Xmas Break!

I am taking a pre-Christmas blogging break because I am going skiing in the French Alps for a week!! I will post next on the 22nd December and the 28th December to make up for my absence. I've already got some festive ideas of what I'm going to post about so keep your eyes out on those days. I will of course link them onto Facebook and Twitter.
Merry Christmas to All!!! 

How to MAKE THE MOST of university

Originally on The Ripple

I recently realised that a LOT of the useful and interesting things I've done in the last three years have been part of university life. You could easily argue that that's because where I've been for the last three years but in actual fact we spend a much higher percentage of the year at home than we do an university. I came to Leicester exactly two years and three months ago (I've been saying three years because I'm in third year but I guess it's not entirely accurate) where the closest thing I had work experience was being a college prefect.

In six months time I'll be leaving with a full CV, loads of experience, memories and friends. It's not because I'm lucky or just amazing or anything like that - it's just because when someone says, for example, "Are you interested in joining Ladies Hockey?" I said yes! I never understand why people don't do the same. Someone gives you the opportunity to do something great, to make new friends, learn new skills, and some people just let this pass them by! My question is why? What have you got to lose?

I'm not trying to sell Leicester university to anyone or convince people to join Ladies Hockey (most definitely the best club in the world), I'm just trying to say why not doing something a bit different? Try out something new?

I decided to write a 'listicle' (list+article, something The Ripple president has been talking about a lot. Here's a link if you're interested to learn a bit more about it: http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/aug/12/5-ways-listicle-changing-journalism).

So here are my 10 TOP TIPS to MAKE THE MOST of university:

1. Join as many societies as you can squeeze in - make sure there is a crazy one too like the Curry Society my housemates and I joined in first year.

2. Similarly, join a sports team! I really really feel strongly about this one. It doesn't matter if you have absolutely no coordination at all, it's a great way to meet new people, do some exercise and find people to go out with. Almost all university sports teams have socials and they are just the best! Whether you drink alcohol or not they are so much fun and can range from a Nandos night to full-on pub golf. Ladies Hockey is the one thing I would never give up. To copy Nike, Just do it!

3. Go to lectures and seminars. BORING right? Well that's what you're paying for isn't it? So you might as well go, pass the course, learn some new stuff and there's always a good bit of people watching available if you sit near the back.

4. Try to remember the names of EVERY person you meet. Okay, this sounds completely unrealistic, and for some people impossible, but it can really help you out. You never know when you might need the help of that person you meet in ASDA during Freshers' - they may even turn out to be on your course!?

5. Work in the library. Right this sounds obvious yes? But the amount of people who are either doing absolutely no work whatsoever and insist on talking in the silent zone, and there are also people who manage to go their whole university time without sitting down in the library. I think it's a good idea to keep work and fun separate, that way you'll get your work done faster and better and have more time for fun later. Also the library has free heating and WiFi! You'd be stupid not to make the most of the fact you can sit in vest at a clean desk for as long as you want without anyone stopping you (hopefully).

6. Visit the careers people. Most universities have a careers department and I'll admit I was pretty sceptical after my first appointment with an unhelpful lady who refused to look at my CV even though I'd spent hours on it because I hadn't filled in the prep sheet. But I went again this week, trying a different guy (Philip Williams - I'd recommend him), and he was really nice, gave me a couple of tips and just made me feel a bit more confident about what I did have. It's their job to help you get a job, you'd be foolish not to listen to their advice when it's free.

7. Do some volunteering. Even if it's just one day and it doesn't seem that fun, it's worth it. It looks really good on your CV and if like me you never had a job before university, it's a great place to start. There are a lots of opportunities out there, surely one to suit everyone.

8. Write something. This will probably sound like a plug but writing for a student newspaper or even your own blog is a really good way of showing employers that you have your own interest and opinions, and you're not some student robot. (It's a bit odd telling people to blog in my blog but you know what I mean!)

9. Sleep less. There are 24 hours is a day. You don't need more than six hours of sleep to function properly and naps are always an option. If you train your body to accept six then it won't know any different. This way you have more time to do things you actually want to do - like watch The Great British Bake Off!

