September Wishlist

1. Orla Kiely Flamingo sweater

2. Orla Kiely Snowdrop Printed Patent Leather Fairfield Bag 

3. 'Spot the Dog' skirt

4. Pandora pearl and 'Darling daisies' ring

5. Rigga Ikea clothes rail

6. Ikea POÄNG rocking chair (love!)

7. ikea plants

8. Indigo Monogram Blue Travel Mug 

9. Bertie tan loafers - TKMaxx

10. Chanel baby blue bag

11. Grand Budapest

12. Olivia Burton watch

What I Made: Banana Bread & Brownies

Banana Bread made with: 

75g Butter
150g Self Raising Flour
2 Medium Eggs
2 Small Bananas (chopped)
75g Brown Sugar
5g Baking Powder (1tsp)
Pinch of Salt
























What to do: 
1. Preheat your oven as follows: Fan Oven: 175° C – Standard Oven: 190° C
2. In a bowl blend together the butter, flour, baking powder, brown sugar, and salt by hand or by using a mixer on a slow speed for 3 minutes.
3. In a jug whisk together the eggs by hand.
4. Then pour the whisked eggs into the above bowl blending for 3 minutes, again whether by hand or with a mixer on a slow speed. Then scrape down the bowl.
5. Gradually add in the banana, constantly mixing for approximately 3 minutes.
6. Now spoon the cake mixture into the baking tin and bake for 50-55 minutes in the pre-heated oven. 7. Enjoy!
























Brownies made with:
110g Butter, softened
85g caster sugar
2 Eggs
55g Self raising flour
55g Cocoa powder
























1. Preheat oven to high heat
2. Place ingredients in a blender to mix or use a mixer (blender probably works better though)
3. Spread mix onto greaseproof paper lined baking tin
4. Bake for 12-15 mins
5. Allow to cool and cut into squares

























Here's to eating brownies and banana bread the whole weekend! : )

August Wishlist Pt 2

1. Vintage floral print from Ikea

2. KitchenAid KSM150PSAQ Stand Mixer Martha Stewart Blue Collection

3. Chanel Lipstick in coral

4. Mason Cash hearts mixing bowl

5. Flamingo Glasses from Ikea

6. Daisy Dream perfume from Marc Jacobs

7. Floral baking tins from Tiger

8 & 9. Coffee and Tea set and Baking set from ikea (yep, I see a reoccurring theme here...trip to ikea needed!)

10. Flour canister from Martha stewart

11 & 12. Turquoise display cabinet & hat stand both from ikea new PS collection

13. Fairylights, pic found on pinterest

What I Made: Shortbread Biscuits

Made with:
150g plain flour 
100g margarine 
50g caster sugar

• Preheat oven 160C

• Cream together the butter and sugar in a bowl

• Gradually mix in the flour

• Using your hands knead the mix together into a smooth ball

• Roll out to about 1/2 cm thick

• Cut out your shapes and place on baking tray

• Bake for 10-15mins

These were so yummy, the only thing I found was that the mix didn't make many biscuits so next time I will be making a lot more and doublin' up on the ingredients. If you don't have a rolling pin (like me, having just moved I need to replace my old one) you can use a bottle (or wine bottle whatever your preference) but it works just as well!

I used my new mixer its so basic but it works. The cookie cutter I used was from Tiger Stores but I think I'll be investing in a larger one, they are teeny tiny great for kids. The shortbreads' nearly gone now so I might need to make some more.....

August Wishlist

1.Eight & Bob Candle from the Conran Shop

2. Daisy Vans 

3. Love sign from purehome.com

4. Roberts Revival DAB/FM RDS Digital Radio Duck-Egg Blue from very.co.uk

5. Chanel lipstick

6. Peonies

7. Forever new luggage tag

8. Fearne Cotton Melrose chair from very.co.uk

9. Yellow lace dress from Debenhams

10. Framed Deer print from Pottery barn

July Wishlist!

1.Floral Clutch/Zara

2.Camera/Samsung NX Mini 

3.Deer antlers/interiorsonline.com.au

4.Frame/Zara home

5.Necklace/Johnny loves Rosie

6.Zara mini city bag

7.Purse/etsy

8.Teacup/Zara

9.See by Chloe perfume

What to do with: Jam Jars

Ever wondered what to do with your old jam jars? It occurred to me at the weekend whilst out sipping cocktails from old little jars (Hipster, I know.) So off I went and purchased some stain glass paint, I used Pebeo Vitrail stained glass paint but any glass paint would do. These were transparent ones, I found some colours worked better than others, the blue and the green were so transparent its hard to see, the yellow and red worked quite well.

Jars avec la Ikea plant

For the stained glass effect, start painting diamond shapes and free paint whatever shapes you feel like in between 

With the dripping effect on the left, this kind of happened by accident but turned out to be my 
favourite. It's easy to do, just turn jar upside down and let the paint run from the bottom of the 
jar to the top. I also used some gold paint to get a spot effect and it looks really cool when 
there's a candle lighting

It doesn't say how long to wait for paint to dry but ideally overnight would do.
When dry, pop a candle in, colours are amazing all lit up!

