Rock Solid Race

Some may think I'm mad for doing this, but truly I am. On the afternoon of Saturday the 16th of March, God chose to show us all his might by sending us hail, rain, snow, sun, clouds, and eventually a rainbow on the day that 6 friends and I decided that we would embrace nature and all it can throw at us by completely a 5k obstacle course (which turned out to be more of a mud-fest) or in other words, The Rock Solid Race.

This man-made obstacle course is made up of either 25 obstacles for the 5k dash or 37 for the 10k race, and is a race which is very team-focused. You are required to help your team mates over the pyramid walls, through the ice bath and over the rope climbing frame, and your individual chip timer will show you later how well you did as a team. Honestly, as painful as it was getting my hair stuck in barbed wire whilst I was nearly drowning in thick mud, I had such a blast!

So with a spare change of clothes, towel and fancy dress gear in hand, we headed off to Escot Park in Devon where we waited in anticipation for our race wave at 2.20pm. Before this, I could never say that I had waded neck deep in boggy water, nor could I have said that I had jumped over 6 consecutive hay bails whilst the worst of all hail storms was quite literally spearing my face, but now I can!

Before the race, we were treated to an intense but incredibly funny warm up session run by the South West Armed Forces. To get us used to how muddy the course would actually be, we were doing push ups, sit ups and rolling around in the mud (quite literally stuck in the mud) to boost ourselves up for the tough course ahead of us, which definitely got us all in the mood!

And this was probably a very good idea. Although I live in the countryside, and love a good knee-deep muddy welly this was something totally different. It was genuinely like running through mud lava. At points we were required to crawl through tunnels in water, run through fast flowing rivers, slide down into a lake and even jump over (what was supposed to be) a bonfire, but was more like a couple of flaming cinders. (However, we'll just say it's a bonfire so it sounds more hardcore).

Overall, a cracking experience and one that I will definitely do again- although next time hopefully we will be lucky enough to have some sunshine, as after submerging your head in an ice bath it would've been nice for you to at least catch some rays.

If you want to find out more check out the website, which tells you all about each individual race and the obstacles you will be facing next year! Although it was quite pricey, I would definitely say that it was an experience and such a challenging but exciting thing to do with a good group of friends. Even better, Rock Solid nominate a charity partner for each year, Help for Heroes being this years chosen charity. So get signing up boys and girls in anticipation for next year!! If you go to Exeter as well, check out Rock Solid Circuits which is an evening circuits session held at the University Sports Centre which will get you geared up for the challenges that lie ahead in the actual race!!

Good Luck!

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Smoked Mackerel Pâté

I absolutely love Pâté and I adore fish (especially fishy-fish). So for me this is an ideal lunch. This may not seem as smooth as you might consider Pâté to normally be, but I promise you it's just as delicious. As well as being unbelievably easy to make (I challenge you to take longer than 5 minutes to make it) Mackerel Pâté is bursting with Omega-3 oils, is a high source of protein and fills you up for the rest of the day. 

Serves 4

2 Packets (400g) of Smoked Cooked Mackerel

100g Soft Cheese

Pepper

Squeeze of Lemon

Tear off the skin of the Mackerel strips underneath, break it up into small pieces, put it in a bowl and scoop in a big tablespoon of soft cheese. Mash it up with a fork until it's smoother and you don't have big chunks of Mackerel, add a squeeze of lemon, lots of pepper and ta-dah! You're done.

Perfect served on some ciabatta rolls or rye bread. 

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Homemade Wedding Favours

Sloe Gin: This is a perfect party favour for those who want to embrace the fruity side of Spring with a fun twist of gin. Although horrible to taste straight from the branch, these delightful little sloes make a deliciously sweet but rather strong alcoholic beverage- Quite perfect for sipping on a late Spring evening. Although you could potentially brew the sloes for as long as you like (if you're patient apparently the best time is 18 years!), the best time would be to pick them in winter (around October) in preparation for your Spring date.

