Sunset Waves

I painted this for my room in London and now it sits in Adam's kitchen horizontally.  I never would think that you could hold together canvas boards with binder clips, but it works!

Groupon Craze

Why shouldn't I jump on the Groupon craze?
I have to admit I am not an everyday user of Groupon, but I do have friends that have found very attractive deals by using these types of sites.  My concern is that when someone purchases the deal, the vendor might not have the capacity to accommodate the item or service that one has purchased.  I find myself asking the question, "So if I get a dinner deal will the restaurant be booked up for the next month?".  I'd also like to know how many people purchase deals and do not get the chance to redeem the coupon.  Ultimately the Groupon idea trains consumers to only purchase something at a discount.
Well I get a crazy discount, so why not?
On the positive side Groupon lets new consumers try a product or service with less risk.  According to their website, "Groupon negotiates huge discounts—usually 50-90% off—with popular businesses. We send the deals to thousands of subscribers in our free daily email, and we send the businesses a ton of new customers. That's the Groupon magic."  Overall the Groupon platform fits within my mantra, 'using technology to improve everyday life'.
It must be a good if Google's willing to pay for it...
The idea is so simple, yet seems to work very well.  Did Groupon really turn down a $6 billion dollar offer from Google?  I mean that is insane.  How could Groupon be valued at $6 billion?  Read TIERNAN RAY's article here about this debate.
What are my thoughts?  
If you have a lot of free time on your hands Groupon makes sense.  But what about those time poor individuals who don't want to be spammed every day?  Can we make a better or smarter Groupon using something like Peer (what they call using collective intelligence)?  I asked my friend Jane if she could forward the good deals to me and she gave me two thumbs down!  It might be nice to know what deals my friends have purchased since I'd be more likely to look at them.  I'll join the bandwagon eventually, but for now I'm just an observer.

Chocolate Hazelnut Fudge

So the Food Network has hit the UK on Sky and Freesat. Adam and I were watching Nigella Lawson who made a Chocolate Pistachio Fudge. That recipe can be found on the BBC website here. We adapted the recipe and it actually works pretty well.

Ingredients

• 400g dark chocolate, chopped (2 big bars)
• 1 can condensed milk light (we used the light version since Adam is into cutting calories)
• 2 knobs of butter
• 1/2 cup crushed hazelnuts
• pinch of salt

Directions

1. Place the chopped chocolate, condensed milk, butter and salt into a heavy-based pan over a low heat and stir until melted and well combined.
2. Chop hazelnuts in a food processor or place the nuts into a freezer bag and crush them until broken up.
3. Add the nuts to the melted chocolate mixture and stir well.
4. Pour the mixture into a 9x9 in square tray lined with aluminum foil.
5. Let the fudge cool, then refrigerate for about 2-3 hours.
6. Cut into small pieces and serve!
7. Once cut, the fudge can be kept in the freezer - there's no need to thaw, just eat straight away.