Tuesday, July 31, 2018

CatFest London and vegan street food

CatFest was London's first ever festival dedicated to cats (in Shoreditch, where else?) featuring everything from handmade cat baskets to bejewelled cat collars (which could also be worn by humans), posters and paintings of cats, cat themed stationery and gifts, and books about cats.


It took place in July and I managed to get two tickets for me and a friend who was visiting. I left baby S at home with her dad and enjoyed one of the most random days out I've had in a while!


The event opened later than the advertised time so there was a queue of people waiting outside as we arrived, but luckily it didn't take long to get in. The stalls were arranged in rows around a hall and we took our time browsing, though the only thing I bought was a catnip toy. I did however get to meet Artemis and Apollo, two Instagram-famous cats with about 115,000 followers - this is a selfie with Artemis!

There was a stage at the front with various speakers over the course of the day, but nobody I had actually heard of - while we were there, a lady from the "Kitty Bungalow Charm School for Wayward Cats" (a cat rescue in Los Angeles) was giving a talk but we couldn't hear her very well over the general hubbub of the festival, and there was nowhere to sit and not much room to even stand in front of the stage - they would have been better doing this in a separate room with some seating I think. There were also some very odd 70s style dancers which we watched for a few minutes but I was more interested in the cats!


Having said that, other than the Instagram stars we didn't see any actual cats. There was an adoption area in another bit across the road, where you could meet cats and put your name down to adopt one, but I already have a cat and the queue to get into this separate area was very long - they were only letting a few people in at a time so not to overwhelm the cats, which was sensible, but we didn't want to queue in the hot sun.
 
Instead we visited the food court to get some lunch. For some reason all the food on offer was vegan and though there weren't that many stalls, there were choices from every end of the spectrum so pretty much something for everyone. My friend had a cauliflower patty served in a box with cous cous and a few other things, though as there was only a tiny seating area and we had to stand, she found it a little difficult to eat out of the box with a fork (given we also had a glass of Pimms as well!). I had a vegan hot dog from Pig Out - they had three options, all vegan, and I had American style with macaroni cheese on top the sausage. It was absolutely delicious and as they travel the country visiting various food markets and events I urge you to check them out if you get the chance.


I also spotted one of my favourite bakeries which just happens to be vegan - Ms Cupcake, based in Brixton, makes the best cookie sandwiches I've ever had. I had a salted caramel and took a chocolate chip home for my husband - he is about as far removed from vegan as you can get, and he loves them too!

I wore my cat print dress from Lindybop which I've had for a while but only worn once or twice before as it seems a bit OTT for daily wear but this was definitely the event for it - I got so many compliments from complete strangers!

 
CatFest was a fun day out though I did think the £20 ticket price was a bit steep considering that pretty much everything inside involved purchasing things, other than adopting cats, and the guest speakers, but even if we had wanted to stay and listen to any more speakers it wasn't very well set up for that, as there was nowhere to sit and even standing to listen we were in the way of people walking around looking at the stalls. So if this event takes place again, which I think is their intention, I hope they will drop the ticket price and also think differently about the logistics. The food was great and it was definitely something a bit different!

Monday, July 30, 2018

Meal Planning Monday 2018 Week 31

My husband's week off really did not go to plan. We were both really sick for nearly the whole week - more ill than I remember being for a long time. Luckily baby S didn't get ill at all, and we were just about able to take it in turns to take care of her - I got sick first then my husband, then we were both recovering and feeling really rough for a couple of days but able to cope. We couldn't have managed without my mother-in-law's help though!

So any plans we had for the week went out the window (down the toilet would be a more accurate phrase) and we were off our food and not eating much all week either. We were ok by the weekend when my sister and niece came to stay which was really nice; now they have left and my husband is back at work it's back to my daily routine of being a mum on maternity leave.

Monday
Lunch (with my sister and niece) hotdogs
Dinner Fishcake and mashed potato for me

Tuesday
I promised my husband takeaway after a rotten week off so I'll see if he wants to do it tonight, or at the weekend

Wednesday
barbecue

Thursday
macaroni cheese with bacon lardons and sausages

Friday
barbecue

Saturday
Lunch  bacon sandwich
Dinner chicken stuffed with boursin in a red wine sauce I didn't do last week

Sunday
Lunch TBA maybe pancakes
Dinner pizza topped chicken I didn't do last week

Friday, July 27, 2018

Summer Watermelon Spritz

You can find frozen diced fruit in most supermarkets for making smoothies but I found something I'd not come across before recently - Tesco has frozen watermelon balls in beautiful little spheres which are good for so much more than throwing in a blender!

