30.04.13 | BAT FOR LASHES - LAURA

Tuesdays tune: sharing what i'm listening to and the songs I love. 

This week,  Laura by Bat For Lashes.

Simply because i love this song.

29.01.13 | LATELY

We took a trip to @bristol. Awesome as always.

26.04.13 | FRIDAY I'M IN LOVE

1. I really want to find some time to make these!
2. Yes, yes and yes some more...
3. This video from one of my all time food heroes Tracy had me beaming.
4. Being a massive Jeffers fan, I can't believe this book escaped my clutches!
5. I was so chuffed to be mentioned in Alexis food post :) (and yup Taco's are awesome)
6. If there is a lady who knows how to make me starving hungry, it's ALWAYS Drea!
7. I am loving all the Helen Dardik stuff in Paperchase at the moment!
8. I've fancied this Anorak tablecoth for so long, but what about tomato sauce stains? Hmmm.
9. Love family homes? Watch your day vanish whilst you get sucked into The Socialite Family. Ooops, sorry.
10. Now that's a plan, Stan.

Happy weekend y'all. I'm having a bit of a blog wobble at the moment :( but i'm hoping to post some grub over the next couple of days xxx

23.04.13 | BIG MOUNTAIN - BABY I LOVE YOUR WAY

Tuesdays tune: sharing what i'm listening to and the songs I love. 

This week, the Big Mountain cover of 'Baby, I Love Your Way'

Ahh. This song from the soundtrack of one of my favourite movies soon became the soundtrack to one of my favourite summers as a teenager. This movie had everything for me  - the heroine was who I wanted to be, the hero was who I wanted to fall in love with & well, everything else just signalled a sign of the times whilst cobbling together a fantastic love story for the nineties :)

Wow - listening to it again I just love the way that music does that. You know, the way a song can take you back to a place and times in a nanosecond, that's what it's about for me. Music for me isn't about liking what's cool (like i even know what's cool! ha!) or instantly disliking something because it becomes mainstream ( i hate that). No, this song totally adds to the soundtrack of me, which is surely the point, right?

20.04.13 | ROASTED CAULIFLOWER WITH CHICK PEAS & HARISSA

If you'd have asked me a couple of weeks ago if i liked cauliflower, a big loud NO would have been flung in your direction, probably with a facial expression resembling a bulldog chewing a wasp. 

I used to feel the exact same way about cauliflower as my husband still feels about tofu ("it's basically a sponge full of skanky water") so for years I never ever bought it. Even when I used to eat cheese (pretty much constantly) I still couldn't be convinced to waste some perfectly good mature cheddar by slathering it over a cloud of white nonsense.

But then, i saw this whilst i was searching for harissa stockists and I was mesmerised! 

Roasting  cauliflower must mean no water, right?! RIGHT!

Suddenly things got interesting. I embraced cauliflower like the big old grown up that I am and I made this three times in the past week. Oh yeah, i really went to town on this one! I had it with a family roast dinner, I devoured it in a salad and then I hit the taste jackpot when I teamed it up with some kale and piled it high on some toasted sourdough. All equally amazing, and all begging to be made over & over again.

OK, OK you now think I'm both crazy & greedy don't you? ("she ate this 3 times in a week. Woah!") But if you've been coming here for a while or you have the pleasure of knowing me in real 3D animated form, you'll have figured that out a long long time ago... 

Go, go MAKE!

19.04.13 | FRIDAY I'M IN LOVE

1. I am in LOVE with this guest house. When can I visit please?
2. Here's a supper that is perfect for spring don't you think?
3. This is such a good idea for those torn kiddos jeans!
4. I'm really please I found Nat The Fat Rat. I'm crushing on everything within this blog!
5. The prettiest tattoo i ever did see.
6. This has to happen in my kitchen this week. It really really must... NOM
7. I am pretty much laughing constantly because of this podcast, ust not with the kids around!!
8. In my dreams i'm a fantastic crafting mama & I make things like this painted flower tree all the time!
9. Did you ever see a more beautiful salad? No, thought not.
10. For real.

16.04.13 | THE LEMONHEADS - BEING AROUND

Tuesdays Tune: sharing what i'm listening to. This week, Being Around by The Lemonheads

Yes Evan, YES yes yes to all of the above!

I can not believe it was 20 years ago that I was dancing around in my room to this (the album version is a bit more bouncy!) dreaming of when Evan would come & whisk me away from my teenage angst! 

