August 31, 2012

Cool Haircuts and Caipirinhas

Man, have I been a mess at work today! I spent most of the day rectifying everything I did as I kept making mistakes after mistakes. Total. Disaster.

And this was due to the ridiculous amount of caipirinhas that we consumed last night. I have no idea how many, which is a bad sign. Let it be noted that I'm not a big drinker, I rarely go out as I am more of a home person than bar/club (gosh I can't even remember the last time I went to a club), so I hardly drink like that at week ends let alone on a bloody Thursday! I blame my boss/silly friend as it was her idea.

It was a lovely evening and it was quite nice to be social for a change. That being said I won't be doing that again for a long while.

So the moral of the story is:
Last night = fun, Today = death

This picture is of Christoph that got himself a trendy Brighton haircut and because a friend told him he looked like Daniel Craig (don't ask me) he thought he had to do his cool/sexy face...I'll leave it for you to decide if that was successful...

August 28, 2012

We Have Plates!



We finally bought some plates last week end! We had 4 plates and that was about it. We had been looking for weeks for a set that we liked and we didn't want to buy new ones but vintage instead.

There is a shop about 5min from us that has all sorts of vintage/old furniture and nicknacks that I could spend all day there browsing and that's exactly where we found our set.

It's a lovely blue with some gold. I was really surprised that I liked them so much as I'm not into gold at all.

How lovely are they?


And food look really good in them. May sound like a silly thing but the last thing you want is for a yummy dinner to look unappetising because of the plate!

I think we got it right. Mission accomplished :)

Now to find bowls...


August 25, 2012

New York Cheesecake


First can I just say I LOVE my new oven! It seems to spread the heat a lot more evenly. The first time I noticed it properly was when I made the flapjacks last week end.

I have some friends coming over tomorrow for dinner and I really wanted to make dessert for us. Adding that to the fact that I really want to get back into baking, having had no time to do much due to the wedding preparations and our move, means that I have really enjoyed baking today. The key to good food is love right?

So I thought: what better dessert to make than cheesecake? Who doesn't like cheesecake right? I have to admit I have done this recipe before but it never came out looking this good!

It's a bit of a long recipe with lots of steps but it is at the same time quite easy. I found it on the bbcgoodfood website (which has great recipes for just about everything!). I copied the recipe below:

New York Cheesecake

Ingredients

FOR THE CRUST

85g butter melted, plus extra for tin
140g digestive biscuits , made into fine crumbs
1 tbsp sugar , granulated or golden caster

FOR THE CHEESECAKE FILLING

3 x 300g/11oz pack Philadelphia cheese , or other full-fat soft cheese
250g golden caster sugar
3 tbsp plain flour
1½ tsp vanilla extract
finely grated zest of 1 lemon (about 2 tsp)
1½ tsp lemon juice
3 large eggs , plus 1 yolk
284ml carton soured cream

FOR THE SOURED CREAM TOPPING

142ml carton soured cream
1 tbsp golden caster sugar
2 tsp lemon juice

Position an oven shelf in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to fan 160C/conventional 180C/gas 4. Line the base of a 23cm springform cake tin with parchment paper. For the crust, melt the butter in a medium pan. Stir in the biscuit crumbs and sugar so the mixture is evenly moistened. Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan and bake for 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack while preparing the filling.

For the filling, increase the oven temperature to fan 200C/conventional 240C/gas 9. In a table top mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the soft cheese at medium-low speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low, gradually add the sugar, then the flour and a pinch of salt, scraping down the sides of the bowl and the paddle twice.

Swap the paddle attachment for the whisk. Continue by adding the vanilla, lemon zest and juice. Whisk in the eggs and yolk, one at a time, scraping the bowl and whisk at least twice. Stir the 284ml carton of soured cream until smooth, then measure 200ml/7fl oz (just over 3⁄4 of the carton). Continue on low speed as you add the measured soured cream (reserve the rest). Whisk to blend, but don't over-beat. The batter should be smooth, light and somewhat airy.

Brush the sides of the springform tin with melted butter and put on a baking sheet. Pour in the filling - if there are any lumps, sink them using a knife - the top should be as smooth as possible. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to fan 90C/conventional 110C/gas 1⁄4 and bake for 25 minutes more. If you gently shake the tin, the filling should have a slight wobble. Turn off the oven and open the oven door for a cheesecake that's creamy in the centre, or leave it closed if you prefer a drier texture. Let cool in the oven for 2 hours. The cheesecake may get a slight crack on top as it cools.

Combine the reserved soured cream with the 142ml carton, the sugar and lemon juice for the topping. Spread over the cheesecake right to the edges. Cover loosely with foil and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Run a round-bladed knife around the sides of the tin to loosen any stuck edges. Unlock the side, slide the cheesecake off the bottom of the tin onto a plate, then slide the parchment paper out from underneath.

TIPS
Keep everything at room temperature. To avoid lumps and ensure even mixing without over-beating, it is essential to have the soft cheese at room temperature before starting.

