Last evening, we did a Supper Club @alderford_lake🥂 it was the loveliest evening. It was wonderful to welcome back returning Supper Club guests, it’s always like greeting old friends. And amazing to welcome new guests and see everyone sharing my food, chatting and laughing and enjoying company of people they didn’t know until the event. It’s exactly what I hoped for 18 months ago when I launched these events.
Last evening was my favourite event so far 💖 I am launching a Christmas date this week so stay tuned…. with a 6-course feast!!! 🥳🥂💖 get your party clothes ready!

I just wanted to say a massive thank you to a few people, the wonderful team @alderford_lake , Alice, Lynn, Zoe and Rob. Who not only trust me with their beautiful setting time and time again, but also ensure I have everything I need in advance to make these nights a success! To my lovely friends, Hayley and Jess who were just wonderful last evening on their debut outing! To my little man, Kasper who helped me make the third batch of truffles and tasted a lot of them and critiqued the food superbly for me 🤣🙈💖 and finally to my beautiful friend Claire. Who has been at every one of these events with me over the last 18 months, wiped my tears over spilt milk (quite literally) has run front of house effortlessly every single time, reigning me in when my ideas are a bit off piste, tasting every single dish for me ahead of every event, despite having an incredibly busy life with 3 children and a farmer husband, and for being one of my biggest cheerleaders throughout this crazy venture of mine. I feel so fortunate to have such wonderful people around me.

Now I am off to eat all my leftovers and soak my feet as for some reason even my toe nails ache after last night! 🤣 happy Sunday lovelies! See you next time!

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Happy Friday lovelies!

I have been feeling a bit over whelmed this week, so, I made the mistake of creating daily schedules, timetables and lists for everything that we have going on over the first term of school, school clubs, homework, work, life, book, supper clubs and general responsibilities. It has melted my brain, just looking at it! No idea how we do it all but we will. We always do. It’s no wonder that I have more grey hairs by the minute, more wrinkles and no time to Polly fill them, and don’t even get me started on hair hygiene! So much easier if I shaved my head.

Anyway, it got me thinking about all the other busy mums, dads, aunts, uncles, people in general, and how much we all busy ourselves and how time poor everyone is. I was updating my website last evening and I have had over 31,000 individual readers across 16 countries, visit my blog, and at least open some of the recipes. And, bearing in mind how busy we all are, how time poor we are, it really humbled me to think that even one person has taken the time to have a read. That to me is so amazing 🥰 and I guess, what I really wanted to say was a massive THANK YOU to all of you, that have taken a few moments, shown an interest, and engaged with me and the blog. It means so very much to me and I feel very blessed. 🥰 📖 📚 ✏️ 👩🏻‍🍳 🍲 🍰

So, as I realised I hadn’t figured any time to eat within my planning, I thought I’d stop and make this. Just a quick, simple, bowl of cardamom and almond milk oats, with an almond butter swirl, honey, fresh figs, almond and pistachio slivers. To warm me up and get me ticking things off of my list! Love to you all today.

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A Lost Week Away

Having been together for just over a year, my then boyfriend and I travelled to Rome for my 30th birthday. It was such a cool experience and one that always makes me smile when I think about it. We had very little money and were just starting out in our relationship together. This was a lovely surprise birthday trip.

We arrived in Rome late in the evening and having not paid for hold luggage we had very few belongings to last us the week.

We got the train and walked up the hill arriving at our campsite where we stayed for the week. The campsite was full of the noise of food being prepared, and families laughing and chatting. We paid the €150 for the entire week and were given the keys to our caravan! It had a wire bunk bed with sheets on and nothing else other than a basic shower room. Outside was a picnic table and the stars! It was perfect!

We left our bags & wandered down to the on site shop and bought a bottle of Montepulciano for less than €2, some cured meat and a baton of bread. We sat out under the stars chatting for hours drinking red wine out of plastic cups and eating the bread and cured meat out of the paper bag they came in. This was the same theme most evenings that week after we had spent hours walking round and exploring the beautiful eternal city that is Rome.

Nowadays our holidays consist of 40kilos of baggage checked, a car seat sent down the ‘heavy goods’ conveyer belt and a full day of packing and unpacking whilst trying to keep the poppet entertained. Yes, we have become that family! Those people who pack for every eventuality. From sun to snow and everything in between. More colouring books and ‘go find it’ cards than you can shake a stick at! And I love our life exactly as it is now and wouldn’t change it for anything in the world. But…. in the evenings, 6 years or so later from that trip to Rome, 1 little man, several house moves, a family car and two exhausting jobs from that first week in a caravan in Rome, my now husband and I sit outside on the terrace of a gorgeous villa in Valenciana, under the stars drinking a less than €3 bottle of Temperanillo, eating cured meat and bread and chatting about everything and anything except mortgages and school fees!

Sometimes we all need to go somewhere and get lost for a little while with the people we love.

No recipe this time. Just thoughts x