Vine Tomato, Chilli and Bacon Pasta

I have to say, I do like my pasta.  I am also incapable of making a tomato based sauce without putting chilli in it.  If I have none in the house (unlikely) then the tabasco comes out.  Normally I use both together to be honest.

I'm not sure why I require my tomato to pack a punch; it is a partnership thing.  You wouldn't have Laurel without Hardy, Ying without Yang or Bubble without Squeak and likewise I would never have tomato without chilli.

If you are not a chilli fan, just leave it out. I will be looking at you strangely though.

This is ridiculously quick and easy to make.  There are a million and one ways to make a basic tomato pasta sauce and I'm sure everyone has their own version; this is my go to for a fast, vitamin packed meal without opening a single tin.

5 large vine tomatoes
4 rashers streaky un-smoked bacon
1 large red chilli
1 clove garlic, crushed
Extra virgin olive oil
Tomato Puree
Dried Basil
Dried Oregano
Sugar
Pepper

Chop the tomatoes into small pieces and pan fry in a dry saucepan for a couple of minutes until the tomatoes start to break down.  I don't bother with peeling the tomatoes as I quite like the skin.  If this bothers you, dunk the tomatoes into a large bowl of boiling water before cutting them.  This makes the skin loose and easy to slide off.   It takes about 30 seconds or until the skin splits.

Add the bacon and crushed garlic to the tomato.  Sizzle for 2 minutes then add a good slog of olive oil.

Chop the chilli and add to the tomato mix.  Take the seeds and the membrane out if you don't like heat.  These big fat ones I don't find hot but have a lovely earthy rich flavour.

Add a good squeeze of tomato puree to the tomato sauce

Add a good shake of the dried herbs, pinch of sugar and decent amount of black pepper.  Fresh herbs are better if you have them. I don't really use measurements - just season to taste.  You shouldn't need to add extra salt as the bacon compensates for this.

When your sauce is simmering nicely, add a slosh of water and turn down to leave to simmer.  Stick your pasta onto boil.  Don't salt the water - you will see why below.

Cook according to the packet instructions.  When you drain your pasta, keep back a little of the cooking liqueur and add it to the sauce - this thickens it and makes it a little creamier.  If you have salted the water, don't bother with this stage.

Combine, serve and guzzle.  Makes enough for 2 people to have a generous lunch.  The below wasn't all for me, I promise!

A Package of Pretty Parcels

One of the nice things about the blogging community is the chance to read and comment upon other blogs that you like.  I have a number that I follow on a regular basis and they cover everything from feminism to makeup, recipes to lifestyle, culture to current events, all over the world. 

Bloggers on occassion run competitions on their blogs - it's a recognised way of increasing interest, marketing new products and a 'Thank You' to their regular readers.  I try and engage with as many blogs as possible, chat to their owners and other readers and have on occasion entered competitions but never won one.

Until now.

I entered a competition run by Jen on her blog Vibrant, Vivacious, Veracious Beauty.  It's not the first time Jen and I have interacted - we have each commented on the others articles in the past and Jen was one of my first ever readers back in January.  She was running a comp for a variety of goodies so I entered her competition and thought nothing more of it.

Imagine my surprise when a short while later I got an email telling me that I had won!  I was seriously excited - I mean, it's not every day you win a competition!

Jen lives in Canada so I thought it would be a little while before I received anything.  It arrived just one short week later.

I ripped open the package with the frenzy of a three year old on Christmas morning.  Steve was a little taken aback when he came home to find bubble wrap and brown paper strewn around the living room and me sitting cross legged on the floor like a kid with my camera, cooing over the beauty products.

I have now been able to give most of the products a good test run.

The Consonant Face Cream is very rich but absorbs remarkably quickly.  I suffer from dry patches as well as oily spots and need to be careful about what I put on my face.  This feels moisturising without being heavy and it acts as a good base for makeup.  It is also travel sized, perfect for the wedding last weekend!  The fact that it is organic and unscented is an additional bonus. 

The Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips I haven't worn yet - I'm still trying to find the right occassion.  They would have just ripped right off in production week and aren't exactly work appropriate, but I'm sure I will give them a go over the Easter bank holiday weekend.

