th 2013

A friendly (but sadly dead) spider found during the
week.

Mummy tarantula protecting her egg near her nest. I
tried not to think about them too much while walking
around in my flipflops at night time!

Monday, 14 January 2013

A Photo A Day - January 14th 2013


View from in the infinity pool at sunset
at Wild Lodge, Khao Yai. Not a bad
Year 7 residential trip!

Sunday, 13 January 2013

A Photo A Day - January 13th 2013

A terrible quality photo, but the only one I took today. Pippa and a
scary breasted Thai puppet at Asiatique. 

Saturday, 12 January 2013

A Photo A Day - January 12th 2013

A great book I'm reading about how to approach
Shakespeare. Accessible, funny and interesting. Would
definitely recommend to everyone!

Friday, 11 January 2013

A Photo A Day - January 11th 2013

Friday afternoon tea and cake. Experimented by making a Kumquat
Marmalade and Coconut Cake. Not too bad! 

Thursday, 10 January 2013

A Photo A Day - January 10th 2013

Homemade strawberry and kiwi smoothie after my gym visit. Thought I
should post something healthy after chocolate being in 'A Photo A Day'
twice already!

Wednesday, 9 January 2013

A Photo A Day - January 9th 2013

My own magnum, custom made with brownie bits, red
velvet, cornflakes and drizzled white chocolate. Had a
great time at the Magnum Cafe launch!

Tuesday, 8 January 2013

Monday, 7 January 2013

A Photo A Day - January 7th 2013

A few hours by the pool after the first day back
at work. Living here certainly has its perks.

Sunday, 6 January 2013

A Photo A Day - January 6th 2013

My haul on from the UK - food magazines, marshmallows, chocolate and
more. Should last me a while. 

Saturday, 5 January 2013

A Photo A Day - January 5th 2013

After chatting with some friends at work, the idea of a photo a day came up and I thought it would be a good idea to encourage me to blog a little more often and would be nice to remind myself of the lovely things I do each day.

So, although we are a few days into the new year, I thought I'd start today. My aim is to post a photo a day, and then on days/weeks/months when there is more to say, there'll be some bigger blog posts as per usual.

Saturday 5th January 2013

Pretty pink Bangkok skyline on the evening I arrived back

Friday, 4 January 2013

December in Pictures (UK)

Well, what can I say? After all that anticipation, excitement and counting down, Christmas has come and gone. But it was perfect. Lots of spending time with family, seeing friends, meeting beautiful babies, eating delicious food, singing carols, shopping, swede, Christmas markets and a little bit of getting a new job. 

Hand sewn Bea from Kate

Hand crocheted slippers from Gary!

Christmas market soup stop

More Christmas market :D

Amazing chocolate bomb from Helen

Colourful tree :D

Handmade owl cushion from Beckie

Lemon fondant cake form chef Ben

The next selection of photos are from our trip to the Wholefoods Market in Cheltenham. Possibly my new favourite place. Mum and dad had mentioned it and then I'd read about it here and wanted to visit. I'm looking forward to stocking up my cupboards when I'm home. Although I'll have to save for a while first!













Beautiful cake plate to match my
teacups from Mum and Dad

:)

The gang, ready for a wade through
the floods

Worcester - River Severn

Swan

It was so lovely to be home and back with friends and family. Christmas couldn't have been better! As much as I love Bangkok and work and my friends and family here, I'm looking forward to being back in the UK too. 2013 is full of lots of exciting things - I'll have to make the most of my last few months in Thailand.