With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I thought I’d bust out my fondant pumpkin tutorial from Halloween! These cute little pumpkins would look amazing on cupcakes.
Find out how to make them here!
Month: November 2012
What to do with leftover chicken and turkey: chilli chicken salad
I may have mentioned before my love for the late Sheila Lukins’ USA Cookbook. Her chilli chicken salad is a delicious way of using up turkey or chicken from your left over holiday meal!
INGREDIENTS
- Half cup mayonnaise
- Half cup sour cream
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1 red chilli, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp orange zest
- 1/4 tsp chilli powder
- 1/8 tsp cumin
- 4 cups shredded chicken or turkey
- One diced red pepper
- One diced green pepper
- 10 pitted black olives
- 2 finely sliced spring onions
- 2 tbsp chopped coriander
- Bed of lettuce
- Cayenne pepper (for dusting)
- 1 avocado, sliced
- Bunch red grapes
METHOD
- In a bowl, mix together everything from the mayonnaise to the cumin.
- Add in the rest of the ingredients down to the spring onion.
- Lay the salad on your bed of lettuce, and dust with cayenne pepper, and sprinkle with the coriander.
- Serve with the avocado and red grapes.
Creamy, zingy, spicy… this is not leftover chicken as you know it!
What to do with leftover chicken and turkey: hot and numbing chicken salad recipe
If you feel like you need an unusual recipe for leftover turkey this Thanksgiving or Christmas, look no further! This recipe is from the excellent Sichuan Cookery by Fuchsia Dunlop, which has about four or five easy and tasty recipes for cooked chicken at the front. This hot and numbing chicken mixes spicy chilli oil and toasted, ground sichuan pepper together with soy sauce and sugar to create a really delicious cold dish.
INGREDIENTS
- 300g left over cold cooked turkey or chicken, white or dark meat
- Bunch spring onions
- 4 tsp granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 2-4 tbsp chilli oil (depending on how spicy you like it – best to start small and add more later!)
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
- Cucumber, to serve
METHOD
- Dry roast the peppercorns in a frying pan, then grind them to produce 1/2 tsp of ground spice.
- Cut the chicken in slices, and cut the cucumber and spring onions into elegant diagonals.
- Create the dressing by dissolving the sugar in the soy sauce, then adding in the chilli and sesame seed oil.
- Arrange the chicken and spring onions on a plate, then sprinkle over the Sichuan pepper.
- Drizzle over the sauce, and tuck in!
Serve with salad, or white rice.
What to do with leftover chicken and turkey: red Thai curry
The best leftover recipes don’t taste like leftovers. This recipe totally exceeded my expectations. I think the secret is poaching the chicken at the end very gently just to warm through. It actually tastes better than the curry I make from raw chicken, as the meat is very soft.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 inch ginger
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1.5 tbsp red Thai curry paste
- Can of coconut milk
- 2 lime leaves
- 1 stick dried lemongrass
- 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp sugar
- Leftover chicken
Method
- Finely chop the ginger and garlic.
- Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the garlic and ginger. Fry for a couple of seconds and then add the Thai curry paste.
- Allow to cook for about a minute, then add the rest of the ingredients except the chicken.
- Allow to simmer for 20 minutes until the texture is slightly thicker.
- Dice or shred the chicken, then add to the curry and poach on a simmer for five minutes.
- Serve with Thai jasmine rice.
Trip to the Isle of Wight
Today I visited family on the Isle of Wight – my Hush order arrived on Friday, so I was able to wear a new outfit as well as having an awesome day at the same time! I wore my new Sloppy Joe Dress in grey marl, and my L/L Stretch Tee in black, and together they really were incredibly warm and comfortable. Hush definitely deserve their reputation as a company for comfy clothes that are perfect for casual weekend outings – and the pockets on the Sloppy Joe dress are perfectly placed for mooching about in!
I wore the dress with a dark pink Fisherman’s snood from Oasis, and over the top was a giant coat I picked up from the Next clearance store in Portsmouth Gunwharf Quays back in April. I also took my red Alessandra crossbody bag that my friend Lisa bought me for my birthday in Accessorize. All set!
I had a blast visiting Osborne House – my nan, in the first picture, actually worked there as a maid during the ’50s, so it was fascinating to hear all of her memories about the place. And, as you can see, we had to have a go on the carousel too!
At the end of the day, we went to visit the shops on the seafront, and we wound up popping into Cameo of Cowes – hence the bags you can see in my hands in the photo on the top right! The shop sells unclaimed items bought/salvaged from lost property, and it’s a complete goldmine. I’ll post what I bought another day – needless to say, I am very pleased with my bargains, and it took a lot for everyone to drag me out of the shop! If you’re ever in Cowes, make sure to visit – it’s located at 16 Bath Road. I know I will be back, and probably with a bunch of friends in tow!
