oystralian vego breaky

I had a few culinary adventures back home and made a few dishes I'd always wanted to try out. The crazy thing is they were traditional British recipes. The day I arrived in Perth it was rainy and blustery so I stayed home with my step pa, watched the footy and made a roast (veggie of course)
Now, with the lack if Aunt Bessie's frozen yorkshire puds on hand I had to make my own...I think the trick was to whisk the batter and heat the oil before cooking. They were perfect (no pics though!)

We had a family dinner the Saturday before I left, and we had masses of roast vegetables left over. So I had the chance to try and make bubble and squeak. Talk about easy! Mash the roast veg into patties and fry.

Bob's your Uncle....Mate!!

The vego (that Australian for veggie) breakfast is good for a hangover!

blog blog blog

I'm so behind on this blog...I've been to Australia, had a wonderful civil partnership in Ireland, surprise guests from Australia and an amazing party in London where dear friends travelled from Dublin, New York and Madrid to celebrate with us. It's been a whirlwind and today is the first day I have been able to stop and think about it all!!

Entries promised very soon....

xx

east london village fete cakes

A couple of months ago (yep, I'm a bit behind with the blog as usual!) we popped along to the Laureston Rd Village Fair. It was a lovely sunny Saturday and all the neighbours had bits and bobs out to sell. I was very restrainted from the vintage knick knacks, but I could not resist this gorgeous cake stall.

It was a very tough choice with so many bright and tasty cakes on display.  I'm a big fan of battenburg cake and this giant slices were so bright....but it was the purple glitter and big juicy blueberries that I just had to gobble a slice..

What a cake!! If only I could make light, fluffy, sweet cakes like this with glitter all over them...

chewy cherry chocolate cookies

I woke up one Sunday in the mood for baking so ransacked the store cupboard to see what I could rustle up. After consulting with my favorite recipe book- Veganomican I had the perfect recipe- chewy cherry chocolate cookies.

measuring cups at the ready

First you mix the rapeseed oil with the jam ....

You separately mix the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa and sugar)

Oh I should probably mention here the recipe was for rasberry cookies but any jam works and the cherry was tasty! Slowly mix together the dry and wet ingredients.

Roll into balls, flatten and then bake...

Stick in the oven and take a few photos while they bake..

And...here they are. They tasted so good I made them again the following weekend.

The cherry cookies are lovely and small, two are perfect with a nice cup of tea when you crave something sweet. I love that they are vegan and the cherry and chocolate are a fantastic combination. They also score 'brownie' points as you can make this with ingredients from the store cupboard....

Royal Teas by guest editor Ms JD

I'm delighted to introduce my first ever guest editor Ms JD. This is hopefully the begining of a new phase for the blog as I welcome additions from my nearest and dearest. Lady J shares my passion for the sweeter things in life and supermarkets too. It's a beautiful friendship- what more common ground could you possibly need?

Ms JD has a flying trip to London and stayed in Greenwhich, which is lined with gorgeous independent shops.

Royal Hill shops, towards Greenwich Park

http://www.royalteascafe.co.uk

At Royal Teas Cafe Ms JD had Eggs Florentine with a cappuccino on a Friday late morning - when everyone else had to work - was very chilled and relaxing

Royal Teas

eggs florentine

The location is perfect - off the main road, in the quiet "Royal Hill" road towards Greenwich park - with cute little independent shops (cheese board, fish monger, a local butcher, tiny vegetable shop, flower shop)
 
 

just over a month to go

Exciting news, we have a civil partnership on the horizon. Lots to do, lots to arrange, lots of fun, lots of love. Here's the invite....Shell took the photo which is a fusion of our two personalities and shot on our balcony. I love the invite. I love Shell. I can't wait to sign the important piece of paper and celebrate with family in Ireland and friends in London.

I've not been blogging so much on crockery and cakes and caffs, although I am still 'researching' but I seem to be spending all my mac time on ebay collecting decorative bird cages, vintage playing cards, tea sets and arranging specially made bunting. Roll on September!!!

up the effing- the morning after the night before

One thing about camping is that it is noisy, very noisy! We woke up the next morning not feeling like we'd had a good night sleep, but absolutely happy as Larry at waking up the 'great outdoors' 

The sun was shining very strongly, and we were listening to the Archers. Plus there was tea on tap. All the makings of a perfect Sunday morning if you ask me.

Plus we had poached eggs which had been freshly made by Beryl and Cheryl.