Big Love for 'Grand Amour'.....

Now, I did say to myself when starting this blog I would not bore everyone with my frankly sickeningly lovey dovey, head over heels in loveness with my husband (to be), BUT......when said husband to be arrived home for the weekend he had in tow a little gift for me, As soon as I spied the bag I knew I was in for a treat for this exclusive perfumery is among one of my favourite things in the world (along with Cath Kidston, Cupcakes, Kittens and Christmas...oh and Starbucks)
Annick Goutal is a Parisian gem that has found its way across the channel and into the likes of Libertys and even has it's own boutiques in Belgium (Avenue Louise) and London  (Motcomb street in Belgravia and on Mount street..ooh la la indeed!) The brand also does a skincare and bath and body range...not something I've been lucky enough to try but as soon as I get my mitts on some I will most definitely be telling you what I think, If its anything like the fragrances then it will be all ticks and gold stars!!
 I have previously purchased 'Petite Cherie' from Annick Goutal...mainly for the utterly divine bottle it comes in, think frosted pale green glass with amazingly shiny gold lid (I do believe in a previous life I was a magpie) the bonus being that the fragrance was one of the nicest in the land- Fresh, Romantic and stays on for hours, Many compliments have been received when wearing 'Petite Cherie'...'Little darling' is the translation...And that indeed is exactly what it is!
 Ok....Slightly side tracked there...This blog post isn't about Petite Cherie...No, It's about the one and only 'Grand Amour' different in almost every way to the latter, Sensual,  Subtle, Warming and when you are wearing Grand Amour the world seems like a sexier place (zero harm in that!) ...the bottle is like something out of Disney's Snow White and the seven dwarfs and excitingly comes with an atomizer that makes you feel like a 1920's starlet when spritzing it the air and sashaying through...Yes, this perfume actually makes you do that!
 At £100 it is rather expensive...However, As the fragrance is so strong you only need the smallest of squirts and it does (like Petite Cherie) Last for hours, (Also the bottle won me over before I'd even sniffed it) Boys, listen up....this is the perfect gift for your girlfriend/wife/lover and will get you mahoosive brownie points if you present this treat from such an exclusive 'only those in the know' boutique...but take note...might be slightly weird for you to get for mum/sister or worse sister in law :s
I love love love it. What a lucky, lucky lady I am :)

P.s If you can't get yourself to one of the stores you can purchase from the website: www.annickgoutal.com

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Sesame Street themed Scrumptiousness!!!

Well, I saw a version (a very professional one) on some website and COULD NOT RESIST trying to make them myself! My all time favourite cupcake recipe is the one and only red velvet with cream cheese frosting so I used the same recipe but of course added a few extra's to make this Sesame street inspired case of scrumptious fun!
you will need: (to make 12 cupcakes)

12 cupcake cases and a cupcake tray (obviously)
150g caster sugar
60g unsalted butter (room temp)
1 egg
150g plain flour
120ml buttermilk (I NEVER buy buttermilk I simply add a dash of lemon juice to regular milk and wait 5mins for it to curdle slightly...it's exactly the same so don't waste your money)
A large glug of vanilla extract
15-25g of cocoa powder (depending on how big your glug of vanilla extract is)
A large squirt of red food colouring
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
Dash of white wine vinegar (yes...really!)

For the frosting & decoration:

300g sifted icing sugar
50g unsalted butter (still at room temp)
125-200g cream cheese (Depending on how creamy you like the frosting...I usually just whack a 200g tub full in..also I use Philadelphia but I'm presuming any cream cheese will do)
Squirt of blue food colouring
2 packets white chocolate buttons (1 would probably be enough but of course you end up eating afew as the obligotory 'cooks treat!')
12 oreo cookies
chocolate chips or chocolate icing in tube

