Bread

Floyd has had 'make bread' on his birthday goal list since last May.  He finally got round to ticking it off the list the other day, and I was the happy recipient of warm, homemade sourdough - yum!  I managed to snap a few photos of the kneading process, but got so excited by the end result (and the eating) that I didn't actually take any photos of it finished.  Oh well, I can assure you it was good - really good!

I'm now planning to make my own butter.  If I'm successful then between us we can be the bread and butter king and queen!  Watch this space.

12 Days...

Gingerbread House from Rebekka Seale on Vimeo.

It's 12 days until Christmas! Are you feeling festive? I certainly am after watching this video, and now I want to go eat lots of gingerbread ;)

On a slightly rubbish note, my laptop is still in the shop and I have no idea when I will get it back (if ever). I've also come down with something, so am wrapped up in bed feeling sorry for myself. Hopefully after plenty of sleep and vitamins I will be back on track in no time.

Waffles

Continuing with the food theme... I don't have a waffle maker, but after watching this video I'm seriously considering buying one. A little less healthy than beans though I think. Oh well, everything in moderation right?

On a side note: check out 'Lovelier Words' - she has very kindly nominated me for the Leibster award! I'm so chuffed. I was nominated a little while back so won't be participating this time, but it still means so much to me that people enjoy what I put out here on my little corner of the internet *big smiles*.

Beans

I recently mentioned that I have been told I have a wheat intolerance.  Since I discovered this I have been cutting down on the amount of bread and pasta that I eat (which was really hard!) and eating other alternatives such as quinoa, chickpeas and beans.  Although it was difficult cutting down on the carbs, I'm quite glad that I was given a reason to do it because I have been feeling so much better since.  I still treat myself to the odd crumpet or bowl of pasta, but to be honest I'm not missing carbs as much as I thought I would - and beans are so versatile, cheap, tasty and let's be honest quite pretty too.

Do you have any good bean recipes?

15 New Recipes

One of the things I put on my Birthday to-do list was to try 15 new recipes.  I have been quite good at trying out new recipes, but no so great at documenting them (sorry).  I love to cook, and love to eat even more!  Floyd is passionate about food and cooking too, so we're always up for trying new things and have quite a substantial collection of recipe books.  Above are just a few of the books I have been delving into recently.  Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall are safe bets for me... I've always enjoyed the things I've tried from their books so am pretty confident each time we try another one of their recipes.

I'm also a huge fan of Asian food and have tried many recipes in my time.  I like to think I'm getting more of an idea about the different flavours and ingredients (but I still have a lot to learn!).  The above book is a good place to start for those who may not have tried to cook Chinese food before.  We recently bought some bamboo steamers and have been steaming our own dim-sum (my fave!).

What are your favourite recipe books?  I'm always up for finding new recipes and food blogs, so leave links below if you have any you think are worth a nosey :)

Wimbledon

So we may not have had the result we were hoping for, but watching the Wimbledon final yesterday was the most exciting tennis I have seen in my life!  Well done Andy for making it so far - there's always next time.

We celebrated the occasion in true British style with cucumber sandwiches and Pimms.  I tried wheat-free bread for the first time (we've been trying a lot of wheat-free alternatives since I found out about my intolerance), and then we enjoyed some delicious British strawberries - yum!

How was your weekend?

Lately

Hello again and happy Saturday.  I hope you're having a good one.  So far my Saturday has been pretty good - me + my manfriend went to the pub for lunch and had the most amazing homemade pies!  Delicious (I'm still full now).  We're just about to stick on a film and have a lazy evening, which is exactly what I'm up for right about now.

Lately I've been trying to eat better because I found out I'm intolerant to a couple of food stuffs, so sugar and wheat products have dramatically reduced in my diet (although I baked my step-dad a very chocolately cake and had to try a bit - couldn't be helped).  So apart from my chocolate lapse, I've been cooking myself up some new recipes, including fried chili tofu and spinach noodle soup (yum).  I've also been busy crocheting with cotton this week, which has got to be one of my favourite materials for sure!  I made my friends' new baby a hat (hello Isaac), and a few other things that I'll be updating you with soon.

Until then... :)

This week

So this week I started a few new projects.  I got a couple of new green friends for the terranium I plan on creating with the giant glass goldfish-bowl I picked up a couple of weeks ago.  I started a new granny-square project.  I discovered a new favourite treat - pea snacks!  And today, me and the mister are decorating the kitchen.  Phew!

Decorating was one of the things on my list, so I'm really glad to have started on that one.  Have you started any long awaited projects lately?

Onions

Hello peeps, I'm sorry for the relative silence around here lately - I've been on holiday (probably should have mentioned that before).  It was the Mister's Birthday so we disappeared to Dovedale in the Peak District for a couple of relaxing days.  Betty accompanied us and thouroughly enjoyed herself too!  But alas, it's back to reality with a bump.

Things have been changing around here.  I have a secret to share with you soon, but for now you'll have to wait until my preparations are complete.  In the meantime I'll share this simple project I started last week... re-growing some spring onions.  I'll keep you updated on their progress in the weeks to come.

Speak soon lovelies x

Rain

So this week it has done nothing but rain.  It's meant I've gotten soggy on a few of the walks to work, but it's also meant some great catching up time with my to-do list.  You may have noticed that I've changed my Blog header... yeah I taught myself new Photoshop skills!  The benefits of bad weather.
I managed to bag myself a beautiful glass goldfish bowl which I plan to turn into my very own terranium at some point.  I'm very happy with that purchase.

 I've also been chillin' in this lovely cardigan my mum gave me.  She's had it for years, so it will forever remind me of her each time I wear it (and our amazing trip to New York).

I've also been snaffling this tasty recipe found over on The Dainty Squid - it's truly scrummy and I highly recommend giving it a go yourself!  I think it can also count as one of my 15 new recipes I tried this year.

And finally a cute picture of Betty - how angelic does she look in this picture?  Deceivingly so...

Edible Coral Garden

Peter Gilmore: Coral Garden on Nowness.com.
I watched in amazement when I first saw this video over on NOWNESS. I hope you think it's just as amazing and beautiful. Enjoy.