A Whole New World

Push - Film Review

http://www.play.com/DVD/Blu-ray/4-/9404437/Push/Product.html?searchstring=push&searchtype=BLU&searchsource=0&urlrefer=search&strefer=BLU&searchfilters=s{push}+c{57}+ae28{Blu-ray}+

Director Paul Maguire
Main cast: Chris Evans
                 Dakota Fanning
                 Camilla Belle
In the near future humans have developed special abilities, to push a thought, smell a history and draw the future among others.

The hero of the piece, Nick, (Evans) is a 2nd generation mover in hiding after The Division kill his telekinetic father.

As he hits a personal rock bottom teenage 2nd Generation Watcher Cassie (Fanning) barges into his life promising him great riches for one small job.

Anyhoo let me cut to the chase. The Division has been capturing the 'super-powered' folk and experimenting with a cocktail of drugs to make the perfect specimen. Except so far every subject has died, apart from Kira (Belle) who survives and escapes taking the drug supply with her. Setting in motion a battle between, a hard-nosed Cantonese gang, The Division and Nick and co battling for control and overall the ultimate power.

A stylish, slick, fast-moving piece with many twists and turns, which also left me with some unanswered questions.

8/10

Devil May Care

Devil Bones, by Kathy Reichs

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Devil-Bones-Kathy-Reichs/dp/0099492377

As an ardent fan of the TV series Bones (shown on Sky 1, but changing to Living in the New Year) I have read a couple of books from the Kathy Reichs back catalogue.

A swift read, it only took me about 3 evenings, it suffers from a lot of abbreviations that as a British reader left me slightly baffled.

The story was a nice straight forward tale of human bones found in a cellar, that chapter by chapter got more complicated bringing in Wicca and satanic rituals. The emergence of an old college friend, the return of her Canadian former partner Ryan and the death of a colleague mean that as ever Tempe Brennan's personal life is all over the place, leading to her falling off the diet coke and into something much stronger.

A nicely paced novel, that worked well was ruined for me by the hastened ending where it seemed to just move to a conclusion way too fast.

If you like Kathy Reichs then this is a good book for you, if you have never read her before this is not a good story to start with.

7/10 (not bad but definitely can do better)

Recipe of the Day

Butternut squash, carrot and bacon


2 onions, roughly chopped
4 large carrots, roughly chopped
1 medium butternut squash, chopped into 2cm/1" chunks
500ml chicken stock
8 rashers lean bacon, snipped up into small pieces
salt and pepper to taste


1. Put squash, carrots, onions and stock into a large saucepan. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer until the carrots are soft.

2. Blitz the veggies until smooth. Add the bacon, return to a low heat and allow to bubble until the bacon is cooked through. More water can be added at this point if required. Season well.

Serve.

I ate this on Thursday and Friday, it was divine and so silky.

Alternatively you could also cook up the bacon separately or used some sliced up smoked ham or shredded leftover gammon.

A Peach of a Murder

Peach Cobbler Murder by Joanne Fluke

This is from a fabulous series of Hannah Swensen Mystery books.

Based in the small town of Lake Eden, Minnesota bakery owner, Hannah Swensen, finds her shop The Cookie Jar in trouble after a rival store opens across the street. Hoping that the popularity of the new Magnolia Blossom Bakery is a passing fad, the southern belle owner Shawna Lee and her sister Vanessa Quinn are winding up our cook and cutting into the shop's profits one slice of Peach Cobbler at a time.

One early morning at the bakery Hannah notices that the lights are on over the road, so goes to check, finding a body in the process. Who did it? Hannah is a prime suspect, can she solve the murder and save her name and her shop too? I'm not telling.

Some fantastic recipes from the bakery are sprinkled throughout too.

9/10 - loved this cheery light book

Today's Recipe of the Day

BBQ Baked Beans - Extra Easy friendly



2 onions, roughly chopped
2 tins baked beans
200g (half tin) of chopped tomatoes
200g (ish) lean bacon, cut into bitesize pieces
2 tsp mild chilli powder
1 tsp mustard powder
5 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp wookie sauce
salt and pepper

1. In fry light soften the onion, add bacon and cook through.
2. add the spices stir well.
3. Add the baked beans, tomato, balsamic and wookie sauce stir well. Bring to boil, and reduce heat. Season well.
4. Serve.

I like mine with syn free sausages, potato wedges and homemade coleslaw.

Oops

I can't believe just how long it has been since I last posted anything!

So what have I been upto? Well it has been busy busy busy here. I have set up Princess Kitchen which is now running fairly smoothly as well as still being a charity chairperson and on the committee of another one. My 2 boys are growing up so fast it is actually getting scary now, but they are so much better for it though and more fun every day.

I have cut back on my fb life but now harbour a major twitter obsession, lets see where that leads me!

I have rejoined Slimming World too, so now and again I'll probably be posting some of my recipes that I have either made up, begged borrowed or just plain stolen and made my own! So far I'm 11.5lbs down.

I have discovered a whole community of SWorlders over on Twitter which is fab and keeps me on track. here is the link for a fab blog of SW friendly recipes http://littlemissjess91.blogspot.com/

This has been a very garbled post and exceedly badly written but I will get better with practice honest!