I HEART LONDON

I have a real love affair with London. Even though I only lived there for 10 years, it is the place I most consider 'home'. I'd spent so long as a child dreaming of one day living there, that when I moved there for University age 18, i felt instantly that this was where I was meant to be. I loved everything about it. I loved the diversity, I loved the anonymity, I loved riding the tube, hopping on & off the old route masters. I loved spending my skint student days in Ealing & Waterloo (less said about those days the better, my kids will read this one day!) and then later, my working days in Soho. London was where I fell in love, where I set up my first home & where I had two babies - all very special and important things. Yes! I love it VERY much, so this past Bank Holiday, we took the kiddos to London to visit their grandparents.
This visit was long overdue as far as we were concerned, so we thought we'd take advantage of the extra-long weekend & get on it. As always, London was lovely & this visit we took some time to show the kiddos some special places like where they were born, the various houses we lived in, the places we used to work & where we'd often visit. It was lovely to reminisce & show them their roots if you like.
Whilst we were there, we took the kiddos to The Natural History Museum for the first time. HOW BUSY is this place?! I don't remember this hysteria before, but then that was pre-kiddos so i probably didn't notice, but wow! It's a good job we're British & love a good que. They had so much fun & especially loved dressing up as little explorers - they looked soooo cute! It was the first time they'd seen crazy mirrors too and oh my goodness, they laughed & laughed & laughed! They were hilarious and I could have watched them perform for hours - plus i loved the ones that made my hair long and my legs skinny, in fact, i think i may get one of those babies for home!
We took a Sunday stroll along the embankment, one of my favourite things to do there & we visited one of my loveliest friends Soraya, who cooked us an awesome lunch & let the kids wreck her house (sorry Soz!) India took a particular liking to Phooey the cat, so much so that Phooey the cat decided it was safer to hide out under a chair outside in the peeing down rain (sorry Phooey!) & the kiddos discovered Tin-Tin thanks to a little story time with Aunty Soraya. Sweet!
We took in some parks and generally just relaxed. London is really gearing up for this summers Jubilee & what with the Olympics too, it's going to be a pretty exciting time! Mental note to self- visit more often, maybe then you'll stop missing it as much!

Here's a few pics from our visit. Enjoy x

(When Flo met Flo!)

#6

1. I learnt all about Sumac, thanks to Tracy from Shutterbean. It's a loooovely citrusy spice & if you make this salad, you'll agree!
2. I love this nursery! Hendrix is one lucky dude!
3. I really should do this. Lovely work space too!
4. An entire blog about breakfasts! Awesome!
5. I wished we had the space to have our own family of chickens.
6. I will certainly be making myself this salad for lunch next week sometime!
7. I love Lauren Luke.
8. I'm a little behind the times but I only discovered this video this week. My heart melted!
9.  Wow. Wow. Wow. Thanks to Victoria for posting this amazing sneek peek into Isabelle Tuchban's home. GORGEOUS!
10. My kiddos adore the books of Oliver Jeffers almost as much as their mama does!

Have a good weekend y'all! We're off to the big smoke for some museum fun.... Enjoy x

TACO NIGHT!

My name is Lia & I am a mexican food addict. Phew- just had to get that out there!
Seriously though, you've caught me right in the middle of a another food obsession. I get these ALL the time, but this one has gone on and on, and to be honest, it shows no sign of waning, and thank goodness for that as I don't want it to. Ever!
I think it all started when I watched Sir Jamie of Oliver make this on TV one night. I went out & got the Jamie's America book the very next day & I got shredding! To say it blew my socks off is an understatement - i fell in LOVE!

From that moment, my mexican obsession snowballed. Fajita's, natchos, burritos, tostadas, salads, beans, salsa's - you name it, i wanted it! But then the best thing happened - I discovered taco's - proper taco's. I say proper taco's because in the past i'd always been put off them in the past because of those disgusting unappetising pictures on those mexican kit boxes you get in the supermarkets. They look like a giant curved dorrito. It looked like it would snap into a million pieces whenever i took a bite & i'd be left with a mouth full of crisps when i was trying to eat a meal. Urgh, no thanks, i'm not up for that!
Anyway, whilst reading my fave foodie blog Shutterbean, I found this taco night party & found that it was easy to make your own shell's using some good quality tortilla wraps. Score! So, it was that discovery, along with this awesome Pico de Gallo recipe, that sealed my fate, and my new favourite meal was born. That night we feasted on shrimp taco's with pico de gallo & black beans. It was awesome & now we have a taco night at least once a week as a RULE! Is that weird? Maybe, but I couldn't give a flying tortilla as it is just so so good.
This week we had fish taco's using cod loins. They were good, but i'm not going to lie to you - king prawns work 100 times better.

