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Happy National Tea Day!

Published on April 21, 2017April 21, 2017 by RhiLeave a comment

As you may have already guessed, tea is my all-time favourite drink. I drink about 5 cups of tea a day and, whilst that may not seem a lot to some people, I make those 5 cups count!

Lets be British about this – if you’re going to have a cuppa you’ve got to do it properly. None of this milky-as-hell, ten-spoons-of-sugar malarky. And why is the most common type (if it can even be called that) of tea, ‘builders’ tea? Builders have severely gone down in my estimation for drinking copious amounts of awful tea. I find most normal cups of English Breakfast tea down right frightful and often comment that its like drinking mud.

I’m a sucker for a cup of Earl Grey. No milk (I’m lactose intolerant anyway). I don’t understand why people say that Earl Grey is ‘fragrant’ tea, as though it is herbal or fruity. To me, Early Grey is what tea should be. Not heavy, or smokey or fruity, but as though you are walking through the fields of tea leaves in India. It is beautiful, whether drinking a cup in the harsh winter months snuggled up in a blanket or in the summer months when you look outside and just know that its going to be a wonderfully hot summers day.

The other month we were out dining in a wonderful cafe on the South coast. It sold more types of bread than I though possible; sour dough, olive bread, gluten-free, nutty bread, you name it. I ordered a standard cup of Earl Grey tea. & when it came it was quite possibly the best cup of Earl Grey I’ve ever had! We had to look up the tea there and then and it was a surprisingly well-ish known brand; T2.

Whilst I didn’t buy any of the bags of tea on sale that day (there was only a limited display as it was a small cafe), I did buy a stunning little teapot; its my pride and joy! Just look at it! > > >

I love stoneware crockery and, whilst this teapot has a shine, it fits in perfectly. It has a built-in strainer for leaf tea and makes enough tea for 2 cups.

I was then up in Leeds visiting my brother a few weeks ago when we came across an entire shop of T2 tea! It was actual heaven. It was floor to ceiling of more tea than I’d ever seen in my life. Black, white, green and herbal tea in more varieties that you could name. Different takes on the usual favourites, as well as off-the-wall types that smelt wonderful; Mocha strawberry? But then I came across French Earl Grey tea. I was sold. It is the best version of Earl Grey I could ever wish for. It has extracts of mango in it which give it a whimsical, summer morning-whilst-dew-is-still-on-the-grass kind of smell. Needless to say, it was leaf tea and I bought a box straight away. Whilst it was quite costly (£7 for c.40 cups) it is totally worth it. I even bought a little gift set for my dad as his birthday was coming up.

T2 are definitely up there in the tea stakes, which is strange because I believe it is an Australian company and I wouldn’t usually associate tea with that country. Perhaps there are some ex-pats involved somewhere along the way! Either way, T2 can carry on doing what they do best, because there is nothing on the market as exquisite.

I’m cooking a curry at the moment and enjoying a cup of Earl Grey. Later, instead of relaxing with a glass of wine like many people, I’ll be enjoying my French Earl Grey in my cute little teapot!

Happy National Tea Day!

Old fashioned pen & paper

Published on April 8, 2017April 8, 2017 by RhiLeave a comment

I’m learning how to write again. Not just how to write, but falling in love with putting pen to paper and letting my thoughts tumble out of my pen nib not knowing what is coming next. I’ve written my few blog posts to date whilst commuting on the train. Its not always easy. In the morning I’m too tired and prefer to read my kindle or just doze. Or just to focus on the day ahead. On the odd occasion where I have been thinking about blog-related things I arrive at work a bit disorientated and it takes a while for me to start the day.

On the way home its different. If I don’t go to the gym then my early train is quite empty so I can get a couple of seats to myself, get comfy and start writing. I’m a blue biro person; black is too harsh on the page and ink just smudges when your writing is as big and loopy as mine. I often feel like a toddler, my pen wobbling all over the place. That’s not because of the train, but rather because my working life is centred around a computer so holding a pen is quite rare.

I loved writing when I was at school. English language was my favourite class. I love literature too, but rather becaused there’s nothing quite like getting engrossed in a good story, not because I enjoy analysing characters and finding hidden meanings in the text. That takes the fun out of the novel for me.

