Tag: delicious

London Town; Summer in the City

July 31, 2022

Happy Sunday babes! I can’t believe it’s already the final day of July… where is summer going? This Saturday me and my boyfriend took a little day trip into London town to make use of our Buy A Gift vouchers we had for a Thames river cruise and the London Eye.

We started the day with a quick browse on Bond Street before heading to Carnaby Street for lunch at Kingly Court. We had our favourite vegan burritos in town from Club Mexicana, a fully vegan Mexican restaurant chain which even meat eaters will love.

From Westminster Pier we then caught a City Cruise boat for a tour down the river. It was great to see the city from a different perspective on the river and the live tour guide commentary was very interesting and actually quite amusing too.

Despite it being overcast, it was in fact a very warm and pleasant summers day in London. Following our cruise down the Thames, unfortunately we didn’t make it in time for the London Eye which to our surprise, closes at 6pm! So instead we went to Between the Bridges on Southbank for pre-dinner drinks, naughty chippies and some live music.

For dinner I booked us a table at Cote located at Hays Galleria with a terrace over looking London Bridge. It was lovely warm summers evening perfect for an al fresco dinner riverside.

I had my favourite Paillard Salad served with chargrilled chicken breast, French beans, endive, lettuce, hazelnuts, croûtons, tarragon and caper dressing. My boyfriend had the classic minute steak served pink with garlic butter, peppercorn sauce and frites. As usual the food at Cote was divine and service was fantastic, French cuisine at its finest!

I couldn’t resist a cheeky Espresso Martini to finish my meal. We had a long train journey back so this was more than necessary and the perfect way to end our summers day in the city, as those stunning golden hues showered the sky at sundown ❤

Howdy Summer; Cowboy Boot Moment

July 10, 2022

The UK sun is here to stay as it’s set to be a scorching few weeks of glorious sunshine ahead. So with the first heatwave this weekend, I booked an al fresco dinner date with my boyfriend at the Bel and the Dragon in Odiham.

Cowboy boots are having a major comeback and I’m here for it! I finally got a pair from Stradivarius and I’m obsessed; they go with everything from jeans and shorts, to cute dresses and skirts.

With it being almost thirty degrees on Saturday, I paired my boots with denim shorts, a white tank and my oversized Jaeger blazer to keep the chill off my shoulders later into the evening.

We sat outside in the quaint courtyard of the pub which was buzzing on this stunning summers day. I enjoyed a crisp glass of white wine as we browsed the menu and soaked up the wonderful atmosphere.

For dinner I chose a delicious linguine of Devon crab served with spring onions and chopped chilli & garlic, whilst my boyfriend had the grilled 9oz Hampshire ribeye steak medium-rare served with triple-cooked chips and peppercorn sauce.

We also shared a side of roasted broccoli with chilli and garlic. The food was exquisite and the service impeccable, definitely a step-up from your average pub and it felt like such a treat. Very satisfied customers indeed.

We enjoyed another drink together there in the final hours of daylight before heading over to another pub for more drinks with friends. A perfect little summer’s date night with my boyfriend.

I just love getting dressed up and experimenting with cute outfits for our date nights. I’ve always loved my fashion and so these fun evenings out are a chance to get creative and feel fabulous in my carefully curated wardrobe of clothes – cheers to expressing yourself! ❤

Paris Foodie; Pasta, Wine & All Things Fine

June 5, 2022

With only 48 hours in the French capital of gastronomy, we did our best to sample the most famous of Parisian cuisine during our short weekend stay in the city. First up, we got our day started with a morning coffee and exquisite croissant at the best bakery in town, Boulangerie Fabrication Traditionnelle, just a short walk from our hotel.

A picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower was a must, so we popped into a Franprix convenience store and put together a spread of typical French snack food; baguette, cheese, ham, olives and strawberries. What a picture perfect setup sat in the sunshine overlooking the Eiffel Tower as we grazed our picnic.

