Today I woke up around 7. I remember hearing a car pass by and thinking, sounds like the tyres are on a wet road but it’s not rain, sounds sludgy. Yes, that is how I wake myself up early on a Saturday morning.
When I peeked out of the window, sure enough, a winter scene greeted my bleary eyes. It was snowy, in fact there was a mild blizzard blowing.
I’m following the #waitingforspring hash tag today after clicking on it and finding some humorous and positive takes on this unyielding wintry weather.
Spring has sprung – the daffodils have been out for over a week now – but it is really struggling to kick winter out! What’s the weather like where you are?
I wish you a safe, sheltered and warm weekend indoors unless you actually like trudging around in the cold…
I’ve given myself a little bit of a break from the blog over the past week or so. I just needed to think about other things in life other than blogging, although I’ve missed it. Thank you for dropping by even though I haven’t posted any fresh content. I really appreciate that you have used your precious time to stop by and read. Welcome to all new visitors!
I’ve given the WOW Wednesdays series an even longer break I must admit.. but I haven’t stopped saying “wow!” In fact, it’s those little wow moments that inspire me to keep moving onwards and upwards, even on those days when I feel like I’ve tripped over and slid on my backside down the slippery slope I’ve been trying to scale and ended up at the bottom again. So I thought it would be a nice way to get back to the blog this week:
I recently stumbled across some videos that made for fascinating watching. They each show different kinds of creative projects I found inspiring. Instead of just pinning them, I wanted to share them here. I’m simply going link them up below. I hope they bring some inspiration to you midweek. My favourite is the last, because it is a story of a great collaboration. You might want to watch the finished music video first (linked below) and then watch the one of the making of it which is the one I’ve included here. Up to you!
Take care and have a peaceful and productive remainder of the week. Just one more weekend until Easter! Do you get Easter holidays where you are? If you gave up something for Lent, how is it going?
I don’t know whether you feel there is a lot to celebrate with regard to women’s standing in society where you are. In recent news, it has become all too apparent that in terms of equal rights, women do not enjoy the same status as other women all over the world, let alone the same status as men. Incidentally, let us also not forget the men. To my understanding, feminism is not about treading men underfoot, far from it.
Here are a couple of articles that caught my eye in today’s news videos that just go to show how important it is, that we don’t work separately but together, towards resolving all the issues we face:
I hope you don’t think I’m sharing these links flippantly, they are actually some issues I care about immensely that I do not wish to write about on the blog at the moment. Despite the effectiveness with which many people tackle deep and difficult issues online, it’s not something I can devote time and energy to doing properly right now.
Are you celebrating International Women’s Day? In the UK, it is followed directly by Mothering Sunday. Recently, I asked my mum to tell me a potted history of her life. I’ve listened, enchanted, to many stories over the years but this was the first time she told me some of the details and in one sitting. I have to say I am in even more admiration of her than I was before. She is a much more courageous woman than I have ever realised. I guess that I have been blessed with some very humble, inspiring and generous women in my life who have won out in spite of their circumstances. Who are (or have been) the important women in your life?
Weather Forecast London
I have the news on right now. Emily Maitlis just handed over to the weatherman with the words “honestly, it looks revolting”. Nuff said. Hope you have some inner sunshine reserves for the weekend, even if it’s horrible, rainy, cloudy and cold outside.
I got some light protest in the comments under my first Tasty Toasties post. Some of you were of the opinion that the addition of cheese would have been in good order. I do not disagree. I usually have cheese on the brain, and this has been the case ever since I left the cheese out on my posh beans on toast. I have well and truly learned my lesson. This quick toastie has two cheeses: a cheddar from The Lake District Cheese Co. (I had to include a link because it’s such a cute site!) and a lovely crumbly and tangy Lancashire cheese.
I don’t know about the part of the world you are in, but London has been finally launched feet first into spring. It is as though the sun saw the calendar and was as surprised as me. What? It’s March already? Huh? I haven’t shone yet this year, hurry! And we’ve had five days of sunshine straight (or at least that’s how I remember it to be). It’s still cold, but there are signs of busy spring activity already. Green shoots poking through everywhere, and birds and squirrels getting all excited, suddenly full of life and bustling about.
I spent five minutes watching a squirrel running to and fro, checking up on its stash of snacks in the garden earlier. It happily polished one of them off, then proceeded to lick itself all over and stretch about in the sun before prancing off along the fence.
So that’s the backdrop to today’s uncomplicated toastie. I prefer thin crust pizzas so this is right up my street, but to be honest, it’s just as easy to roll it up and eat it like a wrap, I might do that next time.. I put it in the oven, ten minutes at 200°C or about 395°F – basically, until the cheese melts into that bubbly, oozy goodness we all love. After taking it out of the oven, I finished it off with some extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, then cracked some black pepper on top. Even if it rains tomorrow, I’ll be satisfied, because today I celebrated some lovely spring sunshine with a cheery toastie while it lasted.
On a separate note, here is my update on my February goals. Basically, it was more a success than a fail… I did the things that I wanted to do the most. I am behind schedule for getting in front of the post office counter to send my parcel off, but otherwise, I’ve completed some fun project there which I will hopefully share about soon. I have completely failed to fill one of the mini sketchbooks I made. I’m suffering still, from the blank page problem…
Did you set yourself any goals for last month? If yes, how did you do? If you need any cheering up, I hope today’s little bite of spring helps – have a good week!