I made this drink which took just moments but tasted delicious. It's a glass of lemonade straight from the fridge with frozen watermelon balls instead of ice cubes and some fresh mint. If you like tonic water you can try that and I bet it would be nice with a splash of something alcoholic!


I muddled the fruit around in the glass as it softened and ate it at the end using a milkshake straw - a straw that has a little spoon on the end. It was just the thing for this hot weather we've been having!

I'm sharing this with CookBlogShare hosted this week by Lost in Food.

Hijacked By Twins

Monday, July 23, 2018

Meal Planning Monday 2018 Week 30

My husband has finally got some time off so we can spend the week as a family - we haven't really planned anything to do yet, but I know he's coming along to baby massage and My Gym to see what baby S gets up to every week, and we will have at least one afternoon out, and hopefully do a few other things like finish decorating the nursery.

Then at the weekend my sister and her 20 month old are coming to stay so we've got some fun but low key activities planned. I will also adjust the menu depending on what my niece prefers to eat and whether we are eating our dinner at the same time as her, or later.

Monday
Lunch - sandwich
Dinner - barbecue

Tuesday
Lunch- pasta bake or bacon sandwich
Dinner- gammon and new potatoes or macaroni cheese with sausage

Wednesday
Lunch- homemade sausage rolls with puff pastry
Dinner- barbecue

Thursday
Lunch- pasta bake or fresh rolls for sandwiches if I buy any
Dinner- chicken stuffed with boursin in a red wine sauce

Friday
Lunch- ham and cheese toasties
Dinner- gammon and new potatoes or macaroni cheese with sausage

Saturday
Lunch- probably something easy like a bacon sandwich
Dinner- barbecue

Sunday
Lunch- crumpets and Scotch pancakes
Dinner- pizza-topped chicken with mashed potato or new potatoes and veg

Friday, July 20, 2018

Age is Irr-elephant Birthday Card

 
I couldn't resist buying a card making magazine recently when I saw the free cover gift was a sheet of zoo animal clear stamps, including an alpaca, as I love alpacas! The set included some great sentiments and phrases to go with the animals as well; here is a card I made using the elephant stamp, the 'tree in the savannah' stamp and a sentiment saying 'age is irr-elephant'.

I inked the background using a cotton wool ball and an ink pad which also came with the craft magazine, pressing more firmly on the bottom half of the card and lighter on the top half.

I'm sharing this with CCEE stampers where the theme is zoo animals for national zookeepers week and Moving along with the times where the theme is wild animal.

Thursday, July 19, 2018

The Diner, Ganton Street London and the Regent Street Festival

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Oreo Marshmallow Fluff Cheesecake

Whenever I buy a jar of marshmallow fluff for a recipe I end up eating the whole jar  - not in one go, but it doesn't usually end up being used in the recipe I intended!

This time around I bought two jars so I could definitely make the recipe I wanted! My husband loves Oreos and I decided to make an Oreo cheesecake and use the marshmallow fluff in the filling.

I kind of made the recipe up as I went along and it didn't set particularly firm - you need to eat this with a spoon rather than a fork - but it tasted really good!

See the recipe below..









You need:
1 packet Oreos
50g butter
213g jar marshmallow fluff
200g tub soft cheese
100ml crème fraiche
100g icing sugar

 
Crush the Oreos either with a rolling pin or in a blender. Melt the butter in a small pan over a low heat or in the microwave and stir in the crushed Oreos.

Press into the bottom of a 7 or 8 inch loose-bottomed cake tin.

In a large bowl, mix together the marshmallow fluff, soft cheese, crème fraiche and icing sugar and spread over the crushed Oreo base.

Allow to set in the fridge, ideally overnight.


I'm sharing this with Baking Crumbs and Casa Costello's Bake of the week (even though there is no actual baking involved!) and CookBlogShare.

Monday, July 16, 2018

Meal Planning Monday 2018 Week 29

I had a great weekend with a friend visiting going into London twice, once with my daughter and once leaving her with my husband - we went to CatFest and the Regent Street Festival. While I was there I had macaroni cheese in a restaurant which reminded me of how much I like it, so I'd like to make it again soon - though with the weather so hot at the moment we will probably be barbecuing a lot again!

Monday - barbecue

Tuesday - out for a family birthday

Wednesday - barbecue

Thursday - stir-fry for me, chicken chargrills for him

Friday - gammon, new potatoes and apple sauce

Saturday
Lunch- bacon sandwich
Dinner- barbecue

Sunday
Lunch- crumpet pizzas
Dinner- macaroni cheese and sausage

Monday, July 9, 2018

Meal Planning Monday 2018 Week 28

It's too hot to think - and to cook! Unfortunately my husband doesn't eat salads or I would consider doing those for dinner every night. Instead we plan to barbecue a lot.

