Author: Deborah

14th April 2015

Last Friday I took the day off, dragged myself out of bed and headed to London for the #SLBloggerBash. My fiancé came with me on the train and we decided to walk up through Whitehall Gardens to Horse Guards where we watched the changing of the guard for the first time. I lived in London for years so I can’t believe it’s the first time I’ve seen it. We had a really crap view though when in Horse Guards Parade as we didn’t realise it was happening and arrived bang on time.

Flat Iron

Feeling our tummies rumbling we headed to Soho to go to my favourite steak place. Flat Iron is an amazing steakhouse, with a really simple menu. I’ve been here several times and I usually go for the Flat Iron Steak for £10 and have the dripping cooked fries and peppercorn sauce with it.

We luckily arrived just as it opened and were the first people in. Once seated we were given water in a jar and popcorn in a little mug which was great to munch on while waiting for our orders to arrive. By this time the place was filling up with the lunch time crowd fast! Every time I come the steak is so tender and just melts in my mouth. By the time we left there was a queue out the door. And from what I can remember they don’t take bookings.

Riding House Cafe

It was getting on to 1pm and I felt like I needed a little dutch courage before the event. I looked to see if any of my favourite bars were open and the Riding House Cafe just north of Oxford Street was. It’s often quite full and you usually need to book, but there is a large bar area to sit at which is were we perched our bums for some dessert.

I decided to go for the peach soufflé while Simon went for a hot fudge sundae, which has delicious macaroons and honeycomb on it. My soufflé was AMAZING! It was so sweet and light. For some reason I could taste candy floss but Simon thought I was tasting things. With our desserts I went for a ‘honey berry sour’ cocktail which I fell in love with, it tasted beautiful!

#SLBloggerBash

Photography wasn’t on my list of priorities at the #SLBloggerBash event. It was my first blogger event and taking photos just skipped my mind. I was nervous about going own my own so I stalked the hashtag on Twitter to see who else was going. The lovely Lana from FashionFake organised for a few of us to meet up beforehand at Paperchase (it’s huge and I didn’t go in! That was a mistake). We met up with Hayley from The Glasgow Girl, Nicole from Nicole Coltman and Sophie from Darling Sophie. They were all so lovely!

Inside there was rug boules, selfies to take, competitions to enter and my favourite, wine tasting with Tuscany Now. Not only was there delicious wines to taste, but also cheese and meat! I really could have snacked on that all afternoon, it was ridiculously yummy. I’m addicted to Italy so this was always going to be the stand for me. A HUGE thank you goes to Scarlett Dixon and Search Laboratory for organising the event and inviting me.

Misato

After a quick pit stop at the Kowloon Bakery in China Town for a char siu bun (completely wolfed this down, I wish I’d bought more) we went to my best kept secret in London (shush, don’t tell anyone). I’m so glad we got here early as there was only one couple in front of us in the queue – we got there just before 6pm. When I’ve been before the queue has been out the door!

You don’t come here for glitz and glamour as you can see from the entrance. It’s just really damn good Japanese food at decent prices with HUGE portions. t’s not the prettiest of restaurants and it doesn’t pretend to be, it’s more canteen style. This place is all about the food, and it is definitely worth the wait. I went for my usual salmon teriyaki and Simon chose the chicken katsu curry. I was really gutted that neither of us finished our plates – we’d both (me!) eaten so much already. I just couldn’t leave London without coming here.

Author: Deborah

11th April 2015

I have been hankering after a new blog design since I first started this blog. I wanted something simple and clean so the content stands out and there aren’t many distractions. I also wanted something that would make me feel calm reading it.

My old design below fitted this criteria but lacked personality and I missed having a sidebar. I did have one but you had to open it yourself if you wanted to see what was within. I got bored of the design pretty quickly and just wanted something fresh and new.

Luckily I have a wonderful fiancé who was happy (after some pestering) to turn my scribbled design into a WordPress template. I handed him a pile of papers with ideas on and in an hour he mocked up a design in Photoshop so I could see how it looked. It was perfect! I gave him a list of must haves that I wanted in my website:

Responsive
Social media buttons
Widgets at the bottom of the page
A clean sidebar
Categories in the navigation
Disqus plugin to be kept

It’s taken slightly longer to code it with pesky work and life getting in the way, but I have been so excited to make this design live and share it with you. He’s done an amazing job and I absolutely adore it.

I now get to design a couple more templates as he wants to tinker, which means pretending to create a business and dreaming up some wild ideas. Time to get my creative head on.