O.P.I Top Coat is good.  I have resisted buying O.P.I nail varnish as I am worried I may get hooked on them and they aren't exactly the cheapest brand out there.  This is a good top coat though and kept my mani in pristine condition for all of three days as well as shiny and glossy - a personal best for me as mine are normally chipped within 24 hours!  A top coat is always useful as well!  The only downside with this is the drying time.  It takes ages.

The NYX Jumbo Lip Pencil in 715 Burgandy is a good lip pencil - little to no bleeding and non-drying as well as fairly easy to apply.  Be warned though - it's a pain in the backside to sharpen.  Most people say either take the bottom off and scrape the product out, or scrape the top off the black and then you can sharpen it.

 The Urban Decay glide on eye pencil is ok.  I'm a bit funny with eye liners - I have every shade under the sun as it is the one thing I will not step outside without, and as such I advocate the cheaper brands with the broader colour ranges.  This has good pigmentation, glides on well without pulling and is generally a good eye liner and the colour range is OK.  I have quite oily eyelids (colour just disappears on me) and I find it isn't as long lasting as other, cheaper brands.  I wouldn't necessarily buy it over any other eye liner.

The Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Honey is my standout product.  Released last Summer, I had heard about them as a dupe for Clinique's Chubby Stick but had not managed to get my mitts on one yet.  Oh boy do I wish I had bought one ages ago!  It is uh-maze-ing, heavily moisturising (my lips are ridiculously dry at the moment) and smells like menthol which is the secret to adding a little extra plumpness to lips.  They are a chubby pencil with a swivel up design so you don't need to sharpen them.  Pigmentation levels are really good and there is a wide range of colours which are easily buildable.

I'm really picky about lipstick colours - it is so hard for me to find a shade that actually suits my skin tone and I also have a naturally plump lower lip with a defined heart upper lip which makes all lipsticks really obvious on my face and quite hard to wear so I tend to stick to lip liners with gloss or balm over the top.  This colour and formula was so easy to wear and if, like me, you struggle to get on with true lipsticks, I would highly recommend these.

So Jen, thank you so much for sending me the goodies!  It's been like a second Christmas!

Make sure you all pop over and check Jen's blog out.  She is so down to earth and funny and I have learnt a lot of beauty tips from her!

Reflections

It's my birthday tomorrow.  I've completed the first year in my 30's.  This time last year I was scared - I hated the idea of leaving my twenties behind me; it felt old and in comparing my life to my peers I just felt that I needed to have achieved more than I had done.

I now know that this was not true.  So my life wasn't exactly where I thought it would be when I was twenty.  Whose is?  I had something that was so much better and I have never been so happy as I am now.

With my 31st birthday looming on the horizon, this seemed like the ideal time to reflect on the last year and choose 31 things that stand out to me - little or large.

Photo credit to http://ohman-itsme.deviantart.com/

1) 30 is just a number.  As cliched as it sounds, it really is about your attitude towards your life.  As long as you are happy then that is all that matters. 

2) I cannot handle my drink the way I could in my twenties.  Hangovers last a lot longer now.

3) I am much more comfortable in my own skin in my 30's.  I feel under less pressure to diet and exercise (I never really did either, I just ignored the pressure) and I am a lot happier with the way I look.  I still get days when I hate the mirror and I'm still not at the point where I can go 'phwar' at myself.  Mentally it's easier to get past now.

4) It continuously amazes me how strong Mr M and I are as a team.  This year flung things at us that I was convinced would break us as individuals.  Together we will always fight and we hold each other up.

5) Your friends are so precious - even spending a couple of hours with someone once every few years is something to be treasured.

6) Holidays are fantastic.  Margaritas on holiday are better.  Frozen margaritas are the best.

7) Being asked to be a bridesmaid is more emotional than I had originally suspected.

8)  I'm so lucky to have such truly wonderful, amazing, funny, loving parents.  I'm even luckier to have married into a family with loving and supportive in-laws as well.

9) I thought I knew about make-up.  Apparently I closed my eyes in my twenties and someone changed all the rules.  It's a scary world out there.

10) I like sleeping in a high bed.  

Photo via all oftheanimals.blogspot.co.uk

11) Even the worst art in the world is fun when you have a friend who is equally as bemused by it as you are!

12) Blogging is something I never thought I would enjoy.

13) Directing is something I never thought I would enjoy.

14) I'm not as disorganised as I thought I was.

15) It's strange how a different work environment can change your mental attitude. 

16) Convertible cars are fun.

