..birthday gift for a girl friend

I wasn't sure what to give a friend for her birthday this weekend and whilst floating about on pinterest I came across this how to for a heat pack. Given that she's a bit sporty and has a bad back at the mo, I thought that might be appropriate so me and the sewing machine did battle this morning and I made this!

Instead of the usual lavender scent, I used orange, mango and cinnamon tea, a little extra orange zest and some crushed cinnamon to hide the cooked rice smell when you warm it. 

I figured something to eat is always good too, so made some chocolate ganache and flavoured it with a slug of spiced rum liqueur. This should also help it last longer (if it doesn't get eaten straight away!) as sugar and alcohol act as a preservative in a ganache. 

Last but not least, something to dunk into the ganache.. homemade vanilla shortbread. I used this recipe, but made it into bars. They were still a little soft in the middle and a bit chewy but I wanted them like this as I figured they'd work better for dunking! 

...and ta da! The finished gift. Bundled into a white stuff shoe box - their stuff is so pretty..
I used my Lotta Jansdotter labels to bring it all together. I love these labels soooo much. I'm going to have to find some spare pennies to buy some more because I can't bear the thought of being without them! Stationery fetishes live on long after "back to school" shopping.. 

bowl of delicious soup..

Yesterday it was grey and miserable outside and I was cold and in need of cheering inside.
I had a bowl of homemade chicken stock begging to be turned into some sort of soup, but didn't have anything much in the veggie drawer in the fridge. 

Then I had a lightbulb moment.

Apple's Persian Onion Soup from the Leon 2 book. 

It's not a quick recipe - you need to sweat off the onions for 15 mins first, add some spices and cook them through....

 

before adding stock and simmering it until it all softens down to a delish bowl of soup.

Probably about 45 mins in all but well worth it!

If you fancy making it, you can find the recipe here

.. Lazy Sunday

All four of us squeezed in for cups of tea and juice in bed

Wellies hastily shoved over stay-in-all-day joggers to give the dog a quick walk in the rain

Mid morning bacon sarnies for breakfast

Rainy days meaning family movie watching and sneaky snoozes, skootched up on the sofa 

Lazy dog enjoying the attention

Flowers opening and bringing the outdoors in

Cake eating and game playing whilst Dad watched F1

A teeny glass of wine whilst cooking a roast

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory  - the original and best

A very naughty roast dinner on our knees whilst we watched films

Duck fishing in the bath

Hooky in front of the fire..

... Fabulous Carrot Cake!

I love this carrot cake recipe, and so do my kids.
Which is a bonus, as the littlest one is impossible to get vegetables into.
It's one I've taken from the BBC Good Food website, which is a bit of a go-to encyclopaedia for recipes for me. I use it daily and much as I love nothing more than sitting down with a recipe book, I can't deny that much of my day to day food inspiration comes from BBCGF.

Find the recipe here: Ultimate Carrot Cake