boursin muffins

Savoury muffins were a new challenge for me and as this attempt wasn't a complete disaster I thought I'd share them with you.

I love boursin (more than is probably socially acceptable) so it seemed like the logical choice for the main ingredient.

I used this recipe but added a bit more milk than it states. Once I'd combined everything the mixture looked really dry so in went more milk...Also, I couldn't find oat bran in either of my local supermarkets so I used porridge oats, not entirely sure if it matters... Next time I make them I think I might add more boursin (can't hurt) and, rather importantly, remember to take them out of the oven before they start to burn, oops!

They taste at their best slightly warm with a little bit of butter. And FYI they make a great bready accompaniment to soup (if you don't have any actual bread to hand)! I'm going to try some other boursin based recipes...scones seem like a good bet...

alex's american pancakes

I've had these beauties two weekends in a row because 1. they are delish and 2. they require v.little skill and few ingredients! Perhaps this could even be an alternative to your traditional pancake tuesday treat... So here they are: the tastiest and simplest pancakes you've ever made! 

makes 6 pancakes

1 1/4 cups of plain flour

1 tbsp sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp oil (I used vegetable but I don't think it matters greatly)

1 1/2 cups of milk (or water to make this vegan friendly)

Combine all the ingredients together, a few little lumps are fine. It should be a good deal thicker than your traditional pancake mixture. In a frying pan cook a ladel sized portion in a little oil, wait until the underside it cooked before flipping it over (duh).

I went with Alex's original recipe and included chocolate chips but you can have whatever you want with them - bananas, berries, bacon, icecream, yoghurt, maple syrup - SO many possibilities :) 

happy pancake day!

the wrong side of 25

Last week I turned 26 (say whaaa?! Honestly don't know how that happened) and celebrated the milestone in two awesome instalments. First off, the actual day. After a morning at work I was then free to do as I pleased. The weather was pretty foul so Mitch and I descended upon the good old Natural History Museum. We headed for the blue whale but then wandered into the Darwin Centre. I must confess that I've never been in there before (v.shameful as I think it's been open for around 10 years - I'm so easily distracted by dinosaur bones), but I have now and it's pretty cool, particularly the Spirit Building. It's basically home to around 22 million specimens pickled in industrial alcohol. They have a few on display but most of them aren't for public viewing or so we thought... 

picture source

Mitch was taking a picture of a half digested squid head (taken from the stomach of a sperm whale in the 1960s) when a member of the NHM staff came up to us and asked if we wanted to see a giant squid. The only answer to such a question is, of course, yes. So we, and four other people, were taken on a tour around the museum's spirit collection. It was a little gross at times (and the dissection room smelt kinda funny) but ultimately it was hugely cool and v.interesting. The lady who took us around was super knowledgable and ended up talking to us for about an hour. We were shown the main storage room full of jars and tanks housing, amongst other creatures, a chimp, platypus, fox, penguin, shark heads, a swordfish and the giant squid - which was massive, both in length and, surprisingly, girth. In another room, for smaller specimens, we saw the eye balls of the thames whale (the one that got a bit lost in 2004) and a bat preserved in a 100 year old jar which used to contain pickled onions (the label was still on)! One of the highlights, aside from seeing how they use flesh eating beetles to  obtain animal skeletons (the security is pretty high so worry not), was that the museum stores (and examines) many of Charles Darwin's original specimens brought back from the HMS Beagle voyage! I highly recommend this tour (unless you're squeamish) - it's free and you get a really good look at what goes on behind the scenes. I think at weekends it'd be best to book a ticket online but if you go during the week at around 3pm you probably won't have to queue at all!

tab at pitt cue

Post looking at dead things in jars I took a v.restrained look around the big topshop before heading to Pitt Cue for some seriously lush dinner - pulled pork bun with bone marrow mash, pickles and sticky BBQ chicken wings *drooling as I write* washed down with a v.strong bourbon cocktail and a pint of Whatever. Perfect. 

old glass jars used as booze receptacles at the party. Each one had a different label. My favourite was the one with the gorilla in 3D glasses.

