Glorious baking for breakfast

I can't tell you how nice it is to have an empty weekend! I loved firework season but it's very tiring. This weekend I have precisely zero plans (and a to-do-list that has grown exponentially over the last month!).

Friday night was dinner out with university friends. We went Greek (which is one of my favourites at the moment). Both of my friends are vegetarians so this was a perfect choice for them:

I'm sure they thought I was crazy when I grabbed my phone how could I resist taking a picture of these wonderful meze starters?!

Saturday morning started slowly and lazily. I eventually decided that, although I had eaten way too much the night before, breakfast was desperately needed. I grabbed Mary Berry (well, her cookbook!) and disappeared into the kitchen to see what ingredients we had.

20mins later - drop scones with natural yoghurt and pears stewed in honey. Yummy yummy :)

A great start to a relaxed but nicely productive Saturday...

Summer round-up

Back at the beginning of the summer, before the sun even bothered to come out, I wrote this year's Summer Ambitions list:

It turns out that organising a wedding, moving to a different city and starting a new job for the first time in seven years takes quite a bit of time and effort! However, all things considered, I don't think I did too badly:

try stand up paddle boarding - I did this one! If you have't already guessed, this fun day out was my hen do (the British equivalent of a Bachelorette party). It was fantastic fun and I definitely plan on going again.

four ballet classes in a week - this one really has fallen by the wayside. Last summer I had plenty of times on my hands and achieved this aim quite easily. This year I think my "record" is a paltry two. But never fear my ballet-loving friends - I will be back and I will be dancing more.

get a facial and massage - half achieved. I had a wonderful, relaxing massage a couple of days before the wedding, which was perfect in every way. I'm sure I'll get round to treating myself to a facial at some point, and in the meantime I continue to enjoy my indulgent face mask every now and again.

clear out more clutter - this is turning into an annual event! I got rid of a whole load of stuff before the move, but I still feel like I have a lot of stuff. I am now the proud "owner" of a shed-sized storage locker which is quite well packed.

drink a fancy cocktail - managed this one a couple of times which is good. I mostly find myself gravitating towards the traditional mojito though - not very fancy but reliable and tasty.

get my skates on  - I know I did this at some point, but I'm failing to remember exactly when. Sometime this summer I was on my skates.

go running - nope. I have finally realised that running is really not my thing. I was listening to MarathonTalk (still one of my favourite podcasts) and they were talking about how they love running. One of the presenters made the point that, even though you don't always enjoy runs, you should still have a positive attitude towards it if it's something you do regularly. It hit a nerve with me: I don't enjoy running and I almost never have. So, running is off the agenda, to be replaced with all sorts of other exercise activities.

sit in the sun with a good book - this one has happened a few times :) Somehow I've actually read quite a few books. I might even manage a blog post about them at some point. To be honest, I haven't enjoyed them all and I'm currently hunting for great books.

make cookies - not quite, but I did make scones one morning.

get my nails done nicely - I got a pretty manicure before the wedding (nothing wild), and I've been painting my nails quite regularly over the summer. Colours have included: electric blue, pinky-beige, pale pink, purple, bluey-turquoise and purpley-grey (the current colour). It's surprising how much painting my nails lifts my mood.

wear a dress "just because" - this is something I'm definitely getting better at. I admit that jeans are still my first point of call, but there have been several weekends or evenings when I've thrown on a dress without an occassion to go to.

go swimming - I don't know how I haven't managed this one. Unless swimming in a lake after falling off a paddle board counts?!

How was your summer? What did you get up to?
Any good reads that you can recommend?

Doesn't everyone bake scones for breakfast?

Woke up.

Fancied scones.

Baked scones.

Yummy.

:)

Summer ambitions 2013

I totally forgot about this list that I wrote last year, until Janetha who writes the meals & moves blog posted about her 2013 list. Here is is:

I'm not half as artistic as Janetha, or as ambitious, but here's my new list:

The basic idea is hopefully to get out and enjoy summer (presuming that we get some nice weather) and relax a bit! I can't wait to have a whole day where the only think on my to do list is "sit in the sun" or "bake cookies". Sounds like heaven :)

What are you going to do this summer?

PS: If your answer is "go on a ballet summer intensive" then I am very jealous. Next year. Hopefully.

A few of my favourite things

Spring finally arrived. Summer might even be on it's way :) and I've mostly been very busy with work :( So I thought I'd take a break to share with you the things that have been bringing a smile to my face recently.

