Easter...

As we head into another bank holiday weekend, I thought I would share a few eats, and treats from my Easter. As most of you know I have been following Slimming World for the last 18 months and having achieved my 5 and half stone award the week before Easter, I decided to relax a little over the Easter weekend and enjoy the time with family and friends.

I was lucky enough to have Good Friday off which as I was house sitting for a friend gave me time to catch up on some crafting , series link on TV and baking. I worked the Easter Saturday which allowed me to grab an early coffee in Claridges enjoying the Easter blooms. This is without a doubt my favourite hotel in London and I pop in the Lobby every week to look at the flowers, they are just beautiful.

I then spent Easter Sunday with friends and family, the Easter Bunny did a short hop to my brothers, where chocolate & cupcakes were distributed to my niece and nephew.
I love Easter, its my next favourite to Christmas and usually spend it a friends cooking a huge roast lamb dinner with full on decorations and a big egg hunt.

This year however my friend was away so I volunteered to cook for M and his family. I think he was a little surprised on how big I go with Easter. The boys (21 & 25) seemed to enjoy it and are already talking about what we are doing next year! 😲
I hope that everyone enjoyed their Easter and that you got time to relax with family & loved ones.

Slices of the Bake & Cake show....

Last Saturday I headed to North London for the first Good Food Bake & Cake show... the show was being held at the Design Centre in Islington a short walk from Angel station. On arrival I was handed a free show guide filled with  great recipes which were being showcased during the Bakes & Cakes theatre sessions, along with a floorplan, timetable and A-Z of exhibitors. As I entered the centre Mary Berry was just cutting the pink ribbon to open the show.
My ticket included a session at the theatre and I had booked the Mary Berry & Lucy show, which was the first to start. The theatre sessions were incredible well organised and lots fun. With the requisite advertorials met, hosted by Lisa Faulkner and a very funny camera man Tony, Mary was joined on stage by her daughter Annabel, where they baked Chocolate & Irish Cream roulade, Raspberry & Apple muffins and Fig & Nut bars.

Mary made them look so easy, and I am definitely making the chocolate roulade at Christmas.  Leaving the theatre it was time to peruse the exhibits, there was a mixture of some big name sponsers, along with some favourites of mine; Baker & Maker,  & Iced Jems, and Simply Vintage.

Iced Jems is a great little store which houses some of the best offerings of cupcake cases, straws and cutters .. have used the site many times and it was lovely to finally met Jemma and her family. The stand looked amazing (and yes I did come home with some more treats!) Baker & Maker also offer some fabulous bakeware and retro pieces, milk bottles being my favourite and the gorgeous milk glass cake stands.

Another favourite of mine is Simply Vintage designs,  a cool company that deals in vintage kitchen and bakeware.
One of my favourite things was the big Baking Tips chalkboard which housed lots of vintage tags with baking tips from all the baking celebrities, along with the chance to share your own....

Some of my favourite food bakers & treats were also at the show, it was lovely to see some to chat and also sample their makes & bakes.
There was a cacophony of colour on the Meringue Girls, who have had an amazing year ... Primrose Bakery also had a cute little stand, showcasing their fabulous books and cupcakes... the new book is delicious...a must for any baker for christmas... who can resist a gingerbread house.

It was also lovely to see Kooky Bakes at the show, the stand looked delicious and was filled with Whoopie Pies, Brownie Slices, Cookies and Cupcakes. I couldn't resist taking one of the Signature slices home with me....
Another great cake find at the show was Victoria Yum who also had a gorgeous stand filled with delicious bakes.... the syling of the stand was a mixture of home-spun urban... showcasing cupcakes, frosted loaf cakes and glorious victoria sponges. I chose a slice of the banana and salted caramel cake, which was moist, flavourful and melt in the mouth delicious.

Along with some great exhibits and food treats, there was plenty of places to sit and rest, eat & drink.  Most giving great views across this lovely building... as I walked round the top balcony, they were bus setting up for the afternoon tea area....which looked lovely.
Another little added treat at this show was the beautiful floral arrangements which were doted around the show.

On the lower mezzanine of the floor housed the huge Lakeland stand and their interview stage, along with the book corner from WHSmiths.... The interview stage was being hosted by Jo Wheatley (winner of season 2 of Great British Bake off)
Her first interviewee was the lovely Mary Berry, fresh from the baking stage...It looked like she was having much fun with Mary Berry and there was so much love in the room for Mary Berry....

