Easter Inspiration

I love Easter.  The days are longer and warmer and everywhere you look are trees laden with pink and white blossom.  The bluebells are carpeting the woods, buds are bursting and the air is sweet with drifting scents.  Traditionally I cook the paschal lamb for family and friends, complete with an Easter egg hunt for the littlies; there's wine that sparkles, fun, laughter and of course chocolate!  This year will be slightly different however, as a friend is hosting instead, but I'm still pouring over recipes and planning an imaginary table setting - see these for more inspiration. 

I discovered this cute DIY egg place holder

 

 

A fabulous recipe for a delicious Gazpacho soup

and a wonderful Easter Egg Nest cake

 

 

For me, mains just has to be lamb and this Nigella recipe of warm lamb salad with pomegranate hits the mark for me, especially if you don't want the heaviness of a roast

 

 

  Wishing you all a wonderful Easter weekend...x

 

Images:Nicole Franzen via Camille Styles/2,3/4,5







Letters of Note

I Like Words

I can't tell you how excited I was to open a Christmas present and find one of the most talked about books of Christmas nestling inside the wrapping.  It was of course Letters of Note  that was compiled by Shaun Usher.  The book was born from his successful website of the same name; an on-line museum of correspondence that has had millions of visitors.  The book is a collection of one-hundred plus amusing, inspiring and intriguing letters that range from Virginia Woolf's heart-wrenching suicide letter, a recipe for drop scones from Queen Elizabeth to Eisenhower to Nick Cave's letter to MTV rejecting his nomination for Best Male Artist on the grounds that 'my muse is not a horse...my muse may bolt! May abandon me completely.'  However, I think so far (I'm still a long way from finishing all the letters)my very favourite letter is from copywriter Robert Pirosh to a variety of studio executives asking for a job as a script writer.  Maybe we could all learn something from his creative approach! Here is the letter to whet your appetite...

 (Source: Dear Wit.)

Dear Sir:
I like words. I like fat buttery words, such as ooze, turpitude, glutinous, toady. I like solemn, angular, creaky words, such as straitlaced, cantankerous, pecunious, valedictory. I like spurious, black-is-white words, such as mortician, liquidate, tonsorial, demi-monde. I like suave "V" words, such as Svengali, svelte, bravura, verve. I like crunchy, brittle, crackly words, such as splinter, grapple, jostle, crusty. I like sullen, crabbed, scowling words, such as skulk, glower, scabby, churl. I like Oh-Heavens, my-gracious, land's-sake words, such as tricksy, tucker, genteel, horrid. I like elegant, flowery words, such as estivate, peregrinate, elysium, halcyon. I like wormy, squirmy, mealy words, such as crawl, blubber, squeal, drip. I like sniggly, chuckling words, such as cowlick, gurgle, bubble and burp.

I like the word screenwriter better than copywriter, so I decided to quit my job in a New York advertising agency and try my luck in Hollywood, but before taking the plunge I went to Europe for a year of study, contemplation and horsing around.

I have just returned and I still like words.

May I have a few with you?

It seems that his novel approach was successful as he went on to land a job as a junior scriptwriter with MGM and in 1949 he won an Academy Award for his 'Battleground' script. 

This book gives such a wonderful insight into peoples lives, motivations, highs and lows.  For me, it is the book of 2013.

image: book

Resolve



 Happy New Year!  Welcome to 2014 and wishing all my readers a wonderful, happy and healthy year. 

 

Now, I know that we all (or nearly all) make some resolutions at this time of year...eat less, move more, etc etc and whilst I'll be hoping to do that too, here are some more reflective resolves that I'm hoping to achieve this year....

 

 

Make sure I spend time with people that I love; people that make me feel good about myself; people who make a positive contribution to my life

 

 

I'm going to find time to reflect; time to be still; time to let the small worries melt away

 

 

I'm going to find time to visit places I haven't been to before; fill my days with new experiences and stretch and broaden my horizons

 

 

Make the everyday more magical; time for fairylights, candles and romance

 

 

Indulge my inner child; stamp in puddles, jump waves, soar on a swing

 

Whatever your dreams ...

 

 

images:all

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know that us Brits aren't traditionally 'Thanksgivingers' (totally made up word!) but I say anything that brings people together to eat, drink and be happy, is a tradition I want to muscle in on...So although my extended family won't be able to make it for dinner, here's what I would serve them if they could...

BROWNED BUTTER + SAGE CROSTINI

INGREDIENTS

• French baguette, sliced and toasted
• Prosciutto
• Buffalo mozzarella, sliced thin
• Fresh sage leaves
• Salted Butter

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Butter slices of French baguette and toast under the broiler until golden. Set aside

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

3. In a small skillet melt butter over medium low heat. Add fresh sage leaves and cook until sage is crispy and butter begins to brown in bits on the bottom of the pan. (you may need to remove sage before butter is browned).

4. Top toasted bread with prosciutto and cheese. Bake at 375 until cheese begins to melt.

5. Remove from oven and spoon browned butter over crostini. Top each with a crispy sage leaf or two.

6. Serve while hot! Enjoy.

These delicious morsels are exceedingly moreish and the brown butter dressing literally elevates the dish to something else altogether.  Serve with a cold glass of prosecco before moving on to the main event....

THANKSGIVING TURKEY

This recipe hails from Sweet Paul Magazine and combines the sweet flavours of maple syrup and apricots to create a glaze that will give your turkey a magnificent bronzed hue, as well as tasting pretty good too!

Of course, it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without a pumpkin pie and my final offering would be a ginger-crust version served with cream, crumbled with amaretti biscuits to finish it off.

This recipe comes from Martha Stewart Living, gorgeous photo by Chelsea Fullerton

Here's wishing everyone celebrating a very happy Thanksgiving...eat, drink and be merry... 

image sources: 1,2,3

Happy Easter

via

Happy  Easter!

wishing you all a fabulous day, wherever you are

and however you are celebrating

xx

 



Easter Tables

{Easter table centrepiece}

So, in just under a week it will be Easter Sunday, celebrated by Christians over the world, but also by those who worship at the altar of chocolate.  Whatever your feelings about the origins of the celebrations, it is just that; a chance to celebrate with friends and family and that's always a good thing.  Last year I hosted an Easter lunch for ten and this year I'm doing the same, numbers slightly larger tho' as one of the families has a new addition.  In previous years, the weather has been gorgeous, sunny and warm enough to have drinks outside and certainly warm enough to accommodate an outdoor Easter egg hunt for the littlies; not so this year I fear.  It's cold and currently snowing/sleeting and so I'm thinking it's going to be an indoors Easter this time round.  Over the years I've collected a lovely little selection of Easter decorations which I'll bring out and use to decorate pussy willow twigs and ivy.  I've also spotted this little corker which I'm going to have a go at for the table decs...

{image source: pinterest}

 

So easy to do... just empty an egg and paint the shell gold, thread a tulip through it and you're done.
As for the food, usually I like to do a slow roast shoulder of lamb, a nod to the paschal, but this year I'm ringing the changes with an all-in-one spring chicken roast, with petit pois a la Francaise to accompany it, followed by a variation on Eton Mess courtesy of Marco Pierre White.  Then there'll be laughter and bubbly, chocolate eggs and tired children.  We'll finish off by cheering on this year's Oxford v Cambridge in the annual boat race.

Anyway, despite the inclement weather, here are some Easter table settings to inspire you - the weather may smile on you elsewhere!

What are your plans for Easter?

image sources: 1//2/3/4//5//6//7