Sunday 9 October 2011

Pan-fried balsamic pear salad with pancetta, gorgonzola & warm honey dressing


In theory, I shouldn't like this recipe as I don't like blue cheese and am not a massive fan of pine nuts. However, the thought of a warm salad, consisting of pan fried pears & pancetta won me over! It turns out the blue cheese works perfectly with this salad, however I'm not ready to try it on its own just yet! To make the meal more wholesome, I served it with a baked potato!
You can find the recipe here - its perfect for this time of year when pears are in abundance!

Wednesday 5 October 2011

Nursery Sneak Peak


While I have been absent from blogging, I've been busying myself with finishing off different rooms in our house... All of the rooms are livable but the finishing touches (which seem to take the longest) have been missing.
I've been wanting to share my baby girls nursery for some time now. Hopefully I will be sharing them in the next week or so...!

Monday 19 September 2011

Random post, but I just fell in love with this dress when I saw it in the news! 

Sunday 28 August 2011

My Week: In Pictures


This week went so fast & was so busy... lots of traveling & lots of socialising & very little spare time... these are a few images I managed to capture!

Thea's first time on Portstewart Strand {where her daddy grew up}

A traditional Irish cottage, which my husband worked on restoring!

Scents to make my home smell pretty:-)
Viola plants - in preparation for Autumn
A new skirt - £4 instead of £20 due to a missing button...love bargains ;-)

The biggest moment of the week was my baby moving into her cot-bed & us all rediscovering SLEEP :-)

Tuesday 23 August 2011

Cloudy Lemonade

I have never made lemonade before & have always thought it was a complicated process - especially cloudy lemoade! I was wrong! While browsing through Nigella Express I came accross this recipe. 3 ingredients & a blender is all that is required!
I love how Nigella describes this as perfect for a summer day - This July & August we have had only summery hours rather than summery days, but even still a good drink is always welcome! ;-)



Thursday 18 August 2011

My Week: In Pictures

Although somewhat theraputic, I sometimes find it difficult to know what to post about as I don't often have the time to spend writing long drawn out pieces. The saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, so I thought I'd try and post a few pictures of my week, every Friday.
We will see how long this lasts... but for now, it will be interesting for me to look back at what happened during the week and maybe encourage me to take more photos!

Making homemade cloudy lemonade - {Recipe here!}
A sunny day - yes we actually had sunbathing weather this week!!
A parcel through the post - I love that feeling when something you have ordered finally arrives :-) Paper Straws, Bamboo Skewers, Cotton Candy Bakers Twine all from Pipii {Check it out!}
Theas new shoes - courtesy of my friend Gayle! I love them!

I just couldn't leave this skipping rope, even though it will be years before Thea can use it - until then, I'll enjoy looking at it! :-)

Wednesday 10 August 2011

What a difference 2 years makes!


We celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary on 23rd July - and by chance we were that side of town so we called in for lunch! {and couldn't resist taking a walk down memory lane and got some photos of us in the gardens 2 years on!}


My little giggler :)


Friday 5 August 2011

Amature Baby Photography


We have been trying to design a Thank You card to send out for all the baby gifts we received. So a couple of weeks ago we did a mini photography session - I always think it is more fun to design your own card!
I decided not to go with the traditional folded card but use a single side of DL sized card with a sepia photo of Thea at the top,
Thank You underneath & a space for writing at the bottom. Sounds simple, but getting a picture of a 8 week old baby, still, without blurry hands & feet, in between screams turned out to be challenging! I guess it would show her as she really is right now though! After about 100 plus shots, these are our favourites!


And here are some of the blurry ones :)


Finally, here is the card ...




I'm just realising I started this post on 31 May & I am just posting this now - eek, where has the time gone!

Sausage Rolls - A Lazy Recipe



Anyone who reads my blog will know, a) I love food & b) I love cooking quick & simple recipes. Basically, I'm a lazy cook who loves good food:) Here is the perfect recipe for me from the amazing baker Lorraine Pascale - Lazy Mini Sausage Rolls!
I love sausage rolls, but more often than not I end up feeling sick after eating them as sometimes the processed meat is so peppery! This is an easy recipe & makes sausage rolls yummy again.


I didnt have any fresh thyme so just sprinkled mixed herbs over them instead!




Wednesday 25 May 2011

MS Awareness Week


It is likely that most people don't know that this week it is MS Awareness Week in the UK. Maybe it is because someone close to me is affected by the disease & so I take a keen interest in any new developments, but to me it seems that the charity is not often mentioned. So little is known about the causes, or managing the disease & therefore as yet there is no cure.

Multiple Sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system - the myelin sheath around the brain & spinal cord is damaged & as a result, messages between the brain & other {affected} areas of the body are delayed. Although there are different types & stages to the disease, over time, disability usually increases.

It is heartbreaking to watch a loved one suffer with this cruel disease, as it gradually eats away at an otherwise perfectly healthy person, taking away all independence & quality of life.

Here's hoping they find a cure SOON :)

Check out the Multiple Sclerosis Society website if you want to know more!

Tuesday 17 May 2011

Mushroom Risotto

To me, making a risotto has always sounded like a lot of work, (unless you just add water to a packet)! So, generally, I would only eat it when in a restaurant! However, when it tastes this good, the hard work is rewarding! There has been lots of complaints about Jamie Olivers 30 Minute Meals not actually being do-able in 30 mins but however long it takes you to make just this risotto, it is totally worth all the effort! You can find the recipe here. Serve it with roasted ham - mmm, so yum!! Let me know if you try it out!