Author: Deborah

8th April 2015

These lemon blueberry muffins are so easy to make and are delicious. I’ve been dying to bake something light and airy but full of tasty fruit. Hell I’ve just been dying to bake! I love how baking really relaxes me and takes my focus away from any worries. I wish I could bake all day but my waistline would not agree!

Muffins are my go to recipes when I’m feeling a bit meh. There’s just something about them which picks me up and makes me feel a little happier. Maybe it’s the brightly coloured cases I’ve used this time.

I found a recipe from flora which I thought would do the job. I used butter instead of flora and I always have Lactofree dairy product rather than milk. I only baked them for 25 minutes as they were done and next time I’ll give them a look in at about 20 minutes. They’re very yummy and I can’t wait to eat another one with a cup of tea.

My next challenge needs to be bread and pastry. There can’t be anything better than kneading dough, right? Who needs a bunch bag when you have some dough to work with. I want to try pizza bases, loafs and work with choux pastry again. I have so many ideas that will keep me in the kitchen doing the things I enjoy.

Do you bake when feeling stressed? Do you have a go-to recipe?

Author: Deborah

4th April 2015

I have been desperate to get away for a few days to forget about all the worries and stresses. We had a week off planned for awhile but didn’t know where to go. I hoped to visit family in the Peak District but I really wasn’t up to the journey and the weather, so we booked a couple of nights in the New Forest. Yes it’s only an hour away but there is definitely something relaxing about getting out of the house and staying in a hotel.

We looked online and decided on Lyndhurst as our base. It’s a lovely little town pretty much in the centre of the New Forest. What I love about it most is that there are always ponies down at the bottom of the town by Bolton’s Bench.

We’d bought some sweets and I wondered why the ponies were following us. They seem to like the rustling; thinking they’re getting something to eat. One followed me and kept nudging me in the back with it’s nose until I turned around and made a fuss of it. They are lovely but you do need to be careful around them.

The first day was so sunny and we went on a 3.5 mile walk around Lyndhurst. About a year ago I bought a book with 50 Hampshire walks in and I’m determined to do them all before I’m 30! This one was really pleasant and with my walking boots on no muddy field was going to dampen my spirits.

The next day we drove to Lymington by the coast for a walk around. The shops by the boats were mostly shut up still as it’s out of season, but there were some lovely little shops along the main street.

After a wonderful lunch at Tea Total we headed to a car park just outside Lyndhurst for a 10 mile walk. It started by following the Tall Trees Trail before venturing off for the rest of the trek.

We got a little lost and only about 1.5 miles in I really needed a wee after drinking tea at the cafe. The options were: a) to jump over ditches either side of the path to get to somewhere sheltered; b) carry on for 4 miles to get to the pub on route; or c) turn back to the previous car park where there were toilets. Damnit! C was really the only option at this point. We walked back and carried on with the tall trees trail.

We jumped back in the car and drove to Bolderwood where there is a deer viewing platform. We didn’t see any deer so decided to follow a path into the woods and hoped we would find our way back to the car. Around the other side of the deer sanctuary we spotted some. They were happily munching away on some grass. At this point though I was quite scared we were getting lost (again!). But we found our way back in the end.

We stayed in the Crown Manor Hotel which is at the top of the high street in Lyndhurst. It was a lovely hotel and we opted for the four poster bedroom. It feel really good to be away from home somewhere cosy. The bathroom was amazing with a rainfall shower. I could have stayed in there for hours if I wouldn’t shrivel up like a prune.

The breakfast had lots of options. I swore to myself I’d have a yoghurt and some fruit, but both mornings I ended up with a fry up. It’s hard to resist!

On our last day we headed to Fritham. There’s really not much there except a charming country pub and a car park to head off exploring. It was really nippy this day so we didn’t walk anywhere. We stopped off at The Royal Oak for a drink and spotted some donkeys along the way. These two decided to have a sniff of the car and say hello. I have a real soft spot for donkeys; they’re just so god damn cute!

We also spotted this telephone box and I wanted to take the usual photo with it. It doesn’t have a phone but is filled with useful leaflets about the area. It also has shelves where you can bring your book and swap it for another one. That’s such a great idea. I’ve seen this elsewhere but never in a phone box!

Author: Deborah

1st April 2015

We bought a new build house late last year and nearly six months on we still have a bare garden. The soil is FULL of stones and it seems to be never-ending when picking them out. So I’ve opted for a few indoor gardening projects to keep me going until the garden is sorted.

