Review - Avenue Q

Monday night - Sunderland Empire

At the Theatre

I think one of the best things about living in the North East is that despite being far from the capital of musicals in England (i.e. London), there are still opportunities to watch top-class performances in one of the local theatres. On this occasion (Monday 14^th July at 7:30pm to be more precise), we (i.e. myself and my significant other) decided to go for the comedy/ musical, Avenue Q, at majestic and extravagant, Sunderland Empire Theatre.

Normally, I opt for shows that are more, shall we say, glitzy and more dazzling in terms of special effects. I also wasn’t sure if I was super keen on the puppet and human mix that made up that characters of the show. Plus I have a thing for songs that evoke Disney and other musical numbers that are slightly more geared for a younger audience. So in truth, I was a bit sceptical about the play at first.

What can I say? I’m still (and ALWAYS will be) a child at heart.

Despite my scepticism, I decided to give the show a go because I hadn’t seen it before (plus my significant other said he’d drive me home and buy me dinner << now who can resist that?).

And honestly, I couldn’t have made a better decision.

I don’t think there was a single moment during the performance that I wasn’t blown away by some aspect of it. I know that most theatre reviews commonly start with summarizing the main plot of the play. But I for one would like to begin by giving praise to the actors themselves. There weren’t many of them, so I thought that their ability to portray so many different characters, both human and puppet, and in so many different voices was truly incredible. The story itself was also admirable – with the theme of adulthood thoroughly reiterated throughout the play, Avenue Q provided the audience with a performance that addressed the many issues and troubles faced by individuals entering this period. A highly realistic show, it was simultaneously tied together by a stream of jokes and sarcasm, overall indicating that despite the hardship, there’s still hope and time for laughter at any stage in life.

Oh and did I mention that we got upgraded to better seats? Totally worth it.

Sensational and memorable – if Avenue Q is ever on tour in your town, be sure to watch it.

Chocolate and Courgette (Zucchini) muffins

Note:

Dedicated to -- my gran; for always being there for me regardless of the trouble, and putting up to my wackiness and sporadic but frequent tempers for all these years without any complaints.

Daring to try

Sometimes I don't mind going out of my comfort zone when cooking - it's a good way to challenge myself and to get, hopefully, some good and new results. If not, it's still a good chance to learn anyway/ I mentioned I was using the book called, Annie Bell's Baking Bible, in my earlier post "Cranberry and White Chocolate Cupcakes". I had to flip through a couple of pages before I reached the recipe I needed for those cupcakes and there was one particular recipe that caught my eye: Courgette and Cinnamon Muffins. I'd made carrot cake before but courgette cakes? That was TOTALLY out of my league (at that point anyway). I kept the recipe in mind though and after a few days, I found myself looking up more courgette-related muffin recipes on the net. I finally settled with the Chocolate-Zucchini Cupcakes recipe written by Jen, an allrecipes.com contributor.

Courgette grating - dangerous work

The usual routine

There's no trick or surprise in every new recipe I try - they all start with a common beginning: locating all the ingredients. Seeing as I had a spare courgette sticking out of the fruit basket in my house, I was quite keen on making the muffins. The other things I needed were easy to find to as they were all buried deep in my dump-of-a kitchen cupboard - with all that settled, it was definitely time to start.

The colorful trio

The recipe asks for the following (note that I changed the serving amount to fifteen rather than two dozen because twenty-four muffins are too much for me; although it is tempting... ;) - click on the recipe's name to be redirected to the website where you can get the original recipe): 

The List

• 35g unsweetened chocolate, melted
• 2 eggs
• 240g packed brown sugar
• 150ml vegetable oil (I didn't have any so I used olive oil - seemed to work fine for me anyway)
• 155g all-purpose flour
• 3g baking powder
• 3g baking soda
• 2g salt
• 140g grated courgette/ zucchini
• 55g chopped walnuts

It also asks for 285g chocolate icing/ frosting and 30g walnut halves to decorate the cupcakes but I didn't want it to be too sweet so I didn't add any - plus I had something far better in mind.

Ingredients + utensils = mixing time

Also with the unsweetened chocolate, I used a bar of chocolate called "baking chocolate" from Lidl - the pieces of chocolate are all 10g each (as printed on each piece) and so it makes measuring the amount of chocolate much easier! Definitely worth a buy!

DIY (method)

As usual, you start off with preheating the oven to, in this case, 175°C (350°F).  

Taking a large bowl, you need to beat the eggs and brown sugar until it's thickened and pale. Because of the required condition, I assumed that I'd need an electrical egg beater (which I had, thankfully). It took me less than 10 minutes to achieve the "supposedly" required texture (emphasis on the "supposedly" -- underlying meaning to be revealed at the end).

Sweet and nutty

I then mixed in the oil and chocolate into the egg and brown sugar mixture (hereafter wet mixture). Taking another bowl, I combined the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together (dry mixture). Finally, using a wooden spoon, I slowly combined the wet and dry mixtures together by pouring the dry into the wet mixture. I find that it's best to start mixing just in the middle and then gradually expanding your area of mixing to the sides - your dry mixture will be thoroughly combined with the wet mixture and avoids any lumps from forming (which would otherwise spoil the texture of the cake!). Don't mix it too much - just until it moistens or is blended.