Recipe: 

500g Dried Sloes
250g Sugar
1 litre of Gin

Carefully prick the sloes with a fork, and put them in a very very large sealable jar. Pour over the sugar and gin, close the lid and shake (but not too vigorously), every day until the sugar has dissolved. Store in a dark cupboard until you're ready to strain out the sloes using a muslin cloth. From this point you are ready to pour your concoction into smaller jars for your guests. Create a sticker using you and your partner's initials adding bows, lace etc. for that extra special effect.

Limoncello: This Italian lemon- flavoured liqueur will truly set your wedding apart from the rest. It is often served as an aperitif and has a rather sharp bite to it although is definitely a guaranteed party starter.

Recipe:

1l Everclear
1l Vodka
20 Lemons
900g Caster Sugar

Pour the bottle of Everclear and the bottle of vodka into a very large glass jar. Zest all of the lemons (trying to avoid any of the pith) into the mixture. Stir Gently. Cover the large jar tightly and store in a cool, dark place, for between 7-35 days, stirring your mixture at least once a week. Gently stir the lemon peels, pick one out and check how flexible it is. If the peel breaks, move onto the next phase.

Mix the Sugar and tap water in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Boil for 5 minutes. This will be your syrup. When cooled, add the syrup to the lemon mixture. The more syrup you add, the lower the overall alcohol content will be and you'll end up with a more syrup-like consistency to your final product. Stir everything together well, returning the mixture once again to a cool, dry place for up to 35 days, stirring the mixture once a week.

The mixture should appear bright yellow, in which case it is time to bottle these little bad boys up! The best jars I think are the flip-top 80ml clear glass bottles as they're the perfect size for wedding favours and they add that rustic effect although cork bottles are also great like the ones pictured below.

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Josh Kumra at Louisiana

So I'm cheating a little bit here. This was not in fact a weekend treat but rather a mid-week Wednesday night treat followed by a whole weekend at home which was just perfect!

Adam and I had been looking forward to this for such a long time as we are massive fans of Josh Kumra after we saw him for the first time at Oceanfest in June last year. Ever since then we have all his songs on repeat and obviously know all the lyrics!

I wasn't aware that the venue that he was playing at- The Louisiana is in fact a musical hub and bands such as Kasabian, Kings of Leon as well as artists such as Amy Winehouse and Florence and the Machine have all played here in their time. It's a quaint little pub with a very small stage upstairs as well as a bar and is perfectly suited to such music as Josh's.

We were treated first to one of his hand picked supporting acts, George Ezra who was such a pleasant surprise. He has such an effortlessly strong and mature voice which is surprising from someone his age. Originally from Bristol and inspired by blues artists such as Woody Guthrie and eventually the likes of Bob Dylan, Ezra is definitely one to watch for the future.

Have a look at this youtube clip of his song Blame it on me which was for sure my favourite of all his songs he played on Wednesday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWj2Ws4ewuA

Josh's second supporting act Arlissa is another one to watch. Often compared to Florence Welch and Kate Bush for her willowy voice, this girl is set to become a star of 2013. You've probably already heard her single collaborated with Nas Hard to Love Somebody and already she's got her new single out Sticks and Stones.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSg2lTpmlMI

Finally it was Josh's turn. Honestly one of my favourite artists at the moment, his music is just fantastic. Such a friendly and down to earth guy who writes the most heart-warming lyrics accompanied by beautiful guitar playing. From the beginning of his set Josh teases, a lot of people are only there to listen to the only song they know: his celebrated collaboration with Wretch 32 Don't go. However, I don't undersand how people haven't ventured further into his music history than just this one track.
I cannot say that there is one song of his which I dislike. I was especially pleased when he played his last song The Answer, which from the moment I first heard it last year has been most played song on my ipod, and is one which is always close to my heart. It is due to be his next single released.

Have a listen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4NHEaZtgaE

If you're keen to go and visit The Louisiana anytime soon I would highly recommend checking out Marika Hackman who I saw in Exeter, supporting Benjamin Francis Leftwich. I reckon she's the one to bring folk music back on the scene in 2013. Tickets are only £6 in advance.


Here's the link for more details

http://thelouisiana.net/2010/view/events/

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