I picked up this trio herb kit from Homebase a few weeks ago. I’d been looking for a windowsill herb set for awhile but they always seemed to have herbs in that I didn’t use. This includes basil, coriander and flat leaf parsley. I know I’ll get a lot of use out of these, especially throwing coriander into curries.

The chilli and lavender kits I picked up from a National Trust shop ages ago and it’s about time I got them ready! I keep picking up succulents as they’re just so darn cute. I’m not sure what to do with them yet, any ideas?

Setting up the windowsill herbs was ridiculously easy to do. You take out the soil and pop it into water where it expands. You then fill each pot up to the rim with soil and sprinkle on the seeds. Then top with about 1cm of soil. I found lollipop sticks in my craft collection; they’re perfect for naming the herbs.

This is the sorry state of our garden right now. There are weeds and stones all over the place and my darling other half decided to dig a huge hole! He says his plan is to bury the stones. We’re (really just him!) going to put down an extra row of paving slabs so we have more room for the table and chairs and a BBQ.

I picked up this Askholmen table (and matching chairs) from IKEA and they were really cheap. We actually bought the table two years ago to use in our flat as we didn’t want to invest in a proper table. It did the job. I’m looking forward to eating meals out there and enjoying the sun.

I hope I can update you before the summer with a proper looking garden and not a photo of a half dead parsley plant and a pile of dirt! I’m trying to dream up how I’d like my garden to look. But I’m also thinking how much will a puppy destroy it when we get one?!

What’s your garden or dream garden like? Do you have any favourite plants?

Author: Deborah

30th March 2015

Music – I was watching a YouTube video which had Mindy Gledhill in the background. I’ve never heard of her and feel a little late to the party when Spotify said the album I like is from 2010. But I am addicted to her album Anchor. She reminds me of Ingrid Michaelson and Sara Bareilles.

An honourary mention goes to Postmodern Jukebox for their latest version of All About That Base! They can’t seem to do anything wrong.

Instagram – My favourite instagrammer this month is Capture by Lucy. I’ve just loved all her photos, so please check her out.

Tea – While on a trip to Lyndhurst we stumbled upon a cafe called Tea Total. We’ve been past it before and to be honest with you I was never really interested in going in. I don’t know why but the vibrant green colour of the cafe really put me off. This time we decided to head in as I was dying for a cuppa. I had the most delicious jasmine tea called Spring in your Steep. Jasmine tea is my go to green tea and with a hint of spring it was a must to try. They have over 50 teas to choose from. The teapot was an experience too, you just pop it on top of the glass and it streams out the bottom.

Moment – Having a week off work has been a godsend this month. We managed to get the house a little more organised and I put away all of my winter clothes and hung my spring/summer ones up with the hangers facing the wrong way (look at me being all organised?!). During our time off we headed down to the New Forest for a couple of days and my favourite moment was being followed by ponies. At one point they were nudging me in the back to get my attention as I walked. We were eating sweets out of a bag so I think they thought they were getting fed!

Stationery – I’ve spent a lot of time this month looking at wedding stationery. From invites and save the dates to beer mats and table numbers. My favourite designs so far have been from Swoon at the Moon, who sent us some wonderful samples.

Author: Deborah

28th March 2015

Tea Total is a wonderful cafe in the heart of Lyndhurst, New Forest. It serves up 50 types of teas, cream teas, snacks and lunches as well as a gluten free menu.

I like my good old fashioned English Breakfast but I am a little addicted to green tea, my favourite being jasmine. They had a couple of options but with spring arriving I had to go for Spring in your Steep. How cute is that name?!

The waitress arrived with my teapot, glass and an alarm. She showed me how to use the teapot and when the alarm went off this was the desired steeping time. I rested the teapot on top of the mug and let the tea pour through the bottom. It’s ingenious! The tea tasted delicious and I wished I’d bought a tea for two so I could have had another glass. I’m quite used to chain drinking green tea!

They have a gluten free menu here so you can have a cream tea or sandwich without having to worry. I completely forget to ask for the menu as I was so caught up in my tea excitement. I ordered a cream tea and a carrot and coriander soup, which were both very yummy. Possibly too much to eat but at least the tea was healthy.

This is about an hour or so away from where we live and I know we’ll end up here a lot during the summer. You need to check it out if you’re visiting the New Forest.

Have you found anywhere with a huge selection of teas or recommendations for gluten free cafes?

Author: Deborah

Flat Iron

Riding House Cafe

#SLBloggerBash

Misato

Author: Deborah

Author: Deborah

Author: Deborah

Author: Deborah

Author: Deborah

Author: Deborah

About me

Youtube

Hello Deborah Live Stream

Popular posts

Me on Instagram