food for free

I am quite a fan of foraging and quite a fan of hugh fearnley whittingstall - i admire what he has done in taking on the supermarkets with his 'chicken out' campaign (there really is no excuse for the supermarkets to be selling battery eggs). Anyway it was HFW who first got me into the idea of foraging with the river cottage series which i watched back to back while struggling unsuccessfully with trying to feed my first baby). Anyway I am a bit of namby pamby whimp in some areas and wouldn't go scraping up roadkill, however there is some excitement in our house when the wild garlic starts to sprout!

Mr H is a big fan of wild garlic flower fritters so I am giving you the recipe, with the idea that they are sort of crdit crunch nibbles. In fact we have got friends coming for dinner on friday and these will be on the menu!

first gather your flowers - pick from an area not too close to a tree - you don't want dog pee on them!

make a batter from equal quantities of cornflour and plain flour - i usually use an american 1/3 cup measure, and do a measure of each.
Add a biggish pinch of salt.
Heat a small deep saucepan with about an inch of sunflower or vegetable oil, get the oil nice and hot.
mix ice cold lager into the flours to get the consistency of paint or double cream. (it needs to be ice cold)
give the garlic heads a shake to dislodge any wildlife and dip in the batter. deep fry a few at time till puffed and golden (only takes about 30 seconds) take them out of the oil with tongues and drain on kitchen paper. sprinle with a bit more salt (this is not one for people with heart problems!!) and scoff while hot.

I also make a nice sage/ anchovy combo using the same batter, sandwich half an anchovy fillet in between 2 large sage leaves and do the same as above. mmmmmm eat with large glass of wine before dinner!

robin hood

Boy has been excited for days at the prospect of his best friend coming for tea today. When I asked him what he'd like to eat he answered ' a dalek made from cucumber'. I wasn't too sure how to achieve this and despite Boy's assurances that all I needed was a bit of icing I wasn't convinced. I suggested he went for a Robin Hood supper instead (I felt this gave me more options) and Boy rushed happily off to tell Best Friend, who turned up this afternoon with his Robin Hood outfit.

Coincidentally hubby popped home earlier and strimmed the hedges leaving lots of leylandii branches over the garden, perfect for den making, and so we set to. In the 'forest' at the top of the garden a secret base was built and whilst boys played with bows (and imaginary arrows) I cooked, then packaged up the food in baking paper and raffia and delivered to the base with an improvised flagon (wine cooler). The children thoroughly enjoyed eating knobbly potatoes, corn on the cob and sausages with their fingers and pudding was wild berries foraged from Sherwood!

yee ha and cake

A good time was had by all in the village of Amberley today. We had our first ever village cow trail, and lots of people turned up, I was manning the teas with the help of my good friends. We wanted to make it look special and went very overboard on the whole jam and jerusalem look with vintage china, jam jars of flowers, tea in teapots and cakes on cakestands.

I know people think I am bonkers (Mr H particularly) for always wanting things to look perfect, but we had so many lovely comments today that I think the extra effort was worth it!!

The table was positively groaning with goodies.

We were rushed off our feet with people from the village and beyond stopping by for a big slice of homemade cake and a pot of tea. We were very glad when a big jug of pimms arrived from the other end of the village (there is a pimms/beer tent at the finish and tea is halfway round) this really aided the washing up.

I have got very achy feet but it was so worth it, the scene outside greyling house with people sipping tea and chatting away while the children raced around the green was absolute village bliss and made me so proud to live here among such great folks!

also my favourite cow happened to be residing right next to the teas - she has a stupendous bosom - worth a look for any vistors tomorrow!!!

back to back

There is so much going on here at the moment because of the Textile Festival. Sarah has already mentioned our visit to Cut 2 on Fold a collaboration by Studio Seven, absolutely brilliant and a MUST for anyone in Stroud this May. We both plan to go back, take photos and rave about it here at a later date

But this morning I took the children to see what was going on at Back to Back. It is part of an International challenge in which teams compete to see who can produce a knitted jumper in the quickest time - from sheep's back to man's back.

