LAST DAY :(

Hi! this will be our last update. Our journey has come to an end and we will be back home in Sweden tomorrow.

Our time here have been wonderful and we will have memories for life from our time here at the Cosners house. we will miss all the staff and we will miss England! Me and Tonja got a necklace each, like a goodbye present from the staff they were really beautiful..





Well, Take care and goodbye

Love Paula and Tonja


LONDON CALLING!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello there! Hope you are okay and that life treets you kind!

We thought it was time for an uppdate this time an uppdate from London! If you ever are in England you have to visit London. You can just take a bus or the "tube" as they call it, to London from Oxford bus station and it takes about an hour. In that way you can stay in London all day, if you take a early buss and take the night buss back from London to Oxfrod. And in Oxford you catch the last night buss to Abingdon!

Me and Paula did all the tourist things, we walked to Buckingham Palace to Westminister Abbey were the Big Ben also are. After that we took a walk to Picadilly circus and after that we decided to take the subway to Harrods, and Paula hold a pair of Gucci shoes worth 16.000 kr! Now Paula will contunie this text. Bye for now, take care! Tonja











Hi! well, it was my first time in London and what can I say more than it was absolutely wonderful! You can't really see everything in one day you would probably need atleast one week in London!

After me and Tonja been to Harrods, we went to Camden market and stayed there for a few hours because it was so much too see..

.

We ate deep-fried bounty with whipped cream, marshmellows, sprinkles, strawberry sauce and choclate sauce.. we felt that we had to try it!!!!


 
We also ate some nice tex mex food and indian food! The funny thing was that the tables you could sit down and eat, (it was outside) the "chairs" was made of scooters!





After Camden we went shopping on Oxford street! after some hours of shopping it was starting to get late so we took the bus back home to Abingdon, exhausted after a busy day in London!

Take care! / Paula


JAMIES ITALIAN!

HI! Time for a uppdate about our restauant visit to one of Jamie Olivers resturants! My mother and my stepdad came and vistit us here in England so that was the perfect time to try Jamies Italian! we were all really pleased with the restaurant! the food was really really good!

Her is some pictures of the food!



Italian delicacies!



Sweet mini chilli peppers, red chillies stuffed with tuna, capers, herb cresses and anchovies.




crispy squid- fried squid, garlicky mayo and lemon



mushroom fritti, crispy mushrooms and garlicky mayo and lemon

Main courses:



chicken liver tortellini, chicken livers flamed with vin santo, sage and pancetta, served with creamy sage butter.



wildmushroom panzerotti filled with porcini and brown caps, chili, thyme and ricotta.



"happy" grilled chicken, marinated in thyme and garlic with a tomato, olive, chili and caper sauce.



Revolution burger, 8oz prime chuck steak patty with smoked ancho chilli salsa, creamy yoghurt dressing, salad and pickles.


The food was worth every penny!
I recommend Jamies Italian restaurant to everyone who wants a nice restaurant visit with good food and a nice environment! even though it was not jamie himself in the kitchen who cooked our food... ;)


Take care and stay tuned!

/ Paula


Pancake day! Or fat tuseday...

Hi!
Today it is the popular Pancake day! It simply means you eat pancakes for the dinner. Here at cosners they ate there pancakes with orange sauce, simular to the "crepe suzette".

Pancake day we celebrate in Sweden to, but in Sweden it is called "fettisdagen" and me and Paula thought we could make "semlor". It turned out to be an adeventure because we were running around in Abingdon trying to find fresh yeast! It was impossible! So we used try yeast instead and it turned out really good. Our co workers appreciated the semlor, at first they thought it was strange to put cardamom in the dough but after one bite they loved "semlorna".

Hope you had a nice day with youre friends and family! All the best!

// Tonja


 

The dough with tips from Paulas mom



Brushed with eggs to make them golden and shiny!



Readyyyyyy!!! mmmm...

