Cake Up Your Mug

It took me a while to come up with this blog title, it's not even that great but because I don't want to waste it I'm going to explain it - though I am sure you are all understood it's layered meaning ;)

1. It's a cake in a mug so you are literally caking up your mug.
2. Mug can refer to your face and unless your planning on giving it to someone else (highly doubtful - it is delish) you'll be caking up your mug (face) as well.

This is the result of studying English Language for two years at college, I have a greater appreciation for language and its potential so I try to exploit it as often as I can.

But you're not here to hear me, but to have the recipe!

I was feeling peckish so I just typed in on the internet "cake in a mug recipes" my sister has made quite a few before and they didn't look that difficult. Results in seconds.

I chose this one: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2405644/microwave-mug-cake. It's very simple and quick.

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons self raising flour
• 4 tablespoons caster sugar (any kind)
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 3 tablespoons oil (vegetable/sunflower)
• 2-3 drops vanilla essence (any flavour you want really)
• 2 tablespoons chocolate chips

I didn't have all the ingredients, the ones in bold are the ones you really need - the other are extras and not necessary for the cake!

Method:

1. Choose a pretty big mug - mine was one of those low but really wide ones and it filled it completely. Probably you don't want the mixture to come up more than half of a regular sized mug. It will explode in the microwave otherwise.

2. Put the flour, sugar and cocoa in the mug and mix together.

3. Now add the egg. Mix it into the dry ingredients - there isn't enough to get the whole mixture wet so don't worry just stir as much as you can - it will become a little stiff.

4. Add the milk and mix it in - stir well make sure all the dry ingredients are covered and the flour and cocoa lumps are gone.

5. Add the oil (I thought 3 tablespoons was a bit much so I just put 2 in and it turned out okay). Stir well and make sure the mixture is all stirred together.

6. At this point add any flavourings and the chocolate chips if you want them. Mix them in well.

7. Put your mug in the microwave. It takes between 3-5 minutes depending on how well cooked you want it. It will rise pretty fast.*

8. I poured cream on mine, tastes even nicer but that's your choice!

*I put mine in for four minutes but the middle was a little dry - I would say stick it in for three pull it out and check it with a spoon down the middle. If it is too sticky put it back in for another 30 seconds - a minute.

1/10 of the term complete in a week.

Wow, so strange the first week of university is over. I feel like it is going to go a lot faster now!

Today I only had one lecture which was about the myths surrounding the foundation of Rome. After that I came back home and tidied up all my university files on my google drive. Made sure everything was under the right heading, downloaded the corresponding powerpoints from blackboard.

This week has been fun. On Tuesday we have film for an hour and we watched a documentary called 'First Contact' and it was about the first time people from Papa New Guinea had seen white people. It was really interesting and I think each week we will watch another episode of it concerning different sets of indigenous people encountering westerners. One thing that made me think was why when other "primitive" tribes and people see "white men" they often perceive them to be spirits or gods or something special, whereas when the situation is reversed we only seem to perceive them as primitive and beneath us. Every time it seems to be that perception.

Wednesday was great I started Latin we learnt about the alphabet and pronunciation - did you know that Caesar should actually be pronounced Kaiser not See-sar? Some cool stuff, then on Thursday we learnt about declensions of nouns and conjugations of verbs. It seems pretty regularised, not many irregularities which is good. It was my landlords birthday on Wednesday and I went over to his family's house for the birthday tea which was nice. One of his sons ate a ghost chilli to see what would happen it looked painful and I wouldn't recommend it. Afterwards he dropped me and one of his sons off for institute alongside a friend. It was fun, they do two classes in Leicester the first one was on time management and then the second was on the Doctrine and Covenants. They got me to stand up and introduce myself because I was new, a few of the adults knew who I was by my surname but I didn't really know anyone. I talked to a couple of people though and they all seemed really nice so I'm looking forward to going back next week. Afterwards they went to play table tennis cricket which looked like an interesting game.

Thursday was in for two hours I had my other Latin seminar and then a lecture on Roman History which was just to introduce it and give us some ideas to think about. Then in the evening I walked round to my uncle and aunt's house (5 minute walk away) who were having a farewell thing for my Australian relatives who were returning to Australia this Saturday so it was great to see them all again! My two little cousins are really sweet, one of them, Zak, after learning mine and Hannah's names kept repeating them which was cute - although mine started to sound like gorilla a bit by the end!

I can't remember which day but, I went into town with the intention of buying some boots because I was sick of having soggy feet due to all the rain and my possessing only canvas shoes - not really the best thing for winter. I had a look around all the high street shops first but boots are actually quite expensive for what they are plus they weren't that amazing quality so I didn't feel like paying that much for them. So I paid a visit to Clarks instead. I should have gone there first they had loads of really nice ones, which although expensive I didn't mind paying for because they were good quality. I tried a few on and decided on the Orinoco brown snuff in a size 3 - I have tiny feet! Only issue was the standards felt a little tight over my foot but they didn't have any wide fit in store so I had to order them to my house. Did so and they arrived today :) They are still snug but I have a little more room so the wide fit was definitely a better choice and I am looking forward now to a day when it will rain so I can test them out!

Today I looked in the fridge and found a bunch of stuff past its sell by date oops, I need to keep on top of it more. I organised all my food and made of shopping list of what I need to get tomorrow so I can get back on track and not waste anymore food. I felt awful throwing it away and that is my lesson learned.

I'm looking forward to next week for university actually I'm just looking forward to the upcoming weeks. So much stuff is going to happen! So much cool stuff. I'll get to see so many people again, several of whom I haven't seen for a ridiculously long time! I'm so excited to be back visiting home in a couple of weeks. But in the meantime may I continue to keep on top of my work. So far all is good.

