Ed's Bar & Grill

Rob suggested going out for dinner last night and I jumped at the chance. We decided to try the newest restaurant in Banbridge: Ed's Bar and Grill I've held a few meetings in there with some of my volunteer youth leaders and so on but was excited to go for a proper meal and with Rob too because we usually get takeout instead of going out for food.



I was also excited because they have a great mix of a menu but not so mixed that it overwhelms you.... OK I did struggle a little to narrow down my choices to what I was actually going to have, but it gives me more reason to go back and try all the other dishes I like the sound of!

It's a fantastic atmosphere, perfect for families, parties, couples and lots more. The staff were very friendly and in fact while we were having our order taken a customer interrupted and handed our server the bill, he looked at us with that look of "I'm sorry" mixed with "What was that about?", but he was very professional and carried on with our order after that.



We were served quite quickly and everything was hot, fresh from the kitchen... in fact so hot that when I ate one of the chips I burnt my throat swallowing it meaning that today has been a struggle swallowing. But they were good chips!

I had some delicious "sweet and sticky chicken" described as marinated and seared chicken, in a sticky mild whole grain mustard and honey glaze....... how good does that sound?!?!?!?! And it was, absolutely delicious, but I would have like a little more of the marinade for some of the chicken that had none underneath... or even just for having as a dressing on the salad bed it came on.



My dear plain eating hubby had a plain burger and chips... that he says were very good, he was well happy with it.



I was very impressed with the friendliness of the staff, the great atmosphere, great menu, quick service, very tasty food... however there is one thing that has bothered me each time I've been there, which I'm sure some think is an excellent idea. They have nintendo DS and mini DVD players along with a selection of games and movies for entertaining your children during the meal. It makes me sad that families can't sit down to a nice meal together without distractions or having to be entertained, but then again I'm not a parent so I shouldn't judge. But a great place to go for a meal, I highly recommend it... but if you can't get to Ed's Banbridge, check out their Lisburn branch.

Bacon buttie time!

I love having a bacon buttie! It's just fab, cooking the bacon, buttering the bread, mixing it all together.... so simple yet so delicious!

I was getting the bacon ready for one today and wee Stewie was being the cute pup that he is paying close attention to what was happening!



And this is him watching me eating.... it's so hard saying no to that cute face!


He loves sitting and watching me cook, think it's so he can work out whether or not it's worth his while eating his own food or trying to blag a bit of our food!

What's happening in the blogosphere 1

I feel really bad. I feel like I've been neglecting this blog lately while Ruth's Kitchen Experiments gets loads of attention! I haven't forgotten this blog, just that I've noticed myself thinking about food, recipes and in particular food blog events pretty much all the time! Yes I need out more, but when I do go out I end up going into a butchers, greengrocers, tesco, sainsburys or somewhere food related.

Anyways, while I ponder what I'm going to write about for my next post I want to share some links to posts by other bloggers that I found rather interesting or something like that:

1. Maggie Dawn - Retouching Beauty

2. Why you should become vegetarian - YUCK!

3. Grannymar's Thursday Special - My next life

4. Tim Schmoyer defines the question about the 20 somethings dropout from church

5. Alan in Belfast shares a story about paying congestion charges

6. Marko asks for some help with his upcoming book: Youth Ministry 3.0

Search for Cook of the Year

I posted a few days ago on my cookery blog - Ruth's kitchen experiments about RTE looking for people to enter a new show looking for cook of the year. I got a phone call from one of the show's organisers this morning talking through some of the details, but she also said they are still looking for people from the north to get involved! So if you live in Ulster please send an email to kathylittler@greeninc.ie and get involved.

You really don't have to be a master chef.... I mean look at me and I'm entering! You just have to enjoy cooking! It's just a bit of craic! So there's no reason not to!

See here for more details

ASBO Jesus: Easter Sunday

Happy Easter everyone!!!



Source ASBO Jesus

Christmas movies at Easter?