So, this is how a Taco night for two goes in my kitchen...


1. For lazy black beans:
- empty a can of black beans into a saucepan (that's the lazy part)
- add 2 crushed garlic cloves
- add 4 corriander stalks
- simmer for about 15-20 minutes. (or long enough so they are not watery)

2. Marinate:
- take either 500g of raw king prawns, or 2 fillets of chunky white fish
- in a bowl add a sprinkle of sea salt
- add the juice of a lime
- add a few shakes of a hot sauce of your choice
- set aside

3. Next up, make your Pico De Gallo:
You will need:
- 12 cherry tomatoes - quartered
- 2 tablespoons of corriander leaves
- 3 tablespoons of finely diced white onion
- 1 fresh red chilli - deseeded & chopped
- fresh sea salt
- juice of 1/2 - 1 lime

Simply combine your toms, corriander, onion & chilli. Then sprinkle with your salt & dress with your lime. How easy is that? C'mon!

4. Make your shells:
You will need 8 flour tortilla's
- heat a large frying pan on your hottest hob. Get it REAL hot!
- when it's hot place one tortilla on, and using tongs keep peaking underneath until you see it starting to crisp & have a few brown spots.
- turn over & repeat for the other side.
- once ready, take off the heat & fold in half. I use the end of a wooden spoon to create the shell shape.

5. Grill your fillings:

6. Gather your sides! Hot sauce is a MUST! Cholula is my fave.

7. Load up your shell!

Flake your fish (or scatter your prawns) & fill!

That's the happiest little taco i've ever seen. Look! It's smiling :)

So there you have it, perfection on a plate! Enjoy x

RAIN? NO BIGGIE!

What's that saying? The one about when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade? Well, we did that today, kind of. Replace the word lemons with the word 'rain' and replace the word lemonade with the words 'the beach' and you'll see where we're going. Yes, apparently we are mad, although i like to think of it as merely 'temporarily losing our senses' and today, on the windiest, rainiest, coldest day of Spring we hot footed it to..... Weston-super-night mare.
But of course, the kiddos had a blast! YAY! They loved every single minute of it & i bet if you asked them right now if it was rainy or sunny today, they would not have a clue! Don't do that by the way, it's 9pm!
They played tons of games, they ate fish & chips, they zoomed about on bumper cars, they had fresh donuts - heck, they even had their first slush puppie! Now that's a memory right there! Flo & I even attempted the helter skelter..... although, it was kind of a major fail for a number or reasons;
1) We forgot to collect our mats at the bottom before we hiked up SIXTY NINE steps.
2) We got half way up the SIXTY NINE steps & mama's legs morphed into some sort of jelly.
3) We got to the top & looked at the slide. Flo's face went green. I looked like as if i'd just stared death in the eye.
4) I said "FLO, I AM TERRIFIED"
5) She said "MUMMY, I THINK I AM TWERFIDIIEDDFIIIIED TOO"
6) We went back down SIXTY NINE FREAKIN' STEPS, holding the handrail for all of our worth.
7) We finally get our feet back on level ground.
Phew! Humiliation over! No? No? NO! Because the whole world & his wife were able to enjoy our helter skelter freak out in all it's glory due to the CCTV cameras that they so kindly plant at the top. These are apparently positioned there so that people can entertain themselves watching their loved ones climb SIXTY NINE steps, whilst they get their cameras ready to capture the glorious faces of glee portrayed by said loved ones as they zoom down. Hmmm, yeah, thanks for that Grand Pier! As if having to crawl under (Flo) or pole vault (me) the one-way barrier at the bottom of the SIXTY NINE stairs isn't punishment enough for being a wimp. No, seriously, THANKS.
Anyway, having put that to rest, here's some pics. I only took my phone, so with the combination of dark & movement, they are not that great, but we like them :)

That's a fake smile. Look how tight she's holding on!! This 'ride' was abandoned after 45 seconds!

PARKLIFE

It's cold.
It's wet.
It's pretty damn miserable.
Is it too much to ask for some warmth or even a break in the relentless rain? I mean c'mon, it is flippin' May next week.
So, we went to the park in the freezing cold drizzle...

Photographic evidence that this has been the coldest & wettest April in the history of the world. Fact. 

WHAT WE ARE EATING: Aubergines with tomatoes, garlic & thyme

This is one of my favourite meals ever & I make it all the time. It's super healthy too, which makes me happy! I normally serve it with a french baguette, but recently I made a less-salted version for the kiddos & mixed it with some quinoa which really worked.

