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An update on the life of Richard

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Things are brewing, they are.

Katy and I are hemming and hawing about possibly buying a house. We found something really, really nice in Great Chesterford. There's tons of reasons why it's tempting. It's a well-proportioned 3 bedroom semi-detached that's less than 15 years old. It's pretty much ready to move into. The area is nice. It's on the shuttle bus route to work, it's close to a train station so we can jaunt to London (not that we'll be able to afford going anymore, but that's another matter entirely).

The downside is, of course, money. It's a big chunk o' cash. It's on offer for £235,000. That would mean a montly mortgage of £1500. For you canadians out there, that figures to about 3400$CAD… That's a looooot of money. Even when you're being paid in pounds. A third of our gross salary will go straight to the bank, and that's hoping interest rates stay as they are (or hopefully go lower).

We've been crunching the numbers for the past week. We can get the mortgage in principle. My contract is safe for the next two years, in principle. Our budget would be tight, but doable, in principle. We'd have to reign in some of our more colourful spending, but we probably need to do that anyway.

It would mean we'd be on the property ladder in the UK, which is probably not a bad thing considering that house prices have doubled in the last 10 years (and even more, really). The people who bought that exact house paid £140,000 in 2002. The one thing that scares me is that the market is ripe for a correction, which means that prices will drop. Having said that, they've been saying that for the last few years. It will happen. The question is when.

Moving house seems to be the national sport here these days. When we move, I'd like to think we'll stay there until we need to move elsewhere in the UK or Canada for work reasons… Anyway. As a workmate just said, it'll probably be the biggest financial investment we ever make.

So yeah. Watch this space. We're going for a second visit this weekend. Who knows what'll happen by monday…

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[Recipe] Stuffed Mushrooms

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Ingredients:

3 bacon rashers, chopped
55g/2oz white breadcrumbs
grated cheese (parmesan or mature cheddar)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 large flat mushrooms, stalks removed and chopped
1/2 tsp thyme
olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.
2. Gently melt the butter in a pan and saute the bacon and mushroom stalks until almost cooked. Add breadcrumbs, thyme and seasoning for a few minutes and saute until golden.
3. Place the mushrooms onto a non-stick baking tray and drizzle with oil. Spoon the breadcrumb mixture into the mushrooms and sprinkle cheese onto each until covered.
4. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until golden and the cheese has melted.

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[Recipe] Chicken wings

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Wings:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. black pepper
20 chicken wing segments

– Prepare the chicken wings by boning wings into 3 segments. Get rid of the wing tip or use it for chicken stock. I try and trim as much fat/skin from the wings as I can (but seriously, there's no way in hell this any part of this meal can be considered healthy, so you can skip this step if you want)

– In a shallow dish, combine flour, salt, paprika, chili powder, and pepper.

– Coat chicken entirely in the flour mixture

– Deep-fry chicken, 8 – 10 pieces at a time, in 375F/190C degree oil for 10-12 minutes.

– Drain chicken on a wire cooling rack for 30 seconds, then immediately toss fried chicken in buffalo sauce mixture and remove with a slotted spoon.

– Repeat with remaining chicken.

Sauce:

4 Tbsp margarine
5 Tbsp Tabasco sauce
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar

– Melt the margarine over medium heat in a heavy saucepan, add the hot sauce and the 1 tablespoon of vinegar. Stir well and remove from the flame immediately.

Blue Cheese dip:

1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (I used Cornish Blue)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar or white vinegar

Mix everything together in a food processor. Add salt/pepper to taste.

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Chocolate Crepe Cake

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Crepe Recipe

1 2/3 cups flour ( 250g plain flour)
1 tbsp caster sugar
3 eggs, plus 3 egg yolks
600ml milk
40g unsalted butter, melted, plus extra melted butter to brush,

Chocolate & Espresso filling

250g good-quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped
50g unsalted butter, chopped
150ml milk
100ml thickened cream
100ml strong black coffee (espresso)
1/4 cup (55g) caster sugar

Mix flour, sugar, eggs, yolks and milk in a blender or food processor until smooth, then pour into a jug and stand for 30 minutes. Just before cooking, stir 40g (2 tbsp) melted butter through the batter. Heat pan and brush with extra butter, add enough batter to coat base, swirl to cover, tip off any excess. Cook for 45 seconds, then flip and cook for 30 seconds more or until golden. Repeat with butter and remaining batter till you get abt 20 crepes, stacking with baking paper in between.

For the filling, melt the chocolate in a bain marie. Stir in butter, milk, cream, coffee and sugar, then whisk until mixture is smooth and sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, cover and set aside for 20-30 minutes until mixture cools and thickens. Lightly grease an 18cm springfrom pan. Place a crepe in pan and spread with a little filling. Continue layering, finishing with a crepe. There should be 1/3 cup filling left. Cover cake with foil and chilll for 1 hour. When set, remove springform pan and pour remaining chocolate filling and top with cream.

I tried making this last weekend when we were at Katy's parents'. Two things: you really do need a good crepe pan because otherwise it's a PITA to get the crepes to come out nicely. I also made the ganache a bit too runny, so cut down on the amount of liquid for next time.

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There is justice after all :)

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I had a look at my credit card statement online today and I found out that Natwest declined the transaction for the bastard webhost from hell. Initially, they told me over the phone that the transaction would have to clear first before they could initiate a chargeback but since the fucktards actually had our old address on file, Natwest refused the transaction. Interestingly, I've still not heard a peep from them regarding the declined transaction. I just hope that I get something that doesn't come from an automated system so that I can finally sent a vitriolic email to a flesh-and-bone human. ohpleaseohpleaseohplease :)

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Good news, annoying news

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Good news: the Home Office cashed the visa fee cheque, so that means that the application is being worked on.

Annoying news: Remember NetBunch, the band of fuckwits that was hosting my website last November when nothing was working? The incompetent asswipes that would not answer my faxes and emails? Well, they happily went ahead and renewed my contract with them and charged me 90$USD for the privilege of being given shit service and generally ignored. Nice of 'em, yes? I contacted Natwest to have that charge cancelled on my credit card and sent them a nice flaming email for their trouble.

Bastards.

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One step closer to becoming a Brit :)

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Katy is slowly corrupting me to the ways of the Brits. I've now completely given up coffee. When I drink a cuppa, it's decaf. I've started drinking tea-with-milk and I've been converted to the wonderfulness that is loose leaf tea. I have a tea caddy on my desk at work. How sad am I?

In other news, my visa application is finally on its merry way to the Home Office and hopefully should clear all the hurdles by mid-to-end March. Once I have that visa, I can apply for an indefinite leave to remain visa in 2 years, and full citizenship 2 years after that.

God save the Queen, baby :)

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