spring is here

Today the weather was so mild. People were out in the streets wearing just t-shirts and no coats. Spring is definitely here. The other half and I decided to pop down to Camden for a walk around and to get some groceries. The other reason was to get some nail polish as reviewed by blog Fabugloss here . I never wear bright colour nail polish. My colours are the nudes and french manicure shades of this world. However, I saw Rimmel's 'Rose Libertine' and fell in love with the shade. I went to Superdrug who were doing a 3 for 2 on all Rimmel products and so got 'Instyle Coral' too.

 

Instyle Coral left

Libertine Rose right

We also popped into Gap. I only go to Gap when there is a sale on. I got these nude leather ballet flats which were half price at only £12.99. I think they will go with a lot in Spring and Summer.

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I would have taken photos of Camden Market today just to show you the hordes of people all out enjoying the sun but alas I forgot my phone. There will always be next time...

cherry and pistachio fridge cake

The oven is broken. We are getting a new one delivered and fitted next week. Until then all baking is off and meals are all made via the hob. Sometimes I just feel the urge to bake or make something and last night was no exception so I decided to make a chocolate treat with or without an oven.


I have made this before and it is so easy and you can mix and match the ingredients to no end.


Ingredients:
500g of melted dark chocolate (milk will do also)
300g of digestive biscuits
150g butter
50g of dessicated coconut
100g of shelled pistachios
100g of dried sour cherries (Sainsburys have them)
2 tablespoons of golden syrup

Method:
Crush the biscuits (I use a rolling pin) making sure you have a good mix of crumbs and chunkier pieces

Melt the chocolate, golden syrup and butter over hot water.

Mix in the melted mixture with the cherries, nuts and biscuits.

Press the mixture firmly in a clingfilmed lined tray.

Refrigerate for 2 hours until set.

Slice and serve.

I like to think that with all the nuts and dried fruit, this is healthy but it is so obviously not. Things like this don't last long in our household.

macarons

I had a meeting in Knightsbridge today and to be honest I do not venture to the West of London all that much. I only seem to go if a meeting requires it or if there is something I need from a particular place/shop.  Anyway, combining the two reasons, after my meeting I walked to Sloane Street to get the Tube back to the office. En route I walked via Lowndes Square
and onwards to Pierre Hermé on Lowndes Street
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If you didn’t know, macarons are currently undergoing a revival. I have noticed the gradual but petite expansion of both Pierre Hermé website here and Ladurée website here in London. PH now occupies concession space at Selfridges and Ladurée has a relatively new shop at Covent Garden (a little sister to their other place on Piccadilly).  Both are good but Pierre Hermé is so much better. The macarons at Ladurée are not as refined and delicate in flavour or texture as the sweet morsels offered at Pierre Hermé.

Famous for their cakes and macarons with a long established history, Ladurée is a major tourist hotspot for those who want a taste of Paris but who can’t quite cross the Channel. Pierre Hermé on the other hand does not have the long established history but has made it in the UK purely on the basis that their offerings taste really good.  Having tried to make macarons myself, there is definately an art to it and so I appreciate how good you need to be to make them work.

My other half and I have tried most of the flavours including the seasonal ones that come out throughout the year. Today, I got the following flavours:  

Top row-Pistachio & Raspberry compote and Orange & Carotte with Ceylon Cinnamon

Bottom row-Green tea, chanterelle mushroom and lemon  and Blackcurrant

They are not cheap and work out around £1.40 each but for a little a treat after a long day they are really worth it. Best enjoyed with tea!

porridge

If there was an award for the best all round breakfast I think it would have to go to porridge. Note the “all round” description there as nothing will beat any breakfast that contains bacon in my opinion but for nutritional value, speed of preparation and cost I think porridge is the standout winner.

This morning was one of those mornings which made getting out of bed the all the more difficult. Though grey, wet, cold and windy these are the fundamental factors that make porridge the only real option to counteract these elements outside. So as the other half was packing his bag for work, I prepared the breakfast from a packet of oats, a mix of water and milk and a spoonful of golden syrup. Took less than 5 minutes. 

Having been born and brought up in England, all I had known was creamy, rich and sweet porridge. I then studied and lived in Edinburgh during the university years and on stepping foot in Scotland this all changed.  My flatmate at the time from Aberdeen made porridge from the following ingredients; salt, oats and water. In my opinion it did not taste good then and it still does not taste good now, however, I now make porridge with a mixture of milk and water as it breaks up the richness and heaviness of the gloop which can be a mission to get down the gullet so early in the morning.

The two bowls of goodness from this morning.

my "new to me" red dress

I am Asian (parents are from Hong Kong) and everyone knows the colour red goes well with the black hair and pale skin. I have thus been looking for a suitable go to red dress for a while that I can pull out whatever the occasion especially the special ones.

I saw this dress a while back when it was brought out by Marks and Spencer and I really liked it but as it was a limited edition release it didn't hang around for long. I am not one of these people to queue outside shops.

So I was on ebay and saw one for sale and I bid and I got it for the price of £18. A big saving from the original £89 price tag. The red colour is not cheap looking which is a fundamental element of any red dress. I am thinking of styling it up with simple black courts and with two weddings this year coming up I think it will make an appearance at at least one of them.

The Sabria Shoe from LK Bennett. You can get them here.  I am  not great in high heels and I think these shoes have the right heel size that I could cope with.   I think I may get them as an investment piece. I have learnt from experience that the more you pay for shoes the more comfortable you are going to be.

reworked vintage side plates

As noted previously, the first batch, of my "new" crockery arrived in the post. I am being lazy, as I could simply just go to Shoreditch/Brick Lane/Portabello Market to search for the stuff at a much cheaper price but quite frankly I work in Central London and I commute 2 hours a day on the cramped tube, 5 days a week. This does not include meetings that I have throughout the week either. So I do not voluntarily venture back out there if I really don't have to. Plus, there is always something nice about receiving things in the post.

I really like them and I really like http://www.etsy.com/ when you want something a bit different.

diy cotton napkins

Yesterday, I completely gutted my kitchen cupboards to rid the old for the new. Let me tell you there was a lot of old! Recently, I have been inspired to revamp my crockery as its a bit samey samey matchy matchy (technical description). What I want is a mix and match of vintage and new crockery but with a bit more character.

So I have been buying vintage plates on ebay and etsy to start this process off. The other reason for this change is because we have some planned visitors staying with us over the next few months and I want them to start their days with a full english breakfast served in glorious splendor. I feel after writing that last sentence I may haveset myself up for a fall but I am willing to give it a go (to achieve the splendor and not the fall :)).

My other half was away visiting family in Holland so I was left twiddling my thumbs for most of the weekend....which is fine because I revelled in my alone time. After searching online for some cotton napkins (to kickstart the planned glorious splendor as mentioned above lol), there was not a lot that I liked for the price I wanted to pay. I then remembered I had a remnant of some Cath Kidston fabric that I bought some years ago with the intention of covering a chair cushion. The cushion never got covered and now I thought it could be put to good use as my future napkins. I googled "how to make cotton napkins" and the rest is Sunday night history.

Cutting out the fabric. I pre washed the fabric so to prevent shrinkage.

Folding the hems. The fabric was a bit damp which I found easier to work with.

Pinning the corners.

The finished articles. They measure 16" x 16".

Funnily enough I don't know how to operate a sewing machine so everything was done by hand. I kind of like that as I find it quite therapautic.