Another huge favourite was Eric Lanlard, who looked like he was having much fun & laughter with Jo before and during the interview. The stage was laid out in a cool sitting room style, with white furniture, flowers and a very retro lamp!... Jo had asked her fascebook followers for some questions which she shared with the interviewees.. from Strictly, to favourite bakes and one essential baking musts.... Eric's must was Weighing Scales and Mary shared her love of Strictly and categorically ruled out going on the show herself, having been asked several times....
I had an enjoyable time at the show, it was well organised, had some great exhibits, and fabulous baking treats.... I am sure that this will only get bigger each year it is hosted.

Baby bakes & 80's cakes.....

It's been ages since I baked and even longer since I did any cake decorating, but this summer I have dragged my trusty cake tool box out of the cupboard a couple of times to bake for an 80th Birthday and a Baby Shower.
For the Baby shower cake I was sent a picture of the stationery, napkins and tablecloth and asked to make something to fit in with the design. My friend who's shower it was doesn't know the gender of the baby, which for these days is quite unusual and the shower was also a surprise!
I baked a 3 layer lemon madeira, sandwiched with lemon curd and lemon buttercream and then covered with white sugar paste.  The theme was baby clothes on a washing line, and I had this bright idea to do something similar... something I later regretted, as it did give me a sleepless night. After stressing about iced babygro's and miniature pegs I was really happy with the outcome.

I found a fab little baby onesie on the Iced Jems website which was perfect for the cupcakes. I made the buttons from a small round cutter and indenting a button. Really love these, so think they may be featuring on more cakes in the future. With the cake doweled and washing line posts made from straws and bakers twine, it all came together ok. The cake was accompanied by a  mixture of lemon cupcakes - large & small decorated with onesies and buttons - all for Baby Cook.

My other cake made at the end of July was one of the hottest days of the year. Hats off to the bakers that have produced amazing creations during this summer!... thankfully I had wired the flowers on an evening that was a little cooler and had baked the fruitcake a couple of months ago, so all I had to do was ice and decorate.

This was an old school cake, complete with garret frill, flowers and ribbon... took me back to my early cake decorating years. As always, my least favourite part is 'writing' on the cake... thankfully they didn't want an essay and liked the simplicity of the design. My mums best friend was delighted as she had never had a 'proper' birthday cake before!.

I'm now planning future bakes, and with GBBO in full bake on BBC its perfect inspiration to get my baking box out again, especially after meeting the Queen of Bakes - Mary Berry..... Also have a planned visit to the BBC Bake & Cake show... so will hopefully see some of you there...... what have you been baking lately?





The Queen of Bakes....

Last week I got the chance to meet the Queen of Bakes herself - Mary Berry. The grandmother who has crept into our hearts through 4 seasons of Great British Bake Off with her twinkling eyes, and floral bomber jackets. In person she is as delightful as she comes across on the television.

Dressed in her signature look of floral jacket, she was immaculately styled and was delightful. With the queue snaking around the culinary fixtures of the lower ground cookshop department, it was the perfect opportunity to browse whilst waiting!...

loved the pistachio kitchen aid mixer and the tula vintage accessories. Really liking the kitchen-aid bakeware which is heavy duty craftsmanship and first time available outside the USA. It's not cheap but a great baking investment and it will save on contributing to a 'heavy' label on my luggage allowance when coming back from New York!

Mary was in to launch her new book - Mary Berry Cooks the Perfect.....
I got a sneak peak of the book prior to launch, and loved it, perfect for the novice and the experienced baker, filed with gorgeous recipes from simple lunches to feasts for dining with friends & family. The recipes are simple to follow and the visuals are stunning.

This is a gorgeous book a perfect gift which will span generations and decades... if you have a loved one heading off to university then this is a perfect going away present, if you are a GBBO fan its a must for the collection or if you are just a Mary Berry fan then this is a fabulous addition to the bookshelf. This was my 2nd time meeting Mary and getting one of her books signed, and ever she was gracious and delightful.....