I hereby present to you something interesting, simple and quite yummy. You can make it with two ingredients, but I made it with four and then went right ahead and made it into a meal. I was totally inspired by Joy of Oh Joy! who has a little cutie called Ruby, she has good taste has Ruby. I made a more grown-up and (very slightly, perhaps) less healthy option.
Here’s my brunch for one. You could always make it a light breakfast and share between two (if you must). I got four small pancakes out of the following quantities.
Gluten Free Banana and Peanut Butter Pancakes, served with bacon and rocket
Ingredients | One each of the following:
Ripe banana
Generous teaspoon peanut butter (smooth or crunchy, you decide)
Tablespoon Greek yoghurt
Medium egg
Rasher of bacon (optional)
Handful of rocket (optional)
1. Mash the banana into as fine a pulp as you can. If it is ripe enough, a fork is sufficient for this. Mix in the peanut butter and then the yoghurt making sure the mixture is as smooth as you can get it. At this point, the mixture will be quite thick.
2. Mix in the egg. A small whisk may make it easier at this point, but I found it easy enough to fold in the egg carefully using the fork. Make sure you incorporate all the ingredients well.
3. If you are just planning on making the pancakes, then go right ahead and skip this step. Otherwise, fry the bacon in a preheated frying pan. I like to use a non-stick pan so that I don’t have to add extra oil. When the bacon is crisped and brown, remove and leave to rest on some kitchen paper to soak off any excess fat.
4. Turn the heat down and spoon the pancake mixture into the bacon fat (or preheated oil) before turning the heat back up. Fry the mixture until you see little bubbles appearing all over the mixture and a faint browning at the edges. This will cook more slowly than standard pancakes and if you try to turn them too quickly, they will collapse so be warned!
5. Serve immediately. I sandwiched the bacon and some rocket between the pancakes. The flavours of the salty bacon and nutty rocket worked really well with the peanut buttery pancakes to make a very satisfying meal!
I hope you give this a go. It’s simply a glorified fried egg so it’s really fun to make if you have the time, especially if you like bananas – the riper the better because the sweetness comes through perfectly Do you have any favourite weekend treats in the kitchen? That idyllic weekend morning, when we all supposedly spend relaxing hours in the kitchen, making a fabulous breakfast or brunch…does that happen in your home? Well this was a real treat to make and to eat, and did not take much time either – my favourite bit
OK. If you have not thought of what to do this weekend, here’s a suggestion. How about making some music. This Incredibox webby app is great. You can’t beat box? Well, let me introduce to you some dudes that can:
Screenshot of my dudes: click through to groove to my composition!
It’s really fun, I was hooked. And if you are really proud of yourself, you can pay €0.69 to download your masterpiece. Here’s mine.
If you are French, or have a penchant for good French patisserie, you might want to look away now. If my telling you that my favourite place to buy croissant is Costco makes you feel all faint, this post is not for you. No, I have not found a local bakery I love yet (alright, Greggs excepted – sorry, I love sausage rolls) so if I find myself hanging out with my mum at Costco, I always come home with a lovely tray of their 12 huge croissants laid out on corrugated cardboard and wrapped in stretchy cellophane. I bag them up in 3′s or 4′s depending on my mood and put some in the freezer (if this shocks you, don’t blame me, I did warn you ).
I’ll ramble on a little more, just in case one of you fainted before you managed to click away and have just come to. You won’t want to see the photo below. Although, if you are reading this on a large screen, I’m sorry, I hope you’ll forgive me this once.
I decided to start a little series and see how long it will run for. I’m calling it Tasty Toasties and it will nestle right in on my Tasty Tuesdays. I keep making grilled things on bread with whatever is in the fridge (usually there’s some cheese involved). I then take photos of them because I think I’m a bit obsessed. So I thought I’d share my obsession and start it with something fun.
I’d had this tin of beans sitting in the cupboard since I don’t know how long. All I know is that the best before date was end of last month. So I figured I’d better consume it. Not all in one go mind, because we all know that little ditty… beans, beans, they’re good for your heart……… I didn’t fancy sliced bread, but there were a couple of croissants from a recent defrost. And the following often happens when I am let loose in the kitchen.
Whilst the beans were cooking, I stared at them for a minute. I sliced open the croissant and stuck it under a gentle grill. Then I went to the fridge. I spotted some chorizo slices and cheese, but decided against the cheese because I could feel my stomach bursting already at the thought. Looking at the beans bubbling away, and then the fiery red chorizo, I was thinking the food would be all in one colour tone. I remembered I had some mushrooms, went to rummage, but instead found some rocket – aaah perfect. Strong flavour to match the chorizo. So that’s how this was born. The chorizo slices went into the pan with the beans and then I threw in the rocket and stirred it in at the end. ‘Twas pretty tasty if you ask me. And so easy. My favourite way to brunch
#waitingforspring—
Do you have any favourite weekend treats in the kitchen? That idyllic weekend morning, when we all supposedly spend relaxing hours in the kitchen, making a fabulous breakfast or brunch…does that happen in your home? Well this was a real treat to make and to eat, and did not take much time either – my favourite bit 
