Fool Proof Berry Muffins

Baking is not the cheapest of hobbies, especially when your a poor student like myself! However last night, when preparing for a classic 'Wine Friday', I managed to whip up the cheapest and easiest batch of home-made berry muffins.

All you need is

250grams frozen berries

2 large eggs

100grams caster sugar

225ml milk

100grams melted butter

300grams plain flour

a few sprinkles of demerara sugar

This really is the muffin recipe for everyone, it's so easy to do. Leave your berries to drain and pop the eggs, sugar, milk, butter and flour in a bowl, mixing until you get a fluffy texture.

Then add your berries and fold, making a gorgeous purple mixture (delicious if your one for licking the spoon!)

Sprinkle with demerara sugar and pop into the oven for 20 minutes, giving me just enough time to whip up a beef chilli for our nachos night and get ready! When you return to the oven you will find the fluffiest  muffins; this recipe made 20, so safe to say I will be living off these all week at work! 

So easy to make and the perfect additions to a night of good food, good wine and some rather grown up chat with my boys, for a while anyway until the wine took effect!

Book Nerd: The Five People You Meet In Heaven

Book reviews are something I quite happily left behind after GCSE English, feeling reading had become too much of a chore.

Now however, with an abundance of spare time, I have fully re-embraced my book-love. In the past few weeks I've ticked the Hunger Games trilogy off my list and am on to the second book in the Fifty Shades trilogy (probably the most alternative book I have ever read). Last week however I purchased what is, hands down, one of the most magical and powerful books I have ever read, Mitch Alboms 'The Five People You Meet In Heaven.'

I won't give too much away on here, don't want to spoil it for any book nerds out there; what I will say though is that it is genuinely amazing.

I knew I would fall in love with the story after reading Alboms dedications, where he tells the reader of his uncle, a man who went through life feeling unimportant, and Alboms desire for him, and others like him, to realise how loved they were on earth.

In short, the story follows a man named Eddie, a lonesome war veteran who dies in a tragic accident saving a young girl at an amusement park. What follows however is Alboms interpretation of heaven, not the gold palatial heaven which we are sometimes brought up to think of, but a place where our lives are explained through five individuals (some Eddie doesn't even know), who shaped his life and in their own way, loved him.

Each character explains Eddies life to him; some things are only made aware to Eddie in death and therefore the reader really is catapulted through the journey alongside him, sharing in both his upset and joy. I could read this book over and over again; it will definitely take pride of place on my book shelf for the rest of my life! I bought it on Amazon for £2 so there's really no excuse not to give it a go! And for those, like me who have finished the book and loved the story, I've only become aware of the fact that there is a 2004 film production out there somewhere! To entice you further, here are some book entries which really got me thinking...

"No life is a waste," the Blue Man said. "The only time we waste is the time we spend thinking we are alone."

Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you're not really losing it. You're just passing it on to someone else..

Holding anger is a poison. It eats you from inside. We think that hating is a weapon that attacks the person who harmed us. But hatred is a curved blade. And the harm we do,we do to ourselves...

The waters of their love fell again from above and soaked them as surely as the sea that gathered at their feet...

Lost love is still love. It takes a different form, that's all. You can't see their smile or bring them food or tousle their hair or move them around a dance floor. But when those senses weaken, another heightens. Memory. Memory becomes your partner. You nurture it. You hold it. You dance with it....

Each affects the other and the other affects the next, and the world is full of stories, but the stories are all one...

Life's A Bad Tic

In all honesty I am absolutely hopeless with music, relying on my bestie and should-be DJ Laura to introduce me to the latest tunes.

However, my Dad is obsessed with Canada and so from a very young age my one music passion was country, falling in love with the fact that every song told a story. My fav country boy was Garth Brooks and I am in love with his song 'The River;'

"You know a dream is like a river

Ever changing as it flows

And the dreamer's just a vessel

That must follow where it goes

Trying to learn from whats behind you

And never knowing whats in store

Makes each day a constant battle

Just to stay between the shores"

Like Mr Brooks (and the rest of my country loves) every song gave us a minds-eye view into the writers thoughts, troubles and dreams, telling an amazing story in the process and giving us all something to relate to. You only have to look at Ed Sheerans lyrics and ensuing success to see that as much as he is an extremely talented singer, he is also an amazing musician and song writer. Putting his cute gingerness aside, he has, in this modern age of songs being written to make money, brought people together through his lyrics.

As I've mentioned before, my brother Joshuas main passions in life are music, his guitar and quite recently, song-writing. There is no better way to see what those with Tourette's deal with than being able to read their thoughts! Here is my favourite song of Joshua's:

"I wake up

My head moves back and fourth

I walk this dark road

I walk south and north

The pain I feel's unbearable

I'm a laughing stock to a crowd

I feel my neck is tearable

I'm certainly not proud

This is my life

What a struggle and strife

Feel I'm being pierced

By a knife

Come on board

If you like

And feel

What I feel

What I have ain't easy

It makes me feel weazy

People think I'm dancin'

Ain't no celebration

But the love of a family

Makes me give it a good try

And I fight through life

Even through all the strife

This is my life

What a struggle and strife

Feel I'm being pierced

By a knife

Come on board

If you like

And feel

What I feel ©

I personally think that being able to see what those with disabilities feel is an honor and shows us exactly what they live with on a daily basis. I would highly recommend to any parent/sibling of a child or teenager with autism, OCD or Tourettes and a keen interest in music, to introduce them to song-writing, it has been amazing as a sister to see exactly how Tourettes affects Joshua. Congratulations Josh :)

When The Sun Goes Down

On  Thursday night I had what can only be described as one of the best nights of my life with my two closest friends Laura and Debbie. After Debs' arrival a week previous we were determined, as our time in the beautiful city of Newcastle is coming to an end, that we would create some unforgettable memories of our city. Our night went a little like this.

