30 for Thirty: No#17 Eat Something I've Never Tried Before

I do enjoy tasty food and, after last year's flavour adventure in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, I wanted to set myself the challenge of eating at least one new dish. I definitely did this in Indonesia this Summer. I ate new savouries and sweets. Here's a few photographs as evidence that I can tick this 30 for Thirty item off the list:

1. Seafood: Barramundi and mahi-mahi 

I was really excited to try "barra" and mahi-mahi on Gili Trawangan after dribbling in front of the TV for so many episodes of Australian MasterChef. 

2. An Indonesian pot-luck plate

This was a tasty dish I ordered at a little warung on Lembongan. I've no idea what exactly was in it, but it tasted good and I'm pretty positive there was at least one thing in it I'd not tried before.

3. Indonesian nasi campur

I cannot remember whether I tried nasi campur in Sri Lanka, but I'd not had Indonesian nasi campur so I'm counting it as another new dish! This was my nasi campur breakfast our hotel in Ubud. I did wimp out and avoid the spicy sambal at 8am, though.

I am sure my adventures in food with continue but I'm not sure that I'll be on such beautiful islands eating any time soon!

Saw, Adored: Four Ingredient Nutella Brownies

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I am a BIG Nutella fan. Give me a spoon and I will eat the pot. It's happened before... When I saw this super simple recipe posted on A Cup of Jo it seemed that all of my evening chocolate and cake related cravings could be easily solved, as long as I kept a ready supply of: Nutella (obviously), walnuts, flour and eggs. Well, I think I can manage that for these tasty little-uns!

Once Upon an Easter Weekend

Things I've loved about this Easter weekend:

Family

Making bread
Homemade tomato soup
Chocolate and pear pots
Sefton Park walk with a visit to the Palm House
Lap-cat
A (failed) hot cross bun loaf
Summer holiday research
Singing along to Annie
Bunting
Hallelujahs
Tulips
Mini eggs and other chocolatey goodness
A lamb roast
Chick costumes and charades
Finding Nemo
Harry Potter Cluedo
Family walk on Crosby Beach
99 ice creams with sauce and sherbet

Birthday Fun: Bringing In My 28th Year

March 18th was by 28th birthday. Birthdays can be lots of fun, but I'm perhaps an unusual case and don't typically get very excited in the run up to my birthdays. I think this is something that changed when my dad died before my 17th birthday. It's a little bit the same with Christmas and other celebrations, too. That being said, I had organised a few things to bring in my 28th year. Here's how I celebrated.

Saturday I had a spa day at a Bannatyne Spa in Manchester with my girls. We started the morning with a relaxing back neck and shoulder massage followed by a scalp massage. Afterwards, we moved around between the pool, sauna and spa pool catching up on each other's news. The spa experience was nice, although there was no steam room or poolside loungers and the wet area was small and became crowded very quickly. We followed up our spa with a Nandos and vino. Two mains were around 10 minutes later than the rest arriving to us and we received a complimentary chocolate cheesecake each, served with it's own little jug of cream, as an apology. You're forgiven, Nando's!

On Sunday, my wonderful husband took me to a local Thai restaurant, Chaba Chaba. This wasn't the original plan. Before our rascal cat broke his tail, we were due to go to a spa hotel in Wales. Plans had to be reviewed now that we're manually emptying his bladder several times a day while we give him time to see if he can recover it for himself. Anyway, we live ten minutes away, at most, from a road full of restaurants from Greek and Chinese, to Mexican. We've not really made good use of any of these restaurants and so it was good to use my birthday as an excuse to try and find a new favourite. The menu was great and food was fresh and flavoursome. After a starter, main and dessert, I was very satisfied! I was spoilt for choice so I'm sure we'll go back and work our way through their menu.

After waking up on my birthday morning at 7.45am to express Jacques' bladder (!), I opened cards and gifts from my husband, family and friends. My friend had made me some beautiful cushions, too; the crafty lady. A good haul for 9am in the morning. I felt pretty darn spoilt.

Armed with a birthday pecan plait and massive mug of hot chocolate, we snuggled on the sofa watching The Graduate. We drove over to the Wirral and had a cold and wet walk along the Wirral Coastal Path and tried to take phone pictures of a beautiful rainbow. We had plans with my mum and brother later that night but fancied a light lunch so we stopped off at Hickory's Smokehouse in Caldy. Boy oh boy! This place is AMAZING. The restaurant had a fun, Americana feel, staff were super friendly, and we were served with water and complimentary popcorn on arrival. It was already looking good, and then I ordered a 'Big Pig Sandwich' (smoked pulled pork) and a 'Texas Cream Soda' cocktail: maraschino cherries, orange, and lemon, shaken with vanilla vodka and sweet cherry liqueur, finished with Goose Island Orange Cream Soda. It was gorgeous! Top marks for Hickory's. We've already planned a return visit with friends who live over 'that side of the water', as we say in Liverpool.

