Family Fun

This weekend my mum pulled off something special!

DISCLAIMER THOUGH ...

*We all helped ... a bit...*

My smartypants mother has finally completed her PhD! Insane or what?!

And so, we thought it was about time we got as much of our family together for a little celebration.

After a day of putting together quite a feast in the kitchen, we shared cuddles, bubbles, laughs and lots of love.

This variation of roast potatoes was a veggie version of a recent recipe in The Times magazine! 

So easy - slice potatoes as if you're making dauphinoise, Mix in a large bowl with melted butter (instead of duck fat as per The Times), salt, pepper and oregano (we used rosemary though!) and bake for 1hr 15mins at 200 degrees. 

Easy peasy and hands down the best roast potatoes I've had in a while!

We had two types of pasta going! We figured this was a safe bet, as everyone loves pasta! 

You can't go wrong with Spaghetti Napolitana! Finger kissingly bellissima just like the Italians (or in our case Indians) do it!

And then for the (slightly) more adventurous there was baked Rigatoni with spinach and green peppers in a cream sauce and a baked cheese topping...carb overload, cheese overload = absolutely divine!

And then what happened next was great ... my little sister got involved and got her hands stuck in making desert. Delicious apple crumble with custard and pouring caramel sauce. This literally vanished as soon as I put it down on the table so there are no photos of the finished product! Testament to just how indulgent it was!

Clearly our theme was carbs, carbs and more carbs! But I mean, who's complaining? Right?!

Once we got all the prep underway and cooking, it was time for all the family to pile in!

And I got to play with the camera - I'm not very good at taking photos yet, it seems my hands are not very steady, and I've not quite worked out how to adjust the shutter speed for those action shots!

But anyway here's a selection of the less blurry shots!

My dad and his aunt - apparently this is their first ever photo together! Even though they've lived with each other for so many years!! (And you can just see me clicking the photo in the mirror!)

My dad's cousin/brother/best friend ever! These two grew up together in Mombasa, and from the stories were unbelievably naughty. They pulled off some pretty great stunts in their time including moving a neighbour's bed from his bedroom to his flat roof and then lurking about laughing while they saw him running around searching for it! (Not sure I'd have got away with doing anything remotely as cheeky as a child!)

My dad's aunty and uncle, and my cousin brother - budding psychiatrist Rajiv!

My aunty and cousin with the newest family member Aidan!

My mum being congratulated by my aunty Naina!

And my mum's bestie tucking into dinner! We had a bit of a production line going with all that food!

My talented little sister who clearly had a big appetite on the weekend with the size of that plate!

But the star of the show was our newest addition - here again with his yummy mummy!

What I love about our family is that everyone just gets stuck in, makes some noise and has a good time! There are no formalities with us and its a more the merrier kind of attitude.

I love family time. They're my favourite dinner party guests and I can't wait till we have them all over again!

P.s. try out those potatoes - they look great when they come out of the oven with a crispy top - and they're definitely a crowd pleaser!

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Wishing For: Winter Warmers

The holiday season is fast approaching.

And just before it gets here, the shops will be getting into the holiday spirit with some festive sales.

Here's what I'm dreaming for and lusting after ... I'll be keeping all my little fingers and toes crossed hoping that they'll appear in the Black Friday sales!

1. Tory Burch Striped Sweater (here)

2. H&M Super Skinny Jeans (here)

3. Sophie Hulme Messenger Bag (here)

4. Kurt Geiger Sneakers (here)

1. Topshop Vest (here)

2. Accessorize Earrings (here)

3. Chloe Dress (here)

4. Stuart Weitzman Boots (here)

1. H&M Body (here)

2. Eina Ahluwalia Necklace via Pernia's Pop-Up Shop (here)

3. H&M Skirt (here) (I already have this though - I couldn't wait! You can see it on this blogpost)

4. Kurt Geiger Heels (here)

Are you wishing for anything special this winter season?

Happy shopping!

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Cake Classics : Lemon Drizzle

Baking is my go to hobby whenever I'm feeling low. 

And this simple, sunny, succulent recipe for the classic lemon drizzle cake is super easy and ALWAYS delivers the perfect pick-me-up!

So lets get cracking!

Start by weighing out 115g self-raising flour, 115g sugar, 115g butter (told you it was an easy recipe!) and 1 tsp of baking powder.

Then comes the star player!

Add the zest of 1 lemon to your dry mix. 

And then crack in 2 eggs (as if it wasn't yellow enough in that mixing bowl already!).

And then get to mixing pronto!

Pour your zingy cake mix into a lined baking tin, and whack it in the oven for 35 mins at 180 degrees. 

Once you take the cake out, let it rest in the baking tin while you make the drizzle.

50g of sugar and the juice of one lemon ... that's it! Easy peasy right?!

And then go for it ... Drizzle away!

While your cake is still warm, let that sticky syrup run wild over that perfect golden crust and soak all the way through the sponge!

The idea, is that there's just a bit too much sugar for the liquid, so it doesn't all dissolve, and when you pour it over the cake, some of the sugar gets stuck on the top and you get that crunchy little sugary icing when you bite through it!

Then it gets even easier ... cut a slice (or two) and get stuck in!

Sweet. Sour. Sticky. ... aka Perfect!

I'm going to add some chopped mint to my drizzle next time so it tastes even more fresh and gives the cake a pop of colour! What are your variations on a classic cake? Let me know your suggestions.