So here's what you need for 2 people as a main:
(recipe adapted from Gino D'acampo)

- 2 vegetable stock cubes or powder to the equivalent (I use Organic Swiss Bouillon).
- 2 litres of water
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 3 Medium Aubergines (approx' 200g each)
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled & halved
- 1. 5 - 2 tins of chopped tomatoes (400g size tin)
- 3 large plum tomatoes, de-seeded & quartered
- 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme leaves
- Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
- Bread if your choice to serve


and here's what you'll need to do:

1. Pour your 2 litres of water into a large pan & add your stock cubes / bouillon powder & bring to the boil.
2. Top & tail your aubergines taking off about 1cm from both ends, then chop into roughly 3cm chunks.
3. Once your stock is boiling, add your aubergines & cook for approx 8 minutes.

4. Drain in a colander & gently press out any excess water. Set aside.

5. Over a medium heat, heat your oil in a large saucepan & sizzle your garlic for about one minute, taking care not to let it burn.

6. Add your aubergines & continue to cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. Add 1 and a half tins of your tinned chopped tomatoes, season well with the salt & pepper & continue to cook over a medium heat for 20 minutes, checking & stirring occasionally.

8. Add your quartered plum tomatoes & fresh thyme leaves. If the mixture looks too thick for your taste, add the remaining tinned tomatoes. Cook for a further 10 minutes.

9. Taste, adding more salt & pepper if you desire, then take off the heat.

10. Serve with your fresh bread.

Mmmmmmm! Enjoy x

#5

1. My kiddos will defo be having this french toast for brunch on Sunday.
2. These photo's totally blew me away. Feeding the soul indeed!
3. I can not wait to be able to eat avacados again. This salad is on my waiting list!
4. How awesome is Anne Lindberg? That's THREAD people!
5. I am a little bit obsessed with Rachel Khoo at the moment. As is my mate Bev! We NEED her kitchen tiles!!
6. I've been spending lots of time trying out new recipes in my kitchen this week & i have to do it listening to this podcast. Joy & Tracy make me laugh hard!
7. Do you read Recipe Rifle? I do & you should too.
8. Move to Venice Beach? OK then, but I want to live in this house.
9. I want this for my living room. Isn't it lovely?
10. Amy's ability to throw fantastic children's parties never cease to amaze me. In AWE!

Enjoy! x

Pssst: I may actually get around to blogging again sometime soon, as finally after 4 long weeks, everyone is back to full health here. Hoorah. Expect more of my ramblings very soon...

#4

1. I found this little video on Vimeo want to go shop at Room 6 so badly...

2. We ordered this cute little ride on for Miss India's first birthday!

3. I got thinking about first birthday parties. How cute is this one? 

4. I watched this again. I loved the whole Do What You Love series from The Panic Room.

5. I took major inspiration from this for my next tattoo.

6. I spent waaaay too long dreaming yet again about owning my own little cafe. Check out my ever growing Pinterest board here

So, that's this week in all it's loveliness! Enjoy x

EGG HUNT

What a lovely Easter Weekend we have had this year! Yay for family, yay for bank holidays, yay for chocolate & boo hiss to car journeys with a 11 month old who hates the car. I'm not going to dwell on the fact that India screamed for the entire duration of our 3 HOUR car journey earlier today, no... that would totally ruin this happy Easter post i've got coming up for y'all.
We went to Devon this weekend to visit my mum & she laid on a fab Easter Egg hunt for the kiddos! They were SO excited at the prospect of hunting out eggs that the Easter Bunny had left for them that they couldn't wait to get going, following all the cute little signs along the way!! They had loads of fun hunting around the garden with Nanny & as a bonus got some good loot too! It will be nibbled away at for, well i'd like to say weeks, but realistically - probably hours days. Well, they are born from good chocolate eating stock, they know how it's done. Legend has it that their mama, as a girl, once consumed a whole gigantic basket of cadburys' creme eggs before breakfast. Pah! I'm not ashamed, i'd do it again given the chance - Easter is NOT for wimps.
So all in all, a lovely weekend has been had & here are some pics - enjoy!

and, we've totally given up trying to get us all looking even semi-normal in family photographs. No, the way forward is to just pull faces....

SPRING TIME

Mother Nature treated us to a little mini heatwave a week or so back. The sun makes life just seem that little bit easier, just less complicated somehow? We spent lots of time outside, having picnic lunches, picnic dinners, visiting pretty places, friends gardens, our garden, parks - basically anything to get as much sun therapy as possible. It was nice, and long overdue. I always think having the sun warm your skin for the first time that year is always such a good feeling, a sign that Summer is on it's way!