So Long, Farewell!

WE GRADUATED.

And it was awesome.

The down side is, we're not going to be able to continue with this blog anymore...

Life is getting busier than it's ever been, and as we're no longer living in the same place it's just become too hard to coordinate things (as you may have noticed from the increasingly infrequent blog posts!). Seeing as we're no longer undergrads, it would also feel a bit cheaty continuing to write under the title of 'Uni Food'!. We sincerely promise to keep cooking though, and who knows - maybe we'll see you again in the future...

What we're doing next:

Zosia:
I'm going to be staying at Royal Holloway for a masters course in Medieval Studies, but I'm currently working with the college's Magna Carta 800th anniversary team. I'm writing about politics and Magna Carta over the centuries for an app to guide people around the site where Magna Carta was agreed in 1215, and it's been a really fascinating experience.

Bryony:
I'm currently job-hunting for food writing/editorial work in London; my ambition is to write my own cook book. I'm also not ready to give up blogging, and so am going solo with a shiny new website called Bryony's Kitchen, which will be awesome. Do follow me there for a variety of culinary exploits!

A huge, huge thank you to everyone who's followed, helped and supported us throughout the last few years. We couldn't have done it without you! xxx

A Great Big THANKS and a Celebration!

So you remember the week before last when I got really excited because my vegetable chilli was featured in Sainsbury's Reader Recipe competition? Well, I WON.

Thank you so, so much to everyone who voted! I'm absolutely over the moon. You can now find me published on the Sainsbury's Blog!

See that? A record number of votes!!

 I really can't express my gratitude enough so I'll say again, thank you to all! 

I'm now going to celebrate with some fancy focaccia and a bottle of wine, so I shall bid you all a fond goodnight for now.

And Then Something Amazing Happened

Hello, lovely readers. I have some very exciting news - you remember my vegetable chilli? Well... it's featured in this month's Reader Recipes Competition in the Sainsbury's Magazine!

I had no idea until I was approached by a girl in one of my seminars, who double-checked my name and then told me I was in it. I was (/am) completely thrilled, and spent the rest of the seminar texting my parents from under the table because it was just too exciting. I'm in the same magazine as Mary Berry!

The chilli's so easy to make, and so perfect for this time of year as it gets wetter and colder and you need something to cheer you up inside and out.

I would be so grateful if you could click on this link - right here - and vote for me, as the recipe with the highest number of comments will be printed in full. Also if I win the cookbook I'll make things from it and then blog about it, so it's really all for you, dear readers. Thank you!

New for 2013: Guest Posts

We thought this year we'd try something new - guest posts. Loads of our friends are great at cooking/baking and obviously also experiencing student cooking/life, plus everyone has their own ways of doing things. All things told it seemed a good idea to let people have their own say! 

You'll notice 'guest post' now listed in the contributer list - there's an email address on the profile, so if you're interested in writing for us do email in! 

Our first writer will be Jamie Rose Duke, hopefully in the next week.

Get emailing, people!

Nigel Slater

Nigel Slater is my idol, and has been for years. I love his entire approach to food - it sounds like a small thing, but he taught me that I didn't have to follow recipes by the letter and that I could adapt them to what I really wanted to eat. As well as my mum, he was also the person that got me really into using fresh herbs. He introduced me to pesto, and began my obsession with cooking programmes.

Which is why it meant so much to me when this happened today:

I got twitter in May after I was told it would help promote my cooking, but wow. People, go, live your dream!

This particular recipe is an adaptation of Nigel's Ricotta Beefburger. Mine is made with Quorn mince, the addition of soft goats' cheese (replace about half the ricotta) and two/three eggs (because Quorn doesn't bind in the way normal mince does). In addition to this I also added a splash of balsamic vinegar to the sundried tomatoes, which worked well.

I wholly recommend making these, whether it's the veggie version or the original, as they were pretty darn brilliant and incredibly easy. Leftovers? Mr Slater covered that too. Now go and cook.

NEW HOUSE

And then we moved into our new house. IT'S SO EXCITING. And so beautiful. We have a lounge with two sofas which leads onto the dining room...

 We have a kitchen with a gas hob...

 

  We have a CONSERVATORY and a GARDEN:

And cooking and living in it is so, so fun.

Recipes to follow soon once we're all properly unpacked/caught up on sleep/finished running around doing the university magazine. Trust me, they're going to be amazing.

Life Lately

Bryony and I have both been a little MIA lately. 

She's been away seeing interesting places and I've been CAMERA-LESS after my old one died a death at Chateaux Hilsdon.

GOOD NEWS IS Bryony's home today and my camera situation is all sorted. 

So you'll be hearing more from us imminently. 

I would like to sincerely apologise for this in advance. HA.

Life is Hectic.

Always is, but these last few weeks have been particularly crazy. Various parties and a newspaper and last minute lectures (ta v much history department!) and a helluva lot of packing means that we're now totally done with first year. And we've moved out of Runnymede, the halls Bryony and I lived in. Sad times.

Runnymede Block JK. In the snow...

AND NOW it's summer...

Bryony and I, having been soaked in the rain. BRITISH SUMMER. (With a statue of a former king that Freddie threatened to headbutt. Violent boy.)

ALL IS NOT OVER however. Throughout the summer we'll still be posting as many recipes as we can, some cooked over the last few weeks of term when we were super busy, as well as other recipes we've cooked at home.

Just because we don't HAVE to cook now, doesn't mean we don't want to. 

We're kicking ourselves.

Reasonably hard.

Because we only just came up with the idea to start blogging.  

We're two foodies trapped in a university kitchen, with culinary ambitions beyond the capabilities of our rather temperamental oven... Our fridge is full of vegetables, goat's cheese and creme fraiche, we have stacks of recipes and an overwhelming need to share our exploits in the world of university cuisine.

I warn you now, neither of us have eaten a single baked bean all year. This is proper food. 

(And of course, it wouldn't be uni food without proper drink as well....)

This is Bryony on the left and Zosia on the right, two first year undergraduate students here to talk food, drink and university life.