clarissa-allford-blog

[clarissa-allford-blog]

I wish I could say that before university I hadn’t considered what I’d eat or where I’d buy it from. Food, in fact, as always, was at the forefront of my mind. How could I live without Mum’s home cooking? How would I be able to afford to eat well? Where were the nearest supermarkets? A friend of mine, who had finished university many many years beforehand, had kindly given me a student cookbook. I remember scanning through it in despair. Some recipes seemed unhealthy, others unnecessarily complicated, and others plain bizarre. I remember one in particular even suggested adding peanut butter to stir fry! No thank-you.

A year on, and food really has not been as big of a struggle as I imagined. Thanks to the large array of supermarkets and independent food shops in Sheffield, I’ve can honestly say I’ve eaten just as well as I did at home. In this post, I’m going to attempt to write down as much concerning food in Sheffield: from places to buy cheap food, from places to buy ingredients for your favourite international cuisine.

BEFORE YOU MOVE:

- Try to come to uni armed with at least two recipes that have cheap ingredients and are easy to cook. Whether it be a simple pasta sauce (the likes of which are far cheaper to make than the jarred alternative) or your favourite family recipe, it’s great to have two recipes to fall back on in your first few weeks at uni.

- If your parents are willing, ask them to take you to the supermarket on the day you move in to buy your first weeks shopping. Not only will you them come to university with the main cupboard essentials but you’ll have the benefit of a car to carry lots of food in and if your parents are feeling generous they may even offer to contribute toward the cost. There’s a huge ASDA in Handsworth which is a little way out of the city centre and probably not somewhere you’d visit during term time, but definitely somewhere I’d recommend checking out as it tends to have a few good bargains around moving in day.

SUPERMARKETS VS. MARKETS AND LOCAL SHOPS:

- Whilst there are a lot of decent brands in supermarkets, I’d recommend visiting local shops such as Simmonites butchers for meat and The Moor Market for fresh fruit and vegetables. They tend to be cheaper and you’re able to buy exact amounts so you’re less likely to waste food. Also, take out cash when food shopping and try to leave your card at home. That way, you’re more likely to consider what you’re buying and stick to your set budget.

INTERNATIONAL FOOD:

- The best places, from my experience, to buy international food is London Road, where there is an array of international supermarkets, and the Moor Market. There are also one or two Chinese supermarkets dotted near the Moor. Also, if you’re looking for something specific and if your budget allows, Waitrose apparently has a good selection of international food. Overall, Sheffield does have a large international community and it’s not difficult to find international cuisine at all.

As always, if you guys do have any questions regarding anything to do with student life in Sheffield, do not be scared to tweet me @callford1. I’ll also be at the freebie fair in HUBS on Monday as well as at other fairs throughout the week so if you see me, don’t be scared to ask questions then.

[clarissa-allford-blog]

Hello there!

As part of my role as a #SHUinsider, I’ll be blogging regularly with tips and tricks on how to get the most out of Sheffield: from upcoming gigs in Sheffield’s numerous music venues to new discoveries in Sheffield and the surrounding areas that I can’t help but share.

This month, I’ll be writing about the moving in experience. September is the month in which worried parents are forced to accept the inevitable: that their teenager has flown the nest. In an attempt to make this easier, I’ll be writing about things not to forget, places to buy affordable food - not just supermarkets - and even places you can visit to help you get the best out of life as a Sheffield Hallam student. As I always say, if you’re bored in Sheffield, you’re not using the city correctly!

In this post I’ll be explaining things you may forget but that may prove essential when you move in. If you’re anything like I am, you could be packing for weeks and still manage to forget some of the absolute essentials. Here are a few things which most of my friends forgot and why they’re essential:

CHOPPING BOARDS: There’s nothing worse than arriving at university, starting to prep your first ever meal as a responsible and independent adult and realising you’ve forgotten your chopping boards. Trust me: from experience, cutting up carrots and onions on a plate or, even worse, a work surface, is no way to live. Don’t forget to bring more than one too, and to make sure not to cross contaminate meat and vegetables. Food poisoning would not be the most ideal start to university!

POSTERS AND PICTURES: Don’t forget that you’ll be living in your new uni room for a year, and that pictures and posters will not only make the place more homely, but it’ll make settling into uni a lot easier to live in somewhere that is comforting and reminds you of happy times with your family and friends back home. Get those photos developed and don’t forget to add more as the year goes on!

MULTI-VITAMINS: Freshers flu WILL happen. You could be the most healthiest of individuals, and yet it will still manage to sneak up on you. I, for example, must have had a bad cough for about 10 weeks! A way to make sure it doesn’t affect you too badly is to bring multi-vitamins - it may sound boring, but they’ll give your immune system the boost it needs to make sure it doesn’t affect you too badly!

Other things you’ll likely to forget but most definitely need include coat hangers, washing powder, a bath mat, dish clothes, an extra mirror (uni rooms tend only to provide one or two) and copious amounts of tea towels - you’ll be alarmed at how often they need washing and how quickly you get through them.

A FEW EXTRA TIPS:

- However tempted you may be, try to avoid buying textbooks before you start university. As soon as I got my reading list, I made the mistake of buying about four or five books. How many did I use? One. The rest did nothing but gather dust on my cupboard. Honestly, wait until term starts and use the library. Hallam’s library is excellent and has multiple copies of each book as well as online copies of essential texts. It’s also open 24/7 - you’d be daft not to use it.

- Also, make sure to make the most out of your SHU card. It’s a card that you’ll get at enrolment that you can use to get student discounts in loads and loads of shops. Also, if you show it to bus drivers in Sheffield you get to travel anywhere within the city for £1, which is excellent if you want to explore around the whole of Sheffield.

- Last but not least, make sure to shop around to get the best food deals. Don’t be afraid to go to more than one shop to find the best deals and certainly check out the moor market for amazing deals on meat, fruit and vegetables. I’ll be dedicating an entire post to food later on with more in depth tips and some recipes to give you inspiration, so keep an eye out in the next few days for some more information.

I wish you all the best when starting university and am more than willing to answer any questions you have concerning university life and Sheffield as a city. Tweet me at @callford1 or ask me a question on here and I’ll try my hardest to answer any questions or help with any worries you have.

Clarissa x

[clarissa-allford-blog]

March 11th 1864: The Great Sheffield Flood

On this day in 1864 the Dale Dyke Dam in Sheffield broke, causing one of the largest floods in English history. 650 million gallons of water swept down Loxley Valley and through areas of Sheffield. The flood destroyed 800 homes and killed around 293 people, thus making it the largest man-made disaster to befall England, and one of the deadliest floods in history. Individual stories from the disaster are particularly tragic. For example Joseph Dawson found the currents too strong and was unable to save both his wife and two day old baby boy - the Dawsons’ unnamed child became the first victim of the floods. The destruction afterwards led one observer to remark that Sheffield was “looking like a battlefield”. Today marks the 150th anniversary of this tragedy, which is often forgotten in English history, and many Sheffielders will take this day to remember what once happened to their city.