There was a shepherd shearing the sheep and spinners and knitters working away like mad. I'm not a knitter myself but it was very interesting to see the process from start to finish, they were aiming to do it in around eight hours. Last year's winners were a team from Toronto and they achieved it in 5 hrs 55 mins!

From sheep to cows - after an interlude at a birthday party and with the children fuelled with cupcakes and squash we set off for Amberley and the cowhunt. Sarah's vintage tea stand was idyllic, the weather was on their side and children played merrily in the lumps and tumps of the common whilst parents supped blissfully on Earl Grey served in a mish mash of teapots and vintage teacups with delicious homemade cakes. But I'm sure Sarah will tell you all about it.....

a good day, a bad day and a busy weekend

First the good. I was featured with this picture in the English Home magazine on the subs page. The lovely people over at the English Home did a very nice blurb about me and from that several very nice ladies telephoned with enquiries and sample requests. However my happy bubble was popped with the arrival of the mail, and a rejection from the Mary Howard Fair people. They have not selected me for a stand at their lovely christmas extravaganza. (Mr H is secretly relieved as he was worried he was going to be left to procure a goose and deal with the relatives so alls well I suppose.................but I am disappointed.)

Anyway Jo and I had a lovely trip out today to see the cut 2 on the fold exhibition at the space in stroud. It was AMAZING, UNBELIEVABLY AMAZINGLY GOOD!!! so good that i am going back on monday to take some photos so you can see how lovely it was.

The Busy Weekend bit is I have come over all mr Kipling and have spent all evening baking cakes for tomorrows cow trail day in the village (yee ha). I am manning a vintage style tea area. I bought loads of teacups toay which Mr H did his best to smash - fortunately there are some survivors. I am hoping that the sun will shine and everyone will be scoffing gorgeous homemade cakes all afternoon (thank you to all the domestic goddesses ou there who have been baking along with me for this weekend!) the tea table will be groaning with delicious goodies.

While I was on the search for inspiration for the tea area I went back to one of my favourite places snippet and ink and found this lovely mood board, I wonder if our tea area will be so beautiful.............!!

Top row from left: beribboned tree, bouquet from Martha Stewart Weddings, photo by Ericka McConnell, family photo clothesline display by Nicole HillRow 2: ring pillows from Martha Stewart Weddings, dessert table photo by One Love Photo, flowers in tin can vases via Earth Friendly Weddings, vintage stamps from Chelsea Fuss via Once WedRow 3: picnic blankets via Oh Happy Day, picnic meal on Mottahedeh tin plates, sodas from Kate Parker WeddingsRow 4: tart photo by Valls Photographic, flowers via Toast & Tables, photo by Liz Banfield via The Bride's Cafe, bride with roses in her hair via Black Eiffel
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a classy hen night?

I'm back from an exhausting but fun weekend of trying not to humiliate my little sister too much. Ever since the film came out she has been an obsessed with Mama Mia, to the extent there was even talk of kaftans and donkeys at her wedding (an idea firmly squashed by her fiance). When she asked me to organise her hen night it wasn't hard come up with a theme. I told everyone it was Mama Mia/Abba giving them the freedom to interpret as they wished. As it was most opted for the bright lycra jump suit idea (it's worrying the clothes some people just happen to have lying around in their cupboards).

All was kept a secret from my sister who returned from her afternoon activity to be presented with a bright pink, tasteless Abba costume and whilst all the hens prepared their eyeshadow I got pink fizz and canapes ready. I have to confess that I cheated here. Thanks to Waitrose Entertaining all I had to do was take the canapes out of their packaging and place on a plate - I have never used them before but I had realised that I simply couldn't do everything on my own. The food was really well presented and went down very well, so highly recommended.

