S-s-s-secret Santa :)

Friday ended up being a good day.

Largely because a parcel was waiting for me at home.

Being a new blogger I was looking over the links to other blogs in the UK when I came across Laura's blog: http://www.keepinghealthygettingstylish.com/

She is an established blogger who writes a wonderful blog all about healthy living, exercise and posts some lovely looking food.

A few months ago she was arranging a secret santa for bloggers in the UK which I thought seemed like a great idea to participate in. My gift was to go to Suzi: http://suziknight.blogspot.com/2011/12/secret-santa.html

I was delighted to see that my colourful gift had come from a blog I have been reading for the last few months, Tam who blogs over at  http://www.saladandsequins.com/

I loved the wrapping on the box, it was really cute! Much better than boring brown paper.

I loved the gifts inside even more.

There was a lovely letter from Tam and a Festive Cheer candle which smells delicious and spicy - Gingerbread and orange, yum. Along side were some Cleo's peanut butter cups.

Now I've had the usual American Reece's version and thought they were a little wah, they also pale in comparison to Cleo's.

They were wonderful, fudgy chocolate with a hit of peanut butter inside.

Did I eat one right away? You betcha.

Did I manage to hold off eating the other..... only just. That baby was polished off on Sunday as a treat.


I'd recommend them if you can find them, they are vegan and dairy free and utterly delicious.

The candle I am planning on burning tonight as we've been away over the weekend.

Looks good enough to eat.........

Thank you Laura and many thanks to Tam. The presents were perfect :)

Cheese dreams

This morning was most definitely a coffee Friday kind of day. I was snug as a bug this morning all wrapped up in the duvet and totally cosy and comfortable when BAM! 6am alarm goes off. Ugh.
But I dutifully trooped into the cold bathroom to sort myself out for the day ahead.

Swinging by for a coffee was the right decision and I supped on this baby all the way to work.

I think one of the reasons I was a little reluctant to rise this morning was due to the wine and cheese that were sampled last night.....

Remember when I told you guys about the 'Jug and Bottle' that is local to us?

http://www.jugandbottle.co.uk/

Well I bought two tickets for their wine and cheese tasting event which was last night.

The husband and I went over for 7.30pm and were greeted with a beautifully laid table with 5 glasses of wine and 5 cheeses laid out on a plate with some grapes and crackers.

Being the dimbert I am I totally forgot to snap any pictures until after I had done the tasting (it is a special gift being this dim). But I took a couple post-tasting.

We started the evening by doing some simple palette tests using one of the white wines and tasting it with acid (lemon), salty (salt) and sweet (sugar).  These simple tests made us aware how each of the three affected the taste of the wine and helped later in determining what cheese we preferred with which drink.

We then moved onto tasting each wine in turn with a little of each of the five cheeses. It took a little while to get through them but some made surprising combinations. We scored each one with a simple tick or cross based on whether we liked them together or not.

One of the wines turned out to be a cider, this was a medium cider made from blush apples so it had a lovely pink hue.
I absolutely loved this with all of the cheeses. It was best with the calvados dipped French camembert as I thought the apples really complimented each other.


My favourite cheese was a Spanish manchego whereas the husband preferred a smoked hard goats cheese.
He was surprised when he found out what it was; if they had told him it was goats cheese at the start he probably wouldn't have tried it. Proves our mothers right - try it before you say you don't like it!!

 Out of the wines we sampled there was a rioja which was a favourite of mine. I also loved the cider but a quite few didn't (I think it was a status thing rather than a taste issue!!)


It was a really good way to spend an evening and a lovely thing to do together. What it made me realise is that you shouldn't be embarrassed by what you like. It is such a personal thing and we should all suit our own tastes. Find what you like and enjoy it. Whether it is £4.99 or £14.99 if you like it that's all that matters.
Don't be fooled into thinking that the most expensive wine is always the best. We were told last night that in a blind tasting only one person picked out the expensive wine - all the others went for the cheapest!