And, as if I hadn't been spoilt enough, this weekend I had a big old party at the flat where Mitch made what's become his signature punch and my friend Alex made v.tasty vegan cupcakes! Unfortunately I was enjoying myself so much that I didn't take any pictures BUT I have realised this to be true: if this is what the wrong side of 25 is like then I'm v.happy to be here :)

just a couple of this year's spoils - the cutest sugar bowl in the world and marc jacobs' Daisy (prettiest perfume bottle ever, no?).  I also got a blender - it's fabulous, how did I ever live without it!

american pancakes and hidden treasures

Last Saturday I had both the most gluttonous breakfast and the largest amount of exercise, since returning from New York. The reason why? My lovely friend Alex and I spent the day together. First off, he offered to come round in the morning to make me American pancakes - wasn't exactly going to say no to that! He's originally from Michigan and an a-mazing baker/pudding maker. He's promised to send me the american pancake recipe, which I will deffo be bugging him for - they were sooo tasty, especially with chocolate chips, sliced banana and a generous drizzle of maple syrup (yeah, I told you they were gluttonous). Perhaps when it arrives I could post it on here...how do you all feel about monstrous pancakes?

We had quite a bit of mixture left over so Alex made a mickey mouse shaped beast of a pancake. It was massive but we couldn't let it go to waste.

After our brunch Alex introduced me to Geocaching. I'd never heard of it before so he, v.patiently, explained it to me. All over the world people hide caches which are basically boxes (varying in size) containing trinkets for swapping, travelling objects and an all important log book to note down that you've found it. The caches are registered online along with their location (using latitude and longitude) and a clue to help you find them.

log book

We spent a good few hours searching for geocaches around Brixton and Clapham Common. It's kind of like a big game, only not everyone is playing. At first I did feel a bit silly looking on the floor and clambering through the bushes, especially in the more busy public areas. But eventually the want to find the cache takes over, although stealth and subtilty are key. We went on six searches and found only two caches. It was a little disheartening when we couldn't find the first two caches we attempted - but since then I feel better because one, we discovered, was only about 2cm long! And I think that's what makes it hard, you really don't know what you're looking for. On a positive note, it was pretty fun finding our first box in windmill gardens. And here it is!

Inside, amongst other bits and pieces, we found a tagged golf ball which had originally come from Germany, and, as good people, we moved it onto another location on Clapham Common. It was an exhausting but fun day and I can see how people can get addicted to it. Two things are for sure: 1. we definitely walked off the pancakes and 2. I will not be able to look at certain areas of Brixton and Clapham in the same way again, particularly because of the four caches we couldn't find...they're out there still, waiting to be discovered.

he asked me on the brooklyn bridge

The most exciting thing that happened in January took place in the very first 10 minutes of it - basically the rest of the month hadn't a hope in hell of living up to it :)

post pizza doodling in hoboken

We were standing on Brooklyn Bridge on new years eve, the small crowd had just counted down to midnight and we were watching the fireworks, Mitch said he needed to tell me something and pulled me over to a less busy bit. Then he got down on one knee, held up a ring and asked me to marry him. I said yes (obvs) :D 

We've been together for around 4 years (the dates are a little hazy, we never really had a moment of 'now we are boyfriend and girlfriend') and living together for nearly 3. The proposal was a complete surprise, although a number of my friends had already called it. We rang our respective parents to tell them the news but that was it, no one else knew and for the first three days it was our secret. It took a while for everything to sink in and to be honest I still can't believe it's actually happening. Talking to Mitch about wedding ideas/stuff is pretty surreal but fun. There's seems to be a lot to think about and plan but I'm not worrying yet it's just super exciting, the wedding day of course, but also all the stuff that happens after that - the rest of our lives really :) 

I'm not a gushy person BUT these things must be said: the proposal was v.romantic, I'm unbelievably happy and I love this man more than anything ♥