1. Being a university student requires dedication! You can’t just rock up and expect to be able to get top marks; you need to read! By read I mean pretend to read, then cram a week before the exam by using Wikipedia and other various ‘legit’ sources. Practice leaving essays off until the last moment then writing them in an hour. This is a vital skill.
   In all seriousness though, try to find books that minimize the other reading you might have to do. If you have one book on Marx, and another book on Weber, why not get just the one on ‘The Founding Fathers of Sociology’, then boost the knowledge with the free (your new favorite word) resources of the library?
2. You have to have an appreciation for alcohol. Are you willing to do a midnight run down to the local store to grab a bottle of Vodka for your dorm? If not, don’t worry; you’re sober and have to stay behind to make sure they don’t set the house on fire anyway!
   Know your limit and also know how to maximize the potential of a single bottle. Two words: Jelly Shots.
3. Think keeping a diary is old school? Invest in a phone that has email push functions; you never have to check your emails again, and this can be a life saver when your lecturer decides to cancel their lecture twenty minutes ahead of schedule. If it’s a smartphone then you can also sync your calender with the university’s. Oh, the emails about ‘first come first serve specials’ also suddenly become a lot more relevant to you as well.
4. Get yourself a thermos. This means that you can bring your (still hot) coffee into the lecturer theatre with you without stinking the whole place out. Your friends, and other coffee-deprived individuals will thank you. You could also save some money with this method since some coffee shops will give you a discount if you bring your own thermos. We’re looking at you, Starbucks.
5. If you’re going to a catered university then cooking isn’t important. However, if you aren’t then don’t think you can just live off take-aways (EXPENSIVE!), frozen meals and instant noodles. Think using one day to cook yourself enough portions for the week then zapping them in the microwave. Think tinned ingredients so you don’t have to buy fresh and watch them wither. Think a bag of frozen vegetables to ensure you get enough fiber for the day!

For more information, keep an eye out for a future infograph!

1. Accumulate less than 5 boxes to put in storage at the end of the year.
2. Don’t dunk new phone in water.
3. Don’t kill the tulips.
4. Learn to use a normal can-opener.

They say set resolutions that you can realistically achieve, so I’ve done exactly that. Well, number 4 is a bit tricky, but I have the support of my flatmates! It was set (post-new years) after I broke the one at dad’s house trying to open a tin and proceeded to spend an hour with a hammer and chisel to open the can before dad got home and found out I as trying to consume an entire Golden Syrup Pudding by myself.

Number 1 is quickly diminishing with my wild dreams of acquiring more furniture for the flat and my room. I figured that I might as well; comfort is where the home is!

Number 2 might be a bit difficult as well since the last few phones I’ve had have already been christened. The second-to-last phone was chosen especially for its sealed-in keyboard which meant that less water could get in!

Number 3 oughtn’t be too hard, but I’m doubtful due to their fading once-lustrous green colour.

That’s nearly all the resolutions too hard. Perhaps I ought to change them? Oh, I forgot one: Be Less Negative.

The last time I used a toastie maker was over ten years ago, back then you had to wait ages for the plates to heat up. This time, I plugged it in and was leisurely getting the butter and bread prepped only to put them on and get greeted by the loudest hissing and steaming in the history of toastie makers. It heats up fast! Forget waiting 5 minutes for your toastie, 30 seconds is the new ’3 minutes’.

The toastie maker has proven very popular with the flatmates as is evidenced by the installment of ‘toastie Fridays’. Ironic seeing as we had a better toastie maker last term (George Forman), but didn’t touch it once. The difference seems to be in the ‘sealed-edges’ technology that my little budget one has.

The history of the toastie maker is easily available on Wikipedia and proves to be quite interesting- if you’re into cultural differences ect.

Today (the first Toastie Friday) we made a sweet one, and a savory one the recipes of which I have posted below.

Sweet

1. Have your special toastie bread and taking a slice, butter one face, then flip and put a layer of peanut butter on the other side.
2. Get another slice and butter then flip and put a layer of nutella on the other side.
3. NOTE: when you’re buttering the bread, be sure to make it reach the corners or it won’t seal properly.
4. Put the sandwich butter-side facing the pre-heated plates of the toastie maker and seal until ready.