Just a question to ITV2...... why on earth is the Grinch being shown today, Good Friday? Weird

Man's Life in Australia for Sale Online

I can't remember how I came across this, but here's an extract from the article from the San Francisco chronicle

A painful breakup with his wife has prompted a man to put his entire life — his house, his car, his job, even his friends — up for sale online in an effort to start over.
Ian Usher, a British immigrant to Australia, said Tuesday he would auction everything he owns and more on e-Bay starting June 22.
"On the day it's all sold and settled, I intend to walk out of my front door with my wallet in one pocket and my passport in the other, nothing else at all," Usher says on his Web site. (Read the rest here and read more on his own website: alife4sale.com)

I find this just incredible and amazing. Really seeing as a Christian I am challenged to do and give everything to God; my heart, my mind, my body, my soul, my time, my talents, my energy, my possessions, my everything. Yet it's just so hard!!! I'm sure I'm not alone, but I fail so often at this. I fail to put God first, I fail to give Him the first say and I fail to give Him my all. I pray that God will take my imperfections and my failings as well as everything else and use them to His purposes.

Phishy email

I received a bit of spam/phishing email from a "services@paypals.com" today saying the following: (click on the image for a bigger version)


It makes me mad that people do this, and even worse can trick people into giving away their details! Here's some contacts and information about what to do if you think you've received an email like this.

OnGuardOnline.gov
"Phishing

Forward spam that is phishing for information to spam@uce.gov and to the company, bank, or organization impersonated in the phishing email. Most organizations have information on their websites about where to report problems. You also may report phishing email to reportphishing@antiphishing.org. The Anti-Phishing Working Group, a consortium of ISPs, security vendors, financial institutions and law enforcement agencies, uses these reports to fight phishing.

If you believe you've been scammed, file your complaint at ftc.gov, and then visit the FTC's Identity Theft website at ftc.gov/idtheft. Victims of phishing can become victims of identity theft."

eHow - How to report a suspicious site

Direct.gov.uk - Beware of spoof emails and phone calls
Contact HMRC
If you have an email you believe to be a scam forward it to HM Revenue and Customs email address at domains@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk

Monthly review 7

I almost forgot about this!!!!

Here are some of the stats (obtained via Google Analytics) from the last month (13th February-12th March 08) for this blog, with last months numbers in brackets:

1. There have been 701 (640) visits.
a) 254 (316) of those have come via referring sites
b) 225 (159) of those visits are direct traffic
c) 222 (165) of those visits are from search engines

2. Searches that have brought people to this site are:
(I'm not going to note last months stats for these cos it's too complicated now the list is getting so long)

