My Graduation | Class of 2014

| Dress: Chi Chi Clothing | Shoes: River Island | Watch: Olivia Burton | Bracelet: Swarovski |

So, I'm no longer a student, but a full grown adult with a degree and the frightening prospect of finding a career! - Eeeek! But with all jokes aside, I've had a wonderful (be it slightly stressful) 4 years at Huddersfield University. I've met some fantastic people, made some life long friends in Yorkshire and I'm looking forward to a very bright future back in Liverpool!

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Cocktail master class | The Botanist (*)

Ever since being invited to The Botanist blogger tea party earlier this year, I have had a little obsession with the restaurant. I've been back with my family as well as Creatures family and it's always been met with amazing compliments for the food and the great range of drinks.

A few weeks ago myself and 4 other bloggers were invited to The Botanist for a cocktail master class to learn how to make 3 of The Botanists yummy cocktails. As you can imagine this event was right up my street, and not only were we invited to free pour our own delicious alcohol but also treated to a selection of bar snacks mid way through the evening. - Bonus!

Cocktails have never lost that air of glamour for me, I'm still a beer girl through and through but when I do occasionally swap my Peroni for an elegant martini glass, I like those cocktails to actually taste substantial. There is nothing worse than a cocktail that literally just tastes like bog standard fruit juice. However at The Botanist their cocktails not only taste delicious but also so very alcoholic!

What I particularly enjoyed was the fact they use amazing and unusual ingredients in their drinks, whilst we were sipping our hand made Mojitos packed full of fresh mint and watching our next cocktails demonstration, Adam our teacher for the evening began filling his tumblers with baby rose buds! In today's cocktail culture it isn't enough to just have a great tasting drink, it must look the part too, and boy do The Botanists cocktails look pretty!

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Botanist, I wouldn't be able to tell you exactly how I to make those cocktails for yourself. I can however vouch that not only will you have a crackin' time 'learning' how to make some of The Botanists signature drinks but you'll also get wickedly drunk.

You can find out more about The Botanists cocktail master classes here

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Marinated lamb & slow roasted tomato salad | Recipe

Lately I've become utterly obsessed with Leeds Market when it comes to my food shop. I've watched food programes since I was a tot and never really gave much of a toss about these great markets in Britain until recently. Whilst walking around, picking up fresh duck eggs and nibbling on bits of sample cheeses, it occurred to me, my Dad would often tell me to visit the local market in Chester, to keep it alive for others to enjoy too when it was threatened to be closed, but the importance just never sank in until now. The huge range of fruits, veg and meat you can pick up is incredible - not to mention cheap! I will forever wince at the price of meat and veg in Morrisons or Tesco after my recent ventures. 

So in honour of my Dad, the ever experimental "throw whatever you have in the cupboard in it" kind of cook. I picked up some quality lamb cutlets and stocked up on my fresh herbs & headed home to pull together a fresh, summery (and relatively healthy) tea for me & Creature.

After routing through my veg stocks, I decided upon a slow roasted baby tomato salad with balsamic glaze to accompany the lamb. My fridge is stock full of salad, veg and fruit at the moment as myself & Creature are on a major health kick. So many of the bits you need for this recipe I already have as cupboard essentials. So without further ado. Here is my recipe for Marinated lamb with slow roasted garlic baby tomato salad. 

Ingredients:

The lamb & marinade:

(Feeds 2)

4 Lamb cutlets on the bone

Olive oil

dried chilies

fresh mint

fresh rosemary

Garlic pepper seasoning

For the roasted tomatoes:

1 packet of sweet baby tomatoes

1 bulb of garlic

black pepper

sea salt

Fresh thyme

Olive oil

Salad:

1 packet of mixed baby leaf salad or Rocket

balsamic vinegar or dressing

red onions (roasted or raw)

Fresh mint

Fresh basil

This may seem like a lot of ingredients, but the most important thing for this recipe is the balance of herbs. For those of you who don't have garlic pepper for the marinade, using garlic salt and a twist of black pepper would be fine. Or even fresh garlic and chilies would work a treat too.