OK, First things first set your oven to 200 and whilst its heating up whisk together the sugar and the butter, then add the egg and whisk until everything is all mixed in nicely, next pour in abit of the buttermilk and whisk, then abit of the flour and whisk (keep doing this until everything has been added) now in a seperate bowl mix the cocoa powder, vanilla extract and red food colouring together until its a paste like consistency...if its too dry add more of the wet stuff...if too wet...add more cocoa powder...simples! Once it's a paste add it to the other bowl of mixed ingredients and whisk until you get a smooth dark red cupcake mix, Now throw in the salt, then Bicarb of soda and finally add the vinegar and watch it fizzle, Whisk the last 3 ingredients into the mix until well blended (no-one wants a completely salty cupcake-urgh)
Now spoon the mixture into the cases and pop into the oven for about 20-25mins, I never time it properly...just keep checking them, If you think they might be done poke a (clean) knife or a skewer if you have any into a cupcake and if it comes out clean then they're ready, if it has mixture on it then they need a little longer...
Once done, take out of the oven and cool,
Whilst cooling mix/whisk together the icing sugar, butter and cream cheese until a smooth utterly delicious frosting (I know 'frosting' is a very American word but it really deserves a more extravagant name than boring 'icing') Finally add the blue food colouring and whisk, adding more food colouring if you wish until you have your desired Sesame street 'cookie monster' shade of blue,
Now using a sharp knife cut a small slit in the cooled cupcakes about a third of the way up and shove a cookie in there so half of it is still visable, now 'frost' your cupcake....you can use a piping bag with attachment if you wish..OR...like me, spoon the mixture into a sealable plastic sandwich bag and cut a small corner off, seal, then squeeze the frosting out...this saves on washing up (as when your done you just throw the sandwich bag away) and is also cheaper than buying the proper icing bags..nifty hey?!
 Finally, your cookie monster needs eyes, for each cupcake stick 2 white chocolate buttons in the rough eye position and either stick the chocolate chips on with abit of jam/honey/any sticky food based products you may have or if, like me , you prefer the easier option..just squirt abit of the already made chocolate icing on as eyeballs....
....ET VOILA!!!!!! your very own red velvet cookie monster! NOM NOM NOM!

note: if you just want a regular (but still fricking delicious red velvet) cupcake forget the blue food colouring, cookies and white chocolate buttons part of this recipe

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A little Monday treat...

After another gluttonous weekend away in Belgium filled of lazy-boning around, eating and drinking to excess (and some!) and absolutely ZERO attendance to the gym, needless to say Monday morning has arrived and I'm feeling rather lazy and ashamed of myself (although...I did have a GREAT weekend doing all of the above!) So all this in consideration I have decided that I plan to do the following this week:

1, Go to the gym everyday...(this most definately will have gone to pot by Wednesday-latest.)
2, Try not to eat heavily processed or calorie laden goodies...
3,Up at 7am if I'm working or not to fill my day productively....(Hmmmmm..yeah right)

note: This list was made on the Eurostar coming back to London. On arrival into our capital I happened to walk past Starbucks and to my sheer delight....YES!!! the Christmas cups are back!!!!
One Eggnog latte coming up! Weeeeeeeeee! (obviously this completely obliterates point 2 of my (frankly stupid) list!) Standing in line to order my cardboard cup of Christmas I noticed the stand of Starbucks branded products that only suckers would actually buy....Before I knew it I had convinced myself that I simply couldn't carry on my day to day life without one of these:

Starbucks thermos: £5.95

Yes, It's a thermos. As unattractive and un-sexy the word 'thermos' is it not only has the Starbucks christmas cup print around it (did somebody say the word sucker??) It will, In the long run actually save me money as I will fill it with my home-made coffee OR if that doesn't satisfy my addiction enough, when I order, say, another eggnog latte and hand them my thermos to fill, I get a 25p discount....So that means in precisely 23.8 coffees my thermos will have paid for itself!! All this aswell as reducing my (quite substantial) carbon footprint by not using the throwaway cups everytime! I'd recommend following suit!!!

I'm feeling almost saintly :)

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The perfect excuse to jump into bed as soon as you get home...

The clocks have gone back, The trees are bare, The woolies are most definately on due to the distinct nip in the air..(good rhyming skills non? ) Yes, Winter is creeping upon us. As depressing and grim it feels to be walking home from work in the pitch black, soaked and freezing whilst snivelling and sneezing all over the place from the latest bug someone has kindly shared,it's not all doom and gloom, NOT.AT.ALL. first and foremost it means christmas is soon...yipeeeee and whoooopdidooop! also...not AS exciting but still pretty special, yummy home-made chunky soups, hearty pies eaten with mustard mash, steak and chips overload washed down with a bottle (or two) of Rioja -are all firmly on the menu, enjoyed whilst snuggled up in comfy knits and oversized jumper dresses, However appealing all this may sound...some of you  (me included) may be dreaming of the following evening: hot bubble bath, pj's straight on, heating turned up then hibernate in bed watching dvd's...correct me if im wrong, but this classic Cath Kidston rose print eiderdown (or 'throw' if you prefer) would convince ANY doubters of the lazy, self indulgent evening over any others.

 Cath Kidston eiderdown: £110

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Scrummy seared Scallops....