christian childrens talks 8
rob and ruth elkin 8
ruth e babes 7
christian kids talk 6
ruthbabes.blogspot.com 6
christian children's talks 5
free youth bible study 5
ruthebabes 5
children's talks christian 3
christian children's talk 3
e babes 3
free youth bible studies 3
banbridge babes 2
bebo sites in banbridge 2
christian children talk 2
e in graffiti 2
free youth funny bible studies 2
funny graffiti pics 2
larger babes 2
pictures of ruth of the bible 2
short hair babes 2
"children's talk" church
"children's talk"+bible
"graffiti pics
"heavy cream means"
"mark goody"
"rspca monitored" +chicken
"swallowed a crown"
.blogspot.com babe art
all ruths
art depicting ruth of the bible
assemblies lost sheep
babes blog spot
ballygilbert+bebo
ballywatt church
ballywatt presbyterian church
bannside oh brother
bebo banbridge people
bebo belfast babes
bebo glengormley
belfast babes
belfast babes ni
belfast graffiti
bible gateway daily
bible gateways
bible study ruth youth
biblegateway daily
biblegateway daily verse
blog from turkey
blog ruth blogspot
call center babes blogspot
cartoon of ruth of the bible
cecil the lost sheep
children talk love
children's addresses about water
children's addresses on love
children's talk forgiveness
children's talk on ruth from the bible
children's talks on ruth
children's talks on the apple of god's eye
children's talks on the cross
children's version of the biblical character of ruth
childrens addresses christian
childrens christian talks
childrens talks on ruth from the bible
christian children recycling
christian children's address
christian children's groups
christian children's talks on giving
christian childrens talk
christian childrens' talks
christian kids talk show
christian kids talk to other kids
christian kids talks
christian's free things
clothing of biblical ruth
dafter punk
david & bathsheba+bible study
david and bethsheba youth study
david is crazy in love with ruth
debbie mcgee glengormley
difference between a crane and a heron
difference between a heron and a crane
download overnighter video
download youth bible studies
downloadable youth bible
e typing
facebook 102.4 shine fm
floating limes
free bible lesser
free bible studies for youth
free christian children's talk
free christian children's talks
free christian childrens talks
free christian images of god holding earth in hands
free downloads youth bible
free short christian talks on flowers
free youth bible
free youth bible study books
free youth bible study programs
funny belfast pictures
funny graffiti post
gateways bible
god pie
great talks for christian kids
hair chopped
honeymoon babes
honeymoon menorca
hot gymnast babe bebo
i want to ride my bicycle cartoon
jamie oliver's the great chicken race
jesus talks to people- pictures for kids
john 4 "children's talk"
johnny vegas christianity
kids talk christian resources
lemons float limes sink
live chicken race
long hair indian babes
lost sheep assembly
moses parting red sea
netherlands babes
nightreach ni
outlets banbridge reviews
overnighter music video
overnighter video
patience christian kids talks
photos of bad ruth
pictures of ruth from the bible
portadown babe
psalm 139 kids talk
ruth 2 bible lesson for youth
ruth 3 childrens talk
ruth bebo belfast 24
ruth bible study youth
ruth clothing in the bible
ruth e babe
ruth e wikipidia
ruth elkin
ruth elkin cookery blog award
ruth graffiti
ruth kids bible study
ruth youth bible study
ruthe
ruthe plan
ruthie +portadown +bebo +23
shine fm banbridge bebo
special school babes
story of ruth bible + cartoon
talk to children religious
video of church "overnighter"
water "children's address"
wedding photos at malone lodge
what the difference between a crane and heron bird?
why do lemons float and limes do not?
www.ysmarko.com
youth bible notes ruth
youth bible phrases
youth bible study download
youth bible study on ruth
youth bible study ruth
youth from the bible for free
youth group bible study ruth, mary, bathsheba
zac hunter africa charity az
children's addresses christian - 0 times
christian children's' talks - 0 times
christian childrens talk woman at the well - 0 times
portadown babes - 0 times
youth talk ruth - 0 times

I need to work on getting some youth talks about Ruth on here

3. Number of visits from each country that visited.
496 (402) visits came from the UK
123 (125) visits came from the USA
21 (14) visits came from Australia
16 (15) visits came from Ireland
5 (2) visits came from India
4 (32) visits came from Canada
3 (3) visits came from Germany
3 (2) visits came from Italy
3 visits came from Saudi Arabia
3 (2) visits came from New Zealand
2 (1) visits came from Mexico
2 visits came from South Africa
2 (3) visits came from the Philippines
2 (5) visits came from France
1 (1) visit came from Japan
1 visit came from Indonesia
1 (1) visit came from Greece
1 (1) visit came from Czech Republic
1 visit came from Slovakia
1 visit came from Nigeria
1 visit came from the Netherlands
1 visit came from United Arab Emirates
1 (2) visit came from Singapore
1 visit came from Ghana
1 (2) visit came from Portugal
1 visit came from South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
1 (2) visit came from Argentina
1 visit came from Austria
1 visit came from Pakistan
1 (1) visit came from Romania

4. Top 10 referring sites
Blogger - 73
Google - 21
Debs Erwin - 18
Livingloud - Bowmanblog - 17
Ruth's Kitchen Experiments - 14
Alan in Belfast - 12
Bebo - 11
Google Images - 11
Marramgrass - 11
shot in the arm - 11


5. Top 3 blog posts
Free Christian Children's Talk 1 - 89 views
Free Christian Children's Talk 2 - 54 times
Free Youth Bible Study 1 - 32 views

What American accent do you have?

Yes I know I'm not American but I thought it would be funny to take the test:

What American accent do you have? Your Result: Boston   You definitely have a Boston accent, even if you think you don't. Of course, that doesn't mean you are from the Boston area, you may also be from New Hampshire or Maine.
The Midland
The West
Philadelphia
The Northeast
North Central
The South
The Inland North
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Right now to find out what a Boston accent sounds like for real.... here's wikipedia's answer and here's a little video I found on YouTube



Hmmmm I think I'll have to record myself saying some of those lines for you to compare but I can safely say it don't sound like me or anyone else from around here.