For the main meal I decided to recreate a Greek Taverna - the tackier the better! I was happily finding props to enforce the theme (Zorba the Greek, lights strung across the ceiling, geraniums, sun hats, taverna signs, a guitar in place of a eukele - I had to improvise a bit). Mum and I were discussing the possibility of having either chickens or a donkey roaming around the kitchen when she volunteered to do a mural on the kitchen wall. Her initial thought was a man in traditional Greek clothes with the pom pom shoes - with future son-in-law's face but I suggested the classic Greek Statue and that's what she did. Obviously that caused much hilarity, not only to the fellow hens, but also at the ladies lunch mum had a couple of days before hand, as a result of which, through her letterbox fell an envelope saying 'for the retention of mother in law's diginity', containing a fig leaf.

Slow roast lamb, oregano roast pototoes, Greek Salad, stuffed vine leaves, baked butter beans, aubergine dip, tzatziki, humus, pitta and calamari (yes I think we were all loosening our belts after all that) was followed by my chocolate mousse, strawberries, raspberries, meringues, and then Baklava (now truly bloated in time for a game of Mr & Mrs). All food I could prepare easily. Each hen found a sunflower seedling in their place the pots made of paper with Greek poetry on and a label with a picture of a hen on it.

Supper finished at 1 am with my sister in drunken, overwhelmed tears over a book that we had all written soppy messages in. It was time to up the tempo slightly and to let the awful wigs, flourescent eyelashes and silver platforms come into their own. In another room pop corn and glow sticks were waiting, the room was filled with a night sky lighting effect and Mama Mia (sing along version of course) was projected on to a wall.

What a night!

new designs

I have finally got around to making and photographing some new cushion designs, these are the 'boy' colourways and they are going to be on my website later in the summer, I am also doing some girly pink versions.
I wanted to do some fabrics that would be appealing for parents who wanted something that their kids could grow older with, and also to create some designs for those most difficult of individuals - teenagers!!!!! So I came up with the idea of the star fabric in 3 different scales - seen here as cushions.

the waiting room

What I enjoy about waiting rooms is the exposure to loads of magazines I wouldn't normally read. Last night hubby treated me to a massage at a local spa (recouperation for organising the hen do), whilst waiting for my treatment I browsed through some mags, with note book to hand and came away with a list of websites to look at and products I had fallen in love with.

I have been coveting a Lucinda Chamber's Jubilee cushion (£240) available at the Rug Company for a long time. Not surprisingly hubby was pleased when I announced that I had found a new cushion to long for. When I told him it was this Paul Smith Painters Smock cushion, also available at the Rug Company but for £480 he wasn't quite so chuffed!

However the best discovery was Shauna Richardson whose Running Hare is pictured above. She crochets these life size animal sculptures and sells them on her website brilliantly named crochetdermy. Since I still am trying to master the basic crochet stitches I'm full of admiration of anyone who can create more than a wonky scarf.

Now if someone can explain why I'm happy to read shared magazines in a germ infested doctor's surgery, but can't go into a charity shop I'd be grateful!

sue parkinson

I had a lovely day out in Cirencester with my folks. It was such a nice day that I felt like I was on holiday. I have been a bit of a grump of late as I have had so much on I have felt on a hamster wheel. Anyway a well earned day off and lunch out was just the ticket for a bit of inspiration.

Our first stop was the newly refurbished Corn Hall. I don't know who was responsible for the redesign but whoever it was has done an amazing job. The first shop you see is Sue Parkinson. I was in seventh heaven and have to go back minus small child! It was like an upmarket version of Anthropology - one of my favourite stores in the USA. Sue and her ladies have an amazing eye and the whole shop was put together brilliantly. It is the kind of place you could spend all afternoon and all your savings in and come out very happy!! The mix of fashion, books, interiors stationary,gifts etc was perfect. They stock some heavenly paper goods which I will returning to purchase. From an interiors point of view the decor was lovely, soft muted greys, chocolate and wood floors - just what I would like for my house. Anyway I was so impressed I have asked for some more info and some links so I will post about them again soon with some more pictures, as this is but a tiny taster.....

made by bob

After the excitement of discovering Sue Parkinsons shop in the new Corn Hall building, I then got even more over excited by lunch at made by bob. I had read the fab review in Cotswold life magazine (there is a little tiny feature on me in there this month too!) Anyway it turns out that the lovely Bob is Sue Parkinsons son. Mum and Dad very kindly said they would treat me to lunch out and did I fancy trying Bobs? Did i hesitate? Of course not!