1) Hello Panda biscuits. I have now found a Japanese food shop that stocks these in about five different flavours. Have been through a few of these packets over the last few weeks...

 2) Summer shoes! Accidentally treated myself to two pairs of wedges whilst trying to organise an outfit for a wedding recently. They are so cute and summery...

3) Hart of Dixie. I don't know if you've ever seen this, but back in Febuary I got my hands on the box set of series one. I watched it almost non-stop in less than two weeks (1144mins on 5 discs!). It is very addictive.  And now series two is on TV so Monday nights are Hart of Dixie nights. So funny...

4) Cinema trips - there have been a lot of good films out recently. I've missed a couple (Great Gatsby and Iron Man 3), but rather enjoyed Man of Steel this weekend. A couple of weeks ago I also got to see the new Star Trek movie with was particularly good.

5) Amazing wedding food. Some friends got married a couple of weeks ago - it was a lovely day, with a back garden tipi reception. And a skiing wedding cake...

And the most amazing cheese cake...

You can check out more information about the cheese construction on the bride's food blog.

6) One of my friends posted this picture on twitter:

 I need to have a go at making these; she even shared the instructions:

I would reference this picture if I knew the original source. Sorry.

Been baking

Using this rather fabulous cookbook:

First there was lemon cupcakes. I experimented with the icing recipe to make it super-lemony and then proceeded to make a right mess of icing them - they ended up being re-iced to make them look remotely respectable...

Erm...by the time I remembered to take a photo there were only two left...

Then I made gingerbread men! I really like ginger so upped Mary Berry's powdered ginger (from three flat teaspoons to four heavily heaped ones!), and they turned out pretty much perfectly. Could even have added a tinsy bit more ginger :)

Celebrating and baking

After three and a bit weeks I finally have a working oven! I am so pleased - with all this colder more autumn-y weather I have been desperate to cook warming meals. Stews, casseroles, macaroni cheese, other pasta bakes, roast dinners,...

So this evening I am making the most of it by making toad in the hole. I had to make a special trip to the supermarket to buy sausages, but I don't care!

As a bonus qualification: it is a meal that is served with gravy - one of my favourite things ever! Yum...

Autumnal weekend

Sometimes you have a day or a weekend that is wonderful. And for me, this weekend was just that.

My plans were very fluid - the only thing on the calendar was meeting up with some friends on Saturday evening, which is unusual. Some weekends I have as many as four (or sometimes even more) things planned.

Friday evening was very relaxed. I enjoyed a cupcake and played Zumba on the Wii (which I'm afraid I've only played a handful of times since I was given it last Christmas!), then developed a sudden craving for fish and chips. A short stroll to the chippie later and I was a happy bunny. And that was it - an early night and feeling of contentment.

Cupcake-y goodness

Saturday involved an impromptu trip to IKEA, which is always fun in my books. However, even I have to confess to eventually developing IKEA-fatigue - a common affliction affecting most people after an hour or two. (I think some people start to be infected as they walk in the door!)

My plans for the evening were to visit some friends who have recently moved house, so after a late lunch I decided to bake them a cake as a housewarming gift. Flicking through the cake cookbook was very exciting - I couldn't decide what to cook because all of the recipes sounded fabulous. There's at least ten other cakes, muffins, cookies and tray bakes that I want to try at some point!

Having wasted plenty of time oogling the book, I then had to rush the cake baking! I decided on a lemon yoghurt cake, which came out pretty well (even if I did have to run off to shower and get ready whilst it was in the oven and then hurriedly ice it just before leaving).

What a fabulous evening! We explored the mansion-like house that they've bought and trundled out to find food, eventually choosing a mediteranean restaurant. We had such a giggle! The food was lovely, I managed to navigate the wine list and choose one that I liked (always a bonus) and it was just great to catch up with great people. We mustn't leave it so long...

Our sharing starters - yum!

A slightly late night led to a lazy Sunday morning - two hours of catching up on Strictly Come Dancing! By about noon, the weather was looking too lovely not to enjoy and a walk was in order. It was sunny and a tad chilly - the perfect autumnal combination. The leaves are just starting to turn and the world looked golden...

Glorious.

I might have had a nap after the walk... :)

A late catch up

What's been going on in the world of RainStorm? Well...