The Weekend

So as I predicted I didn't do much. I feel like such a layabout but I did sleep in until noon. Oops that will probably never happened again although in my defence, it was a late night Friday and it was raining when I woke up so I think I was better of asleep anyway.

Stuck a load of washing on as after tidying my room I did discover I had enough to do one. Then hung it all up to dry on the airers in my room. Updated all my accounts and stuff, very important (but boring) I never ever want to go into my overdraft. Too risky and I am already piling up debt through going to uni I do not want to add anymore to it.

Rain sort of kept me indoors, although I had bought an umbrella the day before so technically I could have done. But, you know when you have the option to go out in the rain or stay inside dry...I stayed inside dry.

Brought my pillow and fleece downstairs with my laptop and dvd's and camped out on the sofa for the day. First watched The Tourist, I had seen it in Italy but in Italian so I thought I'd see the English version as it happens it made it a lot easier to follow the plot, understandably. I really like that movie, Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie make a good lead couple and the whole plot is entertaining. Only issue about twenty minutes before the end it started freaking out and not playing properly so I think I will take it back to the shop and get them to swap it for me! After that I watched Bridal Wars, again another entertaining one but not one I think I will watch again, it wasn't amazing.

I actually cannot remember what I did after that, I think sort out my washing and ironed it. Cooked some food, oh yeah I had the leftover pasta onion thing. I heated it up slowly so the onion had time to no longer be raw by the time I got round to eating it. Although saying that I think the pasta was thursday because yesterday I am positive I had tinned soup and bread. Foggy memory.

So for you guys reading this post that don't go to my church twice a year we get addressed by our world leaders in something called a conference. We get given talks on topics that have been highlighted as important for us to know more about or that should be re-emphasised. I love it because I always hear a message that's personal for me. Because it is broadcast from America we usually have to wait for the videos to be put online, but because I am now staying in a house with a television license it means I could watch it live. So 5-7pm saturday night I watched America's saturday morning session. It was really interesting and uplifting. One thing I thought was amazing was when the Prophet Thomas S Monson said there were more than 88,000 missionaries operating worldwide! It's such a huge number!

One talk I found particularly good was by Elder Lynn G Robbins, where he asked the question: Which way do we face? Do we represent God to the people, or do we represent the people to God? Are we willing to do what God wants us to do and stick to our standards even though the world doesn't like it or are we more scared and concerned about what our friends and associates will think of us to do the things we believe in and know to be true? Another good point was when Dieter F Utchdorf said that a trait of humanity is to assume we are right even when we are wrong. We have to recognise that we don't always act in an appropriate way and stop being stubborn.

So that was Saturday. Sunday I was invited to dinner at the family of my landlord's house which was lovely. They had a nice big cooked dinner with lamb and potatoes and vegetables with peach crumble for dessert it was great. Afterwards we watching another conference session the Saturday Afternoon Session. It was another good one. My favourite talk from it was by Elder Jörg Klebingat. He asked many poignant and thought provoking questions. Can we say in ourselves that God is happy with us? How would we feel if we had an interview with Jesus today? Happy or extremely nervous? He advised us not to let the adversary chip away at our souls and self confidence. And that the decision to change is ours alone. He then offered six ways that we can increase our self confidence to become better members of the church and better people. 1. Take responsibility for our own spiritual well-being, the Lord knows how hard we are or are not trying to become perfect and good people, we should try to be as good as we can within our own spheres of life. 2. Take responsibility for our own physical well-being, if we are not happy with ourselves we cannot be happy in ourselves. Body and soul are joined if we feel unhappy in one we can't be happy in the other. 3. Embrace voluntary whole hearted obedience, we cannot love God without loving his commandments. And casualness in spiritual matters will not bring us happiness. 4. Become good at repenting thoroughly and quickly. Embrace the atonement and apply it daily and establish ongoing happy repentance. 5. Become really good at forgiving others. As we make mistakes so will they and we cannot ask for forgiveness from God if we do not forgive those who ask for our forgiveness. Don't hold grudges against people or be easily offended but uplift others always. 6. Accept trials, setbacks and the surprises in our lives. We are all here to be tested, why should we not have trials if everyone else is? Some trials come through disobedience or negligence but they are not a punishment only a time to prove ourselves. They are there to make us stronger. We should acknowledge and face our weaknesses and try to repair them but not to become immobilised by them.  

I thought that was the best talk I'd heard all of conference and when it becomes available online I want to print it out and keep a copy because it will remind me of what I can do to dissipate the discouraging voices of the adversary and restore peaceful assurance and spiritual confidence. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865612418/Elder-Jorg-Klebingat-Approaching-the-throne-of-God-with-confidence.html

After that I got dropped back home and I watched the Sunday Morning Session of Conference 5-7pm English time but America's morning. It was another good one. It talked about how we should build up our relationship with God so we can receive personal revelation. Also how we can be more active in sustaining our Prophet. The last talk of this session was by the Prophet. He did a wonderful talk "decisions determine destiny". Our purpose on earth was to have a body and be separated from our Heavenly parents so we can have the same experiences they had and learn to choose well. Our decisions don't just determine where we will go on earth but for eternity. We are given the tools we need to get back. We have to walk as Jesus walked. Emulate Him. He is the light to guide us home. By following Him we can gain eternal life but we have to work. Only He can lead us safely home.

The last session Sunday Afternoon is showing 9-11pm but as I have a lecture at 9am tomorrow morning I think I will have to catch it later in the week when they put it on the website. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2014/10?lang=eng

All in all it was a very uplifting day, which is what I needed after freaking out on the telephone this morning to my mum. Panicking over whether university is the right decision...again. New stuff is hard, but it's something I can work through.