Made by Bob was FANTASTIC, everything about it was fantastic. As anyone who knows me personally will testify I am an 'its all in the details' person (sadly I am never able to apply this to my own home) anyway Bobs ticked all the boxes for me on detail. You can pop in for coffee and muffins, pastries etc from first thing, lunch starts at 12, and then they do afternoon tea as well. (I will have to return for afternoon tea as there was something chocolatey in the oven while we were eating lunch, the smell was making me drool! but I was too full for pudding). The place has a really buzzy and friendly vibe, there was a really nice mix of people and the staff weren't at all sniffy about an excited 2 year old dressed as Sportacus from lazytown!! There is also a deli stacked with fabulous fresh produce, and I spied a variety of salami which i always buy in Italy. They also had their own home made version of the ready meal, in generous jars of pasta sauce (I bought mum aubergine, tomato, olive and ricotta), pots of fresh pesto, big pots of fish soup (which came with a little pot of gruyere and rouille). You could easily buy the bits and pieces for a lovely mediteranean dinner party here.

Anyway onto lunch, we kicked off with a plate of bread, olives and salsa verde. The bread was potato bread and oh wow it was good, so good in fact that we had to ask for more!!! Then Dad had a plate of charcuterie, which was very very good - so often you just get a bit of salalmi and proscuito but this had lots of variety and generously covered the plate, also had olives and pickled chillies and large caper berries, My 2 said yuk to the lovely broad beans I was trying to shovel in him from my plate and merrily tucked into grampys charcuterie! I had eggy pasta with salsicca, broad beans, peas and mint. It was divine I haven't had such a good bowl of pasta since I last went to Italy. It had a lovely clingy buttery sauce, YUM. Mum had white onion, asparagus and taleggio tart, so delicious was it that she scoffed it nearly all to herself I did get a little taste and it was gorgeous.

If I hadn't scoffed so much bread I might have had room for pudding. But I was defeated so I will have to return at a later date (what a shame!!!!)
I really hope made by bob does brilliantly in Cirencester and we wish him and his family every success, this place is just what Cirencester needs.

lexi loves

Next was Lexi Loves, a real favourite of mine and Jo's. I won't do a big Post here as I took lots of photos which I am going to post later, however a trip to Cirencester would be incomplete without a stop here. (I know a few of you local readers needed directions, so here goes. At the big crossroads in town where the church and market are, go down the street which has the big and now sadly empty woolworths - accessorize is also on this road. Go past woolies on your left and keep going, you will pass millets on the right keep going and look for lexi's lovely pink storefront on your left just after the bakers). I had a slight disaster in that I wanted to buy something for Jo and my mum and dad had taken the pushchair away with the 2 year old dressed as a rather grubby 'sportacus' so I could chat and take pictures, anyway my handbag was on the back of the pushchair so I couldn't make my purchases GGRRR. Never fear Lexi I will be back for the yoyo next week!

french grey

my final stop of the day was to French Grey to look for some glass door knobs for my newly painted wooden doors. French Grey is one
my favourite shops, I think this is because it has the right 'mix' for me, I love shops which combine fashion, interiors, jewelry, and nice gifts. Done well and with a good eye, this is a great combination, done badly it looks a mess, anyway french grey do it very well indeed. The style reminds me of those effortlessly elegant boutiques you find in Provence, so I always feel a little like I am on holiday when I visit. (In fact I have felt a bit 'on holiday' all day!)