Something I Like

Fi’s Hen Weekend | Centerparcs Sherwood Forest

There’s definitely a degree to which ‘what goes on a hen do stays on a hen do’ so I wont give everything away…But, to keep memories stored in my little corner of the web (to refer back to in many years time, no doubt), here’s a quick scan of our weekend in the woods in celebration of Fi’s imminent marriage.

This weekend I headed ‘op north’ with the girls, to join Fi for her hen do in Centerparcs,…

Lamb, prune & apricot slow-cooked tagine with grilled aubergine and couscous

  Since returning from morocco at the end of last year I’ve been desperate to slow-cook some lamb – Moroccan style.

Not only because I had bought enough dishes to feed a dance troupe, but I’d also never once found a tagine in Morocco that tasted as good as my homemade crock pot tagine and I had given myself cravings for it.

In Morocco (Marrakech and Essaouira) the tagines on offer were far dryer…

Hummingbird Bakery cheesecake brownies

There’s no point just being a bit bad. If you’re going to do it, do it right!

What to bake that could really satisfy this mean feat, though…

Cheesecake?

Brownies?

Cake?

…all of the above?

This Hummingbird Bakery recipe that I cooked with one of my best baking buddies, Clare, does just that and although it looks quite…’rustic’, it really does tick all the boxes of being so bad it’s good.

Recipe:…

I created a recipe in my head and it sounded so perfect that I was desperate to try it out.

Trouble is, it didn’t work perfectly BUT it was so close to being brilliant that I wanted to share it, with my learnings, in the hope that I’ll get more feedback and suggestions from you guys to make it even better when I give it another go!

My idea stemmed from the fact that I’ve never seen much…

Dairy-free peanut butter hot chocolate

I’ve recently started to struggle with lactose, and, as such have cut it out my diet to reduce the stomach pains and bloating.

I find that whenever I try and cut something out my diet – whether for health reasons or a January challenge – it becomes all-consuming and I can’t think about anything else!

This has happened with milk.

I love hot chocolate but it’s not something I would typically crave.…

After slightly overdoing it on homemade courgetti recently, I wanted to try something new with this versatile veg.

I bought a ‘crisp maker’ from France a few years ago which I’ve barely used since my ex sliced the top of his finger off on its first use, resulting in a lot of blood, a trip to A&E and a permanently shortened finger.

Taking every precaution (and a deep breath), I carefully sliced up…

Yesterday we got crafty. Fi and Hilly are getting married in just 2 months, so it was all hands on deck to help get the table decorations made.

I thought I’d share a few of our creations, but please don’t expect any help from me on twine or double-sided-tape-related activities again any time soon!

Our first task was to wrap bottles in twine.

You will need 30m twine/string per wine bottle or 15m…

So long 2014. Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!

This year I came up with a really inventive idea.

It turns out, it is actually an idea that already exists and loads of people I know have already done it before. But, it was inventive to me, as I created it on my own anyway! We decided that we would celebrate the new year of different time zones in the build up to our own!

So, Charlie kicked things off with her…

A final farewell to Essaouira

I use my blog much as a diary. My grandma (Nannie) recently advised I keep a diary and I think this serves just the purpose, so you’ll have to forgive me for sharing a couple of final holiday updates, albeit a month behind schedule, as I want to preserve the final few memories somewhere safe. This is definitely a photo-based post!

After all the storms of the past few days, we weren’t surprised to…

Essaouira in November. Day Uno

Part 2 of our Moroccan adventure takes place in Essaouira. We arrived in the early afternoon after a 3-hour coach journey from Marrakech. We chose to go with Supratoursas we’d read it was a slightly nicer experience than the cheaper local buses. Unfortunately, your well-spent dirham won’t do anything to stop travel-sick German tourists adding their additions the sights, sounds and scents of the…

Marrakech | Finding Hidden Beauty

After a few days in Marrakech we felt like we were getting into the swing of things.

Whilst we wanted to find our own things to do it’s quite hard with just a handful of days, so we’d finally managed to connect to enough wifi to add some crowd-sourced ideas to our to-do list so we set off on foot through the dusty (now dry) streets.

By heading away from the touristy, central medina we were able…

Marrakech | Souks and Medinas at night

  Heading back out into the dark of Marrakech layered up in rain coats and warm shoes was never part of the plan. But us Brits handled it better than the locals who stayed inside, leaving the streets relatively empy for us.

Off we pottered, finding ourselves drawn to the brightly-coloured dish shops. We had to get us some dishes. 

Once we started our haggling we couldn’t stop! So many pots, so…

Marrakech | getting our bearings

We awoke excited and ready to go and explore Marrakech.

As we bounded out to the upstairs patio for breakfast in the sun we were promptly told that the food would instead be served downstairs.

It was raining. 

NOoooo!!!

We sat and absorbed this information whilst our table was heavily laden with bread, cakes, pancakes and a whole host of conidments. 

By the time we got outside the rain had…

Marrakech | Upon arrival…

  Last week Hols and I headed to Morocco. Neither of us had been before and fancied an adventure. Unfortunately, compared to my usual standards, I really let myself down on the planning front. I boarded my flight knowing VERY little about Morocco!

I had no idea what the exchange rate was (Answer: £1 is about 14 Dirham)

I didn’t know the time difference (Answer: absolutely zero)

I wasn’t really…

Plum and Nectarine Galette

Another day, another recipe.

Another really easy one, at that!

Today we’re talking Christmas treats and desserts.

This recipe is a twist on Jocelyn’s summer tart.

I included a creamy/frangipane base. Plus, by adding orange and cinnamon the dessert is transformed into a delicious spiced, festive delight. It’s really rustic and “homemade”-looking, which for some reason seems to really work in…

Leek and Bacon picnic Loaf

This idea came from Gail’s Bakery, but iv added a few sneaky additions.

The end result is like a leek and bacon pie, only more juicy and delicious with great flavours coming through from the mustardy loaf and the goats cheese.

Leek without bacon is a crime, so here’s my take on their recipe.

Serves 4 as a main course

Ingredients: Round loaf (20-25cm in diameter, any kind) 4 leeks 2 cloves garlic