Sunday 31 July 2011
Thursday 28 July 2011
Sweet potato pudding? Don't mind if I do
Today is Mama and Papa Case's 27th wedding anniversary. Chris (the boyfriend) and I made them a three course meal last night to celebrate. The menu looked a little something like this:
Starter
Sweetcorn and Potato Fritters
with an onion and tomato relish
Main
Caribbean Beef Pepper Pot Stew (minus the beef for moi)
with rice and pea
Dessert
Sweet Potato Pudding
with vanilla ice cream
The meal went down a treat and if I do say so myself was delicious! (and this is from a girl that rarely cooks anything) I thought it was my duty to share this recipe with you because it's soooo yummy. Courtesy of me (with a little help from Mr. Levi Roots) I give you:
SWEET POTATO PUDDING!
Serves 10 - 12
100g raisins
Juice of 1 orange
1tbsp rum (I ignored this and put 4 even, I would even stretch to 5)
100g butter melted, plus extra for greasing the tin
1kg sweet potato, grated
200g soft brown sugar
200g plain flour
3tsp ground cinnamon
1tsp grated nutmeg
1tsp salt
3tsp vanilla extract
200ml coconut milk
2 large eggs
Single cream to serve (we used ice cream because the hot and cold are really nice together)
Preheat the oven to 180C/350C Fan/Gas 4. Put the raisins in a small saucepan with the orange juice and rum. Bring to the boil, turn off the heat and leave to soak for 10 minutes or while you prepare the other ingredients.
Grease a 26cm spring form cake tin with a little butter. Put the sweet potato in a big mixing bowl with the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Mix well with your hands so the potato is coated in sugar and spices. In another, smaller bowl, mix together the vanilla extract, coconut milk, melted butter and eggs, then add in the raisins and any of their liquid. Stir this into the sweet potato mixture.
Pour the batter into the cake tin and cook in the hot oven for 1¼–1½ hours, or until firm. This is a pudding rather than a cake and is meant to be moist inside. Eat hot, warm or cold – and serve with cream.
Enjoy! Let me know how yours turns out.
Monday 25 July 2011
Cocktail hour
Perfect to sip in the garden on a hot day.
Serves 6
You will need:
100ml gin
75ml Campari
100ml sweet vermouth
150ml pink grapefruit juice
juice of 2 lemons
6-8 slices of cucumber
lemonade
strawberries and mint for garnish
1. Pour the alcohol, grapefruit juice and lemon juice into a jug.
2. Add the cucumber and lemonade and stir.
3. Pour into iced glasses and garnish with strawberries and/or mint if you fancy.
Louie and Milly
Louie and Milly are my two Chihuahua Pekinese puppies. They came from the 'oh so cool' town of Brighton about 5 months ago. We orginally only went to to get one but we couldn't split them up, so came back with two!
They love kisses and cuddles but are always getting up to mischief (mainly chewing my beloved shoes and hiding under my bed where I can't reach them!)
They are little celebrities in their own right, a 15 minute walk will take an hour because everyone stops to coo and play.
They love kisses and cuddles but are always getting up to mischief (mainly chewing my beloved shoes and hiding under my bed where I can't reach them!)
They are little celebrities in their own right, a 15 minute walk will take an hour because everyone stops to coo and play.
First day home.
Night on the tiles.
Their favourite place to hide.
Summer lovin'... Part 1
Stuck for something to do this summer? Head on down to a vintage fair and pick up some one of a kind beauties!