For those interested, here is the list of what we sampled:


Burnard's Cider Montys Double: 6.25%
Beaujolais Villages Nouveau Chateau du Chatelard 2011 (12.5%)
Chateau de la Peyrade Muscat de Frontignan (15%)
Rioja Vina Palaciega Joven 2009 (13.5%)
Caliterra Chardonnay Reserva 2009 (13.5%)


Coeur de Camembert Calvados
Manchego
Roquefort Troupeau
Garlic Yarg
Quickes Smoked Goats


If you ever have the opportunity for something like this then I'd urge you to give it a go. Our tickets were £10 each and was money well spent for a lovely evening.

This weekend we are doing the santa run to the husbands family down South but I hope to post my secret santa present tomorrow as it arrived today :)


Have a good weekend :)
xx

Thoughtful presents

Well it's been a busy couple of nights on the Cookie social calendar.

First, rewind to Wednesday breakfast and a slight egg-splosion in the microwave...

I guess I should have pricked the egg before attempting to poach it in there :) I usually use the egg poachers which work brilliantly but I forgot them so I improvised. Obviously this was an epic fail :( Plus I had to clean the microwave - double fail.

Still, not all the egg went pop and I still managed to salvage some breakfast out of it - classy.

Lunch was a home made broccoli and Stilton soup which luckily didn't erupt everywhere.

Come 7pm I headed out into the wind, rain and cold to meet up with some lovely ladies for a pre-xmas meal. We opted for a local-ish pub which I'd not been to before, I always like to try somewhere new.

The menu was simple with just 5 starters on there. I opted for the soup of the day which was turkey broth. On a freezing cold, windy night that sounded like just the ticket for a warming start.

The broth was delicious and full of flavour with big chunks of turkey meat, pearl barley (which I love) and chunky veggies. I can't wait to recreate this with the leftover turkey after Xmas (in fact I might even buy a turkey just so we have a carcass as we are with family for lunch this year!)

Nothing really jumped out for the mains although they did all sound nice. But then I spotted Turkey breast with Guinness glazed gammon served with seasonal vegetables and mash......... Guinness glazed gammon......sign me up!

This was huge and utterly delicious. I asked them to leave off the roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding and they brought extra veg instead. The veg was freshly cooked to perfection and of course there was sproutage on there.
Only three on the plate, but rest assured there was a dish full of vegetables to the right which I polished off.

Mahoosive and all except the mash was totally hoovered up.

Mind you, there was no room for dessert. No way. Not even a home made fudge cake could tempt me. I was in a turkey/sprout coma so I just had a black coffee to finish off the meal.

As we are heading to family at the weekend to do the present run I thought it was time I decanted my plum vodka and pretty it up as it was now ready to drink.

Doesn't it look cute!
For those family members we are not getting 'presents' for I thought this would make a nice little token gift - it is divine.
I love, love, love sloe gin but I'd go so far as to say this is better. Less tart and warming right down to your toes.

I am also making Nigella's spiced peaches on Saturday and I had some pretty glass jars turn up today to put them into.
They are dead simple to make and I am looking forward to trying them myself.

I think homemade gifts are wonderful. I love when people give me gifts they have made. Probably because I love food so much but if I get a homemade chutney or spiced nuts I am in heaven.
I think it is a really nice way to give a gift - more personal than just a generic hamper or smelly set (although let's face it they would be welcome too!)

It's also cheaper and people think you are a domestic genius - win-win :)

Finally I made some mackerel pate to take to work today. Again simple to make (there is a theme here!) Just using lemon juice, mackerel, quark, pepper, parsley and some horseradish. Blend in a food processor and chill - Mmmmm. Easy and tasty. Might even make a nice starter with some melba toast on Xmas day :)

Right, round up of tonight's events coming at ya tomorrow.

Stay warm :)

PS Remember the secret Santa? Well mine is not here yet but my present arrived at its destination and Suzi loved it :) here is the link to the goodies that were in the parcel.
http://suziknight.blogspot.com/2011/12/secret-santa.html

Must be fate

Phew, Tuesday already, where does the time go.

Rewind to Monday. The husband is still away and mid afternoon I was busy talking myself OUT of going to the gym. I didn't have a spinning place booked as it was full so I was considering decided to give myself a cozy night in.

Cue the lovely Pump and Jump instructor Emma and a text message 'Ey up' (love it) 'I'm covering body blitz with Jump FX tonight'
What this message actually meant was 'Make sure you get yer ass there to support me lazy bones'

Do you believe in fate? I do and I took this as a message from Saturday's parking space gods asking for their pound of sweat in return for that favour.