There is so much to the English language. So many words. So many ways of saying just one thing. So many ways you can be miss-interpreted.

My job in law involves a lot of writing (typing!), but its not the same. Its not writing. Its concise. To the point. Black & white. Informal but not casual. Its quite a conditioned way of communicating – after 7 years of study thats perhaps not surprising. Institutionalised even. My thoughts obviously can’t just free-flow in that environment (without a caveat or 10 anyway). It’s restrictive. I almost speak like that now.

I’m trying to break out of the habit in my personal life and be a bit more animated. Enthusiastic. Expanding my vocabulary to its pre-law breadth and letting my musings crystalise in ink. Its not easy. I can’t figure out if writing is a state of mind or an art. Maybe its both.

Blogging will be a (I cringe to use this expression, but!) a journey. A re-education. Back to basics and soaking up the environment around me. Keeping in touch with the things that are important in life and enjoying the little moments that often pass us by.

I wrote short stories as a kid and was a complete book-worm. I’m still like that now though sadly theres never as much time to read these days. I’ve always appreciated how hard writing a story is. In fact, as I’ve been reading The Game of Thrones (is he ever going to finish writing the series?) I’ve often wondered how the author put it all together. He must have a timeline for each character, their location in the fictional word and more family trees marked out than you could shake a stick at. I heard somewhere that there are in excess of 4,000 characters! Of course, not all main characters, but just to come up with an identity for each them must be hard enough.

Whislt I would love to write a book myself someday, that day is very firmly far into the future. I need to focus on me, how I communicate and what it is I actually want to say. ‘Finding myself’ through words is the wrong expression – I think I know who I am. I just need to learn how to express myself.

It’s almost akin to reflection. But in more of an evaluating than analysing way, through a medium of choice. When I was younger I thought everything was just as it was and that adults accepted it and got on with their lives. Well, we do. But as you grow up you realise the importance of the smaller things in life. Good old-fashioned values and knowing that you can do something to change how you life your life. I want to capture that.

Writing. Not typing – until I have to type it up to post it anyway!

Scrumptious chocolate marmalade cake

Published on March 30, 2017August 11, 2017 by RhiLeave a comment

At the weekend I made a chocolate marmalade cake. I was really excited and had been looking forward to it for days. I love the taste of sticky orange marmalade – especially the thick cut variety. So when I set down to make the cake I decided to follow a recipe to the tee so that it would taste delicious! I often go off on a tangent of my own when cooking and rarely weigh any ingredients, so this was pretty much a first me.

I settled on a recipe made famous by Nigella Lawson, though I strongly recommend you adjust the cooking time unless your oven doesn’t actually bake anything! My cake was done in half the time Nigella said it would take, so it ended up a bit burnt!

To make a chocolate marmalade cake you will need:

Ingredients

125 g butter (plus optional 50g for the topping)
100 g good quality dark chocolate (plus optional 50g for the topping)
300 g marmalade (plus optional 50g for the topping)
150 g castor sugar
2 eggs, beaten
150 flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
A little orange zest for decoration

Let’s bake!

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First you should preheat the oven to 180 C
Then sift together flour and baking powder in a bowl and set aside.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over a low heat. When it has melted completely, add the chocolate pieces, stirring as you go and allow them to melt. Keep stirring until the chocolate-butter mixture is completely smooth and has no lumps.
Now add your marmalade(!) sugar and the beaten eggs. Keep stirring until it is all mixed together.
Sieve in the flour little by little until there are no lumps or streaks.
Pour the mixture into a greased 9-inch baking tin and bake at 180 C for 40 minutes (you made need even less than this if your oven is top-notch like mine!) or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Once the cake is done, allow it to cool for a few minutes.
Next, make chocolate butter cream by melting chocolate in a bowl over boiling water (do not let the water touch the bowl).
Beat the butter until is has a smooth, creamy texture then mix into the melted chocolate.
Spread the remaining marmalade over the top of the cake and, whilst it is sticky, pour over the chocolate buttercream.

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Grate some orange zest over the top to finish.

Ta dah!

