I went for a walk this morning through Inverleith Park and the Botanical gardens. There was a lovely christmasy smell of pine trees everwhere today I love crisp sunny winter days, so much better to me than the hot sticky ones of summer!
I love the clear nothern light we have here in the winter too, all the colours look so much brighter and everything looks so sharp and in focus. I even love how the sun is starting to set at 3pm again now. It makes the little bit of sunshine that there is earlier in the day that bit more precious, and makes me get out of bed early on days off to go for morning walks!
I found this cat sunbathing under a tree in the botanics If I were an animal I would be this cat!
I made baked fish for our dinner tonight I couldn't find the recipe for a spanish one I have made before, so I made a Jamie Oliver one instead, throwing in a few extra ingredients.
I made a nice tomato, onion, garlic and basil sauce first. I used lots of fresh basil, and added some mushrooms and a courgette I found in the fridge. Then I put my bits of fish on top of the sauce in an oven dish, sprinkled it with some black olives and capers, and baked it for 15 mins at 220'C. While it was cooking I made some mashed potato, and some peas to make it look pretty
Last night I had a little halloween dinner party for four I chose what to make, went food shopping, prepared all the ingredients, roasted my butternut squash and set the table with all the candles I could find. My very helpful and apparently multi-talented boyfriend bought and carved a little pumpkin for my table's halloween centre piece (pretty magnificent specimen of a pumpkin it was too, especially for a first attempt!) Pumpkins certainly look a lot easier to carve than a turnip, which is what I used to use when I was a kid! I can see now why they are used so much in America!
When my friends arrived though, all I really wanted to do was sit with them and catch up on all their news, so my boyfriend gallantly volunteered to make my butternut squash and feta risotto for me! (it was his own recipe I was using though, so he would make it so much better than me ) It was so sweet of him to do that for me though and I was very grateful I didn't even make my own pudding! I bought a ready made apple pie and a tub of really nice ice cream from a fancy supermarket instead!
I really enjoyed the meal though, and it was great to see my friends again, and to finally show them round my first flat Next time I have a dinner party though, I am going to choose something which I can make in advance and just shove in the oven before my guests arrive! That way I can join in with the fun and gossip, instead of spending all my time cooking in the kitchen!
My mum invited me and my bf round for dinner last night, she made these lovely pizzas for us There was an onion one, a mushroom one, and a margherita my favourites!
I made this lovely spicy garlicky mushroomy creamy pasta tonight for my boyfriend, as he has been all bunged up with a cold today, and I thought a bit of garlic would do him good. Also, it might help to prevent me from catching it too!!
I used two whole roasted bulbs of garlic, so I don't think there will be any vampires coming near our flat anytime soon! I have a lemon and nutmeg rice pudding cooking at the moment too, for a late night comfort pudding
Every time I sit down at my kitchen window with a cup of tea, I always seem to see this man zooming around on his little red lawnmower, looking after the grass on the cricket pitch. He always has his dog with him though, and it makes me smile to watch as the dog happily trots up and down the field, following the lawnmower, jumping around and wagging it's tail I miss living with a dog! I miss the mess and chaos, laughing at the funny things they do everyday, the fluff and hairs all over my clothes, the sharing of everything I eat, the comforting doggy smells and hairy cuddles...
Today I went back to the cute little cafe I went to this time last month http://my.opera.com/kirstycat/blog/2009/09/23/little-tea-party-celebration , this time with my mum We had a big pot of tea, with a sweet knitted bee tea cosy on the teapot My mum had butterscotch coffee cake, I couldn't resist getting the lovely chocolate cake I had the last time. I could only manage half the slice again though! I took the other half home in a little bag for my boyfriend
On Thursday night my mum threw an Indian diwali 'festival of lights' party The real diwali doesn't actually start until the weekend, but me and my boyfriend both had a day off, and seeing as we're only wanting an excuse for a big curry, it was decided that it would be moved forward a couple of days (a bit like having a christmas celebration on the 23rd of December!)
I have never seen such a magificent curry, there were so many lovely things! I only had some of the vegetarian curries, but even with just those there was more choice than I could ever dream of in my wildest foody dreams! We filled the room with all the candles and tealights we could find (twenty eight altogether!)