JULY
Fri 29th - 31st - Southbank Vintage Festival
Fri 29th - 31st - Kendal Calling Festival
Sat 30th - Sheffield Town Hall
AUGUST
Sat 6th - Vintage Pick & Mix @ Hanbury Hall, Brick Lane
Fri 12th - Sun 14th - Summer Sundae Festival, Leicester
Fri 12th - Sun 14th - Beacons Festival
Sun 21st - Fly to the Past Festival, Oxford Airport
SEPTEMBER
Fri 2nd - Sun 4th - End of the Road Festival
Sat 3rd & Sun 4th - Leeds Corn Exchange
Sat 10th - Bethnal Green's Affordable Vintage Fair, London
Sun 11th - Vintage Furniture Flea, London
Thurs 15th - Freshers Fair, QMU, Glasgow
Sun 18th - Harpenden Public Halls, Herts
Thurs 22nd - Leeds Met SU
Sat 24th - Sheffield Town Hall
Sat 24th - The Work Station, Sheffield
Sun 25th - Rheged, Penrith, Cumbria
Mon 26th - Freshers Fair, Leeds University Union
Thurs 29th - Kilo Sale, Leeds University Union
OCTOBER
Sat 1st - The Custard Factory, Birmingham
Sat 1st - The Belgrave Rooms, Nottingham
Sat 1st - Out of the Blue @ Drill Hall, Edinburgh
Sat 1st - The Engine Shed, Lincoln
Sun 2nd - QMU, Glasgow
Sun 2nd - City Council House, Birmingham
Sat 8th - Aintree Racecourse, Liverpool
Sat 8th - Bournemouth Pavillion
Sun 9th - The Hospitium, York
Sun 9th - TBC, Southampton
Sun 9th - Ware Drill Hall, Herts
Sun 9th - St. Andrews Hall, Norwich
Sat 15th - Shoreditch Town Hall, London
Sat 15th - Cardiff University SU, Wales
Sat 15th - Kilo Sale, Leeds
Sat 15th - TBC, Oxford
Sun 16th - Furniture Flea, Leeds
Sat 22nd - The Town Hall, Loughborough
Sat 22nd - Cambridge Guilhall
Sun 23rd - Bethnal Green's Afordable Vintage Fair, London
Sat 29th - The Assembly, Lemington Spa
NOVEMBER
Sat 5th - Wedding Fair, Something Old @ Sheffield Town Hall
Sat 12th - Wedding Fair, Something Old @ Leicester Catherdral
Sun 20th - The Sports Hall, Hitchin
If there are any you know of that I've missed out, please get in touch and I'll add them to the list.
JULY
Fri 29th - 31st - Southbank Vintage Festival
Fri 29th - 31st - Kendal Calling Festival
Sat 30th - Sheffield Town Hall
AUGUST
Sat 6th - Vintage Pick & Mix @ Hanbury Hall, Brick Lane
Fri 12th - Sun 14th - Summer Sundae Festival, Leicester
Fri 12th - Sun 14th - Beacons Festival
Sun 21st - Fly to the Past Festival, Oxford Airport
SEPTEMBER
Fri 2nd - Sun 4th - End of the Road Festival
Sat 3rd & Sun 4th - Leeds Corn Exchange
Sat 10th - Bethnal Green's Affordable Vintage Fair, London
Sun 11th - Vintage Furniture Flea, London
Thurs 15th - Freshers Fair, QMU, Glasgow
Sun 18th - Harpenden Public Halls, Herts
Thurs 22nd - Leeds Met SU
Sat 24th - Sheffield Town Hall
Sat 24th - The Work Station, Sheffield
Sun 25th - Rheged, Penrith, Cumbria
Mon 26th - Freshers Fair, Leeds University Union
Thurs 29th - Kilo Sale, Leeds University Union
OCTOBER
Sat 1st - The Custard Factory, Birmingham
Sat 1st - The Belgrave Rooms, Nottingham
Sat 1st - Out of the Blue @ Drill Hall, Edinburgh
Sat 1st - The Engine Shed, Lincoln
Sun 2nd - QMU, Glasgow
Sun 2nd - City Council House, Birmingham
Sat 8th - Aintree Racecourse, Liverpool
Sat 8th - Bournemouth Pavillion
Sun 9th - The Hospitium, York
Sun 9th - TBC, Southampton
Sun 9th - Ware Drill Hall, Herts
Sun 9th - St. Andrews Hall, Norwich
Sat 15th - Shoreditch Town Hall, London
Sat 15th - Cardiff University SU, Wales
Sat 15th - Kilo Sale, Leeds
Sat 15th - TBC, Oxford
Sun 16th - Furniture Flea, Leeds
Sat 22nd - The Town Hall, Loughborough
Sat 22nd - Cambridge Guilhall
Sun 23rd - Bethnal Green's Afordable Vintage Fair, London
Sat 29th - The Assembly, Lemington Spa
NOVEMBER
Sat 5th - Wedding Fair, Something Old @ Sheffield Town Hall
Sat 12th - Wedding Fair, Something Old @ Leicester Catherdral
Sun 20th - The Sports Hall, Hitchin
If there are any you know of that I've missed out, please get in touch and I'll add them to the list.
Topshop's little gems
After having a peek at some of Topshop's newbies I found some great vintage inspired pieces. Click on the links below the pics to grab yourself a slice of vintage pie.
Sunday 17 July 2011
Well hello there!
Let me introduce you to Best Coast. As I'm sure most of you will already be familiar with the old time summery sounds of the Californian band, I will leave you with this. A surefire way to put a smile on your face this rainy day.
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