That evening we found ourselves in a local French restaurant A La Cloche D’Or, sitting outside on a warm summers evening taking in that buzzing Parisian atmosphere on a Saturday night.

As a famous delicacy of France, we had to share the French onion soup to start and it certainly didn’t disappoint, the cheese-pull was a spectacle in itself!

For Sunday brunch we headed to Le Recrutement Cafe with that iconic view of the Eiffel Tower framed by the beautiful streets of Paris.

We enjoyed sundown drinks before dinner back where we were staying in the quiet, quaint courtyard of Hotel Mademoiselle.

To compliment our vino we shared a delicious platter of classic charcuterie; a selection of fine meats, salad, cherry tomatoes, warm French stick and President butter – il est parfait!

For our final night dinner in the centre of the city, we stumbled across this very popular local Italian restaurant, Firmine.

I had a simple yet superb linguine bolognese with a generous sprinkling of parmesan, whilst my boyfriend had a fantastic Margherita pizza. Back to basics never tasted so good, delicieux!

With the Eiffel Tower light show every hour on the hour, we made ourselves comfortable at a nearby cocktail bar called Frame Brasserie. Here we indulged in many wonderful cocktails, including a personalised concoction made exclusively for us by the lovely bartender, before we headed to the final light show at midnight.

Paris is most definitely a foodie’s paradise with such a variety of fantastic restaurants and street food options to choose from. Produce is fresh and exquisitely prepared, we barley had time to scratch the surface of this city’s fabulous food scene. I can’t wait to visit Paris again and try more of their famous pastries, Nutella crepes, macaroons from Laduree and of course my favourite, moules frites!

For the Foodies; Local Gems

February 27, 2022

Being a self-confessed foodie, I always like to try new places for weekend date nights and dinners with friends. Having visited some great restaurants recently, I’m glad to have discovered some local gems just a short drive from our house.

With an extensive menu of pub classics, I was keen to try The Waterwitch pub in Odiham. I opted for an old favourite, caesar salad and it didn’t disappoint. Fresh baby gem lettuce, homemade sourdough croutons, Italian hard cheese, free-range boiled egg, anchovies and a chargrilled chicken breast, this was one of the best caesar salads I’ve ever had…and I’ve had a fair few to compare to!

This weekend we tried Menu Thai in Fleet having heard great things from my sister and her partner. As my boyfriend’s favourite cuisine, we were eager to sample this place for ourselves in hope this will become our local spot for Thai food. I had the vegetable green curry whilst my boyfriend had the chicken penang curry with coconut rice.

Authentic, wonderfully tasty and served steaming hot, this is Thai food done to perfection. A cosy restaurant with excellent service and a buzzing atmosphere too, they even deliver to our postcode. No doubt we will be visiting again very soon as well as making use of their delivery service to satisfy those Thai cravings at home.

It’s always nice to try somewhere different and even better to be supporting local businesses. Going out for dinner is something I used to take for granted before Covid, now I’m even more grateful to be able to indulge in wining and dining freely once again – Cheers to that!

Chapter 2 7

January 30, 2022

On Wednesday 26th January 2022 I officially entered my late twenties and welcomed in chapter 27 of my life. It’s been quite the week of celebrations and so amazing to be with my family and friends again following a lockdown birthday last year.

I had a wonderful family birthday dinner on the big day at Giggling Squid in Farnham. I was even surprised by my brother who I didn’t know was coming all the way from London to join us for the occasion.

I’m very lucky to be so close to my family and it was the best birthday present I could wish for to have us all there celebrating together.

After our cocktails to kick off the evening, we shared a selection of starters including delicious squid and duck spring rolls. For mains I opted for a traditional vegetable red Thai curry which was exquisite.

At the end of our meal I was presented with this gorgeous birthday desert and everyone sang Happy Birthday. It was a joy to be with my family just chatting, laughing and enjoying the moment over fantastic food and drinks, we didn’t leave the restaurant until they were closing!