All you need is:

Glass Paint

Clear Jars or bottles

Paint brush

What I Made: Rhubarb Crumble

Made with:
10 sticks of Rhubarb 
4 Tbsp Water 
8 Tbsp Caster Sugar 
110g Butter 
110g Demerara Sugar 
180-200g Flour

• 
  

 

Recipe: 

• Preheat oven to 180C 

• Put a medium frying pan on a medium heat 

• Chop up the rhubarb and place on an oven tray, sprinkle with the water and caster sugar and roast in the oven for 10 minutes

• Once cooked, remove from the oven & mix well 

 

• Fill an ovenproof dish about 4cm/1½in deep with the rhubarb & sprinkle layer of sugar on top 

• Rub the butter into the flour and sugar to make the crumble topping 

• Sprinkle over the rhubarb and bake in the oven for 35-45 minutes, or until the crumble topping is crisp and golden-brown and the rhubarb filling has softened and is bubbling 

Enjoy! (This is now all gone now... so sad!)

What I Made: Spinach and Feta Filo Pie

A little something I made earlier...mmm! 

Made with:

100g pinenuts

• 5 free range Eggs
• 300g of feta cheese
• Dried oregano
• A knob of butter
• 400g (14oz) prewashed baby spinach 
• 1 x 270g pack of filo pastry 
• Olive Oil

Recipe:

• Preheat oven to 200C/ gas 6
• Put a medium frying pan on a medium heat
• Put the pine nuts into frying pan to toast, tossing occasionally so they don't burn
• Crack 5 eggs into a mixing bowl and crumble in the feta

• Add a pinch of pepper, a couple of pinches of dried oregano and a glug of olive oil
• Once the nuts are lightly toasted, add them to the egg mixture and mix well
• Put the empty frying pan back on the heat, add a little olive oil and a knob of butter and pile in half of the spinach, add more as it wilts down
• Meanwhile, take the pastry out of the fridge & lay a large sheet of greaseproof paper on the worktop, rub a little olive oil all over it, then scrunch it up and lay it out flat again. 
• Arrange 4 filo pastry sheets in a large rectangle, overlapping at the edges, so they almost cover the paper
• Once the spinach is really nice and dense, take the pan off the heat
• Add the wilted spinach to the egg mixture 

• Carefully move the greaseproof paper and filo into the empty frying pan so the edges spill over
• Push it down into the sides of the pan, until it seals bottom of the pastry
• Transfer pastry to ovenproof dish then pour in the egg mixture and spread it out
• Cook for 18 to 20 minutes until golden and crisp

 

&Enjoy!!! I served mine with salad (a nice dressing and some of the roasted pine nuts did the trick) and wedges....

Looking forward to getting stuck into my our new cook books. Just been given some lovely rhubarb so this will figure in a nice dessert this week.

Prague in March

Just home from an amazing trip to Prague what a beautiful and interesting city rich with history and little cobblestone streets that lead to some of the most pretty views I've ever seen.

We explored Prague Castle, saw the Kohl or Lion fountain, Holy Cross Chapel, St. Vitus Cathedral (The most beautiful and majestic church in Prague, its history reflects the beginnings of the Christian culture in the Bohemia. It is also the Royal mausoleum and depositary of the Czech Crown Jewels), St George's Basilica, the oldest surviving church in Prague, stood at the top of the Old Castle Steps looking out at the magnificent views of Prague. We walked over Charles Bridge, past the markets in Old Town Square and the old churches.. to see the Astronomical Clock and the striking of the clock on the hour, marked by the walk of the apostles to music, quite a sight to see. We went for walks in the Royal Garden and around the Summer Palace, where the first tulips grew and went on a cruise around the River Vltava. We went for dinner at Kampa Island, candles, lightbulbs adorned with feathers, views of the river Vltava, homemade chocolates, complimentary port.. if we could have brought this restaurant home we would. The next day we went and had brunch at the Gardens by the castle and took in the last of the views and absorbed the last of the sun...

 

Instagrammin' January & February

Wow January and February has flown by, how is it March already?
It's not long till I'm off on my travels again and very exciting plans are being put into action.

1. Homemade Christmas pudding in January (mmm...) 2. Roses from B 3. Ellie Goulding gig at the 02 4. Cupcakes 5. Roses again, a kind of perfect Valentines 6. Ellie G wearing the Ireland flag great ending to the show 7. The scenic route on our way home 8. A fire on a crisp Spring day, is there anything better? 9. Taking risks and walking on cycle lanes, it's the way we roll

Craig Green Illustration

An illustration for a review of Craig Green, MAN A/W 2014 Catwalk Review.

Hand painted printed patterny goodness....

Ziad Ghanem New Couture Illustration

An illustration for Amelia's magazine to accompany an interview with designer Ziad Ghanem.