If I bake this cake again I think I’d make a two tier sponge and use marmalade in the middle, or make a loaf cake. On its own, the single tier as Nigella recommends doesn’t do the cake justice – it tastes lovely but looks a bit… sorry for itself!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Norfolk-bound

Published on March 27, 2017August 11, 2017 by RhiLeave a comment

We’ve just got back from my parents’ home in Norfolk where we spent a wonderous sunny weekend & celebrated Mother’s Day.

It takes about 3 ½ hours to get to Norfolk from Berkshire so by the time I finish work on a Friday and we drive up, we don’t usually get there til late. But its so lovely waking up to the birds and seeing the sun coming through the blinds in the morning (it was a gorgeous sunny weekend for March, wasn’t it?)

After my usual fried egg sammich for breakfast (I enjoy having some type of egg-based breakfast food at the weekend), we helped my parents in the garden. Me and gardening don’t really get on, so ‘help’ is probably the wrong word to use. I spent a lot of time taking pictures of cows.

There is dairy farm up the road so three times a day the cows walk past to be milked.

The farm sells raw milk, one of only 2 dairies in the UK to do so. & it tastes great! I should probably say at this point that I am lactose intolerant, so I haven’t actually tasted the milk save for a drop on my little finger. But the brie is to die for. Literally. And the cows are so cute- look! They are a mix of English and French cows and like being talked to. Maybe that’s how we held their attention for so long!

Once the cows had gone back to their business I took some pictures of the first flowers of spring before mowing the lawn. This sounds like a very boring task to do, but my parents have a ride-on lawn mower so I was whipping about carving up the garden. My dad was hoping for some stripes, but he ended up with more circular patterns than he bargained for. I got a bit wedged between the vegetable plots but a quick 7-point turn and I was out!

Then I sat in the sunshine and watched everyone else garden.

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Whilst waiting for lunch to be prepared Sam and my dad took up some target practice. They both have air rifles and dad has a rabbit ‘problem’. He jokes they are going to take down the rabbit population at the bottom of the garden but with his eyesight, never mind his aim, the rabbit would have to be 6 foot tall and dancing in front of him. I love bunnies so I’m dead against them being slaughtered just so that they won’t eat the vegetables. I’ve threatened to jump in front of the rifles if a bunny makes an appearance, & I think they believe me. For now though, they make use of tin cans. And I’m not a bad shot either.

I then set about making a CHOCOLATE MARMALADE cake. Not any cake, and not a chocolate orange cake, but a chocolate marmalade cake. I settled on Nigella Lawson’s recipe because she uses a whole jar of marmalade. Lived to regret that decision (Nigella, not the marmalade). The cake didn’t rise amazingly well and burnt a bit. And I followed the recipe to the gram. But it did taste of marmalade.

Mum then made my favourite tuna pasta dish for dinner. I’ve been trying to recreate the dish since I left home but I could never find the right cheese sauce. One time I concocted something from soft cheese, cheese and god knows what and nearly gagged.

On Mother’s Day we went for a wander along the beach at Southwold.

Southwold is a cutesy, boutique-by-the-sea village. We walked along the beach then had tea and cake on the pier. My hot chocolate came with malteasers! I grew up in Norfolk, just up the coast from Southwold, but now I live miles in land so its always nice to see the sea again.

Though, it was sooo windy my ears hurt. I bought a little jigsaw necklace from a shop on the pier. It reminds me of me and Sam; he once said we fitted together like a jigsaw puzzle so when I saw it I had to buy it. Its so cute!

Weekends always go so quickly. But perhaps thats because we had a good time!

I’m starting to get mega excited for our holidays. At Easter we are going to Devon for a few days. In May we are going to the Lake District and then in June we are off on our holibobs to Greece! I can’t wait!

Battling the bulge

Published on March 23, 2017 by RhiLeave a comment

I’m on a bit of a weight loss journey. I guess you could call it a lifestyle overhaul, as I’ve come to realise that is what it is.

I’m not obese, just carrying a few extra unwanted pounds.

It’s funny, I lost over half a stone in the year Sam and I became engaged, but I ended up putting it all back on in the lead up to our wedding last year. Thankfully I had an A-line dress so a bit of extra podge wasn’t going to show (I carry my weight on my tummy and thighs).

