31.07.13 | ROASTED RADISH & CHICK PEA TACOS

I featured a taco recipe on one my FFFF posts a couple of weeks back and I've been thinking about that damn taco pretty much constantly ever since. So whilst I was home alone pottering about my kitchen a couple of nights ago I finally got around to creating something similar and wow - just wow!

This taco was a dream to make, a joy to look at and of course amazing to eat - result! The colours of this dish are SO awesome ( just look at that pink!) and the flavours and textures are absolutely perfect together and well, the fact that it was a taco was simply an added bonus ;)

Vegan it up if you wish by leaving out the yogurt and replacing it with a smooth salsa, either way you're onto a winner.

So once again, if you love tacos you've come to the right place and if you don't? Man you must be sick of me by now.

So I'm either really sorry or you're welcome!

C'mon, lets make this thing!

30.07.13 | SUMMER RECIPE ROUND UP

Needing some inspiration for what to eat this summer? Look no further.
We've got Banh Mi, we've got  salsas, we've got burgers, salads and a vegan BBQ heaven. There's something for everyone here - tuck in!

30.07.13 | WILL.I.AM - BANG BANG

Will.i.am - Bang Bang.

We LOVE this here.

26.07.13 | FIVE FINDS FOR FRIDAY

1. CHERRIES // This recipe? Wow, check it out. I'm going to make this for the cheese eaters amongst me, just so i can try the teeniest amount and see what those flavours are up to!

2. PICKLING // Strawberries? YES! I'm guessing both Florence and I will love this, especially as we are mad about strawberries and balsamic vinegar together already.

3. CUTE // Cute little biscuits for the new king. Haters gonna hate i know (yawn), but I think it's a big deal that a new king was born this week. Welcome George!

4. SAGE // In a cocktail? Sure, why not?!

5. PINNING // this lead me to La Tartine Gourmande. Thank goodness it did - it's my new favourite
place.

It's all about the food this week. What can I say, i'm hungry!

Happy Weekend xox

25.07.13

complete the creepy house challenge // visit nanny in Devon // watch the hot air balloons go up // have friends to play // have a homemade pizza night // visit grandma & grandpa in West Sussex // go on a nature hunt // visit a penny arcade // go fruit picking to make homemade jam // take a day trip to Brighton // paint our faces // build dens at Rainbow woods // have a bbq with friends // make some more ketchup // go to the cinema - at night // throw a Mexican party complete with homemade piñata  // go to the SS Great Britain // fly a kite // visit uphill beach // play crazy golf... 

and the list just keeps on growing! Come back to see how we get on!

24.07.13 | BALMY SUMMER NIGHTS

Ahhh man, I love summer. 

I love being able to have every window & door wide open. I love how the kids are always smelling of suncream or are sticky sweet from ice-creams. I love how almost every meal is either a BBQ or a picnic. I love taking long walks around our favourite park, after dinner when it's slightly cooler and everyone is chilled out. 

Yep, i flippin' love this summer - it was totally worth the wait!

23.07.13 | THE CHARLATANS - LOVING YOU IS EASY

The Charlatans - Loving you is easy

I first heard this on a promo CD i got from work years ago and it has been on every single play list I have ever made since. 

I just love this song.

22.07.13 | LATELY

Summer time & the living is easy - well slower anyway!

Parks, picnics, beaches and ice lollies are pretty much all we plan on doing whilst this heat is here, which is fine by us!

oh, and we finished a little DIY of our stair case - take a peek (grainy iphone pic) ...

19.07.13 | FIVE FINDS FOR FRIDAY

1. PINNING // I love everything about this photograph. I would love a copy of it for my kitchen, i mean look at those colours!

2. CHILLING // By making & enjoying these Dark & Stormy ice lollies. Making these is on my summer bucket list.

3. EATING // A veggie taco just like this one. Oh sweet lordy lord.

4. ACCEPTING // I am not a natural crafter by nature but I think this is cute. If i attempted that though, it would probably end up on here. It's cool though, I'm over it.

5. WISHING // In the future I own an airstream don't you know and she is just like Amelia.

How lovely is this weather? 

It's so nice and I'm really enjoying the way it has slowed the pace of life right down. It's too hot to be frantically rushing about the place, so we're taking many breaks throughout the day to play in the paddling pool or just sit eating ice-lollies. Long may it continue I say, especially as my big two break up from school this afternoon which is very very welcomed! The past two weeks have been an emotional roller coaster as Dex is moving from Infants to Juniors (I may have cried as I attempted some sort of gushing thank-you to his headmistress this morning- ahem) and we have been non-stop in transition mode, which involved lots of good-byes and lots of tears (mainly from me - i'll admit i'm not good at this stuff) but I'm glad that he simply can not wait to be a junior. I can rest assured that it's going to be a happy new adventure for him. 

Happy weekend friends x

16.07.13 | JONI MITCHELL - CALIFORNIA

I love Joni.

12.07.13 | FIVE FINDS FOR FRIDAY

1. HOPING // Hoping to one day organise my sodding kitchen. There is no space, my oven is a pile of junk (I swear that's why I can't bake a cake to save my life - pah) so one day I want it to look like this one.

