Birthday Cake and Updates

Hello all,

It's been all go here at the house these past few days.  Now the painting is done and dried, our oven  is wired in and working, plus we've filled the kitchen with a few bits and bobs.  It's starting to look and feel more like home and less like a building site...  Which is always a positive.

Before I move onto the house update, I thought I'd share the results of my Auntie Bee's Birthday Cake.  Those who've been reading for a few months will know that I had the pleasure of making her cake this year, returning the favour (or flavour if you prefer a foodie pun) to her.  After all, she's made our birthday cakes (me, My brothers, My parents & my Fiancee) for years.

So this is the result:  A woodland picnic.  It started out as a dirty dancing cake, but they didn't have any pink food colouring.  Then it was going to be plain white with bunting across.  Then it gradually developed into a picnic set on a tree stump.  Don't ask how that process came to be, but it did.

Boiled Bacon Beans + House + Award

Oh boy, am I tired!

A whole week has passed since they keys to our new home were dropped into our anxious first time buyer hands, but what a week it's been.

For starters, we finished painting last night.  The final coat was put onto our living room wall, and then we excitedly gathered up the dust sheets to look at our hard work.

Man, it looks good.  Maybe it's because we did it all ourselves but it really feels like our own now.  The living room is a dusty "malt chocolate" hue, with a vintage walnut fireplace wall and granite fireplace.  It's so cosy, the picture doesn't do it justice, but I'll show it later on anyway =]

Sticky Lemon Lunchbox Chicken

Once again I've been away from my blog & cooking.  This time, I have a reason - I don't have an oven or fridge yet!

No time to chat, in fact I've no time for anything at the moment.  My life is a swirl of documents, furniture, dimensions, paint colours, and masking tape.  I've hardly any time for cooking either.  Only very basic meals that can be eaten on the go.  I don't have brain space for cooking ideas, my whole brain is working on basic function right now as we tackle the stresses of decorating & sorting our first house.

So this Lunchbox chicken is perfect, it gets better as it goes on as the flavours come out overnight.  This makes it perfect for making the night before, and it hardly takes any time to prep or cook.

Cupboard Raiding Cous Cous.

Good morning all from slightly warmer England!

I'm officially broke....

Because we just bought our first home!

Yup, the contracts have been exchanged and me & my fiancee now own a beautiful Victorian terrace on a teeny little old style street.  We get the keys Friday.  Whoop!

The downside is, all my money is going on nice new house stuff, like shelves & paint.  I haven't the money to buy different ingredients to try out new recipes this week.  So this has truly been a time of going through the cupboards, looking at what cans the family have shoved to the back and being creative with it.

Sometimes, isn't that just the best way?

The results have ranged from mushroom & chickpea sauce risotto - to a thick garlic & tomato bean stew (the results of that one were a little....anti-social) and even this.  A cous cous dish.  I raided the cupboard and found the ingredients to one of the tastiest cous cous meals I'm prepared in a while.  Cupboard raiding successful.

Hence the title.  I'm afraid this cous cous isn't some kitchen version of Indiana Jones (though feck, wouldn't that be cool?)  It's simple.  Like the name.  Why make up some fancy pants title for something I threw together and actually tasted okay?!

Prawn & Tomato Super-food Tangle

Hello there!

I have returned from my Holiday & Birthday celebrations.  Woo!

I have also returned slightly larger than I left thanks to all the fab food on offer too.  So back onto a healthy regime I am!  Lots of vegetables, healthy snacks, exercise & what some call "super foods".  I have no idea what the actual definition of a Super-food is, but it sounds so fantastic, that I named my dinner after it.

Of course, there is pasta involved, but as usual, it can easily be subbed for gluten free version or even ribbons of carrot & courgette.

Ooh, and because I can, I've included some pictures from our Trip to bath =]