French Sole Olympic Henriettas
Do you remember in my French Sole Warehouse post, when I mentioned those amazing Olympic Henriettas that I stalked for months? Well, here they are! 
Aren’t they gorgeous?
They have a beautifully decorated interior too – check out that amazing flag design! (London Sole is the company’s name in the US, in case you were confused!)
I also love this red gosgrain ribbon detailing at the back. I love everything about my shoes – especially the fact that I got to actually wear them to the Olympics this summer! Here’s a photo for proof, in which it looks like I’m trying to kick everyone in the head, which is just an added bonus…
Although this exact design is not available any more, you can buy Union Flag Henriettas with navy trim at French Sole’s website for £130. Sigh… Is it wrong to have two pairs of Union flag ballet flats?
Your easiest luxury Christmas shop ever!
Have you guys heard of Hello Fresh? They’re an amazing company that sends you boxes full of ingredients every week so you can make gourmet meals from scratch. Forget veggie boxes – this is where its at!
Hello Fresh have come up with a genius idea to take all of the stress out of that Christmas shop this year with their Christmas box! And, you can get £10 off with the code FOODFASHFIT, making it even more tempting! Inside the box are the ingredients you’ll need to put together a delicious meal for 4-6 people, or 8-10 people if you’ve got extended family coming over. It seems like they’ve literally thought of everything!
Included in the box are ingredients to prepare a prawn cocktail starter (my favourite!), plus turkey and all the trimmings, a Christmas pudding – and a cheeseboard! A cheeseboard! Now, that’s Christmas luxury! The food has been sourced from top quality providers, including sausages and bacon from Tom Hixson of Smithfield Market, a free range Copas turkey (which won a Great Taste award), and prawns from James Knight in Mayfair (who holds two Royal Warrants, if you please!).
The prawn cocktail starter is made using delicious tiger prawns, and for the main course there’s a whole host of goodies. For the 4-6 people option, you get a 2.5kg turkey breast, pop-up cooking timer (a Godsend!), cranberry sauce with rosemary, free range Goose fat, sage and onion stuffing with red onion, and gravy with cracked black pepper. You also get pigs in blankets, and a selection of veggies (including red cabbage, sprouts, carrots, and parsnips) to make side dishes like garlic and herb infused Brussels sprouts with toasted pine nuts (recipes included, of course)! Plus, there’s your good old fashioned spuds – which, trust me, will taste amazing with that goose fat! For pudding, there’s another Royal seal of approval from the Christmas pudding makers, Wilkin and Sons, which is accompanied by brandy butter – and you get some mince pies, too.
And, finally, that gourmet cheese board with creamy Wenslydale with cranberries, reblochon, and red Leicester, plus, a variety of crackers.
What, you thought that was it? Nope! This is Christmas, people – time to really push the boat out! You also get some treats to round everything off with – Joe and Steph’s mince pie popcorn, candy canes, Prestat choccies, and table crackers!
I’d say that with all of that, Christmas is pretty much sorted! The Christmas box for 8-10 contains the same products in larger quantities (for example, a whole 5kg Copas turkey instead of a turkey breast). They’re even going to pop in some ideas for the leftovers, too.
The Christmas box costs £155 for 4-6, or £225 for 8-10. But, don’t forget my FOODFASHFIT code, which brings it down by a tenner! You already save up to 35% on the RRP of these items with these economical boxes, and with £10 off, those savings jump even more.
I’ll be testing out a Hello Fresh box or two in the upcoming weeks, so look out for that – and make sure to use that FOODFASHFIT code if you order – its valid on any boxes, even the non-Christmas ones!
Much love for the Powderpuff Girls: my vintage makeover
I love the vintage look, but I don’t indulge myself very often. See my post on Hush – I work from home, and the postman just isn’t as ready with the compliments as she should be, so I generally slob around with no makeup on, wearing comfy clothes and a dressing gown (actually a Wonder Woman dressing gown – she’s glam, right?).
But when I do go all out, I like to do it properly, and one of my favourite indulgences is a makeover at The Powder Room!
This company offers a selection of reasonably priced beauty and hair services, and I’ve been there twice for makeovers since I found out about them. The first time was for my hen party, and the second was recently, when I had to attend a party for work.
The salon isn’t that easy to get to on the Tube to be honest, you have to walk about 15-20 minutes from the nearest station, but once you get there it is totally worth it! There’s a lovely atmosphere, cocktails on hand (for £5, not bad!), and everyone is beautiful and happy. Heaven!
When you get your makeover from The Powder Room, they offer you a look book to go through with different hair styles or make up. Both times I’ve chosen the same thing – a pony tail with a quiff, and a cat-eye with red lip for my make up.
Looks pretty snazzy in front of that Tube sign, doesn’t it? Totally unintentional, but I love it!
