The iPhone

Despite my prior lengthy protestations {"I can't work it, why are there no buttons, how do you type quickly"} and my reluctance to give up on my beloved blackberry, I finally gave in and got an iphone earlier this year. Dear reader, when I fell, I fell hard. I blame it initially on instagram and it's ability to make even tea and toast look dreamy. Then it was draw something and it's addictive challenges. Then on my birthday, it was facetime-ing my family in another city. Plus, and I'm going to put it out there and be honest, they're just so attractive.

Superficial? Yes. True? Also yes.

I currently have a sweet little Cath Kidston case on mine with  dainty little bird though fear that I'm wandering into crazy bird lady territory with one too many bird adorned pieces has me keeping my ear to the ground for any worthy alternatives.  Reading through a blog this morning {I wish I could remember which one!!} sent me clicking through to a link where, low and behold, there are more beautiful iphone covers than my little head can take.  Now to remain strong until my current case falls apart {or more realistically, until pay day} - thank gawd I don't live in the US!!

These are just a few of my favourites, but there are about another 9 million beautiful options so this really is just skimming below the surface...

I'll not spend an hour showing you my other favourites but definitely have a gander over to Society6 and check them out. B-E-A-utiful!

Love B x

Lavender Cake

Aren't my Mum and Sister talented? They made this gorgeous cake over the weekend for my sister's boyfriend's Mum's 50th Birthday. It's a lavender cake, a flavour she'd mentioned loving when we made cupcakes for a village fair last year.  Not to be put off by the lack of lavender in bloom, my creative Mum and sister used lavender sugar and then lavender grass on the top. It gave it the perfect finishing touch considering she's a gardener. Considering the cupcakes for my Birthday came from the same mix, I can guarantee it tasted delicious too.

Love B x

24...

{photo via here}

Well, yesterday I turned 24. Wowsers. 23 was a big year. It brought so many exciting, and challenging experiences to my life. I'm even more excited to see what 24 brings to the table, both personally and professionally. There were cupcakes, precious time spent with my family, kind and thoughtful {and beautiful} gifts from those people that know me better than I know myself, and live music from the boy who sadly couldn't join us for dinner. There was plenty of food and drink and laughter. Celebrations continue today with a dinner pour deux and hopefully something pink and fizzy to drink. I only wish I had a working camera to capture it all.

I'll post more next week - right now I'm enjoying spending time with those that I love.

Love B x

Hello again...

Wow. Things have been quiet here for a while, eh? It's amazing how time slips away - first it was work pressure, then we went away for awhile. Now I'm back and faced with some troublesome technology {a broken iphone and a laptop that doesn't want to stay awake without a cable to the mains!}. None the less, there's a lot going on in my head that I can't wait to get down "on paper".

We've just returned from an incredible week skiing with some of our closest friends. After my very humble beginnings in Glenshee, I'm pleased to say we had the most incredible time! I'll do a post on that later in the week, rather than cramming it into a quicker post now. It is safe to say that good wine, good company and "good" skiing made for a fantastic week that flew by. It was so much fun to spend time with those friends - many of whom I see far less than I would like thanks to jobs and geography.

Now though, after a week of hitting it hard, we're back and using Easter Monday to recover. Part of this was certainly about filling my body with vegetables: a week of carbs and I'm craving vitamins. This delicious soup seemed like a great, easy option. It's quick and easy to make, low in fat and delicious. It definitely ticked all the boxes for today and I made enough to provide easy, healthy lunch options for the rest of the week. I'm trying to go a bit easy on the stodge for the rest of the week {having eaten my body weight in breads and pastries} so this was perfect!

As always the recipe is a bit rough and ready. I used 6 largeish tomatoes, 3 red peppers and a couple of teaspoons of lazy garlic. Chop it all roughly and whack it in a roasting dish along with a healthy dose of salt and pepper and a guzzle of olive oil. Be sure to give it a good shake before you pop it in the oven. You could use low fat spray if you wanted to lower the fat content even more.

I like to whack mine on a low temperature - gas mark 3 or 4 - for a couple of hours, shaking it when I remember. You could cook them higher for a shorter period of time, it just depends how busy you are! Be sure to keep an eye on it though. I personally like the sweetness and stickiness that comes with the vegetables when you cook them gently for a long time. Nom nom nom! They should come out looking a little like this {ignore the rubbishy iphone pictures from the boy's phone - I want Instagram back!}...