Ideally, let it come to room temperature in its pack for 2 hours. If you're short of time, cut the soft cheese into chunks and leave to soften for 1 hour. It also helps to have a tabletop mixer with a powerful motor. But if you don't have one, a hand-held mixer works fine.
The way you blend the ingredients is crucial: under-beating can lead to a lumpy mixture, over-beating can whip in too much air. This can result in uneven cooking, bubbles, and cracking.



Thank you bbcgoodfood! The trick now is to keep Christoph away from it until tomorrow! X

August 22, 2012

Beach Picnic

Yes beach again. I have a feeling that there will be quite a lot of picture posts of our little adventures on the Hove/Brighton beach. I never get enough of the beach! So here is the little picnic we had a little while ago as this week has been quite boring and there really isn't much to report.

Plus I needed some cheering up and those pictures do :)

So here is our picnic with the wine my mum gave us as a present, some little nibbles and with of course my little Pebblehenge ( and I think it's nearly as good as Stonehenge...don't you?)

Pebblehenge

Picnic of bits and bobs




August 20, 2012

Polka Dots Are The Best

Today I took some flapjacks I made yesterday into work for my colleagues. I think they liked it, it was all eaten up so I'm taking that as a good sign! However I forgot to take a picture of them so instead here is my cute little polka dot box I took them in.


I also received last week my lunch bag. I got really fed up of taking my lunch in plastic bags because for one thing I can never find one and for another they aren't very green to say the least!



Isn't she pretty! Not only it had a polka dot pattern - which makes it an instant win - but also hold and behold...


...is has a super cute pink inside! (I have no idea when I turned this girlie!)

To be honest I probably looked a little over the top today as I had polka dot everything: tin, bag and my dress! Although the more I think about it the more I'm convinced there is no such thing as too much when it comes to polka dots!

August 19, 2012

Just a little longer

I know I'm supposed to be posting wedding pictures as promised but I am finding the iPad to cause me a lot of trouble when trying to edit my posts the way I want to. So! Pictures will have to wait for a little while until we get the Internet in 2 weeks so that I can do it on Christoph's laptop.


August 18, 2012

Day at the beach

Today Christoph and I went to the beach as it has been super hot here! While we were there I just messed around a little with my phone taking pics :)

August 12, 2012

Banana hair conditioner!

I know my next post is supposed to be about our wedding but I have just seen this and I think it's fabulous!




A banana conditioner from The Body Shop! So not only I can eat bananas everyday but now I could potentially smell like one too! It contains real banana purée! AMAZING! They also have the shampoo of course!

August 11, 2012

Leaving Manchester

Manchester by night - we took this pic when we stayed at the Hilton Hotel


We left Manchester on the 23rd of June, but we left our flat on the 18th. My friend Sam was kind enough to put us up for a few days so that we weren't homeless :) I'm really glad the last place I stayed in Manchester was her house, it's always felt like home and this meant we def manage to see each other before I left.

My last week in work was a nightmare as to top everything off I got kidney infection and felt really ill. This meant that I was in bed on antibiotics for most of the week but I went in the last day because I didn't want to just leave things like that and I really wanted to tie things over.

I'm very glad I did too as I at least got a chance to say goodbye to my work colleagues, whom I miss very much! Guys, work without you is just not the same! Why don't you all move to Brighton eh! ;)
We got a ridiculously huge amount of money collected for our honeymoon which made us completely lost for words. Not an easy feat! Everyone was incredibly generous, not just with their donations but also with making the effort to going out for a couple of drinks to say goodbye, even though a lot of them had long journeys back home. To everyone that made it, thank you so much!

I had to leave quite early as I was sick (from the infection) and was asleep by 10! Oh well, it's not me if something like this doesn't happen.

The next day Chris and I packed the car with the remainder of our belongings and met my friend Wildman for lunch. We had been trying to meet up for weeks to say goodbye but it never worked out but hey better late than never!

Up to that point I didn't feel upset about leaving but I have to admit that I did tear up once Wildman left and we were in the car. I wasn't upset about leaving Manchester, which I thought I would be a little, having spent half my life there. It's leaving people that was hard.

My mother asked me if I missed Manchester. My honest answer? Not one little bit. It was one of the best decisions we ever made. Don't get me wrong, I have had some amazing times in Manchester and it was my home for a long time. Some of the best times of my life happened there. I will always think of it fondly but it was time to leave. Do I miss my friends? Hugely. Xx

August 07, 2012

Where to start

It has been so very very long since I posted something that I have no idea where to start!

I think the best thing to do is to first make a little list of what did happen that I want to share and take it from there. When I say things that I want to share I just mean actually interesting - hopefully!- things. I had sausages for dinner tonight just doesn't really cut it!

So here we go:
* Leaving Manchester
* The wedding!
* The honeymoon
* Brighton, flat, jobs and stuff

I think that summarises it all. Not bad for 6 weeks!

I will start my catch up list this week end - I'm being realistic as tomorrow I'm going for a drink after work and Thursday and Friday evenings are the only time I will have with Chris this week!

In the meanwhile I will leave you with this teaser photo (yes those are our footsteps!)