The Invisible City

In 2007 my brother and his then girlfriend (they are now married, don't worry!) decided that with some help from their friends they would build tree houses in Regent's Park, known as the Treehouse Gallery.  Now we all love tree houses don't we?  These ones were big enough to hold events inside, music art, recitals and workshops.  They were there for three months and it really felt like they had created a community within nature.

It was such a unique, awesome event and the great news is... they are bringing it back and this time, they need your help!  As you can see from the pictures, they sourced all of their materials for free and they created larger versions of what you and I would find in the garden but with the Invisible City they have gone further.  A lot further.  Together with an architect (who worked on the Eden Project btw) they have created some incredible structures that unfortunately cost money.

(Ed Shuster and Claudia Moseley)

The reason these structures look so great is because they are expensive.  They don't have the kind of money needed but collectively with you and me, they will.  They have set up a crowd funding page on kick-starter so that the money can be raised.  In return for giving them money, you can use their structures for a period of time (cool eh?).  So...

I need you to go on the kick-starter website https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/invisiblecity/the-invisible-city and give as much as you can.  You can help the Invisible City become a reality.

How much do you want to be in one of them for real?  How much do you want to see Bjork performing in the arena (oh yes!)? Enough to give them some of your money?

Don't forget to share this with all your friends and follow them on Facebook (Invisible City) and Twitter (@InvisibleCityUK) to see who else is going to be involved!

AND don't take my word for it, check out some articles from the Evening Standard and more:
http://now-here-this.timeout.com/2014/02/11/the-invisible-city-to-bring-gigantic-treehouses-to-regents-park/

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/500000-treehouse-project-hoping-to-take-culture-to-new-heights-9112331.html

http://www.buzzfeed.com/hollye14/artist-couple-met-up-a-tree-now-they-are-set-to-t-lhws

http://londoncalling.com/features/the-invisible-city-treehouse-pavilions-in-regents-park#37cI81iGKC4DILT5.01

Katie (a very proud sister)

The best *ahem* Rocky Road recipe

I'm not actually a huge fan of rocky road or the similar chocolate fridge cake.  Mainly because a) I don't  really like marshmallows so that rules out rocky road and b) I don't like raisins/currants and most people  put those in chocolate fridge cake.  The answer would be to make it myself and omit the marshmallow and raisins but for some reason it has never occurred to me to do that!

Anyway, anyway, anyway I was looking through Mammasaurus' blog and I saw some Rocky Road that looked so delicious I just had to make it.  Luckily I was going to visit my cousins so it was the perfect treat to take them (well it would have been if I hadn't eaten most it before I got there!).

I didn't have most of the ingredients from Mammasaurus' blog so I looked through some old cookbooks to find a suitable 'base' recipe that I could alter (mainly take out the marshmallows and raisins!). Anyway I found a recipe in the Good Housekeeping recipe which I adapted a bit, which is below.

I haven't told you the best bit about my rocky road though.  I've said that I don't like marshmallows and I wasn't lying but what I didn't tell you was that I do like melted marshmallows. In particular gooey roasted marshmallows on a stick over the fire.  I wanted to get those type of marshmallows in my Rocky Road and I did with a little of help of "Fluff".  For those of you that don't know, Fluff is marshmallow spread that has been brought over from America. It's marshmallow that is permanently melted.  IT IS HEAVEN IN A JAR. It was so hard not to eat it straight from the jar but I held off long enough to get some in the Rocky Road's.  You can buy it from most supermarkets and it's not too expensive (for a little spoonful of heaven no less!).

Anyway, anyway, here is the recipe, you should have most of the ingredients in your house already and it is a great recipe to do with the kids. I forgot to take pictures as I went along but I did make one of those instagram movie things (a really bad one mind), which you can watch at the bottom.  It' very informative (it's not).

I really hope you enjoy these as much as I did.

Katie

ps. I dare you to only be able to have one - it's really not possible!

Recipe:

125g plain chocolate

1tbsp golden syrup

125g butter/margarine

125g (chocolate) digestive biscuits

3 tbsp fluff

100g extra choclate for decorating

Method:

1. Place the chocolate, golden syrup and butter in a bowl over some boiling water. Make sure the bowl does not touch the water. 

2. Heat until the chocolate and butter has melted.

3. Place the biscuits in a freezer bag, tie/seal securely and bash to pieces (a rolling pin is useful here)

4. Add the digestive biscuits to the melted chocolate mixture and stir until incorporated.

5. Pour into a lined baking tray (roughly 20x30 but whatever you've got) and push into the corners.

6. Dollop on around 3 tablespoons of fluff over the top and stir in roughly.

7. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes.

8. Melt the remaining chocolate in a bowl over some water.

9. Once the rocky road has chilled for 30 minutes spread the melted chocolate thinly over the top.

10. Chill for at least 30 more minutes, cut up in small pieces and eat to your hearts content.

Here's the video: Instagram Why don't you follow me on Instagram too (katieshuster)?

Water photography

I have a weird obsession with water and sun.  I think together they can make some great photographs.  What with all the flooding at the moment, there is an abundance of water and as I was driving today to do some dreaded shopping with the sun glaring in my eye I noticed a river running alongside the road. I decided I had enough time so I pulled over and took some photos. I makes me really want to have a proper camera but until then my iPhone will have to do.  Maybe I can get one for my birthday!

Here are my favourites. I love the reflections and the symmetry of trees:

Guess the age...

How old do you think I am in the "About me" section of my blog

Guesses in the comments please!

Waffles

You really can't go wrong with waffles and they are so, so, so yummy.  If you are a waffle fan, then I definitely recommend that you buy a waffle iron.  It will be worth the small investment.

Anyway, I want to show you how simple they are to make.  Through doing a little bit of research I realised that the batter is the same as scotch pancake/drop scone batter (because scotch pancakes are the english equivalent of american pancakes/waffles)

I used Mary Berry's recipe (it makes 4 waffles):

Ingredients:

100g flour

25g caster sugar

1 egg

150ml milk

Instructions:

1. Place the flour and sugar in a bowl and make a well in the centre.

2.  Add the egg into the well and a little of the milk

3.  Whisk from the middle until the mixture is smooth, adding a little bit of milk if it too think to mix at all (but the less milk the better)

4. Once smooth, add the milk a little at a time.  Whisking each time.

5. Using a non-flammable pastry brush, brush on some oil onto the waffle irons.  Making sure to get into the crevices. 

6. Using a ladle, place some mixture onto the irons, making sure you can't see any visible iron.

7.  Cook the waffles for 2 mins (although it will vary depending on the iron)

8.  Cover in maple syrup (I suppose other options may work as well) and enjoy!

Katie :)