We raced home and had to find our appetites to make and eat a paella meal with my mum and brother and his girlfriend. More gifts, including a birthday balloon, a shopping day with my mum, Bumble and Bumble hair mask, Lily Flame 'Fairy Dust' candle, Mac goodies, musical earmuffs and lots of other girly treats. My mum's an awesome gift buyer! Just when I thought I couldn't eat any more, we polished off my homemade crème brûlée and I was presented with a One Direction birthday cake. Oh yes! M had taken care to place the candles directly into One D's members' lovely little eyes, making them look a tad demonic once the candles were out!

A wonderful birthday: quality time with favourite people, tasty food and lovely gifts. So, here we go; lets see what this, my 28th year, might bring! Make a wish...

A Baking To Do List

1. Banana bread bites from Kitchen News. Good way to use up older bananas.
 

2. Banana and nutella loaf from Pomegranate Days

3. Raspberry and chocolate clafouti from Baking Obsession
 

4. Pear almond tart with amaretto cream from Baked Bree. Could anything sound more delicious?
 

5. Lemon torte bars from Treats
 

6. A low pastry apple pie on Frugal Freebies
 

7. Nutella espresso mug cake with fresh raspberries, made in mere minutes, from A Taste of the Vegetarian Lifestyle
 

8. Pecan pie bars from Just A Taste This reminds me of the pralines I ate by the bucketload in New Orleans.
 

9. Lemon blueberry cheesecake bars from Epicurean Mom

My kitchen better watch out. I'm going to check them off once I've made them, and will try to post the results up on the blog. #domesticgoddess!

The Mr Cooks... Thai Mussel Soup

This past week has been pretty emotional. I've not had enough time to do my work, let alone write posts. My lovely husband decided that 2013 is the year to make use of our many recipe books. He(reckons he)'s the better cook and will be posting his food delights here every now and again. Lets call it his online recipe file. Over to him!

In preperation for our Summer holiday to Southeast Asia, I tried my hand at a Thai mussel noodle soup.

Ingredients:
A handful of rice noodles (approx 50g per person)
350g de-shelled mussels (not muscles)
2 pieces of lemongrass (bashed)
3tbsp soy sauce
2tbsp white wine vinegar
1tsp fish Sauce
1cm cube of grated ginger

2 garlic cloves (crushed)
1 red or green chilli, chopped (deseeded for less heat)
4 spring onions, chopped length ways
2 litres of cold water

What to do with the ingredients: 
- Place the water into a pan and start to boil. Whilst boiling prepare all the ingredients and add to the water. Slowly bring to the boil. 
- Once boiled, simmer for 10 minutes, or longer for a more intense flavour.
- After ten minutes, add the mussels and noodles and cover, simmer on a low heat for 7 minutes and then serve*.
- If you prefer, adding a tbsp of fromage frais/greek yoghurt provides nice balance.

*I took out the lemongrass before serving. 

A midweek Thai Mussel Soup

Voila!  ขอให้มีความสุขกับการรับประทานนะ 

...
He's a talented one. I'm pretty sure he'll have more to share soon!

Now, back to expressing a cat's bladder...

Three Cheers For Pancakes!

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Shrove Tuesday tradition means I get to scoff multiple pancakes for dinner. I've put my trust in my brother and he's making this year's batter mix. Nutella and whipping cream bought, lemon and sugar at the ready; so looking forward to some flipping good fun tonight!

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It's Friday. I'm in Love.

Friday is definitely a day for distractions. This week, I am loving:



Not a new love, but we've just managed to get tickets to see The Postal Service in May. Yahoo! In our student days, Me and M spent endless hours listening to The Postal Service and I love the lyrics of this song. Iron & Wine's beautiful version of Such Great Heights is also a favourite. 

The Freckled Fox's 'Rockabilly Rosie' Tutorial

I'm loving this, and pretty much all the hair tutorials from The Freckled Fox.


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This strawbery cake mason jar looks like a perfect little Valentine's dessert.



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I don't think I need to say anything more on this one.

Enjoy the weekend!