So as the decision had been made for me I stopped all cozy thoughts in their tracks and once home I changed into the old faithful gym gear. This is me on the outside:

I look like I am hugging a baby bump - I promise the only baby you see there is a kettle crisp one :)
This is me on the inside:

Ha! such a dork.

Regardless of the lack of enthusiasm (the body was willing, the spirit weak) I headed out in the f-f-f-f-reezing cold (which did nothing to improve the lustre) for a double session - Jump FX followed by Pump FX.

You know what? I actually felt pretty good after the classes.

What did really pee me off last night is the members who come in for the class, see it's not the usual instructor and then promptly walk out - SO RUDE!

It was mainly the dolly bird group that left - it's normally a man who takes the Body Blitz class and I don't think they really come for the work out.
You can always tell the ones; their perfect make up and hair still intact after a supposed class. They only break a sweat if they break a nail.

 I mostly resemble a sweaty Worzel Gummidge after most classes but that's how I like it. I love me some arm and hair sweat :)

Rant over. Back home I whipped up another pasta, feta, tomato dish. I went all festive with this one and added chunks of cooked turkey breast and some cooked sprouts. So satisfying after all my efforts.

I don't know about you but I am waiting on mail order items at the moment. I had a few turn up yesterday so I got all efficient and wrapped them up while I was in the mood.

I got this cute present for my sister's dog Paddy. He is gonna freak over this 'Cat-a-pult'. I promise no kitty's will be hurt, I just couldn't resist it.

For the hubbie I got this book.

Now let me explain, we have had a real slug problem at Cookie towers. Especially over the summertime. Bleugh.

We have no idea how they get in, but many an early morning the hubbie comes down to a big, fat grey slug meandering along the kitchen floor (cue retching).

Now at first (and in order to maintain the zen in the universe, mother nature and all that) the offending gastropod (a fitting name as they are usually found in the kitchen.....) was gently catapulted out the back door and back to nature. But after about the 20th time radical action had to be taken.

I am sorry to say the little blighters are now disposed of permanently as we just couldn't keep them out. They were even bringing babies :(  - I am still retching by the way.

So this book is a bit of a joke for the husband. But who knows, there might be some good tips in there for deterring the slimy blighters from doing their circuits round our kitchen floor.

The husband is back late tonight but in the meantime I have to go along to my Slimming World class to see how the scales are looking this week.

Fingers crossed :) x

'Oh Christmas tree'.......

What a weekend.
Sitting here, freshly showered, in my Pj's with a glass of wine I can finally relax after really hammering the 'to do' list this weekend.

First lets rewind to Friday night. Spinning and circuits after work lead to one thing..... hunger!
Luckily  I had a quick tea in my mind. It involved a few store cupboard staples - pasta, raw prawns, feta, tomatoes.
This was made in 10 minutes and was dee-lish.

I made sure to get the veggies in too..

Saturday morning was an early one. I wanted to get a head start in York on the Xmas shopping before it got busy.
As it turned out it was mad busy come 10am but I managed to get what I needed and high tail it out and to Waitrose for some bits.

Of course I'd not eaten a thing and so was getting pretty hungry by this point. I grabbed a coconut water flavoured with cherry vanilla - my favourite flavour so far by a mile. But then I do love cherries.

On to the outlet and this was manic. Getting parked required a prayer to the gods and a bit of luck. Fortunately they were on my side and once parked I headed in to fight my way to the things I wanted.

An unpictured jacket with beans was inhaled.
On the way out I stopped by Starbucks for some much needed caffeine to aid the drive home. Just a regular black for this girl although I was momentarily tempted by the gingerbread latte - I will have one before the season ends.

Back home I unpacked all the shopping which involved dropping (and smashing) one of my carefully bought gifts :( duh. I am such a klutz.
More haste, less speed definitely applies to me sometimes.

I got myself a couple of things in York as a treat. Normally I avoid 'Lush' as the smell is a little too strong for me as I pass it - gives me sore eyes for some reason. But I wanted some nice treaty gifts for a few lovely ladies so I thought I would have a quick look in.