Shrove Tuesday or pancake day!

Hi!
It's been a time since our last blog update, sorry for that! It have not been happening alot. Right now it's pretty quiet around here, there is not alot of guests so the service have been very slow...
Tonja is out exercising  (good girl!) right now so I'm just writing a short update for now!
Next week it's what we in Sweden call "fettisdagen" and me and Tonja are going to bake "semlor", they celebrate "fettisdagen" here in England, but not in the same way, they call it shrove Tuseday or pancake day because they eat pancakes for dinner on this day. We will upload some photos on the result next week!

I will write another update with Tonja tomorrow about our visit to one of Jamie Olivers restaurants, Jamies Italian!  but until then, take care and stay tuned!

/ Paula or Paoula ;P


Burns supper!

HELLO! were should we start... 28th of january there was Burns supper here at The cosners house! Burns supper is a scottish tradition and the main objective of a Burns Supper is to celebrate the memory of Robert Burns(a young scottish poet) and your Scottish heritage. if you like to read more about this you can read on this page: http://www.worldburnsclub.com/supper/burns_supper_1.htm

Our part in this night was to make food, we did the cock-a-leekie soup which is a soup made of stock, onions and chicken. For the main course, TADADADADAAAM: HAGGIS!!! I (Paula) Did not like haggis at all but Tonja loved it! Then what is haggis? Haggis is a kind of savoury pudding containing sheep's 'pluck' (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally encased in the animal's stomach and simmered for approximately three hours.  (source:wikipedia)





The beautiful chefs! ;)





Here it is, the famous haggis! there is a tradition to this to, our chef (Zoran) had to bring it out while bag pipes were playing and at the end, he had to listen to a speech and then take a shot of wihskey!




DESSERTS!!!! It is a chocolate mousse with a fresh fruit salad.


The Burns supper night was a funny experince! Well thats all for now, Stay tuned!

/ Paula & Tonja

Hello Sweden, England calling!

Me and Tonja arrived to Abingdon (England) three days ago! Our trip to Abingdon was quit long, 12 hours to be exact. Yesterday we worked in the kitchen for the first time, everyone was very nice and helpful! We didn’t do so much the first day because there were not so many guests.

Today we had a day off so we decided to visit Oxford (the biggest town nearby). Our cameras were in our hands all day like a real tourist! Oxford was really nice, beautiful architecture and a lot of street singers!  We ate at KFC, well we can say that one time is enough! Although, Starbucks we will try again.

 

Here are we, the happy students! 
 Here we are, the happy student in Oxford! Trying on some hats at primark.





Ironi...




These stunts has been performed by professionals!!!


More uppdates will come, stay tuned!
/ Tonja and Paula


One week left

The first day the snow camewhen i was walking before the snow came it is the mitt stationen.to Agilde

I totally agree the others the time has gone so fast first week was a bit slow. but now It´s only one week left. Now I live at the hotel it´s nice except that you never get away from work, but it´s good. I can se the mountains when the clouds are away. The village is like a normal little ski village but the ski lifts is a little walk. Theirs is many Swedish people working in the village like ski rental and restaurants. now you can se the snow on the moutons now but the last days it has raining so some snow has melt. But theirs tow lift open and 3 ski slope but I haven't ski anything yet.

Köket
Ala Carte menu.
Hamburger with french fries and coleslaw
Entrecote with ruccola salad and pickled onion and french fries
Beef with red wine souse and french fries
Rhymed and pan fry cod wit “potatisstomp”
Quesadillas- chicken and tomato and cheese in  a tortilla bred served with garlic cream fresh and sweet chili souse.
Caesar salad.
Duck salad with orange marinated duck breast.
Chevre chaud salad, with betroth and red wine boiled pear and roosted walnuts.
Dessert:
Brownie with vanilla cream fresh.
Tryffel chocolate with raspberry souse.