1. The Lamb marinade:  Firstly you need to marinade the meat. Finely chop 2 sprigs of rosemary leaves and mint, mix 3 table spoons of olive oil in a large dish and add in 1 tsp of dried chilies & 1 tsp garlic salt. Sprinkle in your fresh herbs and mix with a spoon until evenly distributed in the oil. Next drop your cutlets into the marinade and made sure they're all lightly coated. 

Cover with cling film and leave to rest in the fridge. The longer you leave them the better, over night would be best. But 4 hours+ will ensure your meat had absorbed enough of that gorgeous flavor. 

2. The roasted tomatoes: Cut your baby toms into half's and mix in a bowl with 1 tbsp of oil, ensuring all have a light coating. Next finely slice 3 garlic cloves and a handful of fresh thyme. Distribute the tomatoes across a lined baking tray, and place a thin slice of garlic on each one. If you enjoy roasted garlic you could also like I have roast some whole cloves too, but this is optional. 

Next,  sprinkle the toms with cracked black pepper and place in a preheated low oven at 140'c for 2 hours. Make sure they are wilted but still a little juicy when took out of the oven. They should be soft and deliciously sweet. 

Leave the tomatoes to cool once cooked so they are at room temp when served. In the mean time, turn on your grill for the lamb.

3. Cooking the Lamb: The lamb will only need 3-4 minutes on each side to ensure it is medium and pink inside. I prefer my lamb pink and juicy. However if you prefer yours rarer, or even well done, add or subtract 1 minute cooking time. The meat should spring back to the touch and the fat will have crisped up some when done, but again this is personal preference. - leave to rest for 5 minutes.

I grilled my lamb to ensure any excess fat was drained off, this was a healthier option for myself and creature. Feel free however to roast the meat instead - basted in its own juices.

4. Assemble your dish: Whilst the meat is resting, in a salad bowl place your salad leaves, whole mint and ripped basil leaves, roasted tomatoes and garlic and toss together. The tomatoes will break up some and create a lovely sweet juice that coats the leaves. On this occasion I also slow roasted some red onions in just a little oil, salt and pepper and tossed with the salad.

Add a liberal handful of the salad in the middle of your plate, dribbling a drizzle of balsamic vinegar around the plate and over the leaves. Then place your cutlets on the top & enjoy with a glass of vino!

Would you try my marinated lamb & salad?

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Cadburys Creme Egg brownies | Recipe

Last week my social media pages were inundated with photos of chocolate from Easter. It may come as a shock, but I'm not a huge chocolate eater, other than high % dark chocolate that I can eat by the bar. However, sweet milk chocolate? - Not my bag.

Like many of you though, I do get an insane amount of Crème Eggs from friends and family. And although I'm admittedly not a chocaholic, I can never say no to a gooey brownie. So here is a deliciously chocolaty recipe that will put good use to any stray crème eggs you may have left over.

| Prep time: 15mins | Cooking time 40mins | Serves 12 |

Ingredients:

185g Dark Chocolate

185g Butter (or Margarine)

85g Plain Flour

40g Cocoa Powder

3 Eggs

275g Caster Sugar

6 Cadbury Creme Eggs

1. To begin, pre-heat the oven to 180 and gas mark 4.

2.You need to start your basic brownie batter. Melt the butter and chocolate together in a bowl over a pan of hot water. Once mixed together, leave to the side to cool a little.

3. Next mix your eggs and sugar using an electric whisk. This takes time and your mixture needs to double in size and thicken up. Your mix should also be pale in colour.

Add you egg and sugar mix to your cooled chocolate mixture. TIP: Make sure your chocolate mixture is at least luke warm, or cooler. If the chocolate mixture is too hot it will cook the eggs!

4. Sift in the flour and cocoa powder and fold everything together. TIP: Take your time and be gentle. Cut your creme eggs in half. This is tricky and doesn’t always turn out very neat, but don’t worry, it will still taste great!

5. Pour everything into your greased & lined tray, pushing the crème egg halves into the mixture and spaced evenly. Then bake in your preheated oven for 40 minutes.

