brian

Recently, I’ve been almost exclusively eating a childhood favourite of mine - Penny Pasta. Since I’ve been at university I’ve been eating all sorts of random things, putting together whatever from my fridge in what was increasingly unsuccessful efforts to make something nice and easy. Including the memorable time I just added a whole load of peanut butter to pasta, which was stodgy and too much for me to finish.

Then I was reminded of Penny Pasta and began to really crave it. I tried to look up a recipe, but google kept autocorrecting me to penne pasta - this was an effort in frustration and even when I added ‘Swedish’ to the end of my search I just got loads of meatball pasta recipes, until I asked my mum and found out that Penny Pasta (named as such because the frankfurter slices looked like pennies) is actually a family friends take on korvstroganoff.

Korvstroganoff is a Swedish pasta dish containing sausages in a sauce made up of tomato paste, mustard and cream. The version that we always had as kids is made up of ketchup and cream (added until you get a good light red colour) and Worcestershire sauce. Then frankfurters and whatever veggies you want (I particularly like to add broccoli).

The first couple times I made it I used normal sausages because I couldn’t find frankfurters in Tesco, although my friend assured me they do sell them. It was good, although I accidentally bought not-chipolata’s which I personally prefer. But after I did eventually find frankfurter’s it was just the way I remember it. It also means you can boil everything in one pan and as a lazy person myself I’ll do anything for less washing up.

It’s really good and easy and I’m glad I’ve rediscovered this recipe. It’s definitely something I’ll be making a lot in future. Although I have eaten pretty much just that for a week or two and should probably eat something else.

Yesterday, I bought Alice Winn's debut novel In Memoriam. I hadn't heard of her or the book and only happened upon it in Waterstones but let me tell you it was brilliant. I read the whole thing in one night and finally fell asleep after the sun had come up.

In Memoriam takes place during WW1 and follows the stories of Henry Gaunt and Sidney Ellwood, from their English boarding school to the front lines of war. It is first and foremost a love story, but it also depicts the horrors of war and the friendships they forge. It's a rather sad read, as I'm sure you can imagine and Winn's writing makes it so vivid.

A fair portion of the opening chapters are written through letters between Ellwood and Gaunt, whilst Ellwood is still at school and Gaunt has joined up to the war effort. What marks the end of this correspondence and finally forces Ellwood to decide to leave the comfort of school to join the front lines is a letter from Gaunt where he tells Ellwood of the horrors of war. Prior to this he'd been keeping the letters quite sanitary and since we as the readers haven't seen much from Gaunt's side either, it comes as quite a shocking plunge from Ellwoods' school antics to the reality of the trenches.

I would say it's the first turning point in the book and what he writes is both poignant and revealing. He describes how he saw men dying from gas (I won't go into too many gory details), the fear of going into No Man's Land and how when he stood amongst the fallen bodies of his comrades he writes 'I stood on the most God-forsaken patch of earth I ever hope exists and I thought: I wonder how Elly is.'. Whilst this is only the beginning, the letter was so memorable even by the end.

Besides Gaunt and Ellwood, there were many great characters whom I came to love. Especially Gaunts friends from the Offizierslager (a type of German war camp specifically for commissioned officers) that he is sent to in the second half of the story. In particular, Gideon Devi and Archie Pritchard, with whom he attempts to escape. It's funny, there are so many names who get mentioned and then pop up later that make you go 'oh it's him!'. This section of the story also works to break up the intense front line action that the story has so far been packed with and gives you a welcome respite to relax and not worry about any of the characters you like dying horrifically.

The story has a lot of dry wit comedy that makes you laugh at the most unexpected times, but this section is especially amusing in a way and knowing how things are going on Ellwoods end has you holding onto it.

I also loved Hayes, whose friendship with both Gaunt and Ellwood (though he might not admit to the second one) was so important to the story. The way he supports Gaunt and goes on to look after Ellwood after he leaves. Which brings me onto the scene when Hayes gives Ellwood Gaunt's final letter, which was so perfectly written and heart-breaking (that Hayes even thinks to give it to him at all when it's only one line).