Happy baking!

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Duck and Waffle

To escape the torrential downpour that seemed to hit London last night, we dashed inside the Heron Tower for a spot of dinner at Duck and Waffle. (Wearing rain appropriate footwear of course!)

But I am going to apologise now for the grainy iPhone pics - forgot the camera! Massive fail!

Glad to be dry and no longer splashing through puddles, the lift doors shut quickly behind us and off we went.

We flew through the skies! And hurtled all the way up to the 40th floor!

What a view of the city we had!

And then we were seated at one of the best tables in the house! With a stunning backdrop of our city all lit up!

So our wonderful waiter Alberto kick-started our evening with some (not on the menu) lip-smackingly delicious non-alcoholic passion fruit cocktails. 

He could clearly tell it was date night!

And I eagerly awaited all the calorific food we'd ordered!!

Although, we pretended to be healthy and ordered some olives to start ... as you do!

We shared those with a slice of violet artichoke and parmesan bread.

It was hot like it had come straight out of the oven and to our table. 

A wonderfully savoury entrée to the rest of the meal ahead!

To start, I had the coal charred aubergine with cumin, garlic and yoghurt. 

A deliciously toasty and smokey aubergine balanced with the freshness of cool yoghurt. So scrummy - I really tucked into that!

But Mr Zerodays' wild Cornish pollock meatballs with lobster cream and parmesan were only so-so.

Then came the eponymous Duck and Waffle for Mr Zerodays!

Each element I'm told was individually delicious, but he just couldn't make the sweet and savoury bits work together in his head! 

My Jerusalem artichoke ravioli with charred cauliflower, smoked butter and malt crumble was insane! It was rich, silly and utterly divine!

The charred cauliflower shavings in particular were incredible! I will be adding those to some dishes of my own!

And then we finished it off with a wonder of a desert! 

A shell of pistachio macaroon sandwiching a rich and heavenly dark chocolate mousse pearl!

This was a desert that made me go "mmmmmmm" at the table! 

Out loud!! (And I really didn't want to share it!)

Despite me being a tad selfish and indulgent when it came to desert, our evening was lovely!

Great venue, great view, great service and great food!

Couldn't have asked for more really!

I was quite sad taking the elevator all the way back down to earth! 

But we did meet the owner on our way down, and he let us know that this place is open all night!! I'll definitely be heading here for an early breakfast after the next big night out! I can only imagine what the sunrise must look like with this view!!

Let me know of any other restaurant recommendations you may have ... I'm always looking for somewhere new to try!

Happy eating!

Outfit:

Coat: Karen Millen (old but similar here and here)

Top: Cropped Jumper from Zara (old but similar here)

Skirt: Red Lace and Satin Mini from H&M (here)

Belt: Accessorize (old but similar here)

Boots: Dune (old but wishing for these and these!)

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Spooky Skeleton Cookies

Instead of the customary token bottle of alcohol that everyone always brings to a party, this year I decided to do something a little bit different!

My friends (who have just got married) were throwing a little Halloween bash at their lovely place in Pimlico, and seeing as it was their first party since their epic wedding and return from an even more epic month-long honeymoon (I mean how insanely lucky were they to swing that?!) I wanted to do something that required a little more thought and effort than a stroll to the local off-license.

So these spooky yet sweet skeleton cookies came to be!

So this is how you can re-create these at home:

Mix: 350g plain flour, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 inch grated fresh ginger, 100g butter, 100g dark brown muscavado sugar, 1 tsp baking powder and a pinch of salt. 

Then pour in a mix of 2 eggs and 4 tbsp golden syrup all beaten together.

Roll your sleeves up and just get stuck into this gooey mess and get mixing!

After using a little bit of muscle power, your dough will all come together nicely and firm up. 

Divide it into two halves so its easier to work with.

Wrap one of the halves in clingfilm and pop it to chill out in the fridge.

Then get going with the first half. Dust your work surface with flour and roll out the dough into a thin even sheet.

Using a cookie-cutter, cut out the shapes you want (I used a standard gingerbread-man cutter), and lay them out onto a lined baking tray.

Keep going until you've used up all your dough, and then combine the leftovers and re-roll and cut again!

I got about 50 small gingerbread-men shapes out of my dough!

Then pop them into a pre-heated oven at 170 degrees, for about 12 minutes (adjust as per the size and thickness of your cookies).

But this is where you have to be careful!

Because of the dark brown sugar and all the spices, the dough is already a golden colour so its difficult to tell just by eye when they're ready! So use your first batch as your trial - if you lift them off the baking tray with a spatula, the base should be nice and firm when they're ready!

Then line up those golden beauties and let them cool on a wire rack.

Once they've cooled - get to decorating!

First make your icing (or cheat and buy some prepared Royal Icing for decorating!): mix together icing sugar, water and meringue powder to get a thick white paste for piping, and fill a piping bag. You want the nozzle with smallest circular hole.

Then hands steady, and let your imagination run wild!

They turned out to be so sweet with a delicate warm spice to them, and they had a lovely crunch too! They were too scrummy to be spooky at all and went down a treat at the party when everyone got the munchies!

The combination of ginger and cinnamon always reminds me of Christmas though, so I'll definitely be making these again but using more festive shapes - I'm thinking snowflakes and christmas trees - to have with some warm milk on Christmas Eve! Perhaps I'll leave these out for Santa too!

Let me know what shapes and designs you come up with!

Happy baking!

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