2. DREAMING // Dreaming of shucking oysters at Tomales Bay. That would be ideal.

3. READING // Reading (or waiting to read at least) issues of Lucky Peach magazine.

4. EATING // Eating many many many fried pickles. Tonight, this WILL happen in my kitchen. I am a pickle nut, always have been (so many friends gifted me piccalilli on my wedding day). My mouth is literally watering as i type. Too much information? Probably.

5. WISHING // Wishing I could throw a cocktail party as pretty as this one. Anthro, you kill me.

Happy Weekend y'all - it's going to be oh scorchio!

11.07.13 | PEACH SALSA

This is simply delicious. It's sweet, it's sour and it's fiery - it's everything you want from a salsa. Try it along some barbecued jerk chicken or put it in some sizzling chicken fajitas, either way it's a real treat and so summery. Peach Salsa couldn't be more perfect for this glorious weather if it tried!

10.07.13

I haven't treated myself to a new cookbook for what feels like forever and I seem to be spending lots of time on line looking at food websites pondering what to make - which is fine (I'm not about to get upset about the Internet as a blogger now am I!) but when it comes to food, i want a book book. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a total luddite when it comes to books; I've taken the digital leap from paperback to ebook for novels in my stride (albeit a very long time after the rest of the planet) but when it comes to my cookbooks I am still very old fashioned. I am a happy girl (girl? 33? debatable!) when I'm flipping back & fourth between pages a hundred times a second comparing ingredients. I don't mind if the pages are scraped or marked or torn. I enjoy seeing a recipe splattered with the ingredients and scribbled with my incoherent notes all over them. For those reasons, i want these books (right now) in all their paper page turning glory.

1. Alice's Cook Book - Alice Hart

2. Take One Pot - Georgina Fuggle

3. Pitt Cue Co. - The Cookbook

Oh & no, this isn't a sponsored post, but y'know if anyone wants to send me them feel free ;) (that's how that works, right?!)

09.07.13 | SQUEEZE - THIS SUMMER

Possibly my favourite summer song ever.

05.07.13 | FIVE FINDS FOR FRIDAY

1. MAKING // I am desperado to make this wild chamomile ice cream float! Where can I get wild chamomile?! 

2. WANTING // These clogs? Perfection! That price? Not so much (sad face).

3. RELAXING // We had a lovely relaxing sunny Sunday in the garden last weekend. I'm now 100% ready for this weekends heat wave! Yaaahhhoooooooo!

4. PINNING // I love everything about this look. I am a sucker for yellow and why o why can't my hair look like that instead of the hot mess that it always is?!

5. LAUGHING // I'm more than a little obsessed with Buzz Feed, especially this list! Bahahahaha at number 16!

And on that note, have a good weekend friends - enjoy the sun :)

04.07.13 | OUR BIG NIGHT IN (THE GARDEN)

As you may have gathered, i missed out on Glasto this year (really, like I haven't bleated on about that enough) so when i got an email from the peeps at Money Supermarket asking if I'd like to take part in this competition I jumped at the chance to have our own mini festival at home! I was given £50 to get creative and figure out the best way to have an awesome night without blowing the bank or leaving the house, so we did just that.

Flo & I started thinking firstly about ways to make the garden look pretty (naturally!) We stocked up on washi tape, tea lights and lanterns and got cracking. We decorated jam-jars to make cutlery holders (thanks for the idea Alexis!) and make pretty lanterns to hold candles. We decorated some old milk bottles to make vases which we filled with purple flowers before scattering them around the garden.

We invited some friends over to join us for some good food fresh off the BBQ and enjoy some summer drinks with us whilst we listened to Glasto on the radio. I painted the kids faces and we played games - all under a bright blue sky. When the sun started to set and the air turned cooler we got into our jammies and toasted muffins on the chimnea.

It was the perfect Sunday day and night in :)

Want to have a festival in your garden? Easy:

Decorations (washi tape, paper lanterns, tea lights, flowers) £15.00
Food and drink (chicken, veggie bangers, rolls, salad ingredients, slaw ingredients, stubby beers, strawberry cider, juices, sparking water, ice cream) £35.00

02.07.13 | ARTIC MONKEYS - DO I WANNA KNOW?

Epic. 

Seeing them perform this at Glastonbury must have been a proper neck mohican moment.

01.07.13 | VEGGIE TACOS

I'm trying to work out some good veggie taco recipes because (dare I say it) I'm in a bit of a taco rut. 

Tacos Tacos TACOS, they are all i want to eat - ALL DAY LONG.

I believe I could live on tacos but I normally opt for chicken or shrimp ones which got me thinking that if I do ever get the confidence to follow my food truck dream (ahem, did I just say that out loud?) then I will need a good veggie option, right? 

Right.

So, I found one and it's a really really good one, and it was so quick to make. I loved it, the mister loved it, and as a Brucey bonus, the kids loved it! Whoo Hoo!

I mixed the sides up a little and served them with some pink pickled onions (which are quick and easy to make) & all the flavours went together perfectly. 

So what are you waiting for? Go on, go make!

(you can grab the recipe for the pink pickled onions here)