Cake & Bake

Over the last 3 days a huge event  has been happening at Earls Court in London... The Cake & Bake show. This is in its 2nd year and it has learnt a few things from last year. Here is a round up of my day from the 1st show.This year the event is in a large arena, allowing more room between stands. There is also a dedicated food area which gives people more choice on food & treats to eat other than cakes! There is also lots of cake stands around the show allowing you to buy from renowned cupcakearies. So with my golden ticket I headed west on Friday to see what this year had to offer.
For me the Cake and Bake show is about a lifestyle... It's not a showcase for the newest products or corporate demos. Thats what Cake international is for, the negative comments that I have read have been largely about this, and it is this that I think people are missing the point of the show. This is as much a about the best flour & sugar to bake with as the latest rolling pin.
One of the events sponsors is Billingtons who have showcased some amazing talent in the show tables as you enter.. My favourite came from Nevie Pie cakes... Her painted cakes always amaze me.

I also loved the patriotic table and the Alice in wonderland tea party.

Billingtons have a very cool sugar hut on site and the fabulous Nielsen-Massey have an equally cool cupcake & cocktail bar in collaboration with Eric Lanlard... Delicious... Spotted at the cocktail bar along with the GBBO boys James & John.

Another sponsor is Sainsburys who had a huge competition theatre which had some great events on during the day. Wendi Peters a self confessed baking addict did a great job of hosting the events judged by the Mich Turner and Peter Sidwell from Britains Best bakery.

I was lucky enough to sit on a couple of  demos in the event theatres, one of which being Eric Lanlards .. Salted chocolate cake, complete with his glamourous twists with gold leave and sparkling sea salt.. Smelt & looked gorgeous.

A host of legendary cupcake bakers were on site, from Ms Cupcake , Molly Bakes and Primrose Bakery with cupcakes to buy and books to sign & read. It was lovely to see so many here, living in London I'm lucky to visit many bakeries, but for people travelling far its a great way to meet the names behind the books languishing in their kitchen and the people they follow on twitter/Facebook.

Along with cakes & supplies there was some cool lifestyle stands ... Completely fell in love with
Simply Vintage Designs if I could have taken the stand home with me I would have done.Just gorgeous.

From Baker & Makers legendary water glass cake stands and straws,to Renshaw sugar-paste and fabulously coloured cupcake sprinkles .. There was something for everyone.

Moving into the food hall, you are greeted with a cacophony of delicious smells and the feel of a food market. Here I stopped for a steak & cheese hot pie from the New Zealand pie boys whilst watching the adjacent stand make molecular ice cream with liquid nitrogen. The food market had an array of specialist bread and flower merchants, and I caught the legendary French baker Richard Bertinet demoing in the Bakery

Along from the bakery site were 3 stands that made me stop..The Marshmallowist's and Paul.A.Young.
The Marshmallowist's stand was simply styled with brown paper and blackboards. Marshmallows have had a bit of a revival over the past couple of years from the pink & white balls of flumps from my youth. I sampled the Maple & bacon marshmallow .. Which resulted in a small purchase.. Love this combination in most forms it seems, from pancakes, to cupcakes and now marshmallows!.

The other stand which was elegantly styled with Pauls's signature purple & brown, coco beans and luscious glossy chocolates and brownies in abundance. Paul showcased his new creation at this event the Marmite brownie!.. I loath marmite, but was blown away by the brownie.. Decadence in a small bite.. Delicious.

Another stand that was drawing large crowds was The Meringue Girls who's stand was a cacophony of colour and their current on-trend meringues. Luckily I get to sample these girls ware regularly, tasty, chewy and fun.

Not to just cater for the girls, there was an abundance of treats for the boys too.. From pies, to liquid nitrogen to bars & bakes.. Along with a huge Dr Who baking & cupcake treats on the Lakeland site.i also saw Simon Rimmer and John Waite on my travels during the day.

I enjoyed my day at the cake & bake... Things I thought were better this year:
1. Spacing and arrangement of stands.
2. Classrooms were segregated and curtained off, thus not allowing people to view that hadn't paid for that class.
3. Wide range of food in the food market, reducing the need to use venue eateries.
4. Named cupcake & cake suppliers exhibiting.
What I think they can do better:
1. Queuing, although better than last year, being herded through the bowels of Earls Court was not ideal, equally not opening the ours until 20 minutes after ticket time of 11am did nothing to dispel the frustration.
2. Quality & pricing of the Earls Court eateries... Much work to do, although unlikely to change due to venue being scheduled to be demolished. Neither Excel or Olympia offer anything better.
3. If tickets for events not pre-booked not sure there is enough to hold people's attention for day. Think some stand holders were put off from last year. Had lots of dead space that could of accommodated more stands.
Overall a good day.. Filled with fab food, cupcakes, and a sprinkling of glitter & glamour.. What more could a lady ask for!

