spring is here!

oh i love this time of year, the weather is warming up and you don't see your breath as always in front of you... in your HOUSE!! this year, my super intense hobby is gardening!! i am propogating seeds, like a madwoman! i have corn growing, baby tomatoes, sugar snap peas, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and jalapeno peppers (so i can have a jalapeno popper)... garlic (of which you can just chuck in the ground!!) and spring onions!! and potatoes. and i am composting. they are all growing around my hostel outside the staff house. soon just after the last frost, i will put them in the ground. i am so excited. we are using horse poop as in ground fertilizer and i bought gloves.
i will let you know how things turn out.

dunedin

oh, this weekend, angela, aude and i went to dunedin, the otago university town. it was fabulous. we went to the smallest bar in the world. (maybe not the world) but it could only fit about 7 people and aude could touch both walls with her hands. we went to my new favorite restaurant. izakaya yuki which means izakaya snow!! an izakaya is a traditional japanese drinking and snack place. kinda like a spanish tapas bar. typically men used to frequent these places but then the women gots kinda crazy and started going. thank goodness cause the food in this restaurant was delish! and cheap... about 3-7 dollars per plate! we ordered a 1/2 pitcher of beer and shochu (rice vodka) cocktail. i never wanted to leave.

the asian in dunedin

ok, so i am not talking about myself, but rather another fabulous restaurant in dunedin. the asian. recommended by a couple german longtermers, they said it was actually the cheapest and most delicious. i concur. we went there and it was filled with lots and lots of asian families and uni students. i think of my favorite thing, was the deep fried milk. don't ask me how they do it, but it was like a marshmallow-y consistency in panko type crust. delicious. i think there was a hint of coconut milk. and it was just warm from the deep fryer.
here's a recipe from "angie's recipes"

* 50 g Cornstarch
* 250 ml Milk
* 20 g Granulated Sugar

Batter:

* 75 ml Water
* 100 g Flour
* 1/5 tsp Salt
* 1 tsp Baking powder

1. Mix granulated sugar, and cornstarch in a saucepan. Gradually stir in milk. Heat to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute; remove from heat. Spread evenly in ungreased square dish. Refrigerate uncovered at least 3 hours until firm.
2. To prepare the batter, you mix water, flour and salt first and add baking powder at the time you start frying the milk.
3. Heat oil to 180C/355F, fry 2 or 3 squares at a time in oil 1 to 2 minutes or until light brown; drain on paper towels. Dripping with some vanilla syrup or sprinkle with powdered sugar.

try it. it is worth it.
xx