Well "Mataheah.... I'm goin' ta tha pak."

Napkin please

After seeing a Frozen New york I enjoyed watching a few similar videos on YouTube but didn't come across this one:



How fun would it be to live a musical for a day!?!?!?!

HT to Josh Griffin

Toffee yoghurt taco

I forgot to post this after last Saturday when we had friends over for dinner. We had made a bit of a mexican feast of tacos and fajitas and burritos to make up for ourselves. Well near the end of our meal Rob dared Paul to eat some toffee yoghurt with what he had on his plate and he did!



From what I remember it included hard shell taco, taco spiced mince beef, barbeque sauce, cheese and toffee yoghurt. If I've left anything out I'm sure Paul will correct me. But apparently it tasted good.

It sounded gross to me but then reminded me about how when i was a McDonalds employee I used to enjoy dipping my fries into my ice cream and still do occasionally now.

So what food combinations that sound odd together do you like then?

I need a polo!

I've fell in love with an advert. It's the latest advert for the Volkwagen Polo with a dog singing in the front seat of the car, but is all scared and timid elsewhere. Great ad.... I just need to get a polo to see if Stewie will sing.

Zombie attack plans revisited

After blogging about preparation for a zombie attack i've unleashed further discussion on the matter.....

Rob and I had friends over on Saturday for some dinner and then what turned into watching Family Guy: Blue Harvest (Great by the way!!!) while looking at maps discussing potential rendezvous and hideout points in the event of a zombie attack.

Paul had even brought a book: Max Brook's Zombie Survival guide and maps of the Sperrins and the Mournes to think through where we would hide out and then move onto after hiding out for a while. We discussed what kind of vehicle we'd need to get, what supplies we'd need and much more. it was all rather surreal! But I'm reassured to have a man who's looking out for me!



(Excuse the washing in the background!!!)

Frozen New York

This is a video of a prank/performance art type thing involving 207 people freezing on the spot at the same time at Grand Central Station


HT to Marko

200 posts!!!

This is my 200th post on the ruth E blog! I'm impressed I've kept so loyal to this!

When I hit 100 posts I highlighted 5 of my favourite posts from that 100 so I'll do the same for the last 100 posts now to mark the occasion.

1. First year out - a a photo essay from The New York times about a man who was wrongly convicted of raping and murdering at the age of 16 went to prison and served almost 16 years of his prison sentence before DNA tests proved him innocent.
2. 2 million kids infected every year... - a video about a disease that affects over 2 million kids each year. Shocking stuff!
3. Loosing control - a post I wrote about the hectic time I had over Christmas, feeling out of control but another step along the path of learning to delegate, ask for help and remember that God is in control
4. All Ruth's are toothy - It's just cool... i still have to get this book!
5. Encouragement - Me finding encouragement after my skepticism

Also I want to re-highlight, not as favourite posts but a couple of posts I wrote about edun live and Free Rice.

Here's to the next 100 posts!!!!!!

Playpump

How cool is this?


HT to On the edge

Re-tagged

Colin tagged me back, so here goes....

1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post THE RULES on your blog.
3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.
4. Tag 7 people and link to them.
5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.


1. My right foot is size 5, my left foot is size 6
2. My first drive on my own after passing my test was to Castlewellan from Glengormley
3. I worked in a pizzaria when I was 16
4. I worked in McDonalds for 2 years after that as a birthday party hostess.... So. Much. Fun.
5. I've lived in 5 houses
6. I've a guitar that I've called "Courtney"
7. I love singing to myself in the car.

I'm not going to bother tagging 7 new people seeing as I've already done this.

Where in the world is Mr E?

I got this photo emailed to me from Rob today....


Can you tell where he was?

Lucky duck.... I'll just have to beat him to the new one in Belfast tomorrow!

Uses of salt

Marko has posted about how there are over 14,000 uses for salt and it already has me thinking about a million different youth and children's talks... maybe it would be useful to others out there?

Video tips

Josh Griffin has posted some great links on how to use and source videos for youth work, and well I suppose anything really.

A lot of these sites I use, but some I was unaware of, so hope it's of use to others too.

