Saturday 31 December 2016

Blogger Identity Issues


I'm having identity issues as a blogger

I'm a "food blogger".  I slipped into that label not long after I started my blog as most of my posts were about food.  I love food, I love cooking, I love visiting places that feed me and I love trying new things that are food related.

But I also like cats, candles, history, nail varnish, books, dresses, wine, films, technology, face creams, exploring London and napping.  Not so much make up - I'm utterly rubbish at that.

I didn't set out with the idea to start this blog as a food blog.

I've been a "food blogger" for so long and felt that every post needs to be food related but I'm starting to feel it's really limiting me on what I post and how often I post.  Lately I've been so busy with work that I can't even be bothered to make a meal from scratch, never mind coming up with a new recipe, taking pictures of it and writing about it.  I've been a pretty crappy food blogger lately which is what made me think about what sort of blogger I want to actually be and why I want to do it.

Monday 26 December 2016

52 in 2016 - a Reading Challenge



Not normally one for New Years resolutions, I set myself a 2016 "challenge" rather than a resolution because I think that maybe the word "challenge" will make me more likely to do something...That challenge was to read 52 books in 2016.  That's one a week for people who might be mathematically impaired like me...I thought this was a sensible goal as once I curl up with a book, I can easily fly through the whole thing in a day.

So how did I do?

Sunday 25 December 2016

Pigs in Duvets

A twist on the classic Christmas pigs in blankets - chipolatas wrapped in streaky bacon snuggled with cranberry sauce in flaky pastry


Pigs in blankets are pretty special, right?  What's not to love about mini sausages wrapped in bacon, aka "pigs in blankets".  I'll tell you what - pigs in duvets.  And not just pigs in duvets, pigs in duvets snuggled up with a cranberry sauce hot water bottle.

I had a lightbulb moment when I was dreaming back to last Christmas.  We had some leftover pigs in blankets (what kind of monsters are we to have leftovers?!) and I made sandwiches with them and they were the best thing my tastebuds experienced that Christmas.  Honestly, give it a go!  Anyway, I was thinking about pig in blanket sammies and then I was also thinking about sausage rolls and then thought how amazing it would be to combine the two.

Sunday 11 December 2016

Assumption Abbey Fruitcake

Assumption Abbey fruitcake - a rich, dense cake loaded with soaked fruits, nuts and spices made by Trappist monks in Ava, Missouri


It seems as though most people, especially avid bakers, have their "go to" traditional recipe for Christmas fruitcake.  Not this family.  We don't want to spend hours in the kitchen soaking fruits, baking, sloshing alcohol over a cake at regular intervals or anything like that.  This family gets their Christmas fruitcake baked by monks.  When I say "we", I mean my mum and this is all about her obsession newish tradition of getting a 2lb fruitcake from Assumption Abbey.

Now you may think that the monks are baking a cake especially for my mum but this isn't the case - they bake around 25,000 a year!  My mum loves their cakes so much that I'd like to think they can sense that when her yearly order comes through and when it's time to top the cake being sent to her with fruit and nuts that they add a little extra love to it.

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