Once Upon a Celebration Filled Weekend

• Celebrated my brother's PGCE acceptance with pizza, champagne, fizzy strawberries and Silver Linings Playbook

 

• Run (walked with a handful of running efforts) around Sefton Park for the first time this year
• Housework (boo)
• Across to M's parents for his grandpa's 86th birthday feast

• Happy Birthday sing song in Latvian and sponge cake 

• Competitive game of Scrabble with my lovely in-laws
• A cooked breakfast and meet up with M's friend
• Traffic jam
• Cadbury Creme Eggs
• Suit shopping with M at the Trafford Center
• Thai dinner at ChaoBaby

• Cat cuddles
• A bubble bath
• Sofa, candles and Youth In Revolt
• Fresh bed linen

Baked Sweet Potatoes with Thai Curry Sauce #JanuaryJoy

Today's #JanuaryJoy: Try a new vegetarian dish

Tonight's meal: Baked Sweet Potatoes with Thai Curry Sauce

Image from Tesco Real Foods

When we go our for dinner, my menu choice is almost always the lamb dish. I love hearty meat dishes and walking into the house to the smell of a beef stew bubbling away in the slow cooker. When we host vegetarian friends, there's usually a moment of 'what on earth do we cook?' panic, before realising that actually, we don't do badly for eating no-meat meals in our house. Pesto pasta is a good 'there's nothing left in the fridge' meal; I make a mean veggie moussaka; and warm squash rocket salad is a quick fix light tea. The problem is, that is pretty much our repertoire. Not very extensive. Lets see if this quick and easy mid-week dinner gets added to our vegetarian meal list! 

Happy at... Christmas Markets

Christmas time! I love festive fun, but this year work has been so hectic and I am feeling the most disorganised I have been at this stage in the Christmas countdown. 

This year, I had 'pinned' countless Christmas crafts but, sadly, they are still on a rather long to-do list with little chance of getting any airtime this year. Never the less, I have not let this squash my festive cheer and I have been thrown into the Christmas spirit through visits to two full-of-festive-fun Christmas markets. 

First, me and Mr. went to London for the weekend. I had arranged the trip as part of my wedding anniversary gift, where I took inspiration from this post on Find Joy in the Journey, to create a 'year of dates' gift. We travelled down early Saturday morning and checked into a new favourite hotel, The Ampersand Hotel in South Kensington. We had tickets to see Jools Holland and his rhythm and blues orchestra in the evening and so spent the day admiring the displays in Harrods, Liberty's and Selfridges. All beautiful with far too many tempting potential purchases. On Sunday, we educated ourselves at the National History Museum. Next, we headed towards Hyde Park for London's Winter Wonderland Christmas market and spent the afternoon drinking mulled wine, browsing the stalls and chomping on bratwursts. Lots of festive fun!

My second Christmas market trip was a bit further afield. Last weekend I travelled across to Germany to visit a friend who now lives and works over there. After an early morning flight to Munich followed by a two hour drive, I arrived in beautiful Nuremberg. It was great to catch up with my friend. I hadn't seen her since a month or so after the wedding and there was a lot to catch up on over a good Nürnberger bratwurst with sauerkraut and mustard lunch.

I had heard a lot about the scale and spirit of German Christmas markets, and Nuremberg's Christkindlesmarkt in Hauptmarkt Square didn't disappoint. The market was split into different sections and included a children's market, Kinderweihnact, with a beautiful traditional carousel, Santa, and steam train. The wooden stalls across all areas of the market are filled with all sorts of lovely handmade items and edible treats.   

When the plane landed at 11am the temperature was announced at -7 degrees celsius. With the wind against us in the market, we of course found it necessary to warm ourselves up with lots of yummy glühwein, in these cute little cups! I managed to pick up a bottle to bring back and me and Mr. had it as we put up our Christmas tree!

It’s impossible to come back from snowy Nuremberg's Christmas market and not feel the Christmas tingle! I would definitely recommend a trip to Nuremberg, and to the city's Christmas market. Just be sure to remember your thermals!

Creme Brulee Cheescake

Creme Brulee = Lovely
Cheesecake = Lovely
Creme Brulee Cheescake can only be EXTRA LOVELY!

After being away at a research conference for a week or so, I've had a bit of a blog browse morning, catching up and admiring the online pretty.

I have stumbled upon this delicious delight on The Sweet Life, via A Cup of Jo. I was bought a brulee blowtorch for Christmas last year and haven't really used it as much as I could/ should. This looks yum, and will have to go on my weekend to do list!

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Baby Shower Fun

A few Sunday's back I 'hosted' a baby shower for my friend (the proud owner of my craft project, Mr. Turtle). I always think baby showers are a very American concept but they seem to be increasingly popular here in the UK, too. I suppose it's a good excuse to have a girls afternoon and celebrate together. We were concerned that we didn't want to make it into an all singing all dancing affair. Mummy-to-be had difficulty bending down, let alone dancing!