Delicious. Mine were a bit too toasted in parts but that's ok! I whacked everything in my blender along with a chicken stock cube {only because there's no veggies and that's what we had to hand!}, a dash of smoked paprika and a bit of sweetener to distract from any acrid taste from any overly toasted tomatoes {homemade cooking at it's best...ahem...}

I poured a good half pint to a pint of boiling water into the roasting tin. This will pick up any of the flavours that are still hanging around on the pan - the sweet stickiness from the tomatoes and any oil for example - before sticking that in the blender too. Whizz on high until it's the consistency you like - add more water to make it thinner. I personally prefer it a bit thicker, though still smooth. Served with a dollop of creme fraiche and some toast and you have a delicious, healthy and simple lunch. I only needed to pick up the vegetables too, everything else was in the cupboard making it a super cheap way to make lunch for the week. 

Does anyone have any soup recipes they'd like to share?! I'd really love to hear more...

Cross your fingers my laptop doesn't give up the ghost and I'll be back tomorrow with more posts.

Love B x

Cocoa Black

{snazzy apron}

This past weekend was spent mainly in the company of two of my favourite people - my Mum and Sister. My Dad had pulled an absolute blinder at Christmas and managed to buy all 3 of us a morning's 'Introduction to Chocolate Making' at Cocoa Black in Peebles, Scotland. Based in the Border's town of Peebles we decided to make a bit of a weekend of it and ended up staying overnight before taking Mum out for lunch on Mother's Day.

The course itself was incredible. For just under 3 hours, we learnt absolutely loads and taste tested equally as much. The kitchen itself is currently tucked away in a little industrial estate and the outside doesn't much prepare you for what lays behind closed doors. The smell of chocolate hits you as you step over the threshold and well and truly wraps you up. Delish.

The morning started off with an introduction to the history of chocolate making - we learnt all about the different types of cocoa bean, how it is manufactured {they're all picked by hand!!} and what cocoa beans and raw cocoa look and taste like. It's not pleasant, I'll tell you that for free. We must've taste tested about 10 different types of chocolate all with varying cocoa contents - nom nom nom - before being talked through the process of tempering chocolate, something that is absolutely crucial when making your own handmade chocolates. Ruth, who owns and runs the courses, is a culinary whizz - I'm sure I read something about competing in culinary olympics! - and she was more than willing to answer all our questions. It was so lovely to see someone be so forthcoming with sharing their knowledge, rather than being precious about the tips she has obviously picked up and developed along the way.

{quite proud of ourselves. This is right before we nearly dropped all of these on the floor...}

We made 3 types of chocolate - though the bulk of the chocolates themselves were prepared for us beforehand and we were simply talked through the method {this was necessary to ensure we could all take our chocolates home on the day}: orange and dark chocolate truffles, pralines and coffee chocolates. All of them were delicious! Then of course, came the fun stuff....decorating. Armed with molten vats of dark, milk and white chocolate, as well as numerous different finishing touches we set to work decorating dozens of chocolates each.

You needed to trim down any excess chocolate. Cue medical grade scalpels and lots of shavings that needed eating. Stat.

There were sneaky taste tests {I got caught with chocolate on my face on more than one occasion}

And the finished product? Well, some of them made it back to Edinburgh at least!

I'd thoroughly recommend this course to anyone, especially if they were the sort that loves to bake or cook. We had so much fun decorating and rolling chocolates and I really do feel like we've walked away having learnt something in the process.

The rest of our stay? Well it was spent wandering around Peebles, drinking fizz, investigating little deli's, delighting in gorgeous Spring weather and polka dot PJs...

And mainly enjoying the company of these two. They make me laugh so unbelievably much - I spent a good deal of this weekend with aching sides. We are so undeniably similar and it makes me so incredibly happy to share things like this with them. The last three photos of some of my favourites from the weekend {though I wish I could make the last one rotate!!}

Love B x

Happy Mother's Day...

To my lovely, lovely Mum.

LYAD

Love B x

Apple tart

A couple of weekends ago we popped down to Newcastle to see a friend's band play and we stayed with my parents. My sister was there too so it was a full family affair. My favourite!

We stayed for Sunday lunch {hurrah!} and my mum talked me through making my first apple tart. I love her approach to things - so calm and laid back. Whilst I was concerned about making sure everything was equally spread and whether I was doing it right, she just kept reminding me to relax and stop fixating. Don't spend too much time worrying, she told me, and it will all turn out fine. With that motto ringing in my ears, we haphazardly peeled and cored a few apples before slicing them and chucking them in a copper pan with a hearty helping of butter and brown sugar. We let them caramelize over a medium heat before pressing down some pre-made puff pastry over the top and trimming off any excess. After a quick glaze with some beaten egg, we popped it in the oven as we were tucking into our beef and it soon crisped up.

The result was delicious. Served with custard, cream or ice cream, it was a perfect ending to a Sunday lunch. And my mum was right, it turned out absolutely fine with minimal fuss or worry. Maybe it wouldn't cut the mustard on Masterchef, but it was perfect for a lunch with some of my most loved people.

Want to see...

Before...

And the finished product...

Love B x