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)

28.06.13 | FIVE FINDS FOR FRIDAY

1. LOVING /// Yellow. I've always loved yellow and these photos from the French Elle had me transfixed earlier in the week. We are in the process of re-decorating our staircase & there WILL be yellow involved!

2. EATING /// I finally got around to adapting one of my favourite seafood dishes for the blog - inspired by this recipe for Shrimp Creole. 

3. AMAZING /// Oh my goodness, this house! That wall in the 3rd picture down is amazing! Angelita Bonnetti, your house is just wow!

4. LOOKING /// This collection of images of London now & then is so interesting. I've a special fondness for the Brick Lane one at the end as I held my degree show at The Truman Brewery which was awesome!

5. LISTENING /// to lots & lots of the lovely Frank Turner this week. Can't get enough!

Happy Weeking Friends x

25.06.13 | PAUL McCARTNEY - HEY JUDE

In the 26 years that I've been a Glasto girl, this has to be my favourite moment ever. I'm a massive Beatles fan & i never thought I'd get the chance to see one of them perform this song. A year later whilst pregnant with Dexter, i literally 'bumped' into Paul McCartney on Dean Street in Soho and he started talking to me. I almost died there on the spot and couldn't stop shaking let alone string more than a few garbled words together & I think I actually got sent home from work that afternoon in some kind of disarray.

So anyway, yes, I kind of love Glastonbury Festival like it's a member of my family which is weird I know but you can read here why I am going to struggle probably act like a big fat baby this weekend.

Happy Glastonbury to all you lucky people going this year, I hope the sun shines for you and I WILL see you next year come hell or high water...

23.06.13 | LEBANESE FEAST / CHILLI SAUCE RECIPE

When we were last down by the coast we ended up trying some Lebanese food, something I had not had before. We were served with a giant flat bread filled with beautifully marinated chicken, oodles of fresh crunchy salads and a chilli sauce that was both spicy and sweet. We took it as take-out and ate it watching the sun go down and I promised myself that once we were back home, I'd try to recreate it.

Not long after I made that promise, I got an email from the folks at Eco Market asking me if I'd like to sample some of the Steenbergs Organic range. It took me about 0.3 seconds to spot a few that I knew I'd like to base some recipes around and one of them was a Lebanese 7 spice which helped to make one of the best home made chilli sauces I've tasted - and it was pretty spot on to the one we tasted just weeks before.

It was such a simple yet amazing supper. I marinated some diced chicken in a little lemon juice & olive oil for a couple of hours before griddling it. I made two very simple salads consisting of red onions in a sumac and red wine vinegar dressing, and some cabbage and chopped parsley which I sprinkled with some sea salt & drizzled over some fresh lemon juice. I cooked some wheat berries in some organic chicken stock & a teaspoon of paprika and served it all alongside some giant Lebanese flat breads & some hot pickles. It was however the chilli sauce that stole the show...

Lebanese chilli sauce - makes one jug

- 1 onion, chopped

- 4 cloves garlic

- 2 tsps Lebanese 7 spice

- 1/2 tsp hot chilli powder

- 1 tin organic chopped tomatoes

- 50 ml distilled vinegar

- olive oil

1. In a food processor whizz together all the ingredients except the olive oil - pulse until well combined.

2. In a medium saucepan, heat a little olive oil to lightly coat the bottom. When warm, add the sauce mixture from your food processor.

3. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat & simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until the sauce has thickened slightly. 

4. Leave to cool and enjoy!

This will keep in the fridge in an air tight container for up to a week.

21. 06. 13 | FIVE FINDS FOR FRIDAY

1. PINNING // I love everything about this outfit  - probably because I tried to do a similar thing in the early 90's when I was desperate to be Sheryl Crow (she wore an outfit like this once on TOTP). Yep, fancy skirts and retro tee's are my fave.

2. ENJOYING // One of my favourite blogs Oyster & Pearl got a makeover and it looks beautiful. There is always something magical and thought provoking happening over there - you should go take a look if you're not a huge fan of Lottie's work already.

3.WISHING // I wish i'd seen (& snapped up) this Cube Lamp from etsy. I've got the perfect spot for it too, damn!

4. EATING // We were hoping to roll out the BBQ again this weekend, but the weatherman thinks not. It's a pity because I think this Sriracha street corn looks like something I need to eat RIGHT NOW.

5. DREAMING // Fancy a bit of whimsy? Great, then this picture of perfect should do it.

Happy weekend friends x

18.06.13 | KIRSTY MACCOLL - A NEW ENGLAND

One of my all time favourites. 

(I prefer this version, i like how Billy Bragg wrote her an extra verse as she thought the original was too short!)

16.06.13 | TURKEY BURGERS

I'm in the middle of a burger obsession, which is a bit weird because I normally couldn't give a fig about them. Maybe it's the weather? Maybe no matter how much your try to swish up your BBQ with the latest in grilling trends, it always comes down to the good old burger?
I don't eat any meat other than poultry & fish so I had to search for a good turkey burger to satisfy my craving, and this one was the hit.
I made this for some friends last week when they came over for a BBQ (we have been going BBQ crazy lately) and I promised them the recipe this weekend (Hi Kate!) so here it is.
These are perfect to cook inside on a griddle too but equally they are substantial enough not to fall apart on the bbq.

Enjoy it with some homemade ketchup and loads of crunchy pickles and you'll have yourself a right old treat :)

Lets go!