Savory

1. Butter one side of your toastie bread, then flip and put some onion relish or whatever savory dip you have on the other.
2. With the other slice of bread, put a layer of butter on a side.
3. Grate some cheese onto the relish then seal it in by putting the other side on top and putting it into the toastie maker.

I think I’m going to enjoy my toasties.

Healthy Shortbread

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup of caster sugar
• 1/4 oat bran
• 3/4 plain flour
• 120g butter

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180C
2. Mix the caster sugar, oat bran and flour together.
3. Cut the butter into squares then ‘crumble’ it into the flour (Rub between your fingers until it resembles crumbs).
4. Tip the mixture out onto the baking tray and press into a large shape, 1-2cm in height.
5. Bake for 30 minutes.
6. Allow to cool and enjoy.

The last place I visited was York whose most famous landmark is the Minster, a Gothic cathedral. From the outside, it looks quite compact.

However, it is definitely bigger on the inside (Oh, Dr. Who reference right there). One of the reasons why is because modern buildings don’t have such high ceilings and therefore we’re accustomed to expecting smaller spaces than is actually available. The elongating pillars don’t hurt either.

Because we went while the Christmas market was on, amusing ice sculptures such as the Harry Potter one below were also on display.All around the city is evidence of the old Roman habitation, a statue dedicated to Constantine, the first Christian emperor watches languidly over his territory. Also, as you exit the train station, a wonderfully preserved section of the old Roman wall greets you.And, of course it wouldn’t be England if it didn’t have a river running through it.

One example is ‘Mince Pie Ice Creams’, sold at all the main supermarkets (Tesco, Sainsburys and Waitrose) for under £5, it’s an interesting combination of what tastes like brandy butter ice cream mixed in with mince and crumbled shortbread.
We got the Tesco one and although it was a little icy, if you allow it to melt a little bit then stir it together; the iciness isn’t an issue any more. Mmm.

INGREDIENTS

• 200ml single-fat cream
• 100ml water
• 3/4 cup plain flour
• 1/4 cup oat bran
• Zest of 1 orange
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 2 eggs

METHOD

1. Beat the eggs until fluffy.
2. Combine the cream and water together.
3. Sift the flour, oat bran and sugar together then make a well in the center.
4. Add the egg into the well with some of the cream mix.
5. Mix until combined, adding more and more of the liquid until fully combined.
6. Add in the zest.
7. Allow to sit for 1/2 hour.
8. Heat some butter up in a frying pan then add in a ladle of pancake mixture, make sure to swirl the pan so the mixture is even.
9. Cook until bubbles appear on the top then flip over.

Note: If you wanted the pancakes to be fluffier, you could add in a teaspoon of baking powder.

Trifle

INGREDIENTS

• Sponge
• Jam
• Custard
• Sherry
• Cream

METHOD

1. Cut the sponge in half lengthwise then spread jam on the outer edges and stick them back together (so the soft bits point outwards).
2. Cut the sponge into 1inch cubes and layer the bottom of you dish with them.
3. Splash some sherry over the sponge so it covers all the cubes.
4. Pour the custard over the sponge then allow the custard to cool. When it’s cool, cover the cups/ bowl with cling-film and put them in the fridge for at least 6 hours. The longer they’re in the fridge, the better but don’t leave them for longer than 36 hours.
5. Whip the cream and let the gourmets decide how much cream they’d like. For a special touch, sprinkle some icing sugar on the cream.

Vegeburgers

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups of cold mashed potatoes
• 1/2 cup frozen vegetables
• 1 egg
• Oilve Oil
• Breadcrumbs

METHOD

1. Cook the frozen vegetables, using the instructions on the packet.
2. When the vegetables are done, add them to the cold mashed potatoes and mix.
3. Heat up the olive oil in a frying pan.
4. Using your hands, make patties apx. 2 inches across with the mash mix.
5. Dip these in eggs, then coat liberally in bread crumbs.
6. Put these into the frying pan when the olive oil is hot.
7. When one side is done, press down on the patty gently with the skillet as you flip them.
8. Eat hot or cold, but if you’ve made amazing mash then eat them plain to let the natural flavours come through.

Note: When I make mashed potatoes, I make sure that they’re fluffy, buttery spoonfuls of joy. For this, it’s approximately 1 teaspoon of butter to every cup of mashed potatoes.
You can also add herbs and spices to this.