Here is a list of all the lovely things my mum made: (most of my pictures were a bit blurry due to the low light of the candles!) I can't remember the proper names of most of the things, so I will describe what they are made of instead cobra beer!! popadums and mango chutney naan fluffy basmati rice grated carrot with black mustard seeds yogurt with cucumber chopped raw onions and tomatoes sweetcorn curry my favourite coconut lentil daal wild mushroom curry potato and aubergine curry (lamb curry) (beef curry) (chicken curry) pistachio and almond kulfi for pudding It was great!
I usually use Jamie Oliver's bread recipe, so this was new to me. The kneading of the dough was done by slapping it down on the worktop, stretching it, and folding it over, instead of pressing it down into the worktop with the heels of my hands. I found it to be a very messy way of kneading dough!
This was my dough after it had risen for an hour... Flattening the dough and chopping it up into pieces to make small loaves. An uncooked fougasse! Ready to stretch and roll into baguettes. Slightly eccentric looking sesame/poppy baguettes, ready to cook (mine are the ones with poppy seeds) Fougasse! (they looked bigger and neater in the picture in the book though!) Bet you don't see weird looking baguettes like these down the local supermarket! These are my epis baguettes ('ears of corn' bread), with sections cut with scissors. It was fun! We need a little practice though!!
I went back to the botanical gardens again today, this time exploring the little hidden tracks and paths for the first time, away from the main route. I found some strange plants i've never seen before. I liked the shape of the pod things on this one, not sure what the plant is though! I thought this one looked like a cross between a corncob, a pomegranite and a strawberry! I found several of them lying on the ground attached to a wilted plant, don't have a clue what it is!
I made this lovely risotto for dinner last night, using a recipe from my much loved vegetarian risotto recipe book (which I am gradually working my way through!)
I had had a bit of a bad day at work, bursting into uncontrollable tears towards the end of my shift for no particular reason. I think I was just tired after several sleepless nights and 4:30am starts though, as I feel much better today! (maybe it was my magic risotto! )
I carefully prepared all the ingredients before my boyfriend got home from work (with flowers and my favourite pink wine! ). I started to feel better when I set off to the supermarket for ingredients, and gradually returned to my normal happy self whilst taking my time preparing things in the kitchen, with nice music playing on the radio
I love making risottos, they are very therapeutic and comforting. I love standing over a big pan, slowly stirring in my pan of hot stock bit by bit. Then stirring in the other ingredients at the end, transforming the pan of sticky rice into something colourful and yummy.
This recipe was fun as I got to try roasting my own peppers for the first time. I had to put them in the oven until the skin went black, then put the peppers into a plastic bag to loosen the skin. I was amazed at how easily the pepper skin came off! Afterwards my roasted pepper looked just like the stuff you pay a small fortune for in the shops. I can make my own now!
My bf had a second attempt at making mince pies last night with his leftover mincemeat. This time they had the added magnificence of a little pastry star on the top of each one. They tasted just as good as his last ones, but looked even better! I think he has well and truly mastered little pies now, and won the battle against what can sometimes be uncooperative pastry Perfect mince pies!
I went to the botanical gardens today, and let myself get lost among all the beautiful autumn coloured trees. I love this time of year, and it's only just beginning The air is starting to get cold (I can wear gloves and scarves again! woo!) and all the leaves are turning such beautiful colours. I feel like I have so much more energy than I did during the summer too, like I am coming out of hibernation
I went through the park near where I live on my way home, I took the last picture there, standing behind my favourite benches. I love the view overlooking the swans and ducks in the pond, and across Edinburgh to the castle
My boyfriend made these lovely mince pies tonight (it's never too early to start making mince pies! ) He made the mincemeat himself, then let it stew away in whisky for a couple of days before making the pies this evening. They are made with a really nice cinnamon pastry i've never tried before. Quite manly pies I think, very substantial compared to the little ones I make http://my.opera.com/kirstycat/blog/mince-pies-fa-la-la-la-la ...I have some christmas baking catching up to do now!!
I tried making this Italian crumbly cake tonight, as it looked so nice in the recipe picture. It turned out crumbly just like it said it should, and tasted nice...very lemony and buttery...but it was very very dry!