10. Enjoy it! Simple enough. I don't seen any point in choosing to do things if you or someone/thing you care about doesn't get anything out of it. Surely it's just a waste of time then?

If you're like me, you're reading this and you only have six months left, then don't worry! You can still do most of these things before you leave. Just start now. Right now!

BIG thanks to everyone who keeps reading this! They bring me through my Thursdays!

Who Likes Cake?

In the last year my friends have realised that I like to bake. I'm not saying I should be on The Great British Bake Off or anything - although that would be awesome!! I'm just saying I like try to do something a bit more exciting when I make a cake. I'd like to prove the misconception wrong, that student actually can cook! Here are a collection of some of the ones I've made this year (all in a student kitchen with no electric mixers). They're not as good as the ones on Cake Boss (such an amazing TV show) but I think they were enough of definitely a challenge!

Going in time order, one of my closest friends, Beth, decided she would make her first ever cake as a birthday present to me. Although I rather ungratefully called it a Hagrid cake (it looks remarkably similar to the one Harry Potter gets in The Philosopher's Stone) it's tasted pretty good and I ate a fair amount of it for breakfast for about a week.

So I in return promised to make Beth a cake for her birthday. I know that she's a big fan of animals and especially horses so I decided I would try and make her a horse shaped cake. I watched a couple of YouTube videos and then just went for it. 

One video I watched suggested drawing around a picture of a horse and creating a shape guide on baking paper which I could then secure on the top of the cake with pins and carve around. I thought this was a clever idea as there is no way I could freehand cut a cake into a horse shape. 

For the icing I did two layers of crumb coating (basically buttercream used to make the cake surface smooth and without crumbs) and then used shop-bought roll-out icing. Since making the cake I found out that to colour roll-out icing you should use a colour paste rather than liquid food colouring as it makes the colour much more intense. For the mane I used a weird cheese grater contraption that my mum had bought me, very similar to a playdough machine. Overall, I was pretty happy with this cake, although as my first time with roll-out icing, it was very stressful. 

Following on from this, another friend, Harriet, asked me to make her a birthday cake. For this is resorted to a trusty favourite of mine, which I made similarly for my own 18th birthday, a princess cake. 

The crumb coating for this is particularly important as you don't want crumbs in the outer layer of the skirt. You also need to cling film your doll and make a hole for her to stand up in. For this I used a cup. I pushed down in the centre, went through the 4 layers of cake, twisted and pulled out the centre pieces.

The icing for this is entirely buttercream and a tip I learnt to make the surface extra smooth is to use a strip of paper and run it over the cake , drawing upwards and taking off the excess icing. To finish, decorate the skirt and make a top with an unusual nozzle in your piping bag (preferably with a different colour icing). 

Another of my closest friends, Charly, had her 21st birthday this September so I decided to make her a cake too. I had a couple of ideas, perhaps a hockey playing top with her number on the back, but I decided on something involving her as an image. My initial plan was to make her whole head out of cake, but I quickly realised that this might be a bit too difficult and so instead I ended up making a rectangular cake with her face made out of icing. This was my return to roll-out icing! But with the right colouring this time it was a lots quicker in that respect, but the size and hand moulding made it pretty hard work. 

I also decided this time to change my cake to passion fruit flavour rather than plain sponge. This was tricky as passion fruit isn't a particularly strong flavoured fruit and can be pricey! I went for adding tropical juice to the mixture as well in the hope to get an more exotic flavour. Edible glitter on top was just a final touch to make it look a bit more special.

Like I said at the start, I am no cake making expert like Mary Berry. I just enjoy taking on the challenge of something new and unusual. If you want to know how exactly to make any of these cakes you can either contact me samanthablundell007@gmail.com or watch a some videos on the internet. All I've learnt from cake making has come from watching YouTude videos, taking hints and tips from frequent cakes makers and through my own trial and error. Why not watch some videos yourself and give cake making a try? It doesn't have to be someone's birthday! It can just be for you!