17) When you decide to stop worrying about the future, you enjoy the present so much more.  

 18) Playing the piano still relaxes me.

18) I may have a *slight* issue with jewellery and shoes.

19) I still love Zelda.  Playing Zelda with my sister for 24 hours still makes us both laugh like it did when we were children.

20) I think I am addicted to chillies.

Dorset Naga Chillies.  I'm salivating as I write this.

21) Camera's aren't as complicated as I originally thought; if you spend some time to actually work out what all the numbers mean.

22) Karaoke isn't as scary as I thought.

23) Afternoon tea is the perfect way to catch up with the girls.  There is always time for cake.

24) My sister is wonderful.  Strong and resourceful.  Good with kids as well.

25) I like slow cooked beef.

26) Pinterest is dangerously addictive.

27) My husband is a good darts player.

28) Gaming is a lot of fun.  Especially when wine is involved. 

29) True friends will always be there for you.  Just make sure you return the favour.

30)  I can cut the cats claws. 

31) I thought I knew how deep my love was for my husband.  Every day it gets deeper and deeper.

So - not the best list in the world, but not bad.  It's been a strange year, tumultuous and funny, scary and exciting, mind-numbingly awful and adrenaline rushing wonderful.  I wouldn't change a day of it, not even the bad ones as they have been the ones that have proven to me that I am strong, I can cope and I will always come out on top and fighting.  Things don't always work out the way you think that they should or want them to but as long as you try and stay positive, hopefully they will work out in a way that is better than anything you could have imagined before.  All you can ever do is be true to yourself, your morals, your values and never compromise yourself or your loved ones.  As long as you do that, you can never lose.

Pay It Forward

I first came across the Pay It Forward concept via Facebook of all places; it was doing the rounds there a few weeks ago and was such a lovely idea that I joined in (and now have a bunch of people who will be getting something from me out of the blue at some point this year - I can't wait to surprise them!  The hard part for me will be not completing it before the end of February!)

I spotted today that Laura (left) from Life as an Hourglass was also joining in so thought I would share the love some more by doing a blog post on the concept.

It is really very simple.  The first five people to comment on this post will receive from me, sometime in the next calendar year, a surprise! This could be anything from a handmade goodie, a box of your favourite beauty products or something random to just make you smile. There will be no warning to when you'll receive your gift and it will happen whenever I feel the urge to contact you. The only catch is the five people have to do a similar post on their own blog with a copy of my pic and a link to this post.  Make sure I have someway of contacting you to send you something!  

Please excuse the horrific and very old picture of me.  I didn't have many options available

I think that Pay It Forward is such a lovely way to cheer up someone in 2013.  My 2012 was a turbulent year with some fantastic highs but also some really, really low lows so I want to do something in 2013 that will help people smile.  I will make sure I blog about each of the little somethings that I send out as well.  Creative hats on!

Will you Pay It Forward?

Introduction

18th January 2013

After umming and aahing for months years I have finally decided to launch into the world of blogging.  I used to keep diaries when I was little so I'm hoping that this won't be too different!  It will also force me to (finally) learn how to use my camera that currently makes me look like a complete techno-whizz when I hold it but in reality scares the beejeebies out of me.  Who knows, I may even bite the bullet and venture into the completely mysterious world of photo editing!

Look how pretty the fields are in the Spring!

So here is a bit of an intro.  I'm older than 28 (cough), married to the most amazing man (yay!), have a cat (Gypsy) and moved to Canterbury from London to go to University here and never went back.  I love my city and the surrounding areas of the Garden of England and want to share that with the rest of the world.  If I'm honest, I don't miss the dirt and grime of London at all and, being less than an hour away, I can still visit if the whim takes me.

This blog will (I hope) showcase my favourite places to eat, drink and make merry, the little secret shops and boutiques and the hidden gems of this beautiful corner of England as well as anything else that takes my fancy.

Cat-criant

I may as well explain the name while I'm here.  Miscriant is a nickname my husband gave me years ago when we first met- it's a play on Miss + my maiden name and yes, I know you normally spell it 'miscreant' but that just doesn't tie in with my maiden name! It has kinda stuck and is now my Twitter moniker as well. I promise I'm not a lawbreaker, rascal or knave. 

I'm heavily into amateur dramatics and am part of a local Players group so that may well get mentioned.  You have been warned.

With that in mind I hope to update at least once a week.....