Apologies…

I’m sorry for my absence this week. It turns out it was a busy week!  Busy having the ‘flu, busy looking after a man ‘flu victim, busy returning to work and remembering how to be a nurse, and busy studying.  I’ve also decorated the house for Christmas, ordered our turkey and gone to see Hampton Court Palace decorated with pretty twinkly lights.  We chose a chilly but dry evening to go and it was perfect.  We came home feeling very festive!

I’ve submitted my final pre-Christmas order and it should be here tomorrow thanks to our fabulous customer service team.  My Scentsy commission this month will be paying for my Christmas shopping – I can’t wait to get it started! I have lists but who knows how off piste I’ll go when confronted with lots of goodies!

My fragrances this week have been Frosted ginger cookie (chewy brown sugar cookie spiked with warming ginger and fragrant vanilla) and Boho (clove-studded winter apples entwined with juicy black plums, candied mulberries, and cinnamon sticks).

Two of my festive favourites!  What have you been warming?

A busy few days and some yummy stuffed bacon rolls.

This week has been a bit crazy, but in a good way!  I did a Scentsy stall at two local school fairs on Friday and Saturday and had a brilliant time.  It was lovely to meet lots of new people and to see how much interest there is in Scentsy out there.  Incidentally, if you’ve ended up here because of the info pack or a business card, say hi in the comments below!

As a result, I’m curled up in fluffy pyjamas with a cup of tea sending lots of catalogues and newsletters to lovely folk who liked the sound (or smell!) of Scentsy.  I’m also tired, but in a very good way, and have a supply of cupcakes to keep me going.  Thanks St Paul’s!  Both schools were fabulous hosts, keeping me well supplied with hot drinks and tasty bits.  The bacon sandwich this morning was very much appreciated!

I needed something quick and easy after last night, and still had a handful of stuffing to use up from my roast dinner so I came up with a twist on stuffed bacon rolls.  I’ve had these lots of times back at home but have never seen them over here… do they exist and I’ve just been missing them?

You will need:

2-3 bacon rashers per person (your choice of smoked or unsmoked)

stuffing

a few tablespoons of boiled water – start off small!

1 teaspoon of cranberry sauce per rasher – optional

The basic idea is to take the bacon and lie each rasher out flat on a sheet of foil, stir a bit of boiled water into your left over stuffing (enough to enable you to mould it, but not so much that you have stuffing soup) and put a handful of the stuffing mixture into the middle of each rasher, rolling the bacon around it and baking in a medium oven until the bacon has cooked.  it took me about 20-25 minutes.

For the twist, I added a teaspoonful of cranberry sauce to each rasher and spread it out before adding the stuffing and rolling.  It was gorgeous!  I served the rolls with rosemary and black pepper potato wedges and coleslaw with some peppered sauce on the side.  Yum!

Wonderful weekend with lots of food!

I know it’s Monday and therefore my weekend is over, but it was full of nice things – food and friends.  All you need for happiness really!

Saturday saw us heading to a friend’s house for a birthday dinner with pasta, fizz and homemade (and rather fabulous!) macaroons.  It was a very fun evening!  On Sunday I cooked a proper roast dinner for us, one of my best friends and her husband.  I made chicken with all the trimmings, including a honey roast ham.  I’ve been experimenting with different glazes for my ham recently as I tend to always the honey and brown sugar version I made on Sunday. it’s simple and tasty – enough runny honey to coat your cooked ham with about the same amount of soft brown sugar mixed into it, rubbed on the ham and baked until it darker and caramelised.  It’s a gorgeous mix of sweet and savoury and is very moreish.

I’ve been meaning to try this one for a while and finally got round to it recently.  It’s a sticky marmalade ham by John Torode off the BBC Good Food website.  I left out the cloves as a) I didn’t have any, b) I’m not a fan anyway (memories of eating a whole one as a child not realising what it was!).  It is more tart than the honey and brown sugar glaze; I loved it, himself wasn’t as keen but ate it anyway.  It was food after all!  I would make it again but as a main event rather than to go along side chicken.  Sooner rather than later!

The search for a new favourite ham glaze continues.  Please comment your favourite recipe below and inspire me!

London Christmas Markets

Himself and I had a lovely day trip into Central London during the week with the sole purpose of eating as many yummy things from as many yummy food stalls as we could because tis the season (for Christmas markets!)  We picked a drizzly day but it ended up being a blessing in disguise as the crowds weren’t as bad as they could have been.

Our first stop, and usual favourite was the South Bank Market.  We got very confused because the layout is different this year and we possibly couldn’t find all of the stalls.  Still, he had a pork souvlaki wrap from The Grilling Greek and was very happy.  I was hankering for a cinnamon roll that I had at the market last year.  It was no ordinary roll – it was the size of my head and covered in caramel and pecans.  It was messy and glorious and I NEEDED another one.  Sadly, I couldn’t find the stall so we decided to look elsewhere.  I will return on a day it isn’t raining and search everywhere in case I’ve missed it!

If you know of its whereabouts please tell me in the comments below and make my December 🙂

Elsewhere turned out to be Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland.  It is huge and very very pretty with lots of pine and twinkly fairy lights.  We were like two children with excited squeaks of “look at this!” and “I have to eat that!  Now!”.  We spent several hours wandering around and I still don’t think we saw all of it.  I did have a gorgeous burger though, and then had food envy.  That said, no matter what I’d eaten I would still have wanted other things.  Just no pleasing some people! The ice skating is on my hit list for a non-rainy day.  Himself isn’t so keen – I want to teach him to skate but he has images of Bambi on ice and a resulting concussion.  Drama queen methinks!

The walk from Hyde Park back to Waterloo was beautiful, but then again London at night is my favourite London.  I can’t wait to do it all again.

 

Winter

I love winter… I love the fresh frosty mornings and getting wrapped up warm so you’ve cold and rosy cheeks and the rest of you is toasty warm. I love the dark evenings perfect for stews and casseroles and comfort food. I love coming into the warm house from the cold outdoors. I love hot baths and fluffy pyjamas (I think my other half despairs!). I especially love curling up on the sofa with a book and a mug of tea while the rain in battering the windows.

What about winter makes you happy?