I've been trying out some new ballet classes and have been managing to get to two a week since term began. This has also involved some serious flexibility work as my inability to lift my leg high or bend my back is starting to be a real issue.

The ripple-y blanket is trundling along nicely - it's a great way of keeping my hands busy whilst watching TV and really helps me to relax after a long work day.

I have been enjoying cooking and baking. However these activities have suddenly found themselves unexpectedly curtailed as my oven has stopped working!

I even dragged myself out for a (very short) run one evening last week. That was a shock to the system!

Downton Abbey - over the summer, I watched the DVDs of seasons 1 and 2. I became totally hooked; and now series 3 is on and I am glued to it! Pure genius TV.

What has been keeping you busy?

A summer well spent

Summer has gone :( We had our traditionally beautiful weather for the first week of September, but now the forecasts are full of dropping temperatures, rainshowers and high winds.


It was a great summer - I managed to make the most of the nice weather and enjoyed a range of different activities. How did my summer ambitions go?

1) To get surfing again - achieved! On one of my favourite beaches in Hendaye.

2) Do 3 ballet classes in one week - achieved! And I'm now planning to make two classes a week my regular timetable - not easy to do around my other commitments.

3) Spend some quality time working on my Spanish - partly done. I did use every opportunity on holiday to use my Spanish, even when the locals spoke to me in English, only reverting when I was completely stuck. It didn't go completely smoothly (there was one dinner where I didn't exactly order food we enjoyed!), but I at least gave it a go. Still plenty of room for improvement though!

4) See some live music - partly done. With the exception of rigging fireworks behind the stage at Marvellous Festival, I didn't manage to organise this. I would love to see a band live, and did get as far as looking up gig lists, but that was it :(

5) Make sushi - still not got any further with this one (although I have eatten sushi on several occassions). Autumn/winter will have to be the time for sushi.

6) Make more pies - achieved! There was the chicken and ham cobbler, and the slightly disasterous but eventually recovered quiche. Almost pies :)

Additions to the list:
7) Get to work crocheting again - achieved! I have been rippling all over the place!

And now I enter autumn having visited more places, eaten more food and tried some more great activities...

Tonight's dinner

What makes my macaroni cheese healthy (compared with shop-bought/restaurant versions):

  -  It's completely homemade, so I know every ingredient and there isn't any odd additives/flavourings/preservatives.

  -  I control the quantities of cheese and butter (and try to put a smaller amount in).

  -  I can measure the portion size accurately.

  -  I can serve it with plenty of salad.

What makes my macaroni cheese unhealthy:

  -  It's still macaroni cheese...

The pastry games

Compared with the average human being, I probably make pastry quite frequently. And as a general rule it turns out alright. Not this time...

A friend was visiting for lunch and I decided that instead of going out, I'd cook for her. Out came the pie cookbooks and I settled on a quiche.

Hmmm... All I can say is never, ever rush pastry making. I was in a bit of a hurry and misread/ignored the "let it rest in the fridge for 30mins" instruction. I cannot for the life of me remember if this was a conscious decision or the result of rushing too much.

The result...

Oh dear.

Seeing as I was already running late, I definitely didn't have time to start again. What to do?!

We went out for lunch.


P.S. That evening I had a lot more time on my hands and remade the pastry case. It can out much better and the final quiche wasn't bad either :)

I made pie! (sort of)

A couple of days ago I had visitors for dinner so I decided it was a perfect chance to cross another item off my Summer Ambitions list and make a pie.

However, knowing that my guests were not necessarily huge pastry fans (or at least not to the extent that I am), I rummaged through my pie cookbooks and found a perfect sounding Chicken and Ham Cobbler.

As well as being less pastry based, it was also a lot easier to make - basically making the chicken and ham mixture for the base and a savoury, almost scone-like topping. I didn't have the required casserole dish, but I think my large ceramic did the job. And it was yummy :)

Lemon flavoured baking

I love quick, super-easy recipes, and this one from the BBC website definitely falls into that category! The basic gist is put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix together. There's a spot of baking, then pour lemon juice and sugar mixture over the top. Yummy :)

Pie-tastic

Christmas has been very good to me this year. Well, more accurately, my friends and family have been very good to me.

Two pie books?! These people know me too well :) I love pastry and I really enjoy cooking and baking!

Yesterday's effort:

chicken and mushroom pie

And it was yummy! :)