That menu is every lunch and the Plat Du Jour with a Desert Du Jour. When the hotels guests are coming it´s one menu for dinner whole season one weeks guest so it’s the same menu every week.

The staff is god it´s only Swedish people in the restaurant, bar and kitchen.  It´s seven chefs right now but in winter there are five chefs.

Right now I just want to go home I went sick in Monday night so I couldn’t work…. but tomorrow I’m going to work.  But hopefully I getting better the last day left now so a can have some fun at the end. But it has been a funny practice the hardest part was that I went by myself. That has been funny some times and sometimes not. That was instructive to work in a “real” kitchen not like in school so you can show what you can and I have learn so match the head chef is knowledgeable and has a lot of experience.

Les Praz

The internet connection is not so good her I cannot even se the Christmas CalendarL, but I will try to load up some pictures.

/Fredrik.


FIVE days left!

This is unbelivieable! It is only five days left and this morning I had my last morning shift. I am so going to miss all this sausages, eggs, baked beans and hash browns. Or.. will I? Hahah, right now I am actually quiet tired of it. I will probably miss it, but right now I just can't stop thinking of my own bed and breakfast.
Right know we have a christmas menu that we serve on all Christmas Partys (which are really common here). The menu is:
Starters
- Chef's classic French onion soup finished with a Gruyere crouton
- Confit of winter game presented as a terrine with herb salad and toasted ciabatta slices
- North Atlantic prawns and crayfish tails bound in a brandy Scented Marie rose sauce set on a nest of crisp lettuce
Main Courses
- Traditional roast breast of Brittish turkey with dark leg meat, orange and red onion stuffing served with a cranberry and port jus
- Roasted open field mushroom stuffed with a mature cheddar cheese and spring onion Farci (Veg)
- Fillet of Sea Bass topped with white wine and lemon beurre blanc
- Roast rump of lamb set on a rich red current sauce
Desserts
- Home made Christmaspudding topped with a rich brandy cream sauce
- Double Belgian chocolate tart with a soft berry compote
- Cosener's own individual apple crumble flavoured with festive spice and served with custard
Tea or Coffe and minted chocolate

That's it. This meny I now can do backwards and with closed eyes after all this christmas partys!

Me and Erika has also helpt out in the restaurant as waitresses. It was a lot fun to make some change in our litte everyday world and to smile to the guests, instead of the potatoes as usual! That was of course on our sparetime and we even got some money.. not much thou!

At the 13th of december, me and Erika wanted som Swedish Lucia-feeling so we made "Pepparkakor" (Gingerbread) and served hot Glögg (a swedish mold wine)! Erika's mother had brought us an advent candlestick, a little Lucia, tinsel, the glögg and the dough for the gingerbreads. The Pepparkakor was really appreciated by the staff and they are still asking for more!

More pictures are coming later! The internet connection here is so bad so if I even try to upload any more photoes, I will get mad for real.

Cheers!
// Sofia, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom

Hello From Chamonix!

To day the first snow came in the village it has snow al day and it still coming down:) the restaurant have around 50-70 guest every lunch so we always has things to do. It is 2 chefs and me how working. the fod is quite simpely but fun to do. I live like 20 minits away from the hotel but im going to move tp the hotel this weekend and liv there until 22 dec. the first weeaks was lite hard to travel by my self and find some thning to do wen you weer off working. but i bought a map overe the mountain there you can walk i went up to Plan de Agilde du midi its like 2333 meters above sea level it took 5h to walk up and down. but now it´s snow so you can not walk. The time has passed quickly and it just 2,5 week left and i have been here for a month.

/Fredrik =)

The time flies by when you have fun

It have now been 26 days since we first arrived here. The time just flies by and it is wonderful to be here. We have taken care of some parties, carveies and service. Every sunday we have a lunch carvery when we need to ensure that new food coming out all the time.

Lunch carvery - every sunday.