We decided on an afternoon tea theme and all clubbed our fine china, cake stands and baking skills together to produce what turned out to be a major feast. It was brilliant! We had all sorts of sandwiches, cakes, scones and fruits, teas and some alcohol free fizz. The chocolate covered raspberries were one of my favourites!

We filled the walls with baby grow bunting and my talented friend made little paper shoes filled with sweets for us each to take home. You can just see the show peeking at the bottom of this photo. Check out our hidden surprise when we cut into this gluten free beauty made by same talented friend:

After presenting mummy-to-be with our hand crafted gifts and a hamper full of goodies, it was time to get down to some baby shower games: guess the baby picture (I was useless!), guess-the- baby-food-flavour, cut-a-piece-of-string-the-same-size-as-the-bump game, and timed nappy from a tea towel creation (we won, but we did have an experienced mummy on our team who knew where to put the pin to hold it all together!).

After more tea and cake, it was time for us to help mummy-to-be pack up, ready to rest until her baba makes her move! She's due in a couple of weeks and I can't wait for this little baby girl, who we've been calling by name for months, to come into this world! 

One Year as a Mrs.

To celebrate our first wedding anniversary we decided to escape to the countryside for a weekend. We stayed in Gawthrop, in a little bolthole, Hazel Cottage. The cottage was beautiful, stylish and cosy, and was within walking distance of Dent. Dent itself is a teeny little village with a couple of pubs, a church, and a village shop.

We broke up our journey there with a delicious lunch at The Plough at Lupton. We were really impressed with this restaurant and we will definitely return if we're in that area again. Our SatNav took us down a few muddy wrong turns, but finally, after meeting a few woolly residents (welcome party pictured above), we settled into our little hideaway. Later, we decided to go into Dent where we sampled the locally brewed Dent ales with a generous portion of fish and chips at The George & Dragon pub. With the gorgeous Yorkshire Dales countryside around us, we enjoyed long, though rather soggy, walks followed by pints in front of buring fires. It was so nice to be in such a different landscape and be at a slower pace of life for a while.

Not satisfied in walking boots and raincoats for too long, on our actually wedding anniversary we put on our finery and journeyed across to Windermere in the Lake District. It was another wet and windy day but the setting of Holbeck Ghyll Country House Hotel was stunning, despite the grey clouds. We had one of the most amazing meals I think I have ever eaten/ will eat for a long time. The George and Dragon's fish and chip dish was forgotten as we sipped Champagne and enjoyed an incredible Michelin star meal in the impressive  dining room, with views over Lake Windermere. Fine dining isn't a regular thing for us and Holbeck Ghyll was a real treat. The food was delicious, service was great, and the setting really was was stunning. We went back to our bolthole and stayed up talking in front of the crackling log burner. It was the perfect way to celebrate the year we've shared as Mr. and Mrs.

On the way home, we decided to stop in at Wensleydale, home to Wallace & Gromit's favourite cheese. There is a cheese factory, where you can see how the cheese is made and there's a cheese tasting room. I know; another weekend highlight! Lots and lots of cheese to try. It was cheese and crackers for supper for a while after that!

 

We also visited Aysgarth Falls and sat watching the waterfalls flow for a good couple of hours with root beer floats and a cream tea. 

 

All in all, an excellent anniversary weekend to complete an excellent first year of marriage!

 

A Busy September

Wow. A whole month has gone by without a single post. Professional blogger I am not! This time of year is always crazy for me at work. Hopefully, things will calm down soon. I've also been having a lot of fun with family and friends these past weeks, too.   

A recent day out was the Liverpool Food and Drink Festival, held annually in Sefton Park. We had an amazing day overeating delicious food from local exhibitors, including Thai restaurants, steakhouses, French bistros and Greek tavernas. Our aim was to buy a taster dish from each stall. We failed, but definitely gave it a good go! This chocolate brownie cupcake from Puschka went down a treat.

The Ship and Mitre was on hand with a well stocked ale tent and lots of local brews to wash down the scrummy food! We enjoyed these two sitting on the grass in the sunshine, listening to The Loose Moose Stringband perform. 

There was also a brilliant marketplace and needless to say, we had a few carrier bags to bring home including soft, buttery croissants from The French Corner Ltd. for breakfast the following morning. 

Another highlight? Cookery demonstrations, including Paul Hollywood in 'The Great Merseyside Bake-Off', and Tom Kitchin. Lots of people queued for a photo with Tom Kitchin after his demonstration. Did I? OF COURSE!