For once it didn't smell really strong and I spent a good 20 minutes in there looking and smelling lots of things. Some are not to my taste at all (bleugh!) but others such as the Angels soap and some of the bath bubbles are beautiful.
I found the perfect gift for my friends

And I got myself an 'Ultra Bland' cleanser - just the small size to try it out but it left the skin on my hand feeling amazing so I've high hopes.
I couldn't resist the 'Whoosh' jelly shower pot - it smells fantastic; lemon and grapefruit so it's really zingy. Plus a bit of fun :)

Shopping organised it was time to tackle the Xmas decorations. I got everything down and then set about assembling the tree.

I got the tree branches sorted and then nipped into the kitchen to pop a garlic bulb in the oven to roast - this is a favourite of the husband and me. We first had it in a restaurant in York and loved it.

So simple to do - cut the top off a garlic bulb to expose the cloves. Sprinkle with salt and dribble with a little oil. I used a garlic roaster and put about a tablespoon of water in the bottom but if you don't have a roaster just pop the bulb in a parcel of foil that you have sealed tightly and put on a baking tray.

Mine baked in a medium oven for about 40 minutes - just check that the cloves are tender. I served it with toasted bread and we just spread the cloves straight onto it like butter. If we run out of bread we just pop the cloves like sweets and eat them - so delicious.

While the garlic cooked I got my groove on with the decorating.

After cleaning upstairs and changing bedding etc I was ready for tea. Gammon, chips, mushrooms, beans and sprouts.

I also had a much deserved glass of wine

This morning was an early one as the husband had a flight to catch to Sweden for work.
So after waving him off I got a wriggle on - finished writing the cards, wrapped all the presents, cleaned, tidied, ironed and did some washing.

I managed a veggie stir fry for lunch and a jacket for tea.

I have not drunk enough water today at all. I need to tackle this over the coming week or no amount of cleanser will help this skin out :)

So now I'm pooped :) Popcorn Teapig for me as a nightcap and then bed.

Seeing in the dark

Friday is very welcome here today.
Mainly because I have convinced the husband that the tree needs to go up this weekend. In order to maintain a quiet life he has kindly agreed.

To get him in the festive spirit I brought out the Christmas candles. We had the delicious spicy scents of Eggnog and Christmas pudding floating in the air last night.

We will have a veritable parade of Christmas scents come this weekend, only 3 weeks to go ;)

Food wise I cooked up giant jackets last night with some stuffed chicken and steamed veggies. We were at the gym for circuits so this was really delicious come 8.30pm.

For breakfasts lately I have been enjoying poached eggs. Served with tomatoes it makes a really filling start to the day. Plus I can cook them in minutes in the microwave which is a bonus.

I made some smoked salmon pate last night and had it for lunch with ryvita and carrot sticks. This was delicious and really simple - smoked salmon, Greek yogurt (2%), horseradish, lemon juice and pepper.

I'm following it up with yogurt and melon slices this afternoon then heading out after work to spinning and circuits.

Tea is up in the air for me but I am thinking a quick sweet chilli prawn stir fry as the husband has a pizza in the pipeline.

Will update on the tree and deco situation over the weekend - I should have some time as the hubbie is heading over to Sweden on Sunday so it's just me, candles, pj's, films and all the Xmas deco's.......... bloody brilliant :)

Happy Friday!

Lost at Sea

I had a great weekend over in Bruges. Lots of lovely sights, food and drink and good company too.
We had a bit of a rough crossing on the way back but I was that shattered I managed to sleep most of it off - just a little rolling from side to side :)

So here are some pics from the w/e.

T'was a wonderful weekend.

I was back to it once home on Sunday morning - I am like so many today and am uber excited at the fact it is Dec 1st.

Tonight I will sweep away the autumn candles and decorations and replace them with festive ones :)

This weekend I am putting the tree up, wrapping presents and watching Elf and all manner of other Xmas films.

Speaking of presents I sent off my secret santa yesterday...... is it coming to you?! Will the recipient like it...... gosh I hope so. It's quite hard to pick things for someone you've never met! But I really enjoyed it, such a lovely idea.

You like the paper?! Its even got cookies on it ;)

I'm off for a cuppa now, one of my latest obsessions - TeaPigs

Today's is chocolate flake - holy yum.

Have a good Thursday!