It was made with flour, polenta, ground almonds, sugar, butter and lemon zest, stuck together by only two egg yolks, so I guess this is what it is supposed to be like! I think it is maybe meant to be nibbled in small pieces with an espresso, instead of big slices with mugs of tea
It felt very strange to break the finished cake into pieces with my fingers, as the recipe instructed, it goes against all my cookery neatness rules!!
I was invited round to my parent's house today for a lovely sushi lunch All the rice and fillings were prepared before I arrived by my sous chef (my mum) and I put the sushi together and cut them into futo maki rolls (I love making sushi! ). I made half of them with salmon and avocado, and the other half with tuna and avocado. With this we had pickled pink ginger, wasabi paste, soy sauce, and some warm sake wine
I got my fix of doggy cuddles too (here she is leaning against my dad, sitting on the remote, and blocking his view of the tv )
My bf made this lovely fish pie for me this evening. I wasn't feeling well today and this is one of my favourite comfort meals. He bought the fish and potatoes and things on the way home from work (and a mini bottle of sparkling pink cava!), and proceeded to make two really lovely fish pies without looking at a single recipe book! I don't know how he manages it, to me recipes are essential and I check them all the time as I cook, but he somehow gets things to work perfectly just from making it up as he goes along! Quite impressive! It was such a good pie, certainly made me feel much better!
This was tonight's dinner I made the sweetcorn fritters, my bf made the lovely crunchy rosemary chips (very neatly arranged on the tray! Not at all like my style of piling the chips all over the place higgilty piggilty ).
It was really really good, one of those spontaneous meals you throw together at the last minute that turns out perfectly and to be exactly what you were needing
We got the bus all the way out to the pentland hills today, just to go up the ski lift to the top of hillend for a walk and a picnic...and after puffing our way up the very long path to the ski center we were told the ski lifts were shut for the day due to it being too windy! The fritters, chips and wine made it all better again though
The sweetcorn fritters are easy to make. You just mix together 100g of flour, half a tsp of salt, some pepper, one beaten egg, 50g of grated cheese, and a third of a pint of milk. Let it stand for 15 minutes, then stir in 225g of sweetcorn. They are cooked with a little oil in a frying pan until golden on both sides. Nice with ketchup
We bought this funny looking squash so my bf could make his lovely feta and roasted squash risotto tonight. It's called an 'acorn squash' apparently, very different to the lightbulb-shaped ones I have seen and cooked with before. I almost don't want to let anyone cut it up!!
Here are a few pictures I took when I was at Loch Lomond at the start of the week. The weather wasn't very good though!! The first day was so rainy and misty that the hills were barely even visible at the other side of the lake! The first picture below was taken on that first day, reality being a little different to the make believe land of the tourist pictures! This is Scotland though, I don't know why I expected anything else
We spent most of the first day driving around in the little rental car, or hiding in the hotel with scones and hot chocolate The second day was a bit better and we were able to do a little exploring. We drove right round the trossachs national park and then back to Edinburgh, jumping out of the car along the way to take pictures
The 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th pictures were taken from the hotel room balcony looking out over Loch Lomond. I woke up really early so I could watch the sun rise over the water
Today me and my bf were celebrating having been together for two years, and chose to spend the day having a wander around Edinburgh, exploring and going in whatever direction took our fancy We ended up walking to morningside (a posh area of Edinburgh) and had lunch in an eccentric little teahouse called 'loopy lorna's'.
I was treated to a really nice salmon sandwich with coconut, ginger and pumpkin soup, followed by a big panda pot of earl grey tea and a big slice of amazing home made chocolate cake It was great! It was such a lovely cozy little place, full of crazy little decorations and funny details. Every teapot got its own little handmade tea cozy I loved our panda head one! I couldn't stop stroking it Wish this tea house was closer to where I live! It is just the sort of place I would love to run myself one day!
The pictures below were taken from the meadows on the way back into the centre of town. I always forget how nice it is there and wonder why I never seem to go there very often. You can see arthur's seat in the distance.