Since having a baby I don't have a lot of time to prepare food so while I'd love to be trying out new barbecue recipes every time, I'm more likely to be found ordering ready-marinated meat and ready-to-cook things from the supermarket, but there are a few easy but tasty things we can do to liven it up a bit.

Monday
Tuna steak, hot dog and potato salad for me, beef kebabs and hot dog for him

Tuesday
Burgers plus chicken kebabs

Wednesday
Watching the football, like most of England - which starts around the time my husband gets home from work so I'll put something easy in the oven from the freezer

Thursday
Burgers, mozzarella sticks, potato salad, garlic bread

Friday
tuna steak, beef steak for him, chicken kebabs

Saturday
Lunch - I'm out with a friend at CatFest (Google it!)
Dinner - barbecued whole chicken, sausages, mozzarella sticks

Sunday
Lunch - I'm out again with friends so will get food while I'm out
Dinner - probably something easy from the freezer

Sunday, July 8, 2018

Pink Unicorn card - Be a Unicorn in a Field of Horses


Unicorns are a really big thing at the moment - I can't really remember when it started but suddenly they are everywhere, from toys to children's clothing to cakes to stationery. Late one night in between feeding the baby I was browsing the internet and decided to look for a rubber unicorn stamp for card making. I thought there would be loads but couldn't find any I liked until I came across this unmounted one from China. It's quite large so just right for the main element of a card.

The backing paper is from a set called Glitter Girl which was from Hobbycraft only a couple of months ago but they don't seem to stock it any more unfortunately. The frames and banner are die cuts I bought pre cut from Ebay (getting out my die cutting machine seems like hard work at the moment!). I stamped the unicorn and coloured it in with Promarker and stamped the sentmiment from a separate set of unicorn-related sentiment stamps.

I'm sharing this with Penny Black where the theme is 'things with wings' as unicorns are usually depicted with wings; Crafting with Dragonflies where the theme is animals; Crafty Friends which is fairy/fantasy; Send a Smile 4 Kids which is anything goes for kids; and the Fairy and Unicorn challenge where the theme is mythical.

Wednesday, July 4, 2018

Trip of a Lifetime - exploring the Galapagos Islands

Monday, July 2, 2018

Meal Planning Monday 2018 Week 27

I can't believe we are more than half way through the year - I don't know where the time has gone! My little girl is now 4 months old, it seems a lifetime ago that we brought a brand new baby home from the hospital as she has grown and changed so much. Her latest thing is blowing raspberries and as I started writing this with baby S on her playmat at my feet, where I thought I could leave her while I did my meal plan, I looked down and she'd learnt to shuffle and had moved several inches off the playmat! I love that she is learning new things all the time - even if it means I have even less time to myself! And by 'time to myself' I mean time to stay on top of housework and so on... it's rare that I get any 'me time'!

Last week's meal plan was a bit of a write-off. We planned to barbecue a lot and on the first night, the food burnt and was totally ruined, because our gas barbecue had a build-up of fat that caused huge nearly-take-your-eyebrows-off flames. The next day when it had cooled down my husband took the barbecue apart after he got home from work, and the next day I spent an hour cleaning it while I was napping, but an awful lot of elbow grease and four cleaning cloths going in the bin later, it looked like I'd barely started. So I gave up and booked a professional oven and barbecue cleaning company, who were supposed to come on Friday afternoon - meaning we'd be able to use the barbecue once in the week at least, plus the weekend. On Friday afternoon I got a call saying the guy's van had broken down and he couldn't come! I couldn't help but wonder if he just didn't want to do a final job at 4pm on a blazing hot Friday.. they are now coming back on Monday so hopefully we can barbecue next week. I ended up freezing some of the food we were going to cook last week but also having to throw some of it out, which was a shame!

For lunches this week I will try to mainly have salads!

Monday
Barbecue - pizza and sausages with salad, barbecued new potatoes

Tuesday
Barbecue - burgers, fish kebabs, chicken kebabs ,halloumi

Wednesday
Barbecue - sea bass with this sauce for me, steak for him, halloumi, potato salad/ cous cous

Thursday
Something different for a change...lasagne from my batch cooking for me, chicken nuggets and chips for him

Friday
May as well barbecue again! Pork loin steaks for me with couscous, burger/sausage for him, mozzarella sticks

Saturday
Lunch - ham and cheese toasties
Dinner - Barbecue lamb with salsa verde from this recipe for me, steak for him

Sunday
Lunch- bacon sandwich
Dinner - Whole barbecued chicken with limonata, potato wedges, salad and Weber chocolate fondants