Festival Fashion

  

 

Shorts: Urban Outfitters || Bikini Top: Mandalynn Swim || Denim Shirt: Vintage from London || Boots: ASOS || Sunglasses: Ray Bans

72 Hours in St Petersburg: Part I

Did you know that you can get into St Petersburg without the dreaded process of applying for a Russian visa? Jump over to St Peter Line and book yourself in for a 3 day extravaganza of museums, sightseeing, eating and drinking in one of the most beautiful cities in the world!  That is exactly what we did. And Chewy and I were lucky enough to completely coincidentally be over there at the same time as six of our friends from Perth - the world is crazy small.

After a night time crossing of the sea from Helsinki in Finland to Mother Russia, you arrive in St Petes in the morning.  We went straight to our hostel (Cuba Hostel for those of you that are interested) to drop off our things, in the pouring rain, and then headed straight for the world famous Hermitage Museum.  It really is something else.  The sheer volume items in the Hermitage is mindblowing.  Give yourself at least 3 hours to be able to take some of it in, but don't expect to be able to see everything as we found that our brains sort of turned to rubber after a while.  It is absolutely beautiful though, and although the entry fee was a little pricey, it was definitely worth it.

 

 

The above number is a sleigh, and portrays St George slaying the dragon. Macabre, but somehow amazing, and at the very least incredible craftmanship!

 

Oh the rain on that first day, it was truly miserable.  It was cold and wet, and none of us were really prepared for this sort of weather.

Luckily for us, our friends at Tripadvisor had a killer cafe recommendation that we hunted down.  We waited approximately an hour for a table - yes, it was that popular, but boy was it worth it.  The food is all incredibly fresh, very delicious, and reasonably priced.  Oh and the apple pie is one of their most popular numbers.  I completely forgot to tell you what it was called, Zoom Cafe is what you're after.  I've given you the link to the Tripadvisor site purely because their actual website in only in Russian and I can't find the button that translates it into English, but I don't think there even is one!

I've kept the best until last - at Zoom Cafe they give you A3 sized bits of white paper and colouring pencils to draw on while you wait. Ah-mazing!

Holy Guacamole!

"I don't know what to eat today" I hear you say.  Well, stress no longer because this guacamole is not only delicious and nutritious, but can pretty much be eaten at any time of day.  Win.  Oh and it is super easy to make.  Double win.  This recipe makes enough for a decent amount of guacamole.  How big is one serving of guacamole? I don't know! Let's just go with this was enough for 4 people to have for dinner with nachos. 

Ingredients:

2 ripe avocados

60ml of fresh lime/lemon juice

2 tomatoes, de-seeded and finely chopped

1/2 onion, finely chopped

1 red chilli, finely chopped (if you leave the seeds in or not is up to you - how spicy do you like your guac?)

5 tbsp fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves, finely chopped

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp paprika

1 pinch cayenne pepper

1 pinch salt

1.  Mash all the ingredients together in a bowl with a fork.

2.  Season to taste.

3.  That's it.

Serve this up with fresh corn chips, nachos, with crudités, some freshly baked bread...whatever you like really! Just make sure you leave some coriander (cilantro) leaves to sprinkle on top before you serve it.

Enjoy!

Velvet Harem Pants & Floral Top

 

 

 

Pants from Urban Outfitters || Top from Topshop || Boots from Primark

Yummy & Healthy Vegan Summer Rolls with Two Dips

This is one of my absolutely favourite meals! I recently came up with a new sauce recipe, and got the tofu marination down pat, so had to share it with all you lovely people.

By the way, you have to excuse the incredibly small amount of peanut dipping sauce in the pictures...my family got hold of it before I got a chance to take photos.

So, this is enough to make about 8 rolls, but obviously feel free to play around with the amounts of veggies and noodles depending on your taste.

Ingredients:

Rolls

1 block extra firm tofu, drained (wrap in a paper towel for about 30 minutes to remove any extra moisture)

60ml soy sauce or mushroom soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp chilli flakes

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Olive oil for the pan

1 package cooked glass noodles (or rice noodles)

8 - 10 lettuce leaves (or kale leaves)

10 - 12 leaves of thai basil and/or coriander

1/2 cucumber 

1 carrot

1 red pepper

1 avocado

Rice paper

Peanut Sauce

2 minced garlic cloves

2 tbsp maple syrup

3 - 4 tbsp fresh lime juice

3 - 4 tbsp sriracha sauce

120ml hoisin sauce

Chilli powder, to taste

120g peanut butter

100ml water

Soy Sauce with a Twist

100ml soy sauce

100ml hoisin sauce

2 tbsp sriracha sauce

1 tsp garlic powder

Now, I know that is a mighty long list of ingredients! If you're making these just for yourself I'd recommend chopping up all your ingredients and making 2 or 3 of these depending on your hunger levels, then making the rest the next day.  Alternatively, if you're making these for lots of people just double the amount. Everyone's happy.

1.  To make the tofu, cut the drained tofy into thin slices and then pat dry with paper towels and leave for 30 minutes.  

2.  In a bowl, mix together the soy sauce, salt, sugar, sugar, chilli flakes, garlic powder, and a drizzle of olive oil.  Pop in the tofu and let is marinate for between 30 minutes and 1 hour.

3.  In a lightly oiled pan, fry the tofu until it is golden brown and slightly crispy from the outside.  Then set aside and let it cool for about 10 minutes.

4.  Cut all your veggies into thin strips.

5.  Dip your rice paper sheets into warm water (or just hold them under the tap) for a few seconds so that they become soft and pliable, then arrange your fillings in the middle.  Do this one at a time!  I like to put the lettuce leaf on the outside, pop in my carrot, cucumber, red pepper, thai basil and noodles, then roll it once so that those ingredients are covered.  Then I put 2 slices of tofu and some avocado on the rice paper and roll the rest up.  Make these as tight as possible, and don't worry if it takes a few tries for you to get them right!

6.  For the peanut sauce - blend together all the ingredients and then season to taste.  I like mine a bit spicier and so put in more chilli and sriracha sauce. Garnish with some crushed peanuts to serve.

7.  For the soy sauce with a twist - you guessed it, mix together all ingredients! Voila.

Deeeelicious!

Leopard Print Blouse & Vegan Leather Hotpants

 Not so serious.

Blouse from American Apparel || Shorts from Topshop

Boots from Primark || Necklace from Sportsgirl