This morning was a boyfriend-cooked breakfast. We forgot to cook some potatoes the night before though, so my vegetarian version consisted mostly of beans I had a lovely grapefruit too though We also had the added fun of setting the smoke alarm off on Sunday morning
Me and my bf finally got a day off at the same time when it wasn't pouring with rain and neither of us were too unwell/tired to climb arthur's seat! After so many foiled attempts to climb up there, I clambered up there today for the first time in three years...apparently slightly less fitter than I was then! It's very worth it for the views over the city though, I love it up there! I don't know why I don't go up there more often!
To celebrate the first day of our holiday week, I made pancakes for breakfast Toppings included: maple syrup (my favourite), vanilla sugar, lemon juice, nutella, apple sauce, and strawberry jam
Everything was thrown together in a bit of a sleepy morning haze, and the pictures taken quickly so that the serious business of warm pancake eating could begin My standards of food presentation aren't quite so high first thing in the morning
I walked a section on the water of leith on saturday that I have never been on before, the last stretch of path before the river passes through Stockbridge. It turned out to be the most beautiful section yet (and I live right beside it!) I found a beautiful mineral water well there, with a sculpture of a lady surrounded by pillars! I had no idea the river path was so pretty!
This is where we went for a walk today, I felt that I needed a bit of sea air to make me feel better I had forgotten just how lovely it is down at cramond beach, having not been there since I was a teenager. There is an island there that is only accessible when the tide is out, the first two pictures were taken from the mile long path to the island (which is underwater every few hours). I love living in a town beside the sea
Today I spent my first day outside in more than 10 days (lots of days working, then several days stuck indoors with the flu) I almost felt human again!
Here is the proof that I am back up on my feet again I managed to go for a walk down at crammond beach, and then back home to stockbridge along the lovely water of leith. It was such a sunny day!
I have been sent home from work today, having caught a nasty flu I am not used to not feeling well! I had a bit of a headache yesterday, but overnight it got worse and I was shivering and shaking and hurting all over with a horrible headache and a high temperature. Even wearing clothes hurts my skin! As instructed by a doctor, I am now housebound for a few days until it goes away and I feel better again. Boo. I can't wait to feel well again!
I tried making the Jamie Oliver 'Ministry of food' macaroni cheese for tea tonight, I loved it! I really liked the addition of chopped up cauliflower, it gives the pasta a bit of texture and extra flavour.
It's really easy to make too, just melting grated cheddar cheese (and parmesan) and some creme fraiche in a bowl over the pan as you boil the pasta and cauliflower, then mixing it all together with some salt and pepper and chopped parsley.
I also baked mine for a while afterwards, just to make the top layer nice and crunchy and golden. Probably not the most healthy of meals, but it's nice to have once in a while
We watched the Edinburgh castle fireworks tonight from a park two miles away. The first film was when we were in the official viewing area of the park, with the music playing to go with the fireworks. The second film was taken just at the final bit of the show, when we had moved to a part of the park with a better view of the castle but no music playing. Next year I want to watch them properly from below the castle This park just happened to be beside where we live, and free There were thousands of people there!
I was bought the new Jamie Oliver recipe book 'Jamie's America' as a present this weekend, and I look forward to trying out some new recipes soon I love new recipe books, especially Jamie Oliver's books, which are always crammed full of beautiful and inspiring foody pictures, and little stories about where the recipes came from. Sometimes it doesn't even matter to me if I don't use many of the recipes, half the fun is curling up with a good recipe book on the sofa and getting lost in a world of food
I was also taken to see a film last night that I have wanted to see for a while now, called '500 days of summer'. I had expected it to be a soppy predictable romantic comedy, and was surprised to find that it was in fact a bit more realistic and twisted, no fairytale happy ending in this film! It was really good...it made me both laugh out loud and want to cry, the timeline is all mixed up too, so it goes from happy to sad every few minutes. I think my bf even liked it, and he normally runs a mile from anything involving real life everyday stories (my favourite!) or over the top romantic slush (also my kind of film! )
I made these muffins today, they were great! I love the crunchy topping, and the coconut and raspberries go together really well. The muffins have just the right amount of sweetness and fluffiness. I used a recipe I found in the goodfood website: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3810/raspberry-and-coconut-muffins
They are really easy to make too, just make the crumbly topping, then mix everything else together in a big bowl, spoon the mixture into 8 muffin cases and sprinkle with the crumbly mixture, before baking for 35 mins. I used an extra 10g of coconut in my muffins though, because I love the stuff
I decided today to get my long locks chopped to a shorter length. I have been growing my hair for about two years now to get it to this length, only to come to realise that I actually prefered it when it was shorter
It is much easier to look after short hair, I didn't like the high maintenance involved with looking after long hair! When it was longer it took ages to dry, and it got full of tuggies and knots that I had to hack at for ages with a hairbrush every morning, pulling out half my hair in the process.
