Tag: idea

Christmas party daytime look: Nordic print T-shirt and ballet skirt combo

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I can’t be the only girl who secretly wants to wear ballet skirts all the time, can I? There’s just something so beautiful and elegant about the soft layers of netting that will make anyone, even a heffalump like me who only barely knows what a pirouette is, feel like a prima ballerina! So I took the plunge and ordered a cheap skirt from eBay, figuring that even if it didn’t suit me, at least it wouldn’t break the bank in the process…

Stag Tee 2 enhanced

I have to say, I think it looks pretty good, even with my pear shape – the length is long enough to make it tolerable for winter, too!

Ballerina skirt detail

I paired it with my new Brat & Suzie Loose Fit Nordic Stag T-Shirt from ASOS (here), which I love, because it’s very festive and comfortable. AND, it’s not another Christmas jumper, but it’s still very seasonal. Now, don’t get me wrong. I LOVE Christmas jumpers. But, as we all know, most of the time, the heating on in people’s houses means it’s actually too hot for a lovely thick jumper, and then what are you supposed to do? My answer: rock a festive T-shirt!

Stag Tee detail

Check out the adorable detailing, with the Rudolph-lookalike, and the Fair Isle style patterns. Love it! The colour is bang on trend, too.

I had to break out my latest favourite shoes, which I’ve been coveting for months now – these beautiful leopard print, pony skin* India flats from French Sole! (* Just so you know, pony skin is not actually made of ponies!)

French Sole Leopard 3

If you had told me last year I’d be buying a pair of animal print shoes, I would have thought you were mad, but somehow the trend has really grown on me – I think it’s all the vintage fashion I’ve been looking at recently! And the red trim is amazing, too!

French Sole Leopard 2

Of course, you know I love me some French Sole, right?! There’s just something about these shoes which are really Christmassy and festive – I guess it’s the implied warmth of the animal print, and the red trim which just screams FESTIVE TIMES ARE HERE!

This kind of look is the sort of thing I think would work really well for an informal, daytime Christmas party – it’s not too dressy, but it is playful and festive. And, you won’t be panting like a dog in your thick knit jumper when someone whacks the heating up!

What to do with leftover chicken and turkey: Miso-Chicken Ramen

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One of my favourite meals to use up chicken is now, officially, ramen. Not only does it make good use of all that chicken stock I’ve got knocking around the place (smug foodie moment! Ha ha, I have homemade chicken stock, ho ho!) but it’s also a quick and healthy meal, and you get to use up loads of veggies.

All you have to do is put some cooked, drained Chinese noodles at the bottom of a deep dish, and then cover it with toppings of your choice – in my case, shredded pak choi, boiled egg, wedges of red onion, beansprouts, bamboo shoots and cooked (leftover!) chicken. Then, pour over chicken stock with miso paste stirred into it. After that, eat it! The recipe serves one – but is easily doubled.

Week Four: Leftovers, Miso chicken ramen

INGREDIENTS

  • One sheet egg noodles
  • 500ml chicken stock
  • 1-2 tbsp miso paste
  • 1 head pak choi
  • Handful beansprouts
  • 1 boiled egg
  • Half red onion
  • 1 tbsp bamboo shoots (I used the kind in red oil)
  • Handful cooked chicken

METHOD

  • Heat the chicken stock in a pan. Meanwhile, boil water for your noodles.
  • While all that is cooking, prepare your veggies – shred the pak choi, cut the onion into thin wedges and rinse the beansprouts.
  • Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet, then drain and rinse. Place them in the bottom of your bowl.
  • Put all your toppings on the noodles, then stir the miso paste into your chicken to taste. Don’t let it boil because this will destroy the universe.
  • Once it’s stirred in, pour the hot stock over your ramen and eat!

What to do with leftover chicken and turkey: red Thai curry

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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.
Red Thai curry
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.

How to theme your royal wedding party menu

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Tea in a Meißen pink-rose teacup

Image via Wikipedia

When it comes to preparing your menu for your Kate and William wedding-watching party, I reckon there are a few themes you could employ to keep the nosh in the spirit of the day.

My personal choice is the English afternoon tea idea – you can’t get much more patriotic than cucumber sandwiches and scones. It’s also ideal for a buffet as it’s all finger food. Take inspiration from some of London’s great hotels which offer afternoon tea – you can read the Ritz’s menu here. I’m thinking smoked salmon sandwiches, fairy cakes (not cupcakes, fairy cakes are more English), and plenty of nice china. Oh, and doilies – I’ve already bought mine from eBay (to avoid the rush, dontchaknow).

A more alternative idea is to page homage to the location where the happy couple were engaged – Kenya! Unfortunately, it’s difficult to pin down Kenyan cuisine or get some of the staple ingredients, but a quick look online should help. You could try serving some exotic animals instead (there’s an online butcher here) – I’ve seen loads of episodes of Come Dine With Me recently where they’ve been chowing down on zebra, for some reason!

Perhaps you could try a menu composed of Will’s childhood favourites? Sadly, we have no idea what Kate Middleton enjoyed eating as a child (WHY NOT? Did no one THINK to ask her this vital question?) so this idea seems a little lopsided to me, but hey. I seriously doubt that cottage pie as most people know it will be gracing the banqueting tables (although I wouldn’t put it past a chef to try a ‘deconstructed’ version or some such nonsense), but it would make for a nice, easy hot buffet lunch. And pate and smoked salmon canapes – and champagne… I can do that!