Tagged, again

Mel at shot in the arm has tagged me. As with any tag, there are rules - Here they are:
1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post THE RULES on your blog.
3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.
4. Tag 7 people and link to them.
5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

So I've done 1 and 2, heres rule 3:

1. When in South Africa I ate ostrich, crocodile and impala.
2. When I volunteered in a parents and toddlers group, I was often found riding the tricycles.
3. I fell through the stage during a "Snow White" pantomime while dressed as a bumble bee. I was 6 or 7 at the time.
4. I volunteer on the SOS bus when I can
5. I would love to see New York someday
6. I am subscribed to over 200 blogs/feeds.... really need to get rid of ones i don't read any more or that don't post any more.
7. I've only been skiing for 1 day but would love to try it again.

Part 4, tag 7 people.....
1. Alan in Belfast
2. marramgrass
3. Debs Erwin
4. Livingloud, Bowmanblog
5. The journey so far
6. Me in my small corner
7. Nail Harrison

If they don't want to do it, I'm not worried, it's only a silly game.

That's all folks.

On my own again

Rob has gone and left me..........








..... to go to London for 3 days!

He finally got away on his course for work that he was meant to go on last October. And check this out... the lucky sod is in a real fancy hotel with a great view of Tower Bridge!



Lucky boy!

Recent wanderings

Our wee Stewie still gets his regular walks, not always in Hillsborough like he used to but still quite often in Hillsborough Forest. Recently I decided to start walking among the trees more and discovered some little trails that go through the forest that are obviously used by some but not too many. The 2 of us have had fun exploring these "secret paths" and coming across new areas of the forest.



Being in the middle of the forest with no idea of where exactly I am led me to thinking all theologically about a journey through life, but also about Lost, that great and very weird TV show about a group of plane crash survivors on a bizarre island. There are some random buildings in parts of the park that just remind me of a scene in Lost, especially seeing them after being in the middle of the trees for about an hour!







It's really rather bizzarre and slightly spooky, but more than that, I discovered some bamboo growing near all these buildings!


When we do eventually make it back to the regular paths he loves to try bugging the swans and ducks again:


And after all that excitement, it's home for Stewie's nap.

Pampered chef evening

Last night at church we had a Pampered Chef evening hosted by our Young Women's Group to raise funds for the various charities they support. I was only able to call in for a little while what with being on the radio on Tuesday evenings, but really enjoyed it, she made some great food and showed some of the great products they have.

With what little funds I have at the minute and also thinking it'll save me lots of time when I am baking and cooking, I bought an "egg separator". Can't wait until it arrives: I'll have to make loads of meringues and the like!

If ever you get the chance to either go to or host a Pampered Chef event, I would really recommend it. If anyone wants a contact please email me ruth.e.babes at gmail dot com.

Picture sourced from Pampered Chef website

Preparation for a zombie attack

Recently we've been watching a few zombie movies.... not on purpose, they either happen to be on TV or are what Lovefilm has sent out to us, e.g. 28 weeks later, Shaun of the Dead, Resident Evil and can I include I am Legend? (Wikipedia's listing of Zombie films does anyway).

All this recently led to a discussion between Rob and I on what we would do in the event of a zombie attack (I cannot stress enough that Rob was the one to bring it up). I just had to laugh, it sounds so ridiculous! He brought up the fact that we'd need to plan somewhere safe to escape to, that it would need to be well stored with tinned food (and then highlighted the lack of tinned food in our kitchen) and lots of ammunition. Hmmmm it's times like these I really wish he blogged, because as weird as this topic is, it would make a really great post!

For now though you may have to make do with what others have said about it all.

Irish Blog Awards: the outcome

We had a great night at the awards last night! There were loads of people there, great atmosphere, goody bags and a fantastic theme of "Rick for President" (the host) and had great clips of George Bush with great voiceovers to introduce each award. It was fantastic!


Unfortunately "Ruth's Kitchen Experiments" didn't win the Best Food and Drink blog: the award went to the incredible Italian Foodies. Congrats Lor & Bru!

However I did end up winning a DVD player in the prize draw which was really rather cool!

I got to thinking on the way home about how I don't need an award because I already feel like a winner with this blog due to the fact that people read it and more than that, comment on it! I've found a great community of people who are so encouraging, supportive and just great! Thank you everyone!