I did feel a bit chubby on our honeymoon though; when you’re in a bikini on the sun-drenched island of St Lucia you do become aware of your body hang ups even more. I don’t think I really noticed it until we got back though and I looked at some pictures and thought ‘Omg. I should have made more of an effort to get trim’.

In fact, it wasn’t until 2 months after our honeymoon that I realised I needed to do something about my creeping weight gain. We were having a long weekend in Paris with my family. It was 30+ degrees, but you can’t wear a bikini around town (I sound so British talking about the weather! Brits can’t help talking about it, moaning about it or rejoicing in the few days of sunshine we get each year!)

The Eiffel Tower!

Wearing my dungarees & about to put a love lock on the bridge

So I wore a summery skirt and vest top. Most of us wear slightly heavier clothing than our European counterparts in the summer; we are a nation of jeans-lovers. They hide a multitude of sins and wobbly bits! But I’d have passed out if I wore that in Paris. I couldn’t hide from my wobbly bits there. My skirt was too tight. It dug into my tummy, making my love handles protrude even more.

I know where my weight gain started. I can pin point it. Sure, I probably put on a few lbs at uni what with all the junk food and alcohol you get through as a student. But it really took hold once I graduated and got my first job. I was living in a studio flat on my own. It was a lovely flat, don’t get me wrong. But I was lonely. I’d put the telly on all the time for company and hated being in the kitchen cooking. I lived not far from my work, so I was home by 6pm most nights. I’d shower and wash my hair and by 6.30pm the evening seemed to stretch out before me endlessly. I quickly got into a bad routine of buying a pizza each night on my way home. I was lazy, but I didn’t think much of it at the time. My family started to notice the sheer amount of pizza boxes whenever they visited. I’d stack them near the fridge and would forget to hide/recycle them before my family arrived! I was getting through 4 or 5 a week and would probably only cook a proper meal on the Friday night if I had a visitor. I even had the same pizza topping most nights! No wonder why now I can’t stand eating the same thing two nights running!

I put on well over a stone in 11 months. Probably 1 ½ stone actually (my scales were on the blink).

That was 6 years ago… and not much has really changed. My weight still fluctuates by that amount in the course of any given year.

I’ve tried to analyse the reason behind my extra baggage. That’s what all those dietician experts do on the telly right? Well the only conclusion I’ve reached is that I simply enjoy eating. & I do it out of boredom more often than not too.

Convenience is an awful word – I hate it! But its so true. Convenience is everywhere and it only takes one bad thing to happen during the day for you to make bad food choices.

*I’ll be honest. I just ate this whilst writing about bad food choices. It was yummy.*

Sam and I try to eat healthily. I say this loosely because although our dinners contain lots of vegetables (usually, clearly not tonight ^), Sam can eat a whole packet of chocolate digestives in one sitting. I’ll come home from work and there’ll be a token biscuit left at the bottom. Charming. But WHOEVER said eating fruit was a healthy alternative was WRONG. According to my app, by having just 3 pieces of fruit I’ve had about 500 calories. Its ridiculous. Pears are the worst apparently.

I’ve come to the conclusion that as long as I’m aware of my weight, that’s a good thing. After all, if you’re aware then you can do something about it. It would be worse if I woke up one morning and realised I’d gained 5 stone as that is a much larger battle to face than a few pounds. So, like many other women, I’ll probably be on a diet for the rest of my life.

Ahem, not ‘diet’ – lifestyle choice.

(I’ll let you know how I get on with my new fandangled app soon!)

Home-made parsnip soup

Published on March 19, 2017August 12, 2017 by RhiLeave a comment

Sam’s gran bought a soup maker recently. I’ve never come across one before and I’ve always made my soup using a stove and blender. I have to say, it was pretty damn good! Sam’s gran has a Morphy Richards one.

You simply put in 700g of vegetables, water and put it on for 21 minutes. It heats up and blends all in one.

Well I never!

It also stays incredibly hot for a long time due to the insulation. Pretty ideal if you’re pushed for time or want to shower whilst its on without fear of it bubbling over! And the finished article was pretty damn tasty.