And lastly, the ending. To be perfectly honest, the ending is my only point of contention with this book. Not because I think it's bad, more realistic in a way that makes me sad after everything they went through to get there. It ends on an uplifting note, suggests that things will get better but still, I feel sad for Gaunt even whilst I understand how everything has built up to make Ellwood the way that he is. I just wish they could've been a little happier, that Ellwood could've been a little less angry. And also maybe that the two could've discussed some things a bit more about the history of their relationship that I think needed to be said.

But 10/10 would recommend.

I went to go see Scream 6 last night with my friend L.

He's seen all of them (apart from Scream 3, I think?) and I'd seen it was on so I suggested we go. I'd only seen Scream 4 before deciding to go, as it's his favourite and he'd forced me to watch it. Suffice to say, I'd actually enjoyed it quite a lot and thought I wouldn't be opposed to seeing another one. I'm not really much of a slasher fan, or a fan of any horror (not that Scream is exactly horror).

In preparation, I watched Scream 1 & 2 the day before. I loved 1, it had so much tension and the fact that there weren't any films before it allowed for a more simplistic storyline which I liked. Since these films aren't really about the character development anyway, it leaves less time for convoluted exposition and more time for 'killer is killing people' type stuff. 2 was... not as good. I still liked it, it had tension and the killer reveal was pretty good (which is important since I would say they're essentially who-dun-it detective stories, something else that makes them appeal to me).

Turns out I shouldn't of bothered with 1 & 2 and watched 5 instead. I didn't have a good idea of who any of the characters were and the only person I recognised was Gale - glad to see she's still keeping strong. Still, I think it would've helped, but it didn't ruin the movie.

I actually really enjoyed watching it. Whilst I didn't think it encapsulated the same amount of tension as 1 (part of this being due to the lack of 'person being chased around house and hiding from the killer' scenes), the kills were much more creative. Not too crazy but stuff like the ladder scene just made the kills stand out more. I don't want to spoil any of it, but I liked the ending too. The killer reveal was alright, one of them was pretty interesting but the other two? Couldn't have cared less. Sam and her sister were pretty badass though so it made up for it.

On the topic of houses, I have to say I wasn't as keen on the setting. The remoteness of Woodsboro adds it's own level of tension to the earlier films since nobody lives close by and you can't just run out of your house into a crowded city. Something like the train scene does utilise the busyness of a city well, but otherwise it just felt like it removed something (although if Ghostface tried to murder me in some rural town I'd also probably move to a city).

Today I watched Scream 3, which was also good. I don't really get why they had to force random relationship problems onto Dewy and Gale (please just let them be happy), but I thought the setting of the film set was pretty cool. Plus I genuinely was so confused on who the killer was. Having just one of them was a pretty good twist since I thought there would definitely be two of them. I was convinced it was the girl playing Sidney and the cop, so a good misdirect. Whilst the change to the original plot with her mum was a bit silly, I can overlook it for how great the rest of it was. Also, all the secret passages in that guys house was a cool touch.

So, Scream VI? I would say a good 7/10.

It snowed yesterday, but it's already gone today. It was supposed to be my day off, but they switched my rotor around and I ended up being off today instead, which is kind of annoying. I really wanted to take my dog for a walk in the snow, since he absolutely loves it.

Everyone always complains about the snow, which I don't really get. I thought everyone liked snow? All the schools were closed too, even though the roads were all clear. And yet, no one really cancelled their appointments for the clinic I work in. We were expecting the phone to ring all morning but I think one guy called?

I went into my mums work in the morning (we left early because of the snow, but it actually took barely anytime to get into town with the schools closed) and the phone there was ringing non-stop with cancellations since people didn't want to go out in the snow.

I wish it would snow again today.