72 Hours in St Petersburg: Part II

Our second day in St Petersburg was a gloriously sun drenched one, and we enjoyed every minute of it.  Being great little tourists we embarked on a free tour, led by the loveliest girl, and it was absolutely worth every minute of it.  Details of the tour can be found here.  Having visited The Hermitage the day before, we embarked on a veritable feast of sights today including one of my favourites - the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood, as well as the Palace Square, Peter and Paul Fortress, and the Nevsky Prospect just to name a few.  The list is endless and there are hundreds of things to see in St Petes.

So without further ado here are the photos!

Above is our lovely tour guide! And below follow six photos of the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood, I went a bit snap happy because it was one of the most incredible churches I've ever seen hands down.

And below I'll leave you with the entrance to our lovely hostel (details here). Looking very Soviet, and not exactly welcoming. I for one accidentally walked past this door on several occasions whilst trying to make it home.

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!

Leopard Print Blouse & Vegan Leather Hotpants

 Not so serious.

Blouse from American Apparel || Shorts from Topshop

Boots from Primark || Necklace from Sportsgirl

Devilishly Tasty Vegan Peanut Butter & Choc Chip Cookies

YUM!

These bad boys are the perfect combination of gooey on the inside and crunchy on the outside. I made these the other day, and they were demolished in no time at all by the rest of my family.  Oh and did I mention that they are incredibly easy to make?

This recipe makes about 20 medium sized cookies.

Ingredients:

180g peanut butter

80g margarine

180g brown sugar

120ml unsweetened almond milk

1/2tsp vanilla extract

1/4tsp salt

1tsp baking powder

240g plain flour

120g vegan chocolate chips (I used more)

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F/180°C.

2. In a nice, big bowl whip up your peanut butter with the sugar and margarine, and then add your vanilla extract and the almond milk.  Mix it all up together until you have a creamy mixture.

3. Pop in the baking powder and then sift in the flour. Add in your pinch of salt and mix it all up.

4.  Lastly, fold in the chocolate chips. Use as many as you want!

5.  Place a piece of baking paper on a tray so that your delicious cookies don't stick. Roll your mixture into little balls, using approximately a tablespoon sized dollop each time.

6.  Stick the bad boys in the oven for about 10 minutes.

7.  Take them out, and using a fork push down on each cookie until its flat. Then put them back in the oven for another 2-3 minutes.

8.  Remove them from the baking tray and place them on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes.

9.  Voila!

These cookies make the perfection addition to basically everything from office treat days to birthdays to afternoon tea to a midnight snack to a cup of tea and a biscuit with friends.  You get the picture.

Enjoy! (And let me know of any tweaks you come up with to make them more delicious!)