Beginning

As I enter my fourth and final year as anUndergraduate in St Andrews, one of the goals I have set myself is to try and make the most of the place I am in and to keep track of how I spend my last months.  My first three years have flown by at an alarmingly high pace and so far I have kept little record of how that time has been spent.  

The purpose of this blog is to allow me to keep track of the ups and downs of my last year in this fantastic little university town such that I can look back on it in years to come but also to provide an insight to prospective students/existing students/ex students and anyone who may have an interest in either the University of St Andrews or the town of St Andrews.  

We are currently halfway through "pre-sessional week"/fresher's week which sees new and old students returning to university.  I am finding it fairly boring being a fourth year and am lacking the energy I once had to go and drink oneself into a whole simply for the sheer point of it.  Instead I have been pottering around town doing jobs and trying to get fit for the upcoming sporting season through a small amount of exercise and drinking plently of juice made through our Phillips Aluminium Juicer.

Yesterday I marked the beginning of the year with one of St Andrews' more unknown jems.  Traditionally a fishing town, one can still see the lobster and crab traps at the harbour and if you go down early enough can see the fishermen bringing in their catch in the morning.  For a few pounds you can buy a lobster or some crab from the fishermen and at a price that is far far cheaper than were you to buy it in restaurant/supermarket/fishmongers.  Having done this a few times last year and eaten the lobster simply boiled, I have since had the idea to try and make a Lobster Thermidor.        

So feeling bored and adventurous, I boiled the lobster, dared to slice it vertically in half and removed the meat as per Rick Steins' instructions in his brilliant seafood cookbook.  From there I made a bechamel with some spring onions and mustard powder, waited for it to thicken and added the chopped lobster meat.  Finally placed all the above into the empty shell, topped with some parmesan and some dodgy breadcrumbs and grilled for a few minutes.  Ate with a new potatoe and some almost mouldy bread.  The result was surprisingly okay and tasted very nice although the cheese/spring onion overwhelmed the lobster a bit which was slightly disappointing but nonetheless quite a fun little mission for the day!  Pictures are attached of the cooking process.

Today was a fairly boring day - stayed in waiting for packages all morning and spent the afternoon doing jobs around town.  Went for a fun along the Fife Coastal Path up towards St Andrews Bay hotel which is very impressive scenery along the cliffs on the way there and then with fantastic views on the way back to St Andrews.  Was going to take my camera but forgot - there are some great photo opportunities up along the coastal path and intend to pop up there sometime soon with my cheap camera.  

Quite a boring first day entry.