Today we started our health kick and went for a bike ride from Brockenhurst to Beaulieu, in total it was a 16 mile trek, a little optimistic for my first time back in the saddle after some months off! I've never been to Beaulieu before, however it's somewhere Jason visited a lot as a child, and it's barely changed in the years since.
There are some gorgeous bricked cottages and ivy clad tea rooms and hotels, and quaint country shops, everything you could want (and need) from your local high street, including some indulgent extras, including the Beaulieu Chocolate studio. We opted for two of their ice creams (which came with a complimentary white or milk chocolate of your choosing) my choice was raspberry and custard with stem ginger whilst Jason went for Butterscotch Crunch and Sticky Toffee Fudge, all of which where delicious!
One of the many donkeys we saw whilst in the village, just meandering up and down the high street!
On the way back from Beaulieu we stopped off at a local organic farm shop and picked up some delicious looking sausages . . . I'll let you know how they taste!
You Might Also Like
The past week has quite literally flown by, it doesn't seem possible that this time last week we were both curled up on the sofa absolutely exhausted from the cruise. This weekend we visited London, primarily to go to the Cake & Bake show at Earls Court, but also to do some much needed market trawling.
After a rather frustrating Cake & Bake show (far too many people for one trade event!) we decided to leave early and enjoy, what could of been the last of the summer sunshine, and headed for Portobello market. There were so many beautiful vintage items on offer, and an abundance of silver cake slices, which up until last weekend had been pretty elusive! I resisted and instead ended up in Appletree boutique and Cath Kidston.
On Sunday, after a fleeting visit to Paul A Young (an AMAZING chocolate shop in Soho) we then went to Paperchase on Tottenham Court Road. So many pretty things made their way into my basket, in the end I had to prioritise (we were carrying our overnight bag around with us) and settled on a new diary for next year, which always takes me an age to find 'the one', a bit different from my current diary (which I love dearly!) I decided to go for something a little more grown up . . .
. . . the heavens then decided to open and we opted for Spitalfields market as it was undercover. Whilst there Jason stumbled upon the most beautiful Visconti leather satchel bag, which I've got my eye on 'borrowing', hopefully he won't mind too much!
It's safe to say that this coming weekend we are looking forward to having a relaxed couple of days, with at least one long-ish lie in and a morning spent in pjs, either watching Saturday Kitchen or Sunday Brunch, preferably both, and a yummy roast beef dinner on Sunday.
You Might Also Like
On the second day of the cruise we arrived just off shore of Guernsey, we had previously booked on to a day trip to the Isle of Sark, but both Jason and I have sworn to return to the compact yet beautiful island.
Sark is the ultimate escape from the modern world, and is completely devoid of paved roads, everybody travels by bike or horse,there are no street lights and the only way to travel up the steep hill to the village centre is via tractor, what more could you want?
I even managed to find a quiant cottage that took my fancy, although the door may need enlarging somewhat, even at 5"7' i think I'd struggle to get through it let alone Jason at 6"4'!
You Might Also Like
From Saturday 15th until Tuesday 18th September we went on a mini cruise to Bruges and Guernsey for a long weekend. We arrived in Bruges on Saturday, it's a beautiful city, with a plethora of Chocolate shops (we indulged in slightly to much Chocolate and other sweet treats), quaint stone built town houses and so many cute dogs I didn't know where to point my camera first.
Whilst waiting for the train I stumbled upon Flow magazine, a Belgian equivalent to Mollie Makes. It features some beautiful imagery, and various paper stocks to make for both a visually and aesthetically pleasing publication (with a lovely website to match). Its just a shame it's not written in English!
You Might Also Like
Whilst in Bruges I also stumbled upon, what is now, one of my favorite lifestyle stores. Dille & Kamille (unfortunately only in Belgium) they have everything and anything you could ever need for both home and garden. I finally found a worthy cake slice, and the best part it was only €3!
Cute toadstool pegs . . .
. . . heart
dishes, for when we pluck up the courage to have our own Italian bread
board, these will hold the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. . .
. . . they also had a great selection of printed postcards, far to pretty to be used for their actual intended purpose, so I've decided to frame them all instead, hopefully they'll find a home in my future office/craft room
You Might Also Like
I love all things Belle&Boo and got treated to some lovely bits . . . I'm now building up quite a collection!
You Might Also Like
For my birthday yesterday I got some lovely presents, including some beautiful second hand children's books from Jason Winnie the Pooh - House at Pooh Corner and Bambi. The Winnie the Pooh book in particular has some lovely illustrations and is top of my list to read . . .
You Might Also Like
I got given some beautiful flowers for my birthday, these ones from my parents . . .
. . . and these from everyone at work.
You Might Also Like
Today was my birthday, and it's tradition at work to bring in cakes either on your birthday or the week of, and as I was working I decided to take mine in today. I fully capitalised on the opportunity and made a banana loaf cake, gingerbread animals (and dinosaurs for Jason) and some blueberry bakewells, which I've been wanting to test out for ages!
I am so pleased with the outcome, I was a little concerned as the pastry seemed like it had too much butter in it, and couldn't be handled very much or would fall out of shape, which made it difficult putting the cut out discs into the baking tray, but they came out fine . . .
Next time I make these I'm going to try using smooth blueberry jam as opposed to jam with whole blueberries in, as they was some overspill that you can see from the images.
You Might Also Like
Since working at Hobbycraft I have been making lots of cards for all manner of occasions, up until now I've forgotten to take any pictures of them. One is an A5 Birthday card whilst the other is a small Congratulation card . . .
I desperately need to invest in some A5 envelopes as I keep having to make them from scratch using kraft paper, I've used Cath Kidston washi tape around the edges to make it more pretty, and match the card.
You Might Also Like
I love reading Mollie Makes, so was ecstatic to hear that they would be bringing out an interior lifestyle magazine 'The Simple Things', and this week saw the launch of the very first issue. Packed full of beautiful photography, yummy recipes and must-visit destinations, the issue is rammed with inspirational projects for both the home and garden.
I've already signed up for the subscription, and I must say it so refreshing to read a magazine that has very minimal advertising pages, with the first page of the magazine actually being the first page, not forty pages later!
Also make sure you keep your eyes peeled for this annual 'Sweet', release date 20th September. Full of beautiful cakes and decorating ideas, the perfect treat for all avid bakers out there . . . stay tuned for a blog post!
You Might Also Like
One of the ladies at work asked if I would make her a chocolate birthday cake, I jumped at the chance to do a little recipe research and bake something a little different. In the end, after some tough decision making from both myself and Jason, I chose the 'Ultimate Chocolate Cake' from Ed Kimber's 'The Boy Who Bakes'. I've never made ganache before, probably not the best thing to be doing for the first time when you're making a cake for someone else, but I'm pleased to say it tasted AMAZING! And wasn't as complicated as I'd first envisioned.
Never before have I put so many calories into one cake, using buttermilk instead of my usual semi-skimmed, as well as adding two and a half bars of plain chocolate, double cream and golden syrup, and most of that went into the chocolate ganache!
In total the cake had three sponge layers with the ganache between each. I then coated the cake all over with the chocolate delicious-ness and sprinkled chocolate curls around the edge, for a more grown up, sophistic looking cake.
My icing and palette knife technique could definitely do with some practice, with my version of the cake looking a little rough around the edges, whereas the picture in the book was seamless . . . a perfect excuse to bake another one I think!
You Might Also Like
