For many of us the Olympic Games are something we are going to be watching on the TV. The shoddy and shocking decisions of the committee and the cost of the tickets (even though we footed the bill) have left many UK people out of the experience. But never fear! With help from the press office for London 2012we have discovered how you can enjoy the Olympic Games for free!
1. Competitions
If you don’t share my frothing fury over the Olympic Games you will definitely like this idea – enter as many competitions to win tickets as you can. There are plenty of these to win and you may find yourself having a luxury experience without spending a cent. Cadbury’s are running a competition if you buy one of their enormous 1kg bars at WH Smiths at the moment.
2. The London 2012 Festival
There are events, concerts, camps and artistic installations across the UK the entire summer, all in aid of the Olympic Games. You can download a programme from the site to see what things are happening in your area and they are all free.
3. Picture It
There were four new films commissioned for the London 2012 Festival by BBC Films and Film 4. These are A Running Jump, The Swimmer, The Odyssey and What If. You can get tickets to see these at your nearest Picturehouse cinema which will be casting these film premiers and the directors’ Q&A.
4. Dance away!
The Big Dance is planning to be the UK’s biggest celebration of dance with thousands of events across the country. You can learn how to dance, attend workshops and classes, watch performances and plenty more. It looks rather good actually and is something my daughter would absolutely love, and they are apparently open to everyone and free.
5. Ring a bell
On the morning of the opening day of the London 2012 Olympic Games they are asking the country to ring bells as quickly and loudly as possible for three minutes. It is called Work No:1197: All the bells in a country rung as quickly and loudly as possible for three minutes by Turner Prize winning artist and musician Martin Creed. That sounds pretty cool so go out and grab a bell and get ringing on time…
6. A photo opportunity
Take your photo with the Olympic countdown clock in Trafalgar Square for that snapshot memory of a moment in time. It is definitely something that the kids would love and we did it just the other day.
7. App It
The Official London 2012 mobile appsare now ready for you to download on your mobile phone. You can use these to plan your event viewing ahead of time, see what’s happening and follow the latest news.
8. World Sport Day
On Monday 25 June 2012 it is World Sport Dayand you can get involved by doing a bunch of cool things with your school or community. You can host your own opening ceremony, create the flag of your chosen teams and plenty more. They have ideas on the website as well as a free pack for schools that has branded stickers, posters and essentials for helping them to support World Sport Day.
9. Get cultural
The British Museumis hosting an exhibition of London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Medals which tells the story of the production of the medals for the games. From 18 July to 12 August BP and the Royal Opera Househave joined forces with the Olympic Museum to create a free exhibition that tells the Olympic story. And, finally, the Tate Britain has a poster displayfor the games from 21 June to 21 September. All these are completely free!
10. Bake it
I love this one, probably because I love anything to do with cake. This is the only activity in this list that is not free though, but I hope you will forgive me because the recipe is free! Bake this ace Mount Olympus Pudding by the Baker Brothers to enjoy while you watch the opening ceremony:
Mount Olympia pudding Recipe
Taking inspiration from the Olympic homeland and giving it a very British edge.
Queen of pudding base:
• 150g fresh breadcrumbs
• 25g sugar
• 600ml milk
• 50g butter
• 4 yolks
• 2 lime zest
• 1ground cardamon
Heat milk and butter. Mix with breadcrumbs and sugar, add lemon zest, cardamon and yolks. Bake at 180c for 10-20mins in dish
Honey roast black figs
12 beautiful ripe black figs
1 vanilla pod
4tbl runny Greek honey
1splash of lemon juice
Pre heat an oven to 200c. Slit the figs down the middle so the tops open up. place the figs into an oven dish with their points facing up wards. Split the vanilla and mix the seeds into the honey. Drizzle over the figs and give them a good blast in the oven to soften and sweeten the figs. After about 10mins remove the figs and place neatly on top of the pudding base. Now to make the meringue topping
Italian meringue:
This stable meringue is less heavy than common meringue and doesn't need so long to cook because the sugar has been cooked out. It does require a thermometer, if you don't have one it can be a bit hit and miss.
75ml water
200g caster sugar
4 egg whites
Place the egg whites in an electric mixer with the remaining vanilla seeds and beat until they are firm. Meanwhile place the sugar and water in a pan and bring to the boil, it needs to be taken to soft boil 121c this stabilises the sugar, whilst the whisk is still running slowly pour in the sugar syrup. Keep whisking until the meringue is cool and thick and glossy.
Place into a piping bag and artfully pipe on top of the figs. You can go crazy at this stage as the meringue if made well will hold most shapes. I like to make mine look like a towering mountain. Place in an oven at 180c for 20mins till the peaks are brown and crispy and the fig juice is bubbling through the edges.
Serve with ice cream whilst still warm.
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