The great thing about this make up is, it lasts so much longer than when I do it – and I can NEVER get my eye liner to flick like that, no matter how hard I try… Sigh. They also use lip liner, which is great – I so need to get one of those. It just makes everything look neater and last longer.
Here’s a photo of the detail at the back – I’d never be able to get my hair looking like this in a million years… (And this is back at the hotel, after the party, about 12 hours later!)
Has anyone else been to this parlour of perfection? What did you get done? Anyone planning to go in the future? And, has anyone tried the ‘tricks of the trade’ lesson for £60? I would love to try that out!
Visit the boutique’s website here, or check out main site here – they also do events and parties, and they have an online shop as well!
Clarins Odyssey Eye Palette
One of the hottest beauty products for 2012 is the Clarins Odyssey Eye Palette, four beautiful shades to see you through the festive season! As soon as I saw it, I had to bag one, because I’m a huge fan of blending gold eyeshadow in with a smokey eye during winter, to glam up a classic look for parties. Usually I achieve this with Pixi’s Nude Shade Wardrobe and a tap of MAC golden lemon in the corner of my eye, but I was eager to try something new!
I had originally wanted to get this from my local John Lewis, but when I walked up to the counter, the Clarins’ lady shook her head ruefully at my enquiry as to the stock – seems like this is a real best-seller!
It’s not hard to see why – these shades are MADE for the winter party season!
Adding a touch of glamour and luxury, the palette comes in a pretty little red velvet pouch.
Although I was expecting the case to be metal, it was actually plastic – I guess it’s more practical in the long run and less prone to scratching or denting… The palette itself features a beautiful etched design on gold. Truly a beautiful Christmas item.
Inside you get four pretty shades – three fairly standard for the ‘smokey eye’ look, and one rather special gold one! There are also two applicators.
That gold is so complex and beautiful! Let’s take a closer look, shall we?
I’d heard this had great staying power, but I was still surprised at how smoothly this went on, and how well it stuck to my skin! The shimmer is fantastic, and I cannot wait to try out the smokey eye look with gold featured on the card that came with the set.
The palette is still available online at Clarins for £30 – but get in there quickly, because this seems to be selling like hotcakes! As an added bonus, if you order from Clarins’ site, you get to pick some free samples with your order – perfect!
Lust List: Hush loungewear for Christmas!
If there’s one thing I wish I had more of, it’s loungewear. I work from home, so being comfy is my top priority – most days, the only person I’d be likely to impress with my sartorial choices is the postman. My ‘uniform’ mostly consists of a pair of jogging bottoms, a slobby T-shirt, and a dressing gown. So when I saw Hush’s range of luxe loungewear, I fell in love! Well, who wouldn’t?
I already put my order in (whoops!), but while I wait for it to arrive, here are some other items from the range I’m lusting after! The beauty above is the Black Felted Wool Dress (£95), which looks incredibly stylish while promising much cosiness for the winter season. Comfort and style – I love it!
If there’s one thing that has to be on my Christmas gift list this year, it’s this Cardigown. A cardigan crossed with a dressing gown, this is actually exactly the sort of thing I’ve been looking for all these years, without ever really knowing what it was called, or if it even existed! The Cardigown is available here in ‘fog’ (as above) for £85, and is also available in dark navy here. I certainly wouldn’t be embarrassed to open the door to the postman wearing this!
Now, this one might be controversial – I know that before this year, I would have turned my nose up – but harem pants! Don’t turn off your computer in disgust just yet… Harem pants may seem a bit weird looking, but when it comes to loungewear, I promise there are very few styles of trousers that are more comfortable. I first tried some on when I started going to belly dancing classes, and I couldn’t believe I’d allowed myself to overlook them for so long. Forget yoga pants, forget jogging bottoms, these are just the most gloriously comfortable things you can wear on your bottom half, in my opinion at least! My ones are considerably less snazzy than these, as they came from Primark, but I’m sure you’ll agree that Hush’s version is pretty darn stylish. Some harem pants have a really low crotch, and I think that’s what puts people off, but this pair are styled in such a way that you can actually wear them outside the house without fear of ridicule – as the model above so aptly demonstrates! Hush harem pants are available in dark burgundy, as above, charcoal grey, and black, for £49.50.
Last on the Lust List (for today) are these gorgeous star pyjamas! I love the design of these, but I don’t think I’d be comfortable in white PJs (too many spilled tea incidents in my past to relax wearing white, I’m afraid), so I wish Hush would offer some with the reverse design – i.e. white stars on black. Hush have a range of pyjama sets, including the darker set below, priced at £49.50 per set, here.
Hush also offer bundles which give good discounts when you buy sets together, which is a nice touch (and what prompted me to empty my wallet – and I was being so good, too!). Check out the site here, and come back later in the week to find out what I thought of my (first?) delivery!
Food, Fashion and Fitness 