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Love getting gifts through the post, even when - as was the case this time - they're from myself. My book arrived and I'm already excited, just looking at the front cover! I'm yet delve in but already I agree with The Economist...

Matt & Rach's 28 Minute Meals

So a little while ago my sister and I made one of Jamie Oliver's '30 minute meals'. I was super excited to put his timings to the test but my sister assured me it was impossible to actually cook a meal in thirty, and sure enough it took us an hour. I like a challenge though so I decided to put Jamie's outrageous claims to the test.  Killer jerk chicken with rice, beans, corn on the cob and a salad was the meal chosen (find it here) and I invited my friend Rach over to give me a hand. If Jamie could do it in the thirty with two hands, I was confident of a result between the four that we had between us.

We did have great fun rushing around the kitchen in a worked-up frenzy but unfortunately we clocked in at 36 minutes. Gutted. However, now we know the recipe I reckon we've got him next time. Give us a little time to practice and we'll be releasing the best seller, 'Matt & Rach's 28 Minute Meals'. Come on!

I have to say the food was very nice - serious killer jerk. I also just spontanes decided to make a raspberry slushie as well - that was fun. Overall, some great kitchen fun, get on it. If anyone does one in thirty let me know!

bicycles.

I've been so excited about bikes recently - Bej and I are thinking about setting up our own refurbished bike business and I'm excited about the potential of doing a massive adventure cycle trip. People I've spoken to say it's impossible to cycle from Cairo to Cape Town but this guy did it, so take that. All over it. Would love to go from Bath to Cape Town (Cairo to Cape Town has a slightly better ring to it!) - would be an absolute dream. Exciting times. A friend of mine's currently trekking (and when I say trekking I mean cycling) from Nantes to Budapest. Do follow him on his epic journey. Itching to hit the road. 

Sneaky Sneaky Shelf

Today I decided that my collection of old diaries needed to be re-housed so I thought it'd be nice to make them a shelf of their own. No ordinary shelf however; a sneaky sneaky invisible one! I saw this on the internet a few weeks back and have had a little fun with it since. Here's how it's done;

Ingredients:

1 medium sized bracket, 1 unwanted book, 4 or 5 screws, super glue, utility knife, tape measure.

1. Choose an old book you don't want anymore. All my diaries look the same so for the sake of consistency, I bought two more of them and glued them together, to add a little stability.

2. Next, open it up to the back cover and mark out a space for the bracket to go in the very middle of the very last page.

3. Use a utility knife to hollow out your markings so that the bracket will sit flat and the book can shut properly. Also hollow out the side of the book so that the book will be able to sit flush against the wall. 

4. Screw the bracket into the book, and put a screw through the pages either side of the bracket to keep them from flapping around.  

The pages will try to ride up the screw as you put it in so don't rush it and try to prevent it looking something like this: 

5. Glue the back page to the back cover with super glue. 

6. Pile some books on top and leave to dry. (Federer kissing his guns in the background is optional)

7. Screw to the wall. 

And voila! How does that look? Have fun trying it out... 

Roman Road.

Great explanation of the gospel from my friend's blog...

http://joshfox.org.uk/roman-road/

Banoffee Banter

I know some of you might consider it girly to bake and doubly so to then go and blog about it but I don't really care... had a great time today baking with my wonderful sister. The best banana cupcakes with toffee and chocolate icing you've ever tasted! #summerholidays #rainydays #pleasekeephashtagsfortwitter.

Pied Piper

So I recently read John Piper's 'Desiring God' and I can say, quite literally (muppet); it rocked my world. Here's a quote that I thought was particularly excellent;


'Love is the overflow of joy - in God! It is not duty for duty's sake or right for right's sake. It is not a resolute abandoning of one's own good with a view solely to the good of the other person. It is first a deeply satisfying experience of the fullness of God's grace, and then the doubly satisfying experience of sharing that grace with another person.'


Keep on the lookout for a full book review coming soon!