This week...

Has been filled with coffee, cupcakes, birthdays & kittens!!!...
First of all thankyou or the lovely comments & tweets ref my recent post.. It seems that its not just the kittens that are fond of me!
Early this week my mum turned 70, so a batch of birthday cupcakes were baked, iced and delivered at 6.30am for the birthday lady, along with present and flowers. It was lovely to see her on her day if only briefly before I dashed off to work.
Also celebrating birthdays are my nephew and sis-in-law, their big days are next week, where they will celebrate them on holiday.

After a busy week dashing around I have had a chilled weekend. Saturday was filled with chores, & food shopping in the morning. This was broken up by an impromptu coffee with my mum who was also about at the same time. I was a little apprehensive as as much as I love her we don't have the best relationship. We stuck to neutral topics and had a really enjoyable hour catching up.. We came away we a promise to meet up again soon and as I walked away I thought if we can achieve this without killing each other then there is much hope for finding peace in Egypt!!
Saturday night was Indian supper with the golden girls who I haven't seen since July... It was lovely to see them and the added bonus was birthday treats for me... Book tokens & body shop treats.. Perfect for a little a pampering.
Those that follow me in Pinterest will see that I have started to pin some fashion styling pics, these are a collaboration of what I've been wearing that week. I've discovered a new little app which I am enjoying playing with on the sofa. I'm not the only one loving the sofa this weekend.

Fitz & Darcy have discovered the sofa, amongst lots of other things this week. I cannot sit down before they are clamouring all over me purring their heads off, before sleeping where ever they drop.

This week they have discovered the ironing board, and when propped up the wall makes a fabulous slide, scratching post and launching pad to jump on each other from ( i do know have to purchase a new ironing board cover!!) Also with all the birthday wrapping done this week, one will have to rethink her Christmas wrapping day as kittens, ribbon & wrap don't mix!... They have also discovered that the blind in the bathroom goes up and down via a cord and the toilet toll makes a fabulous toy & scratching post!!.. They have kept me amused and entertained this weekend.

Hollywood & Dames..

A couple of weeks ago on what I can only describe as one of the coldest, wettest days in London I had the luxury of an afternoon off. Said afternoon had been planned to feature Hollywood and Dames! with some fine dining thrown in between.
My afternoon started in the food emporium of Fortnums, where I joined a select number of ladies to watch Paul Hollywood talk and bake Bread... In answer to many questions.. Yes he was exactly as you see on the TV, his eyes are very blue and he is the only person that can get away with calling Mary Berry "bezzer" in a scouse accent!...

Due to time constraints Paul wasn't able to stay as long as planned so Fortnums kindly refunded the fee, along with plying us with champagne, canapés and a signed copy of Paul's book Bread, which was lovely.

After some time in F&M it was time to brave the elements of the Easter winter and head outside, my ideal of meandering around the west end was dampened slightly by the weather, so sought comfort in the stores on Bond street, before heading to Air street for my pre-theatre reservation at Hawksmoor
Service was excellent and the food was delicious... Hawksmoor being famous for its meat dishes I opted for Potted beef & bacon with yorkshires, Ribeye steak and then peanut butter shortbread with salted caramel ice cream... All from the express menu.

I could not eat it all as the portions were large, the starters was delicious and the yorkshires were light and fluffy and melted in your mouth. Steak was of an outstanding quality cooked to perfection, and finally dessert... oh my!!!... Shortbread was warm and when broken oozed warm chocolate sauce complete with peanuts, accompanied by the salted caramel ice cream it was a feast for all senses... Amazingly yummy!

After rolling out of the restaurant I walked through Piccadilly & Leicester square to St Martins Lane to watch the Dame herself Judi Dench in Peter & Alice. I snagged a £10 ticket months ago for this, completely unaware of how sort after the tickets were.

