Tuesday 1 February 2011

Weekending at Home

It's not very often that we get to just hang out at home and do weekend-type stuff, so this weekend past was a bit of a winner. On Friday night I went out with the girls. We had dinner at Pinchos, a great tapas place which has THE most delicious and not-too-expensive food. We ate chorizo with cannellini beans, silky clams, huge gambas pil pil, soft chicken livers, and the most naughty baked aubergine. And of course we drank a lot of rioja to wash it down. Delicious, and very very bad in terms of The Diet. But I have lost half a stone throughout January so it's a nice reward and I now I don't feel deprived. So I won't need to satisfy my naughty cravings by going to the drive-through after swimming like I did when I was pregnant.

Anyways, on Saturday there was no cleaning left to do, as we had a viewer first thing so I had already cleaned. Lovely! So I baked lemon and poppy seed muffins from the latest issue of Sainsbury's magazine and we had a spot of afternoon tea with my sister and her husband.
On Sunday we had scrambled eggs for breakfast with truffle oil (only one slice- not too naughty!) then D set about marmalading while I went to the supermarket for essential supplies for a roast dinner. This is what I came home to. How lovely! A perfect scene of Englishness.

My Union Jack cake tin full of muffins was from Tesco.

Ahhh, the slicing of the peel. A labour of love; it was very time consuming for D.

But I do love these colours! And it gave off a lovely orange-oil scent which warmed the house as the peel and juice was marmalading. I am pleased to report the results are delicious. Bitter, and warming.

I picked up these tulips at the supermarket too. Two for a fiver! Bargain. The colours are so very 'Spring', I just love that colour green, it looks perfect against the pink and cream flowers. Tulips need a little care when first brought home but boy is it worth it. I love tulips.

Whilst D marmaladed and the Buster had a lovely long afternoon nap, I caught up on some reading and drank tea and ate a muffin! Lovely. It's the first time I have bought Homes & Antiques, and I love it. It will definitely be included in my monthly magazine purchases. I like to stagger them by buying one a week. Then I always have one to look forward to! I love reading the Sunday Times too, though we also get The Observer. But you can't beat the Sunday Times Style supplement for wit, originality and creativity on the fashion front. It's relevant and aspirational at the same time. I've also just begun Margaret Atwood's latest novel The Year of the Flood. Bleak dystopias, interesting female characters and above all amazing writing- I do love Atwood.

After this cosy scene took place I then went back to the kitchen and made roast lamb with roasted winter veg. Delish. Followed by the bestest of all winter puddings- crumble. I made Nigel Slater's plum oat crumble recipe and it was yumma. Sharp plums, sweet rubble topping. I wholeheartedly recommend it, you'll find the recipe here:- http://www.nigelslater.com/recipes_view.asp?nRecipe_ID={4C4106BE-C122-4DA0-8E84-48D6D92CF61C}&nRecipeCat_ID={60B85C5F-A0D8-4982-9C6C-6D5B7781B6CE}&sSrc==

1 comment:

  1. Thoses flowers are gorgeous, I love the colours, and a true sign that spring is just around the corner : ) xx

    ReplyDelete

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