Alphabakes Challenge: October 2015

    It's my turn to host Alphabakes again this month as Ros has slightly better things to do like get married.... congratulations Ros! Though my baking experiments have been somewhat curtailed of late as I'm on a pre-wedding diet - not for her big day but for my own, which is next June! Which is a good opportunity for me to remind you all that you don't have to make a cake to enter Alphabakes -the recipe can be sweet or savoury.     The...

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Yellow Butterfly Birthday Card

Butterflies appear in my card making time and again. I’m not sure why – they are pretty and colourful and seem quite feminine, but younger somehow that flowers. I think a lot of people these days only send floral cards to their grandmothers! This card was a bit of a cheat as it uses elements from a shop-bought birthday card (one I received)- but I do like to recycle! I used a tall thin card blank and covered it with a pretty yellow paper patterned...

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Restaurant Review: Vittoria on the Bridge, Edinburgh

  Vittoria on the Bridge is in Edinburgh’s Old Town, on the George IV bridge not far from the university and many of the tourist attractions. I was in Edinburgh on business however, part of the team that was organising a conference. The night before the conference I went out to dinner with the team; it was a cold and rainy evening and we hopped straight out of a taxi into the restaurant, which had been booked by someone who had been there...

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Meal Planning Monday 2015 Week 40

My post-holiday diet started well but then was slightly derailed by two days away for work, a client conference the next day and a hen night at the weekend! Still, Rome wasn't built in a day... I'm feeling rather uninspired for breakfasts I can eat at my desk at work (we have a microwave, but no toaster) so if you have any ideas please let me know!   Monday Breakfast: yogurt and pear Lunch: salmon with salad Dinner: ready meal as...

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Wagamama Roasted Honey Pork Ramen

This weekend was the Japanese Grand Prix but I have to admit I didn't watch it - as I've said before, it's my fiancé who is the F1 fan anyway, though I've definitely gotten into it since living with him! I was busy today making the flowers to go on top of Ros's wedding cake (which has made me realise I won't have time to make my own wedding cake, a shame but it could be a lot of last minute stress!). I did make a Japanese meal...

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How to use a Bead-Maker for Cake Decorating

For the finishing touch on a celebration cake, a row of beads or pearls is a great idea.   I recently posted detailed instructions for how to make a wired sugar flower. I will soon be posting the full wedding cake that I used the flower on, but first want to show you another element of that cake.   You can roll individual balls of fondant and stick them in a row around the edge of your cake; if you do this the way to make sure they are...

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New Baby Boy Card

  This is a bright, fun card that has touches of blue for a boy, but to me the feeling it creates is one of joy of celebrating a birth. There is quite a lot going on in this card but I think the new parents will find there is quite a lot going on in their lives now!   I cut off the corners of a square card blank to give a curved effect and covered the card with a jazzy star-print backing paper. I did want some element of blue though and...

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F1 Foods: Singapore Round-up and the next challenge: Japan

Either because the linky was only open for a very short time, because I didn't really publicise it as I was away on holiday then travelling for work or simply because nobody was inspired by Singapore to cook any dish, the only entry for this round of Formula 1 Foods was my own. Still, it gives me a chance to direct you again to my Singapore Sling bundt cake if you didn't already see it. This weekend it's the Japanese Grand Prix which may be...

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Marbled Chocolate Banana Bread

    I’ve already described how I used up some soft bananas from a fruit box we were sent at work in this banoffee pie with a chocolate cornflake base. There were actually more bananas left over and I’ve always wanted to make banana bread but never got round to it (the fact that I don’t like banana also puts me off!). As I have mentioned before, once a month I spend a day in the office of a design agency that we work with to produce a particular...

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Jareth's Temptation - Peaches, Cream, Meringue and Pomegranate Dessert

Not to be confused with Jansson's Temptation, which is something different entirely - this dessert is inspired by my favourite 80s movie. Labyrinth came out when I was seven years old and a friend of mine had it on VHS - my family didn't even have a video recorder at that time. I absolutely loved the film, mainly for the songs - the animated characters were on the whole a bit irritating for my liking (anyone else find Hoggle really annoying?)...

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Meal Planning Monday - Week 38/39

I've just got back from over 2 weeks on holiday in America - and am lauching into full-on wedding planning mode. My fiancé proposed just before we went away so now as well as shifting the weight I inevitably put on during our holiday I also want to lose weight before I start wedding dress shopping! And did you know that wedding dress boutiques advise you choose your dress 6-9 months in advance to allow enough time for alterations? If we are able...

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Royal Icing Run-Outs

Royal icing run-outs are a lovely way to decorate a cake, and also are a great help to the busy or novice cake decorator, as you make them in advance. This helps save time when you bake and decorate the cake; also (and perhaps more importantly for some people) you create these on a cake board, and place them on the cake when they are set – so if they go wrong you can start again without messing up the cake!   I’d never really done this before...

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