The play features Judi Dench and Ben Wishaw (aka M & Q from Skyfall) playing Alice & Peter who meet in a bookshop, their lives are entwined by both being the inspiration for iconic childrens stores; Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan.
Here is a small trailer. Judi Dench is one of my favourite actresses, along with Sheila Hancock and Helen Mirren and I am lucky enough to be seeing them all on stage in London during this year.The Dame met everyone of my expectations and more she delivered a dazzling performance and along with the rest of the cast received a standing ovation at the end.
Even though the weather was lousy the glamour of Theatre royalty and a small flavour of Hollywood made my afternoon complete.

Baking Bunny....

Was busy over Easter!... Easter was a flurry of activity for me, involving catching up with friends, family and a little foray to Brighton for Bills & Boe !..
Good Friday was time for me to pull the baking apron on and bake a few treats for friends and family. The afternoon was spent with Brother and co and evening was an impromptu dinner with friends. This years treats featured mini eggs and mini malteaser bunnies!... All boxed in Easter hutches

It was lovely to spend time with both families, relaxing and eating!.
Easter Sunday was spent at friends, where I cooked Easter lunch... Lamb with all the trimmings, complete with Hot Cross bun bread & butter pudding, mini egg chocolate cake, and creme egg brownies.... All delicious, a treat for any Easter bunny!... As you can see the dining room light fixture created a great opportunity to hang my Easter decorations. A little bit of sunshine on a very cold weekend was created with a lovely jug of tulips...

Hope everyone enjoyed their Easter...

Baking Buns...

Last Friday evening I spent a couple of hours with Fred and Andrew at Fortnum & Masons baking Hot Cross Buns. For the last couple of months Fortnums have been championing British Baking with a number of events and British bakers hosting classes and demonstrations.
Fred and Andrew are Fortnum's bakers who have been in the business for many years and happily shared their wealth of knowledge with us.
On arrival we were shown into the work area which was alongside the baking shop on the 1st floor. It took a little time to get used to seeing customers looking at what we were doing ( I now know what a monkey feels like in the zoo now )

We had bun dough to work with, whilst proving Andrew demonstrated how the dough was made. We each had enough dough to make 12 buns, which we rolled using the cage technique and proved.
After proving we then had the job of piping the crosses onto the top.

We then were taken downstairs to the bakery ovens to bake our buns... We had lots of fun and I learnt lots... hot Cross buns will now be on my Easter baking list...as they came out of the oven we glazed with egg wash, we got to taste Andrews hot from the open and they were delicious.
I've had toasted hot cross buns for the last few days and they are scrumptious... I'm a converted home baked hot cross bun lady convert!..

Fortnums was full of Easter cheer and was a welcome spring feel from a cold wet winters evening.

Shopping in the City ...

Any trip to New York is not without a little shopping planning .Working in the big yellow store I don't need to go for designer bargains that I can pick up at work... So I try to seek out fun things that I can't necessarily get at home
As previously blogged   Williams and Sonoma,features heavily along with Bloomies, The Pottery Barn, and Crate & Barrel.
My alternative shops of choice in New York are Target, TJMaxx, Michaels, Duane Reade and Century 21 along with Macy's
I hit Macy's on a special sale day equipped with a list of Martha Stewart requirements, Macy's stocks Martha's home range which I love.

I loved the spatula decorated Christmas trees.

Century 21 is a bargain label store sited opposite the World Trade centre, filled with affordable labels its a must ... Get there early ( it opens at 7.30am) for the Wall Street commuters on route to work.
Michaels is a craft emporium filled with lots of fun things to make, bake & create...adjacent  to Michaels is a TJMaxx and opposite is a HomeGoods (uk's tkmaxx & homesense) I picked up
lots of Christmas treats and presents from here at really affordable prices.
Duane Reade is a pharmacy located everywhere in New York... Perfect for stocking fillers, OPi at $5, and candy!... My favourite however is Target!    

Target is located in East Harlem and is easily accessible by bus from the city. It's a huge supermarket superstore similar filled with affordable treats.
On this visit I picked up lots of Candy, stocking fillers and Converse ($13) ... Along with lots of peppermint flavoured holiday treats.... M&M's, coffee and baking treats.

As you can see the suitcase was a little loaded on its trip back across the Atlantic!... Not sure how I can explain the bags of candy to the customs officers.