The food is very classic here. It is classical Welsh and British cuisine like surf and turf (a dish with king prawns and ribeye), yorkshire pudding (it is a pancake mixture cooked in the oven with oil so it gets nice and fluffy), steak pies with chips, fish and chips and rostbeef.
Some straters we have here - prawns cocktail, chicken liver parfait, baked field muchroom glaced with a onion jam and goat cheese, soup of the day, different varieties of sandwiches and mussles.
The desserts are also classics. Here they have cheesecakes, chocolate tryffles, tiramisu, panacotta, bara bread and butter puddings (a local dessert that is pudding with a special welsh bread with fruits and nuts), apple crumble, chocolate tarts, baileys white chocolate mousse, pavlova (meringue with strawberries and whipped cream) and raspberry brulée.

The kitchen is very small, it is small places to work on. It is a shame because when we have many orders, there is not much room for all plates. But it works and it is nice with a small kitchen because then you easily can find everything.



Kind regards,
Niklas och Mikaela


London!

This weekend we were off from saturday to tuesday so we took our chance to visit London! Sadly we just saw a little bit of London - Oxford street! It took all day to go through the long shopping street... But we have plans to back to London and take a sightseeing bus and probably go around a little and really see London!
The nearest days after our trip to London we have not done anything special except for that we went to a real english pub to watch the football game between Sweden and England.

Now we have to work until next friday, and next week will be a thrill! We will be working together most of the time and we have the kitchen for our self at breakfast! On wednesday my mum and her husband are coming to stay at the hotel for a few days, and Sofias parents will come the week after! Fun!
Here is some pictures from London:
XOXO Erika

Time to show our responsibility

Yesterday afternoon, Today breakfast and today Dinner we have been alone in the kitchen! That was really nice because now we got the chance to show them what we're up to! Sadly, there were not many guests, but we made the kitchen clean as a hospital and a really good staff-food anyway!
So far it hasn't been so many guests at all, it's a low season, and thats too bad. We havn't done so much, except for teaching English, made some friends and drinking tea Aaaalll day, and aall night! (What the f**k?!) untz untz hehe.. ;)

GG writing from Abingdon

Hey! This is Erika and Sofia writing!
This first week has been really good. We have been in the kitchen all week and had the weekend off. The staff here is really nice and pedagogic, so we are very pleased! This weekend we have been around in Abingdon and Oxford, mostly shopping (the shopping here is amazing so far! OMG!). We have also experienced the local night life in Oxford and it was mostly quite similar to Sweden.
The only bad thing this week is that we are sometimes having different schedules so you have to be alone for some hours when the other one is working. :(
Also this week we have lived in three different rooms! And one in another hotel (which owns the hotel we are working at). All that because of that the hotel was full-boked at one night. But it's only fun to see more of this little world of Abingdon!

We are a little bit lazy on the photoshooting, but here is at least one! Enjoy!
XOXO Gossip giiiiiiiiirls! ♥

Feathers Royal Hotel - Aberaeron Wales

Hello, Niklas and Mikaela is calling.

We arrived here 2 days ago by car, by airplane and at last by three trains to no mans land in Aberaeron Wales. When we arrived we were picked up by to of the employers at the hotel, Jane and Josef.
Yesterday we had a day off to explore the countryside and rest from the trip. We walked around the town, that took about 10 minutes because the town is a very small village, about 100 inhabitants. This town has a very beautiful countryside with stony beaches, green fields and also high hills with free range sheeps.

Today was our first day i the kitchen, it is too bad that it wasn´t many customers over day time because we didn´t have much to do. But it did get better at night. It was plenty of customers but with lasy waiters, it got very hectic in the kitchen, that could also depend on that it is a small kitchen.

Today we also met Rebecka who went to our school about 2 years ago and who practice here before. She was really nice and she offered us a tour around Aberaeron and close towns.

All the staff at this hotel seems very nice and it looks like they are happy to have us here.  
Kind regard, Niklas and Mikaela


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