You could always try to replicate some previous Royal weddings. King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (The Queen Mother) enjoyed a meal of Consommé à la Windsor, Suprèmes de Saumon Reine Mary, Côtelettes d’Agneau Prince Albert, Chapons à la Strathmore, and Fraises Duchesse Elizabeth in 1923. In 1947 for the marriage of Prince Philip and our present Queen, diners enjoyed “Filet de Sole Mountbatten; Perdreau en Casserole, Haricots Verts, Pommes Noisette and Salade Royale; Bombe Glacee Princesse Elizabeth; Friandises; Dessert”. However, I’m not sure harking back to Will’s parents’ wedding would be in the best of taste, so best to avoid the dishes that appeared at their wedding breakfast in 1981: brill in lobster sauce, chicken breasts garnished with lamb mousse and strawberries with Cornish cream. Mind you, that last dish sounds pretty good…

Considering it’s, y’know, just another wedding (in the grand scheme of things, anyway), you could just serve your idea of fantasy wedding fayre. If you’re already married, maybe serve a few of the dishes you enjoyed on your big day. If you’re not married, maybe come up with some things you’d love to have for your wedding. Or just go with your classic wedding breakfast menu, which seems to be pate, soup or melon for starters, overcooked chicken breast in a mushroom sauce for your main, and something gooey and chocolatey for pudding (this is based on my memories of weddings past and looking through FAR too many brochures for my own wedding!) And don’t forget that wedding cake…

Finally, you could serve something based on the couple’s actual meal. No information is available about this yet, but there’s loads of speculation online. This is a particularly good article (and here) that details previous wedding menus and discusses some British produce that could be served – nab some ideas!

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Halloween Marshmallows

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This weekend I’ve had the pleasure of spending a lot of time with Life is Sweet, by Hope and Greenwood, which is, as it so rightly says on the cover, a collection of splendid old-fashioned confectionary (buy it if you get the chance! It’s very reasonably priced and ever so good). I’ve made marshmallows, fudge and cinder toffee, and although the cinder toffee wasn’t the best I’ve ever tasted, I was particularly pleased with the fudge. However, as Halloween is coming up, I thought I’d make some spooky Halloween marshmallows by colouring them purple. The vanilla marshmallow recipe in Life is Sweet is unfortunately misprinted and the ingredients list is screwed up, so I’ve adapted my own from the recipe for Mallows D’Amour. There are a few technical aspects to this recipe which might prove difficult – you need a stand mixer (although I did experiment with an electric handheld whisk, and the patient might just be able to cope like this, holding it for around 15 minutes!) and a sugar thermometer. I had to borrow both of these, but a sugar thermometer is a great investment for making fudge, toffee, caramel and jam.

Halloweeen marshmallows with black stars

Halloween Marshmallows (adapted from Mallows D’Amour, Life is Sweet by Hope and Greenwood)

INGREDIENTS

  • 450g (1lb) granulated sugar
  • 1 tbsp liquid glucose
  • 1 sachet powdered gelatine
  • Good dab of purple colouring paste (I used Wilton’s Violet)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 large egg whites
  • Cornflour and icing sugar, to dust
  • Purple sugar/black stars or any Halloween themed decorations

METHOD

  • Line a 20cm/8inch square baking tin with baking parchment or greaseproof paper and dust with cornflour and icing sugar. I’ve found you need a heck of a lot of this to keep the marshmallow from sticking.
  • In a deep, heavy bottomed saucepan, add the sugar, glucose and 200ml of water and stir. Place over a medium-high heat and add your sugar thermometer. Keep cooking until the temperature reaches 127C or 260F. This could take 15 minutes or as long as 25, so keep an eye on it.
  • Whilst this is happening, put 100ml of boiled water in a bowl and sprinkle over the gelatine. Stir well until dissolved. This will really smell. Gelatine is not suitable for veggies, and from the smell of the gelatine, you will know why. Don’t panic, the smell goes away, and there is no taste of the gelatine whatsoever in the finished marshmallow. Now that would be Halloweeny…
  • When your gelatine and water is mixed well, add the vanilla and a good dab of purple colouring. For Halloween, you could also try black, orange and green – just remember that the colour will fade because of the egg whites, and the dusting of sugar and cornflour. When you add the food colouring, you should get a very dark colour. So much that you are secretly thinking ‘oh dear, I put too much in’. This will most likely give you a subtle shade…
  • When your syrup has reached the right temperature, you need to have a little panic attack and start jumping up and down and worrying you’re not ready. Don’t worry if you haven’t mixed your gelatine yet – I did this and it turned out all right. Just add it to the pan of sugar syrup and mix well. It’ll bubble, so watch out.
  • Get your stand mixer and whip the eggs until stiff peaks form. Turn the mixer down as slowly as it will go, and add the syrup and gelatine in very gently. Slow, slow. This could take a while… The heat from the syrup is heating the egg whites, so if you pour it on too fast, it’s likely the word could implode.
  • When you’ve done this, you turn the speed up to superfast and leave to beat for at least 15 minutes. The mix is ready when it holds onto the whisk well, and is thick and shiny.
  • Pour into your dusted pan. Leave it to set for a long time – the book says 2 hours, but I’ve left mine overnight before.
  • Turn the marshmallow out onto another dusted piece of parchment paper. If you’re like me, the mix will still have stuck to the bottom of your originally dusted piece of paper, so dust all sides until nothing is sticky. Then, slice and dust, slice and dust, into whatever shapes you like. Once you’ve dusted your marshmallows, you can shake off the excess coating by throwing them gently from hand to hand. Store in parchment paper.
  • Serve with edible sugar, as above, or with anything suitably Halloweeny…

Purple sugar Halloween marshmallows

How about black sugar stars, like the first photo? Or purple sanding sugar, like the photo above?Or, if you want to be more sophisticated, why not keep your mallow mix white, and then decorate with tiny gold stars? (I got mine from Jane Asher’s site.)

Starry Halloween marshmallows

These are too good to give to Halloween trick or treaters…