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So I thought I’d share with you my favourite parsnip soup recipe. You will need:

40g butter

1 onion, chopped

225g potatoes, peeled and chopped

400g parsnips, peeled and chopped

4tsp paprika

1 litre of vegetable stock

450ml of milk

4 tbsp of double cream

salt and pepper to season

parsnip crisps and freshly grated Parmesan to serve

First you need to make the parsnip crisps. To do that simply put shavings of parsnips in a warm oven (about 180 degrees) for about 20 minutes.
Next, the soup. Melt the butter in a pan on a low heat. Add the onion and gently cook for 5 minutes. Then add the potatoes, parsnips and paprika. Mix well and stir occasionally for 15 minutes.
Add the stock, milk, cream and then the salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and then reduce it to a simmer for about 25 minutes.
Let the soup cool a little and then whiz it in batches until it is of a consistency you like – I often find blending 2/3 is good.
To serve, reheat the soup and ladle into warm bowls. Top with the parsnip crisps and add a little Parmesan.

Let me know what you think 🙂

Deli-licious day out

Published on March 19, 2017March 21, 2017 by RhiLeave a comment

We had a lovely day yesterday visiting Sam’s grandparents down on the South coast. We had a mosey around a little garden centre (& enjoyed a fish finger sandwich, which I’m a sucker for).

This garden centre had a deli area, which promotes small-family run businesses who provide fresh, home-made produce. The cakes were to die for, and I must confess I bought six butterfly cupcakes and a beautiful glazed fruit loaf – I would have bought the large size but I have to learn my eyes are bigger than my belly!

A selection of their chutneys, jams, juice and crispbreads ❤

We live in the countryside and have always tried to shop in the small, independent stores around the area. When we were planning our wedding in 2015-16 we applied the same principle to our suppliers (& our reception was held in an eco-centre). Its lovely to see such different ideas being applied to a traditional, much-loved item.

Take jam for example. You often can’t beat the standard strawberry flavour in my view, but to come across loganberry, and apricot and peach is delightful.

On our way out I happened across a small bowl-shaped log and a white cracked-ceramic vase which I knew would look lovely in our home so I simply had to buy them. And then we came to the indoor flowers and how radiant they were on that blustery grey wintery day!

From there we went for a wander around the local area, driving along the winding back roads and having to peer around the high-walled hedgerows to check no-one else was coming the other way. We stopped by the local church where there were the most amazing pink blossom trees in bloom. Blossom is not a particularly common tree in our neck of the woods(!) but I think it is one of my favourite. Its so gentle, delicate and pretty.

We rounded off our day with some home-made parsnip soup and, yep, you’ve got it – more cake!

Why am I here

Published on March 14, 2017March 21, 2017 by RhiLeave a comment

Here goes. I’m not particularly ‘in’ to technology. Unlike many other girls in their late 20’s I’m not taking a hundred selfie photographs each day, I don’t have perfect hair (in fact, that is a whole other story for another day), and I’d rather be out enjoying the countryside than shopping.

No, I’m not a hermit. I don’t have three heads. I’m a bit chubby, but not unattractive (if I do say so myself). I just don’t understand the fascination with putting your whole life on the internet; social media has taken over our lives. As I’ve gotten older though, I’ve shied away from it. Perhaps I realised the importance of interactions with people face to face. That, or I didn’t want my whole life being documented on Facebook (et al) with each of my photos scrutinised by my peers.

Life isn’t perfect. But I wouldn’t want it to be. Its the quirky that makes it enjoyable.

So you’re probably thinking: why the hell has this girl started a blog then? Well, I’m not entirely sure either. I’m not trying to conform. In fact, I like the anonymity of a blog – not being linked to a Facebook page and showing my life how it truly is to strangers. Its quite liberating.

This is not going to be one of those you must eat smashed avocado, exercise 10 times a week and God forbid you should have a drop of alcohol lifestyle preaching blogs. I love pie. My favourite thing though is tea and toast. I could eat a whole loaf of bread in a couple of days.

So if you’re looking for an idealised, not-based-in-reality blog, you’re in the wrong place.