6. I like mine still gooey in the middle however if you like yours a little more cakey, leave them in the oven for 50 minutes. Once cooked, leave to cool before cutting into 12 pieces and serving with vanilla ice cream.

Have you ever tried Crème Egg brownies?

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HoF giveaway winner | Wishlist

 

Coat | MK Sandals | Tote Bag | Candle | Coffee Machine

I've been a very lucky girl! Last week I received a little letter from the lovely Hayley from Frock me I'm famous after winning her House of Fraser £100 voucher giveaway. And as I've not had time to actually spend it yet, I thought I'd have a gander on the website and create a little wish list. Obviously I cant have all of the above items but they're definitely things I'm considering!

Ok so first up is the coat from Glamorous, I had one very similar to this but more of a boyfriend fit (see here) however I accidentally left it in a bar, & forgot which one it was left in! - Doh! And at £25.50 this coat is an absolute steal, probably because it's spring & lets face it, we won't need coats for much longer, but still, I love the tweed and leather contrast.

I'm also completely in love with these Michael Kors sandals, they're exactly what I need for SS14. Simple, classy and fabulous! I'm almost certain that I'll be purchasing these if my local HoF store stocks them.. I also loved the Radley tote bag. I'm one of these crazy bag ladies that completely hoards handbags, recycle bags, any kind of bag! - So I thought, why not have a designer tote? & for £10 it's something too affordable not to buy.

Since moving into my new home with Creature, we've been buying loads of appliances but one thing I've wanted for the longest time is a coffee machine, This Nespresso machine comes in at a reasonable £89.99 and in a rage of colours. Although I'm pretty sure I'd go with a bright red one to brighten up my kitchen. & finally, no HoF wish list would be complete without at least considering splurging on Yankee Candles, I've a serious obsession with the brand and drive Creature crazy buying them all the time, but they make our flat smell delicious.

If you had £100 to spend in House of Fraser, what would you buy?

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Gaucho | Restaurant review

 

For me, a perfectly cooked medium rare steak is just ambrosia. & Gaucho Leeds as fast become mine and Creatures go to place on payday for a blow out meal of awesome proportions.

To begin, if you've not been to Gaucho before & like me, find the menu a little daunting, the staff will bring out a large wooden board adorned with the meat selections & take you through your options. Being a medium rare fan I found I can pretty much choose any of the steaks on offer, which really didn't help my choice!

So in the end I chose the Bife de Lomo fillet, hoping for a soft, melt in your mouth steak whilst Creature went with a steak marinated in garlic and herbs. With each steak you get the choice of a complimentary salad or chips, I can vouch that both choices are great. The salad has a lovely clean lemon and oil dressing & the chips are chick cut & perfect to dip in your chosen sauce.
Sauces are extra but I always need something to smother my meat and chips in, on this occasion I went with the smoked garlic hollandaise, & Creature chose his forever favourite peppercorn.

Before your meaty assault can begin, each meal spent with Gaucho is begun with a complimentary bread basket. Now for me, this is perfect, I have an absolute obsession with breads & discovering new favours, textures etc. So when I was first introduced to Gauchos bread selection, I was in heaven.
My favourite of the 3 breads on offer would be the warm lightly cheese flavoured balls. Gorgeous, melt in the mouth, cheesy balls of bread. It took a while, but I eventually figured out that they are called Pao de Queijo and found a recipe . These balls also go fantastically with the chimichurri dressing served on the side.

Gaucho make a pretty bold statement about how tender their steaks are, when you're given what can only be described as a butter knife to cut your meat. And I was sceptical at first, but my steak seriously did cut like butter & I have been blown away by all of the steaks I've sampled since discovering the Argentine restaurant. This most recent visit was by far the best steak I've had to date, the meat was seriously tender, perfectly cooked & the smoked garlic hollandaise was incredible!

So after my belly was full, my gin & tonic cocktail almost slurped, our waiter for the evening returned with the desert menu. & of course I couldn't refuse. I chose the smallest pud on the menu - A selection of truffles, which consists of 5 individual chocolates topped with, chilli, orange, salt, cocoa & coffee. I was a little taken back by the idea of salt or chilli with sweet chocolate, but I can whole heartedly say I enjoyed each and every truffle, by favourite of course being the coffee.