With my birthday being midweek, I decided to invite my girlfriends over for an evening at my house on Saturday.

My birthday fit for the night was this stunning backless silver blouse along with my stretchy flared pants and cute fluffy slider slippers – dressy but comfy.

I absolutely love hosting so I was super excited to setup the dining room and prepare a spread of nibbles as well as my famous cheeseboard platter of course. Candles lit, music playing and prosecco popped, I was ready to welcome the girls for a fun cosy evening at home.

A number of bottles of bubbly and wine later, we’d had such a beautiful night full of catchups and plenty of laughs, those girls really are my soulmates.

Now its Sunday evening and I’m feeling so content and happy following such a fabulous birthday week. It’s certainly been an epic start to the year already and I can’t wait to see what chapter twenty seven of my lift has in store.

Stay sane, stay wild ❤

Staycation Vacation

September 19, 2021

Whilst I would much rather be writing about a holiday abroad to sunny Ibiza right now, I have had a lovely weekend staycation just relaxing and chilling out enjoying quality time with my boyfriend. And although on this occasion we’ve had to stay in the UK, we have now rebooked our trip to Dubai early next year, as well as getting tickets for an Ocean Alley gig in March and Secret Garden Party festival next summer with the girls!

Following an intense and busy first five months at my new job as a PA, it was certainly time for a well deserved proper break. Taking a long weekend holiday from work, me and my boyfriend booked for a night’s stay at a local spa hotel which we had a gift voucher for, bonus!

The Crowne Plaza in Reading East is a 4 star hotel featuring a stunning spa, gym, cocktail bar and a 2AA rosette restaurant and terrace. Arriving in the early afternoon on Friday, we made the most of the hotel facilities and headed straight for the gym and pool.

After a steam in the sauna and dip in the pool, it was time to head back to the room and get ready for drinks and dinner. I felt like getting a little dressed up for our dinner date in this backless leopard print blouse, black wrap mini skirt and my gorgeous smoky blue square toe mules – the perfect opportunity to wear these towering stilettos as it was only room to bar in a matter of a few steps!

Starting in Monty’s Bar & Lounge, we had an aperitif before our dinner reservations at 8pm in the Caprice Restaurant. And as part of our gift voucher we had a full three course dinner and glass of fizz each all included.

I started with the Super Salad; a delicious flavour combination of spinach, charred tender-stem broccoli, quinoa, chia seeds, candied walnuts, pickled wild mushroom, golden raisins and an avocado ranch dressing. My boyfriend had the Chicken Satay served with peanut sauce, lime gel and watercress.

For our main course I opted for the Cod Fillet on a bed of mash potato accompanied with samphire, cucumber spring onion and Verjus Beurre Blanc. This dish was absolutely exquisite and cooked to perfection, I couldn’t fault it. My boyfriend also really enjoyed his classic Sirloin Steak with cherry tomatoes and triple cooked chips.

To finish the meal I had a simple fruit platter with a refreshing sorbet and delicate sweet chocolate soil. The warm chocolate brownie served with white chocolate and pistachio ice cream was my boyfriend’s desert of choice. Needless to say, we both cleaned our plates and went to bed feeling content and satisfied from such a fantastic three course dinner at Caprice Restaurant.

After a nice long sleep, we awoke rested and ready for the the weekend ahead. I went for a quick gym session before we headed down for brekky at 10:30am. I do love a hotel breakfast buffet and this one didn’t disappoint. The fruit salad and pineapple was so fresh and I was set for the day following a yummy little bowl of granola with all that fruit! My boyfriend opted for a full English which from the happy look on his face, was also very good indeed 🙂

So despite not jetting off abroad this summer, I was grateful for some timeout from work and an indulgent little staycation at a lovely hotel with my boyfriend. I am super excited to have some holiday plans and events in the diary for next year now, but this relaxing weekend without the stress of travelling was actually just what I needed to recharge my batteries.