The weight of long hair made it all flat too, and I prefer mine to be fluffy and wavy When I lay down it would get trapped and stuck under my shoulders, and when I went outside with my hair loose it would fly around everywhere in the wind and get in my face and annoy me, I was constantly battling with it just to see where I was going! I feel much happier with my hair at this length, I feel like I have been set free from a big hairy burden
woooooo.... After the sad demise of our beloved week old espresso machine (which was taken back to the shop yesterday for a refund) this cute little bialetti moka pot was bought to take its place
I watched in amazement as the coffee appeared as if by magic from the little spout thing inside. I still can't quite get my head round the fact that the water manages to float upwards through the coffee thing in the middle, and transform itself into coffee in the top part!
It makes a very different kind of coffee to the espresso machine, not as strong and without the crema on top, but I think I might actually prefer it that way! It is more like a nice strong filter coffee Fun to make too
These are the new table mats recently bought for the flat. There are other animals in the set but these were our favourites, mine is the one on the left I love them, they make me smile every time I set the table
I made aubergine pasta for tea last night. I love aubergines Aubergine, 2 tins of plum tomatoes, bunch of fresh basil, 1 tbsp dried oregano, olive oil (to cook aubergine), 1 tsp white wine vinegar, 3 cloves of crushed garlic, 1-2 chopped dried chillies. Aubergine is chopped up and cooked with olive oil and oregano until soft and golden. Tomatoes, garlic, chilli, vinegar and half the basil stirred in, then left to simmer for 20 mins. The other half of the basil is added just at the end. A few more basil leaves and some grated parmesan is then sprinkled on top to make it look pretty before serving
Today we went to the Edinburgh food festival, which was taking place in the hollyrood park beside Arthur's seat. There were lots of stalls selling local food, cooking demonstrations, and restaurants giving away samples, cooking tips and freebies I bought some yummy tablet, a glass of lovely sweet cider, a perfectly made chocolate filled crepe, and an arbroath smokie (smoked on site! was really good! even if my hands did smell like smoked kipper for the rest of the day ) I also got to sample cheese from orkney, Italian coffees, spicy veggie pakora from an indian tapas restaurant, and fancy chocolates
This was the lovely breakfast I had this morning. My boyfriend bought an espresso machine yesterday when I was at work, and couldn't wait to show me what it could do this morning (hurray!) To go with our magnificent espressos we had lovely warm toasted croissants with butter and jam The espressos were perfect too
My boyfriend made this sweet little film of Eilidh after we went to visit her and the rest of my family on Friday. It was the week of Eilidh's second birthday and my gran's 88th. We all got together from the Highlands/Italy/Stockbridge to celebrate Every time I watch this film I get all emotional! I love it so much!
I made my favourite bean burgers for the first time in the new flat today. I love how easy they are to make, and how I always seem to have all the ingredients for them in my cupboard
Everything is all mixed together in a bowl, then squashed into six little burgers. They are brushed with a little oil before being grilled for a few minutes on each side.
I like to put them into toasted wholemeal pitta breads with some salad leaves and some lime juice flavoured greek yogurt (or ketchup if i'm feeling lazy!).
This time I made them with a whole teaspoon of dried basil, and that was even better (chopped up fresh basil leaves are what you are supposed to use though!). I also forgot to add the chilli today, but found that they taste just as lovely without the spice!
I love crisp sunny winter days, so much better to me than the hot sticky ones of summer! 
) It was so sweet of him to do that for me though and I was very grateful 
I didn't even make my own pudding! 
my favourites! 
). I made half of them with salmon and avocado, and the other half with tuna and avocado. With this we had pickled pink ginger, wasabi paste, soy sauce, and some warm sake wine 
I am not used to not feeling well! 
WIDGETIZE