Disclosure: this is a paid post but as always all words and thoughts are my own.
I don’t care how old I get, I will always have an advent calendar. What’s all this nonsense about having to stop with the fun stuff when you become a grown up? No thanks. Christmas is not just for kids, it’s for everyone. And I want an advent calendar.
I am so excited to blog this one! It was way back at the beginning of 2016 that we finalised our menu and ventured up to Scotland to taste it, and I can’t tell you how unnatural it felt to have such beautiful food presented to us and to not share it with the world! If you follow me on Twitter then you will have heard all about the journey of planning our wedding. So here it is, the finished article: the day I said I do to my Partner in Food.
Every family’s got their traditions, right? Well, for my family it’s Bonfire Night.
I think the general consensus is that fireworks are for homes with children (at least that’s the statement I get a lot when I tell people my Bonfire Night plans) but we’re a bunch of big kids I guess! We love an evening of fireworks; naff ones from the supermarket peppered with a collection of huge, grossly expensive ones that we manage to find every year from word-of-mouth pop up stalls found in remote locations. I mean I’m sure they’re legit…
Disclosure: Items received were complimentary. As always all words and thoughts are my own.
If there’s one thing that I absolutely cannot stand, more so than the average person, it’s waste.
For better or worse, it plays such a huge part in my behaviour. It’s the reason I would rather clear my plate and feel uncomfortably full than scrape perfectly good food into the bin. It’s the reason I have bags and boxes and utterly useless packaging stuffed under my bed and in my cupboards. It’s why I continue to wear the same old (but perfectly good) fur coat year after year whilst my far more fashionable friends sport something new each season.
Disclosure: Items received were complimentary. As always all words and thoughts are my own.
You know me, I love (thankfully, or else writing a food blog wouldn’t be much use) talking about food all year round. I don’t think there’s a single waking minute where food doesn’t cross my mind! For the majority however there’s more peaks and troughs in the interest of edibles; my blog traffic alone is testament to that, with January being a quieter month for any of my more indulgent recipes. (Healthy recipes on the other hand go bonkers!)
Disclosure: this is a paid post. As always, all words and thoughts are my own.
As you guys know I’ve been collaborating with Panasonic for a little while now, reviewing their oh so shiny kitchen appliances. To date I’ve tested out and shared by thoughts with you on a blender, a food processor, a juicer and a steam oven… all of which I was really impressed with for how robust and beautiful they are. But going slightly off piste from the usual kitchen apparatus, I was recently gifted a portable speaker to review.
Now, speakers may or may not resonate with you as a kitchen item. I guess it depends on your home set up, and how much time you spend cooking. I for one love listening to music whilst I cook! Unfortunately my phone, laptop and past speakers have not enjoyed the process so much because unlike the shiny, polished pictures us bloggers show on social media, real life is messy and kitchens are a minefield for gadgets to dwell in! Here’s some of my regular kitchen catastrophes:
Any baker will have experienced it. The recipes states you need 200g of icing sugar. You turn on the whisk and watch 150g of it billow up into the air and coat every surface of your kitchen in a thin film of sugary dust.
Oh egg whites. The invisible slime that sits on your counter top just waiting for you to run your sleeve through it… *sigh*
Spilling an entire bag of rice all over the floor you stand there silent for a minute, observing how much mess you’ve instantly created, marveling at just. how. far it’s gone, thinking of ways you can salvage the rice… before accepting that you’ll be spending the next twenty minutes ruining your vacuum cleaner and the next 6 months discovering grains in far flung corners of your kitchen.
Cooking can be thirsty work, especially long haul dinners like a roast and when you’ve got loads of dishes on the go, chances are at some point you’ve experienced the sheer dismay of knocking over your water (or it’s probably wine isn’t it) and watching it soak up into your recipe books or spill over the sides onto the floor.
If I can quote the tag line for the SC-ALL05 speaker: ‘Because life isn’t waterproof’ this really sums up why I’m enjoying it so much. This is a waterproof speaker. You can cover it in the thickest icing sugar cloud and wipe it clean. You can trail as much accidental egg white over it and just rinse it off. You can spill your wine (I mean try not to because it’s delicious) all over it and it’ll keep on playing music! Hallelujah!
Honestly at first before I had properly considered the benefits I thought this was a bit of a gimmick. But it’s actually so nice to have a speaker right by where I’m cooking and not far off in a safe place where it won’t get damaged. I felt a bit nervous testing the waterproof abilities; there’s something quite rebellious and satisfying in pouring water over an electronic device! The SC-ALL05 costs £200, has 9 hours of (rechargeable) battery life and connects wirelessly to other devices. On top of a beautiful, shiny touch screen like all the other appliances I’ve reviewed, the sound quality it excellent: my kitchen parties have certainly got better.
As someone who’s been blogging for 7 years (seven years!) I fall into the category of the ‘old skool blogger’. I come from the early days when blogging was very much a hobby and nothing more serious than a platform on which to share your interests. ‘New skool blogging’ is a very different beast. It’s slick and shiny. It’s considered and business-like and clever. This has been a sponsored post but on top of providing a product review it’s been an apt opportunity to reinforce to readers that life is not perfect and what you see on social media is very much a polished version of real life. Whilst posting tasty pictures I will always aim to offer you guys an honest account of what I eat, cook and get up to 🙂
So with that said, here’s a picture of my kitchen tidied up, just for you! (What’s that mum? No no, it always looks like this…)
My dad does well for special occasions. Whilst the rest of us in the family have birthdays either side of Christmas when it’s dark and cold and no one has any money to do anything, my dad is a Spring baby. This weekend, as I thought back to being lucky enough to just see the sun on Mother’s day, I couldn’t help think that dad’s are very lucky indeed to have a Summer date dedicated to them!
Not long until we take a day to remind our dear ol’ dads how much we love them! Are you all sorted? Perhaps life has been ultra hectic and you’ve not had a chance to think about it, or maybe you’re desperate to do something a bit different to your usual repertoire. Whatever reason you might be in need of some inspiration, I’ve got you covered with some of my recommendations for treating your dad:
One mild Saturday morning in April I got up and drove into the Warwickshire countryside, where nestled away amid beautiful rolling yellow fields and rickety red brick buildings is an incredibly interesting story to be told.
Bloody hell, does this restaurant have impact! I mean how often do you drive through acres of deer scattered grounds to get to your dinner reservations?