DIY muffin liners :-)

Tip in the grated courgette and give it a good mix before tipping in the chopped walnuts; I found chopping the walnuts a bit difficult so I kinda of crushed them gently just so that they managed to split in half easily using my potato masher.

Finishing touches

Taking my deformed plastic beaker, I poured the mixture into it and used it to pour the mixture into the muffin liners in the muffin tin I'd prepared earlier; I also used a rubber spatula to scrape and scoop out any remaining traces of the mixture (you really don't want to waste anything - it's something my gran always reinforced to me and it's becoming part of my daily ethos). I had proper cupcake liners but I wanted my muffins to be a bit taller so I used some normal baking paper, a pair of scissors and a bottle that was about the same size as my muffin tin to make my own muffin liners; I followed Emma Christensen's tutorial on the website, The Kitchin. The recipe suggested that I fill the muffin liners 2/3 full but there were quite a few times where I was slightly over-ambitious (at least I thought so at that time).

Baking - totally worth the wait

Before putting the muffins into the oven, I topped them with some mini marshmallows I'd gotten from the shops earlier - delightful. The muffins were in for 20 minutes and they came out a nice, shiny brown color. The look of them made me worry that they weren't full baked but, after inserting a toothpick into each muffin, I found that they were all ready to rock and roll (not literally of course). 

Evaluation

I definitely have to say that one of the biggest problems I had and it was purely my own fault were the amount of little air bubbles that had appeared on the muffin's surface - I went a bit wild with the whisk (because it'd been ages since I'd used one) so I'd over-beaten the sugar and eggs so that the mixture actually became a bit too light and airy. There was too much air in the muffins and was hence why the surface of my muffins didn't look that appealing; the marshmallows had melted too which wasn't too much of a problem but I kinda wished they hadn't. Next time I'll remember to beat the egg mixture for a shorter amount of time, if using the whisk, or to simply use a hand whisk so that I can control the strength of the beating. As for the marshmallows, I guess I could simply put them on-top of the muffins after icing them with a bit of frosting (aka edible glue).

Freshly baked

HOWEVER, in terms of flavor, they were absolutely perfect. They were sweet and chocolatey, but not too sweet because of the courgette. The courgette gave it a really moist and soft interior, and the chopped walnuts added a bit of surprising but satisfying crunch to the muffin. And, even though I had over-beaten the mixture, it made the muffins very light and not dense (definitely good for people who are dieting but want to treat themselves once in a while!). 

A combination of ups and downs (purely because of my over-ambitious personality/ because it was 11pm and adrenaline was kicking in to keep me awake and crazy) but definitely a great recipe - I wait patiently till my muffins have been eaten (by friends of course :-) in anticipation of the day when I make them again.

Packed and ready for my friends :-D

Gibside - Tyne and Wear

I was looking for a nice place to lunch

And seriously, who wouldn't be on a gloriously sunny but cool Saturday (31st Aug)? Needless to say the weather along with the amount of free time I had both encouraged my sense of adventure to soar. Usually I'd plan to go to a historical landmark or site a day or two ahead - seeing as transport is always an issue for me, planning ahead makes it easier for me to figure out my route, which bus or train to catch, when to leave to catch them etc. This time however, it was purely a spontaneous and sudden decision.

No need to say where I'm headed!

Simple, relaxing and pleasing

The three major verbs that floated around my mind when searching for the perfect place to go to. Roaming through the online pages of The National Trust website, I was attracted to the idea of having lunch and then a quick stroll in the woods or grassland before dusk hit in a place that was, as usual, easily accessible by public transport. Gibside, as the website suggested, seemed to be the answer to my search. The 200 hectare property was said to compose of a chapel, stables, a statue, old ruins, tea room, grassland and, perhaps the most important thing to my in my opinion, a forest. With a place goal in mind, I ran gracefully  straight to the train station behind my flat to catch the train up to Newcastle. Gibside was a quick bus ride (the 45 or 46) away from Newcastle AND was available every 15 minutes! What a relief!

Bridge to Terebithia Gibside

My secret hideaway in Gibside - a place where dreams can soar and are limitless

Getting there within a short amount of time also meant that I had just enough time to walk around the whole of Gibside; I got there at around 2:50pm and everything would close at around 5pm. I reckon one of the highlights of Gibside was the entrance. You'd have to walk across a bridge above a river an a stunning grassy picnic shot (see the first picture below) to get to the park's gate. Thereafter you have to pass through the ticket booth before crossing a long and curvy wooden bridge that would lead you up to the actual park; it felt like I was getting transported to a secret world!

Cute DCUK figurines in the Potting Shed Cafe!

Stunning dress inside the chapel

At the stables... O__o

The road not taken

Road to the Column to Liberty

A path so long and fine - who knows where it'll lead me...