Last night on watching Masterchef the professionals I found myself wanting to try to create something that is as visually exciting as it is scrumptious to eat as usually my meals are of a more, lets say 'rustic' appearance...the 'ol noggin started ticking away and I settled on a (posh sounding) starter that is quick and easy to make but would impress any partner/friend/date/parent/housemate ( you get the picture-it will impress ANYONE!!) whom you may be entertaining, I have given this scallop dish of dreams the official title of the following:
Seared Scallops with crispy Parma Ham on a bed of Pea and Mint puree....(sounds good hey?!)
The ingredients I used were as follows (based on cooking for 4 people, 3 of which were very hungry, rather large men):

* 12 Scallops ('without Roe' apparantly...not quite sure what 'Roe' is but they didn't have any on!)
*4 slices of Parma Ham
*A mug full of frozen peas (mine was a regular starbucks one)
*A heaped teaspoon of fresh garden mint (out of a jar...colemans i think)
*A dash of Anchovy sauce (sounds putrid but trust me, you can't taste it and it does add a certain 'depth'...without sounding too wanky about it)
*small amount of extra virgin olive oil
*salt and pepper
*dash of lemon juice

Firstly, Cook the peas (in a pan, boiling water to cover... and wait until the peas start swirling around like they're having a party..should be about 4mins), Whilst the peas are cooking brush the oil onto a griddle pan and put over the heat, when the griddle is super hot place the strips of Parma Ham on and watch them bubble up and start turning golden brown, Turn a couple of times to make sure the ham is getting nice and crispy both sides then put on a plate to one side (your peas will probably be done by now so drain and mash together with the mint and anchovy sauce) , Using the same pan throw in (or place gently if you so wish) all of the scallops and don't touch them for 2 minutes.... After 2 minutes turn them over and cook on the other side for a further minute and a half, Whilst the scallops are cooking if you want your pea and mint concoction to be properly pureed then either blitz in a food processor or squish through a sieve, After the scallops have cooked for a total of 3 1/2 minutes turn off the heat and squeeze the lemon juice over,
  ET VOILA!...All cooking done and now all you have to do is place nicely together on a plate, season with the salt and pepper and serve to your guest(s), I chose to do two 'posh smears' of the pea and mint puree with a little Parma Ham placed on each smear then the Scallops piled up in the middle on each plate, Then finished off with abit of watercress I had hanging around. It went down a treat!!!!!

Per plate this cost me just under £5, I hope you enjoy!!!

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the perfect gift for any party girl....

At first glance at this (i can only describe it as) bottle of joy, One would quite easily mistake it for a perfume bottle...WRONG! the contents are somewhat more exciting...500ml of blood orange flavoured vodka with 22ct edible gold flakes...WOWZUZ! In my opinion the perfect present for any girly girl, party girl or pretty bottle fiend you may know, As much as the bottle itself is a talking point  I think the gold flakes make this a real treat for magpies like myself! I have yet to sample the contents...however, i'm thinking an orange and cinnamon infused vodka cocktail for a perfect addition to a christmassy drinks party...i will let you know how i get on...hic!

If you like the look of this, get yourself logged onto www.firebox.com and take advantage of their free delivery!
A 500ml bottle costs £39.99
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possibly the cutest pie dish in the land....

So, Anyone who knows me will say i have a thing for pies....making them especially, There is something so comforting creating a hearty meal (that i usually go to town decorating with pastry hearts and stars and such like) with minimal effort or cost, for example...a humongous pie big enough to feed 5 hungry tummies rarely costs me upwards of a tenner (yes...10 English pounds!!) and the added bonus of taking no longer than 30minutes to make....i think thats pretty darn good, I will show you my two, all time favourite pie recipes soon but before i do i HAD to share this find with you, imagine my delight when i saw this...pie dish-check! large enough to feed a family (or a handful of hungry rugby players...which incidently i also find myself doing on occasions)-check! cute as a button print-check check check! I most definately will be adding this to my ever extending wish list!!!!

You can purchase this beauty at www.brixtonpottery.com for a very reasonable £19.99 for the medium or £24.99 for the larger one.

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And so on the bandwagon I jump...

After months of saying i'm going to do it, and witnessing my already fairly green eyes get greener with envy seeing everyone else doing it.....I've done it. Welcome to my blog! I plan to share my attempts of trying to be a domestic goddess (or at least as goddess-ish a girl from 'up north' can be!) whether it be recipes i love, cushions or cute bits i make, cupcakes and other naughty but nicies i simply cannot NOT bring into this world, re-vamping tired furniture or lovely, gorgeous 'house stuff' that i accidently on purpose stumble across (and buy)....I hope you enjoy! Px