20 years - Jeeeeezus.

13.04.13 | SUPER SALAD WITH ROASTED RED PEPPER DRESSING

Every now & then I post a picture of something that I've made on twitter or instagram, or even my own personal facebook page now that I'm totally OK with real life friends knowing about the blog (ok, so not totally ok, that is still a little bit strange) but none the less, every now & then people go mad get a little more interested than usual for what i've made and they contact me wanting the recipe or asking when it will go live on the blog (which is awesome by the way - thank you!)

But, you can bet your life that those times it's almost always going to be something I got majorly lucky on taste wise. 

It's also almost definitely going to be something I made up out of god knows where. 

And I can pretty much guarantee that it's going to be the one time i didn't have my camera next to me snapping every stage. 

So of course this is exactly what happened when I made this Super Salad, which is why it's taken me ages to get it on the blog. I had to scurry around in my (still very much baby) brain remembering what i used, what I did and in which order I did it in, but I finally did and here it is. Yaay for that...

12.04.13 | FRIDAY I'M IN LOVE

1. I just love this range of books for pre-schoolers...
2. I treated my wellbeing to something from The Golden Tooth and I am so glad I did :)
3. I am SO please to have stumbled across this new-to-me blog Pink Ronnie! Bliss.
4. Again, i'm inspired by Lottie & this time I vow to join in. Hey, i already made a start!
5. I am 100% doing this washi tape holder DIY! Keep your hands off Florence ;)
6. I love this girl. Brilliant.
7. I seriously thought I had this covered. Seems not, better keep trying eh?
8. Yippity (it's a word) Yip Yip Yip. I am so making these!
9. Cute! And only a fiver!
10. It's true.

09.04.13 | PULP - SOMETHING CHANGED

Tuesday tune: sharing what i'm listening to.

This week, Something Changed by Pulp. This is possibly one of my favourite songs from my teenage years. One of my final a-level pieces was to make a music video, and my friend Ash & I chose this song to put it to. 

Ahh, 6th form life - good times :)

06.04.13 | LINGUINE WITH SICILIAN PESTO

A couple of weeks ago i ordered Kitchen & Co which is written by two people I'd quite liked to have been myself. You see, these two people (Ellie Grace & Rosie French) just did it. 

They just did IT.

They started a food blog, followed by a supper club, followed by a reasturant in Brixton, followed by a cook book. They did it! 

I want to do it! 

Maybe I will one day, who knows? Maybe one day i'll be ballsy enough to admit that my dazzling career in behind-the-scenes television is more than likely over and I should follow my other dream of owning my own small cafe/deli/food truck?

Who knows indeed.

Anyway, if you are still here (which is probably not the case because i'm sure none of you had any idea where that dose of random brainstorming was headed) basically where I am going with this is that i made my first recipe from that book last night. 

Now, because it's Spring (it is, the calendar says so) I chose this very amazing linguine with Sicilian pesto, i just adapted it slightly (in that I skinnied it up a bit because of the boring gallbladder sitch) but WOW - it really rocked our Friday night. It's not your normal oily basil-y pesto but instead a light, sweet, salty & bold version. It is quite heavy on the garlic though which is the only thing I would say, but that's not a bad thing is it? I don't think so, well not unless you're single & ready to mingle, then i'd recommend that you maybe have this the following day instead ;)

05.04.13 | FRIDAY I'M IN LOVE

1. I loved this post about Charity Shops from Abi!
2. I'm thinking positive about Summer 2013!
3. I want to starrt making more cocktails (who doesn't?). This should help...
4. Do you read the simple mom? It's fab.
5. I'm really enjoying nature in the home.
6. I'll be combatting boredom this summer with this awesome idea!
7. I hope to make this dish for my poorly small folk this week.
8. I love this place. I must visit more...
9. I can't wait to start getting out & about with my National Art Pass! First stop, the fashion museum with my friend Fritha :)
10. A LOT worst.

Have a good weekend :) I hope to blog some recipes this weekend, but i've currently got three small folk at home with chicken pox so who knows. Wish us luck!

02.04.13 | ELBOW - ONE DAY LIKE THIS

Tuesdays tune: sharing what i'm listening to.

This week, Elbow. This song is huge to me. I play it a lot, it helps me think when I really, really need to  just 'think'. It's most definitely my go to song.