The poem by Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken, essentially emulates my aim during my trip. For every path and every corner, every entrance and every exit - I would take the less friendly one (i.e. the darker ones). Why be like everyone else and walk the usual Gibside strolling path when I could have an adventure of my own in a new path instead? In my opinion, that was probably the best decision I made. I simply let my heart guide in the direction it felt like going in and I had a blast. I first entered the stunning walled garden that was filled with different sorts of colorful flowers and plants. Next I was led to the newly restored orangery - an old ruined building made up of columns and large windows - the centre piece of this open-air structure was a whole array of flowers and plants. What made it an overall architectural masterpiece was it's location - set up high on a hill, people that visit the orangery will witness an absolutely breathtaking view of Rowland's Gill and essentially the north east country side.

The Orangery and the stunning view of the north east countryside

The Banqueting Hall from afar

The Column to Liberty

If you do ever visit Gibside, don't forget to explore the other buildings including the chapel, stables and banqueting house - they're all just as lovely. The massive statue known as the "column to Liberty" that stands proudly on another hill directly on the other side of the chapel is likewise an architectural masterpiece. However, what really did it for me attracted me were the tall and robust tree trunks that were neatly tucked away behind a path leading from the orangery to the stables. Had I had more time, I would have loved to sit within that atmosphere to simply imagine and dream. For it was there that time ceased to exist and reality was hidden away on my presence. Stories and emotions of tranquility, happiness etc. filled my head - it was like I had found inner peace. Thus, my fellow readers, I conclude on this note: If you ever feel like you've had a really rough and tough day or simply feel like stepping away from the stress of life, consider going to a park (or Gibside if you're ever up north!). For it is there that you can be the writer of your own story, the hero of your own fantasy, and ultimately, the controller of your own experience with no strings attached.

Fun with shadows using the windows of the Orangery :)

Cragside - Northumberland

Yesterday was the day.
The day that I'd be setting out early to get to a new country house I'd just heard about literally 24 hours before yesterday. Cragside had been the home to the inventor of Lord Armstrong but now is a property of the National Trust and opened to tourists (and dogs!). I'd just gotten my (young persons :D) National Trust membership on Saturday and was desperate to use it to go to properties I'd normally have to pay for had I not joined. I was also looking forward to a good afternoon tea and a nice walk in the garden and house that Cragside had to offer.

Unlike some of the other properties I'd looked up, Cragside was one of those that was accessible via public transport (i.e. a bus). Annoyingly the bus that takes you there, the 508, from Newcastle only comes twice every Sunday until October. There are ways of getting to Cragside on the weekday through public transport as well but it only comes once every hour and wouldn't take you directly up to the entrance; it would stop in the town, Rothbury, which was right next to it. Being on a student budget and the fact that I am not yet qualified to drive (cries*), I had no choice but to take the public transport option. And so the day began at 8:10am, with me scoffing down a quick breakfast and speed clothing changing before hurtling towards the train to get up to Newcastle. On arriving, I quickly headed towards the bus stop, in anticipation of my journey and adventure ahead. Despite the bus coming 15 minutes late and the fact that it would take a little bit less than 2 hours to get to Cragside, I continued to stay cheery in the sudden cold and windy weather. Nothing, I thought to myself, could spoil my day.

 Pretty architecture at Darlington station

The stunning Angel of the North from afar in Gateshead on my way up to Newcastle

Obviously I had some assumptions 
(loads actually) of what Cragside estate would looked like. I'd been to some other properties with a home/ hall and gardens (Walmer Castle and Belsay Hall, Castle and Gardens are two on the top of my head, but we'll leave their stories for another day). The house to me looked like a huge version of the house owned by the seven dwarfs in Snow White, and I assumed that I'd be walking through a garden with flowers, shrubs, trees, you know, the usual jazz you'd expect in a garden. I only had 4 hours at Cragside before I was due back on the bus so I'd planned to leave an hour for lunch and the remaining time for the estate. Clearly, I hadn't done enough research prior to my departure. Not only was I amazed at the gorgeous and large lake that awaited me at the entrance to the estate, but I was absolutely flabbergasted  that the entire estate was around 400 hectares big! To top it off, there were around about 100 rooms inside the country house itself, and only 1/3 of it was actually opened to the public!

From this, Cragside doesn't look like a huge place but definitely a nice one....

THIS is what I ended up seeing

It was clear that I'd have to come again

Filled with gardens (yup, not just one), waterfalls, wooden bridges, forest, wildlife, a clock tower, power house etc. (and yes the list does go on), Cragside had me occupied for the entire day; my camera iphone is currently suffering from an overload of visual information. What was also good about the enormity and structure of the estate was that it had you constantly walking on different surfaces (e.g. rocky, flat, sloped, grassy etc.), which was good for someone like me who was literally STUFFED with the delicious treats Cragside's cute tea room had to offer!

The food at Cragside <3

A memorable day definitely, and it was just such a beautiful place to explore and enjoy nature in. Every corner and sight I saw inspired me to come up with a new story, stories of which I would form the basis of my drawings/ fashion illustrations (i.e. my all-time hobby). My aim is to walk on every path the estate has to offer - not at once (obviously), but eventually. But for now my fellow readers, enjoy looking through the pictures of my "big day out" at Cragside. Hopefully, it'll persuade you to come roaming up north to enjoy this glorious gem.

The quirky finds at Cragside...