Inspiration & an update on my Scentsy journey...

It's been a while since I posted some inspiration and I came across these on my facebook travels today, so thought I'd share.. :)

I think I need to learn to do this!!

After 8 months of having my Scentsy 'business', I've finally gotten what I consider a 'real' proper order! My friend Fin had ordered a buddy from me and I'd gotten a few things to send to friends but I hadn't managed to sell anything to someone I didn't know... (or really even to anyone I DO know!). I was getting rather disparaged and thought I would have to give it up but thought I would make a 'last ditch effort' and drop some catalogues at hair and beauty salons in the neighbourhood offering them a trial. After a week or so, I hadn't heard back from any of them. And maybe I could have been more 'proactive' and called or stopped back in but I don't like to be 'pushy'... as I hate when I feel pressured into something. (Even if that something turns out to be positive!)

But then I got a text from a girl who had obviously picked up the catalogue while she was getting her hair done at one of the salons! It took almost a month of texting back and forth to find a time, but early last week I packed a bag, got on a bus and knocked on the door of her flat for my first ever Scentsy 'party'. Not much of a party as it was just her and me! As somehow, I'd not thought to tell her to invite some friends until the night before.. oops! But I think it was kinda great as I wasn't nervous at all and didn't feel like I had to 'perform' in front of a group of people. She was so lovely and I spent 2 hours at her flat just chatting and it felt just like hanging out with a friend. Not only that, I walked out with a fantastic order!

I text to keep her updated on the status of her order and she told me she's been promoting me to all her friends and wants to book a party near the end of November so her friends can do their Christmas shopping!

It had been hard as a lot of the girls seem to do very well with their business right from the get go, there are awards given out for people who manage to sell a certain amount within the first 15 and 70 days of joining. Which is announced and celebrated within the facebook group we are all part of, but it can get rather disheartening knowing other people have achieved these goals and I haven't.

But each person is different and each journey is different, so I'm just rejoicing in having completed my first order and hoping that things just get better from here on in!!

Truth!!

{All inspirational photos found from various sources on facebook}

Blasda, Scotland's Local Food Festival @ Drill Hall, Edinburgh

A few weeks ago The Mister and I headed along to Blasda at the Out of the Blue, Drill Hall.

I didn't really know what to expect as it wasn't overly well advertised, but the Drill Hall is a great venue, very close to home so we decided to head along and check it out.

{Not sure what the scary face is from up in the loft!}

There weren't very many stalls there.. but one of them was the fabulous people from Breadshare, a community supported bakery based outside of Edinburgh in the Scottish Borders. They are totally not for profit and striving to create a viable, sustainable business supported by the community. We had bought bread from them previously at St Mary's Market and loved it. I was sad they didn't have their fruit & nut loaf (with FIGS!) at the event, but settled for another nut loaf which was equally delicious.

{photo taken from Breadshare Bakery's Facebook page}

Right next door was a pedal powered flour mill! From the people at Greener Leith.

There was a stall from Changeworks talking about food waste which had very interesting information. Apparently the average UK family throws out £430 worth of food a year!!

By far the highlight of the day was the pedal powered smoothie maker!! The fruit all came from local community gardens, which made it doubly special. They were even making blackberry jam from all the berries they'd brought along. It was delicious and we even got to bring some home!!

The smoothie maker even had an adorable multicoloured umbrella top!

There was a fabulous table from Leith World Kitchens (you see them in the yellow aprons!) showcasing three different dishes made with potatoes, from Spain, Africa and India. They were all delicious and the unanimous favourite was the Spanish dish with chorizo. I was obviously too busy feeding my face to take any photos!

There was even some live music...

All in all it was quite informative and it's always great to find out about things that happen in the local communities!

Cravin' : Corn Dogs!

One of the perks of having lived on different continents and travelled to many countries is tall the tasty
morsels I've managed to eat!

Things such as :
- homemade empanadas from a little boy who would come by the dive shops with a massive pot of them when I lived in Roatan..
- curry udon in Japan..
- tasty tagines in Morocco..
- delicious roadside schwarmas in Oman..
- corn dogs at Capital Ex in Edmonton...

@Capital Ex, Edmonton '08
I love Fair food! Well, I love Fairs in general!!

The downside is, once I'm away from these delightful places with their decadent delights, it can be hard to come across these taste morsels again!!

A few weeks ago, I had a hankering for corn dogs.. but as hot dogs (the kind on a stick) are pretty hard to come by in the UK.. I knew I'd have to make my own corn dogs if I really wanted to eat'em... so I turned to the trusty interwebs and let my fingers do the walking...

I found this recipe and was super stoked when I realised I actually had all the ingredients necessary.. apart from the hot dogs and skewers.. oh and milk.. (we usually have rice milk as regular milk doesn't always get along with my stomach...) I text the mister to find some hot dogs on the way home (and milk) and he did not disappoint!

These were seriously so easy to make, the hot dogs took less time than the curly fries I threw in the oven to go with them! If only hot dogs weren't so hideously bad, I'd probably make these all the time... oh... and the deep frying.. that bit's not really good for you either... damn...

what I used : (for 6 hot dogs)

1/2 c cornmeal
1/2 c plain flour
1/8 t salt
couple of twists with the pepper grinder
1/8 c golden granulated sugar
2 t baking powder
1 egg
1/2 c milk

vege oil for frying
6 hot dogs/frankfurters
corn flour for dusting

what I did :

1. Dry hot dogs and roll in a thin layer of cornflour in a shallow dish.
2. Combine dry ingredients.
3. Stir in egg and milk.
4. Preheat oil in a deep saucepan over medium heat.
5. Roll franks in batter until well coated.
6. Fry 1 or 2 corn dogs at a time until lightly browned, around 3 minutes.
7. Drain on paper towels.

8. Enjoy!!

I had some batter leftover, so I diced up some onion, dropped it into the batter then dropped spoonfuls of the onion batter into the hot oil and made myself some hush puppies!! I didn't get any photos of the hush puppies... but they were deeeelish!!

They were so super simple and were pretty darned tasty and totally satiated my craving for Corn Dogs! If I can find better quality hot dogs around town, then I might make them again... As a little treat to myself... :]

And because corn dogs remind me of fairs and carnivals... Here's a picture of some carnie folk...

@Capital Ex, Edmonton '08

Happy Eating!!