We rented some Scratchbikes (link here) and decided on a bicycle ride to Newcastles' beautiful and somewhat under appreciated (by students) Quayside. Armed with backpacks, wine and reservations about tackling the hectic Newcastle roads we set off. Fist-pumping a must.



We stopped on the Millennium bridge, enjoying views of the newly revealed Olympic Rings.

We then ventured to the other side for some stunning views of the gorgeous Newcastle skyline as the sun set.

Like the classy girls we are we pitched our bikes up and settled down for watching the sunset accompanied by some much needed vino.

We made toasts, 'cheers'-ing and reminiscing over one of the best years of our lives. I shed a few tears as yes, I am very emotional and somewhat dramatic but I was so pumped with love for my girls and Newcastle that it had to be done!

 I'm her Rose, she's my Jack...

It is fair to say we all had a bit of an epiphany. When asking the 'Where do you want to be in five years time' question, all of our answers revolved around happiness, having our friends and family close to ourselves and our hearts; the standard money or job answers faded into the background compared to our desire to love, be loved and live a happy life. My marketing degree aside, this is bound to be the greatest lesson I will take away from my time at university.

I would highly recommend a night like this to anyone in Newcastle; take one night out during your time here and instead of going out 'on the Toon', spend a beautiful evening with the people who have made your time here memorable. I guarantee you won't be disappointed!

And so, after the most amazing night with my beautiful friends we cuddled up, reminiscing further about our time at university and looking through photographs.Nothing else to do but say goodnight!

Tourettes Makes You Tic

From my introductory blog post you will all be aware that my youngest brother Josh is one of my greatest inspirations.

These family snaps show some of our more obvious differences; I would hope everyone could determine that I am indeed a girl and he's a boy, I'm 22 years of age and Josh is an altogether more youthful 14, and, unlike myself (who can just about manage 'Chopsticks' on the Piano), Josh is a very talented musician for his age, having little-to-no training and holding the ability to read, write and perform music to an exceptional level.

Something which you cannot tell from these photos, is that Joshua has Tourette's; I would use the words 'suffers from' however at times he's one of the happiest boys I know, so I tend to veer away from that word, feeling it a bit unfair describing someone as a 'sufferer' when they perservere with whatever life throws at them and try to look on the bright side of life.

A quick scientific overview describes Tourette syndrome (TS) as "a neurological disorder characterized by repetitive, stereotyped, involuntary movements and vocalizations called tics;" to put this in simple terms, the individual can have 'tic attacks' either physically or vocally. 

The media has played both a detrimental and powerful role in the advertisement (so to speak) of this disorder; in parts television programmes have sensationalised Tourette syndrome. Pete Bennetts' entry to Big Brother (series 5) was thought by some as exploiting the disorder, showing an individual whose phonic attacks consisted mainly of swearing, fuelling the common misconception that all those with TS swear; in fact less than 20% of individuals' with the disorder swear and rightfully so, are not fond of this sterotype.

Recently however, I was excited to see the Channel 4 production of 'The Undateables;' I will no doubt talk about this show at a later date, however in short, I think it was an exceptional production. I believe this show gave those who may not be viewed as our stereotypical "normal", the opportunity to show the world that they are indeed individuals; yes, they may have disorders and "disabilities" which make them different to the rest of us, but in essence this only but shown each individual as positively unique.

I have recently been speaking to Luke who appeared on the show; I loved watching Luke and seeing how he deals with his Tourettes. As Josh is only 14, I always wonder if the disorder will 'knock' his confidence, however I was astounded by how Luke was at one with his Tourette's and through this the Channel 4 viewers seen him as an individual, not someone with a disability. This in essence is the way I wish everyone in the world would treat those with Tourette's; not as someone who is disabled by the fact that they may make involuntary noises but as someone who, on a daily basis deals with so much more than we could ever imagine. There is a side to TS which the majority of us won't see; the anxiety, motor attacks (which Josh and some others wth the syndrome have), and dealing with constant stares from members of the public. Now is the time when everyone needs to find the person behind the Tourette's, hopefully seeing some photos of my lovely brother shows their is always a person behind the disability.

I thought it was a given that I should do this blog post as it will undoubtedly be something which I will talk about on a pretty frequent basis; I have always wanted Joshua to start his own blog, but not having the confidence to do so, I find this the perfect opportunity for me to talk about living with Tourette's and share my thoughts with all of you! If anyone wants to get in touch regarding TS; if a family member has it, you do yourself or you're meerly interested, please leave a post :)