As you can tell from the review, I am 100% a Gaucho fanatic. However there is no escaping the fact that it is an expensive place to eat. The cheapest steak is £18.50 and with prices creeping up to a staggering £148. Gaucho is not somewhere you're likely to visit a lot. However as a payday treat or a place to celebrate a special occasion, Gaucho is my go to place!

Have you ever visited Gaucho?

 

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Sausage & red wine casserole | Recipe

 

This recipe is one of my favourite winter warmer meals. We usually do this for a mid week treat, and often it is done in the slow cooker, however for todays recipe, I'll take you through the steps to making it on the hob first.

 

What you'll need:

4 Sausages

2 large potatoes

1 white onion

1 courgette

1 red pepper

handful of mushrooms

Garlic

Ginger

2 cups of red wine

2 cups of beef stock

Chopped chillies (optional)

 

1. Brown off your sausages on a medium - high heat. You can either keep them whole or cut them into bite size pieces, either is fine. Once browned, set aside and start frying your onions, garlic and ginger in the same pan (I used a wok, but I was making a large amount).

 

2. I like my veg to have a little bite, so after 3 minutes of frying your onions, add your courgettes, peppers and mushroom to the pan, sweating them down for a few minutes.

 

3. Add your sausages back to the pan & mix them around. Then pour in your beef stock & bring to the boil, before turning it down to a simmer. You can now add your wine, I like to have a rich gravy so I used 2 cups, you can however use less.

 

4. Simmer for an hour on a low-medium heat, ensuring your sausages are cooked through and juicy. Your gravy will reduce and become more intense in flavour. But, if like me you like a thicker sauce, You can thicken by either adding some gravy granules or a little bit of corn flour mixed with water.   

 

I serve mine with a heap of creamy mash & lots of those lovely stewed veggies. 

 

The slow cooker process is much the same, except I don't brown or soften my veg. You just throw in the browned sausages, raw veg, stock and wine into he slow cooker & cook for a minimum of 6 hours on low, 4 hours on high. - Again, to thicken just use gravy granules or corn flour.

 

You can also do this in the oven, follow the above steps, but when ready to add stock, transfer the softened veg and sausages to a casserole dish, add your stock & wine, cover with foil or a lid and bake in the oven for 40 minutes - 1 hour.  

 

Would you try my sausage casserole recipe?

 

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A festive treat | Drinking fudge



 

 | Fudge Kitchen - Drinking Fudge |

I hope you have all had a lovely Christmas & Boxing day!

But.. I think I may have found the greatest Christmas treat, & you NEED to try it!

 

Creature came back from York last weekend with an early present. He originally planned on wrapping it up for Christmas, but we both thought it would be a much better idea to test them & get ourselves in the festive mood!

The set he bought included a lovely little mug & spoon set with two Mint flavour fudge packs, & a box of more moreish fudge flavours to try. He did also apparently get two blocks of real fudge, but they didn't make it home! - Much to my disapproval!

 

To make the drinking fudge, you need to warm a mug of milk in the microwave for 2 minutes, once hot, squeeze out the molten thick fudge into the milk and stir until melted. then return the drink back to the microwave for 30 seconds to ensure it's piping hot & scrumptious.

 

Moreish Mint:

This was the first one we tried, the mint is really strong but you still get a delicious fudgy chocolate hint too, reassuring you that it is in fact a hot chocolate.

I think this one is most definitely my favourite so far. I added a handful of mini marshmallows & a grating of chocolate for extra indulgence. Although the drink on its own is more than satisfying!

 

Gorgeous Ginger:

Creature is a big fan of ginger. I my self have a slight intolerance, it tends to give me a very sore throat when ever I eat or drink anything associated. But from the "ooo's" and "ahhh's" I gathered he was more than impressed!

 

Indulgent Irish Cream:

This was the second of the flavours I tried, although Creature soon swapped me for this one after deciding that my cup was by far superior in flavour over his own! #pushover.