I may have been in cloudy old England, but here I am envisioning Ibiza and manifesting future holiday plans to come…my moto is ‘go to bed with a dream, wake up with a purpose.’ ❤

Simple One Ingredient Recipe; Cashew Butter

July 18, 2021

Happy sunny Sunday babes! It’s a scorcher of a weekend here in the UK so I’m taking a little break from the sun and doing some recipe testing. In fact, this can hardly be called a recipe when it literally uses only one ingredient – cashews!

It’s so hard to find a good quality, creamy cashew butter in the supermarket, so I prefer to make my own to achieve that desirable, silky smooth consistency.

Simply roast a batch of raw cashews for 10 minutes and let them cool, before transferring to a blender and whipping them up. It does take quite a bit of blending and mixing, but it’s super satisfying to see the cashews transform from powder, to a sort of dough until finally becoming nut butter.

I’ve always used my Magic Bullet blender which does the job for small batches like this, I just make sure to let it cool a little every so often to avoid over-heating.

My personal preference is to add a generous pinch of salt to my cashew butter to bring out that delicious roasted nut taste, but this is of course optional.

Super simple, cheap and healthy home made cashew butter perfect for drizzling on porridge, dipping apple slices into or even spooning straight from the jar – delish!

Gousto; Delicious Dinners on Demand

March 9, 2021

As a self-confessed foodie and keen home cook, I do love browsing books, magazines and blogs for new recipes to try out and have the freedom to experiment with. For this reason I’ve never signed up to any of the popular food delivery services as my evenings spent in the kitchen cooking are how I like to wind down for the day. However we all find ourselves short of time on many occasions but still wanting to have a wholesome, home cooked meal, hence when these recipe boxes would come in super handy. So after having a number of wonderful Gousto dinners at my boyfriend’s (like this exquisite spicy beef noodle dish pictured below) and hearing nothing but praise from my sister also, I was intrigued to give it a go for myself.

Signing up to Gousto is so easy and if recommended by a current customer, you can get fabulous discounts including 50% off your first box! They even have a handy app from which you can manage everything on your account including delivery days, pausing your subscription if required and of course selecting your recipes each week. In your box comes absolutely everything you need portioned out for your meals, taking the hassle out of finding obscure ingredients or having to buy those things you may only use for one particular recipe.

This was my favourite dinner from our first week’s box, a pomegranate chicken and beetroot tabbouleh salad. Whilst I was under the impression that meals would be basic and not that adventurous, I’ve already been inspired by different flavours and seasonings, such as the marinade for this chicken made of ground sumac, soy sauce and pomegranate molasses. Although I eat like a rabbit and need a ton of salad with my dinner, I would say that portions are just right meaning no waste too.

Each recipe comes with easy to follow step-by-step instructions, so really anyone can put their hand to cooking and learn along the way. I was even able to hand over the chef hat to my boyfriend the other evening as he rustled up these tasty veggie tostadas with red kidney beans, roasted peppers and a zesty sour cream. He did a great job and I really enjoyed this healthy twist on traditional Mexican cuisine.

Serving up another salad at home this week, I savoured every mouthful of this colourful plate packed full of goodness. The salty flavours of the smoked mackerel and pickled red cabbage were balanced out by the creamy butterbeans and crisp sweet slices of apple. Again, this is a combination which I wouldn’t have thought to try, but was really yummy and inspired me to experiment beyond my usual salad ingredients.

So far I’m really enjoying the wide variety of cuisines and meal ideas Gousto has to offer, and I will certainly be carrying on my subscription as life returns to normal and I have less time on my hands during the week. It’s fun to try new dishes and I’m excited to see my boyfriend expand on his chef skills and perhaps love cooking as much as I do. Gousto is a must try for anyone wanting healthy, homemade food which is fuss-free yet delicious!

Sign up to Gousto here – https://www.gousto.co.uk