One of the (few) things I remember distinctly from my politics A Level was the huge problem facing UK democracy – political disillusionment of the youth. Turnout in the 18-24 demographic has been on the decline since the millennium, and with the tendency for older people to produce a higher turnout and be more right…
Author: hdlcooks
HDL COOKS: The Cheat’s Goat’s Cheese and Caramelised Onion Tartlet
Okay, I’ll be honest with you. Sometimes I’m a lazy cook. There are just some nights where I want to eat nice food without spending hours slaving away over every last little detail. Especially when there’s baking involved. So when, on Monday, I decided I wanted a goat’s cheese and caramelised onion tartlet without the…
HDL COOKS: Refried Bean Quesadillas with Pico de Gallo
I make a lot of vegetarian food. In fact, at the time of posting, I don’t think I’ve ever written a meat recipe for this blog before. The thing about vegetarian food, you see, is that it’s often cheaper to make, faster to cook, and way less risky to reheat the leftovers of for the…
5 things not to say to someone who had a breast reduction
4 weeks ago today, I walked into a hospital and walked out a kilo lighter. If you’ve read anything else I’ve posted, you’ll know that I have wanted to do this for an insanely long time, and that the road getting here was far from easy. Along the way, there have just been a few…
HDL COOKS: Pasta Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes and Basil
Oh pasta. Mender of broken hearts, filler of empty tummies, staple of many a student kitchen. I was an unfortunate latecomer to the pasta fanatic club (all thanks to my mother, who refused to have it in the house because she associates it with poverty…), but now I am here, sat with a dish of…
The Boob Wars Saga Continues
Very sorry if you are sick to death of reading about my boobs (and if you aren’t, then go and make yourself comfortable and read Part 1 and Part 2), but here we are. It’s been almost 2 months to the day since the lump in my right breast was found and yesterday I got…
My (not so) Lovely Lady Lump: The Update
For obvious reasons, I don’t have a lot of photos that relate to this topic. So here’s a tentative visual link for ya. Hello there! If you’re familiar with me then perhaps you know that around a month ago, a lump was discovered in my right breast. If this is news to you then click…
Finding a breast lump at 22
I hope you’re comfortable, because this is a long one. At 22, most people are living their lives in the comforting knowledge that generally, things aren’t going to go wrong. We tend to have this bubble of youth protecting us from the evils of the world – mortgages, taxes, arthritis, peeing multiple times in the…
HDL REVIEWS: Cosmo, Southampton Westquay
If you’re a lifelong Soton resident like me, you’ll know that any changes on the horizons of the city are usually useless and underwhelming. In a place that is attracting and accommodating more and more people, changes are inevitable. Promises of an ice rink disappear like smoke, cries of ‘do we really need a new…
HDL TIPS FOR WRITING ESSAYS
I always feel a bit anxious about writing things like this, because it assumes that I a) know what I’m doing and b) feel that my expertise is necessary enough to be shared. The truth is, I have written probably around 30 essays at university so far, and every time I write a new one…
HDL food & culture 