I'm a massive fan of Irish cream, Irish coffees.. The Irish in general. So of course this was fabulous, although a little more subtle in flavour which is why it's second in ranking for me so far.

 

Winter Spice:

This one Creature wasn't so sure about, and the one he soon swapped over with my Irish cream. I however drank every drop & found it to be quite nice. It's definitely my least favourite from all I've tried so far, but that's not to say it isn't any good.

I liked the winter fruit hints, it reminded me very much of a black forest gateaux meets mulled wine sort of flavour in hot chocolate form!

 

We still have a few of the above flavours left as well as one sachet of coconut fudge to sample. & I can't wait to crack them open, with a pile of munchies & a festive film with Creature! 

 

Have you ever tried drinking fudge?

 

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Christmas gifts for him

| Scarf | Collar Bones | Mug | Whiskey Stones | Personalised Chocs | Desk Organiser |

| Pillow covers | Personalised canvas | Door Mat |

 

I'm always really excited around special occasions, I love spending money on other people and seeing their faces when they open their presents. In fact this year I was probably more excited than Creature on his own birthday!

 

So I've put together a few gift ideas from not on the high street. The majority can be personalised to make them a little more special, & I love the idea of being able to give a gift you can both enjoy around the home. The canvas and the pillow cases are right up my street, I think it's something manly enough for Creature to really appreciate even though they are a little mushy.

 

If you're living with a business man, anything office related always goes down well. Last Christmas Creature was overwhelmed by receiving a pen from his parents! So the collar bones are something I know he would love, & if you're with an office monkey too, I think these are a lovely stocking filler.

 

Another idea is a personalised scarf, we always get scarfs, gloves, socks etc. for Christmas so why not include an embroidered message? & I personally love the mug & doormat.. Although I'm not sure how Creature would react receiving a door mat as a present!

 

Do you have any cool ideas for manly gifts?

 

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Turning 23 | A birthday wishlist

| GHD Sapphire styler | Clothes Show Live  | Jeffrey Campbell Everly cut out boot |

| Coco Chanel Mademoiselle | Ciate Mini Mani advent calendar |

 

It's November & I'm slowly creeping towards my 23rd birthday. Both Creature and family keep asking me what I want for gifts but honestly there's nothing I want so badly to ask for, which sounds utterly ridiculous for a blogger I know!

 

So, I've had a good hard think about things I would quite like to own & have complied a small list. Honestly none of these things are something I'd ever ask anyone to buy me. I'm really more than happy to receive a 5er in a card to put towards my ever growing list of tattoo designs & The Body Shop addiction. But the bits above are just 5 things that I'd like to have if I had the pennies to splurge.

 

You may be thinking, an advent calendar? - That's hardly a splurge worthy gift. But last December I was glued to my computer screen watching my favourite bloggers opening their very own Ciate nail polish advent calendar, eagerly waiting to see which beautiful colour came next & wishing I'd had the sense to buy one!

 

Hi my name is Kerys, & I'm a shoe addict. Pheww glad I got that off my chest!
Yeah, kind of a big lover of shoes & after seeing the Glamorous Jeffrey Campbell competition on facebook I've fell head over heels for the Everly cut out boots! - But with them being a depressing £130, It looks like I'll be trying to find a decent high street dupe instead!

 

Coco Chanel is a scent that always reminds me of my Mama, I was forever pinching a spritz when I was younger, much to her annoyance! - Saying that, I can completely understand now, because it comes at a pretty hefty price tag!

The GHDs are a pipe dream too, I can barely afford a pair of these myself & I'd die if I knew anyone spent that much on me. So it looks like I'll be putting together a "GHD fund" & saving until I can burn the S#*t out of my hair!

 

& finally, I've applied for a press pass for this years Clothes Show Live. This is probably the only birthday present that may seem within reach, I'll be without a doubt buying myself a ticket, as the 25th anniversary is not something I'm willing to miss out on!

 So if any of my family are reading this, a few pennies towards what I know will be a very shopaholic frenzy day would be amazeballs!

 

What do you think of my birthday wish list?

 

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