Wednesday 10 November 2010

International Woman of Mystery

The week with my beloved is now over and I waved tearfully from the platform as his trained rolled off into the distance. OK, that's a lie, I went back to the car and we drove home because it was freezing and I was wearing leggings and there's a hole in the sole of my Ugg's.
We had a great time as per, and had a lovely shopping day in Brighton where we discovered a bakery that does gluten free cakes, but more on that later.
People often ask me  how The Boyf and I cope when we live so far apart, especially after going from being at uni together and sharing a flat for 3 years to not seeing each other for weeks on end, but to be honest aside from the fact we miss each other and obviously would rather be together in one place we actually appreciate each other much more when we see less of each other, sort of like Carrie and Big's arrangement in SATC2.
They say spontaneity is the spice of life, but I tend to thrive on routine and predictability, probably because The Other Bowel Problems are anything but. The Boyf is much the same (good match us!), and his visits tend to run on the same vein of shopping, dinner, DVDs and cooking, and it suits us down to the ground.
We had dinner out on Tuesday night and I got to finally wear my leopard print asos top that Ive been squirrelling away for a nice occasion and then Thursday we had a long leisurely day in Brighton, trotting round the Laines, drinking coffee and having lunch at Donatello's, where The Boyf stole my after dinner mint and I went nuts much to the amusement of the french couple sitting on the table next to us.
Down the Laines we discovered a fab little bakery called Cloud 9. I'm not sure how long its been there because I have the attention span of a gnat so it could have been there since the dawn of time, but I suspect its new. It was so cute inside and they did the yummiest choccy cake/brownie thing I have ever tasted (and you know how I feel about brownies) and also a few other gluten free bits and pieces. The girl who served us kindly let me take some snaps for my blog,which I've posted at the bottom for you viewing pleasure.
Saturday I awoke to find the ever-so-lovely Becky at Dietary Specials had popped a box of Tru Free (Dietary Specials sister company) mince pies in the post for me, which couldn't have come at a better time really since I discovered that Sainsbury's have well and truly ruined Xmas this year by stocking icing topped mince pies instead of the usual pastry tops ones. That's killed Christmas. I've got a little review lined up for the Tru Free mince pies though so stayed tuned.
I'm finally getting into the swing of preparations for Xmas now, and have written up a Kate's Master Christmas Plan which will hopefully keep me organised and on track with all my present giving, food making and card sending. Not that I'm generally unorganised but I like to have a list to keep me on the straight and narrow when theres lots to think about. I've cleaned out the news agents buying foodie mags for Xmas dinner ideas as well as home made gift ideas, the only trouble is I flick through them and get all excited for Xmas and then I cant sleep and when I do sleep I have nightmares that its Christmas morning and I haven't done any Christmas shopping. Dreadful.
Sunday was dominated by Formula 1, Motor GP and Rugby, none of which I have much interest in, expect maybe Formula 1 but that's mainly because my dad conditioned me to like it from a young age.
So I decided to whip up a round of cupcakes (what else) and also brew up a batch of mincemeat for my homemade mince pies. Accordingly to Nigella (whose has signed my copy of Domestic Goddess  by the way, just in case you missed my first overexcited post on the matter) you should make your mincemeat a good few weeks in advance of when your going to use it so that the flavours can infuse and so everything can get all nice and syrupy and lovely. It's a majorly easy recipe (do I ever do anything but?) and only takes around 30-40minutes. So after you have perused this post and the accompanying pictures, one of which is an ACTUAL picture of me on our way out to dinner, which I included as I was starting to feel like the Scarlet Pimpernel, international woman of mystery.

The Gruesome Twosome.

Cloud 9


To the right, the yummy gluten-free choccy cake.





Cloud 9


Cloud 9. I was never going to resist a pink bakery.

Reading material for my Xmas prep

7 comments:

  1. Katie, I stumbled across your blog quite by accident, but I have to say I've thoroughly enjoyed reading your various posts. You are funny, warm, inspiring, and completely yourself. Thank you for giving me a few much needed chuckles today!

    From the other end of the world (India),

    Tara

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tara,
    What a lovely, lovely comment, thank-you so much, it really made my day! I'm glad you've enojoyed reading all my posts, I sometimes forget that people DO read my blog!
    Blimey, all the way in India!You really are at the other end of the world! Where abouts are you in India? I hope it's warmer there than it is here!
    Love, Kate x

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kate,

    The Northeast monsoon is late this year, as usual, so it's really been pissing down here. *laugh* I forgot to check back at your blog. My friend and I are thinking of setting up a food blog of our own, but we're not sure where to. Blogspot or Google blogs or wordpress. There are so many options out there.

    Are you having fun with your Christmas preparations? I made bread today (whole wheat with sunflower seeds); I wish it would stop raining for a bit. :)

    -Tara

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh no! Have you been swimming to the shops then?! great news, you should definatly set up your own blog, I think blogspot is definatly the best but then I'm bias!
    I'm enjoying making all my Xmas presents and foods and things but I'm getting in a bit of a panic trying to get it all done! Have you done all of yours?
    I love making bread but g/f bread is a bit tricky.
    we're had a tonne of snow here and its been so cold, Ive been wearing 100's of layers to bed!
    x

    ReplyDelete
  5. I took your advice and set up our blog. I just followed your blog as well. :)

    As far as Christmas preparations are concerned, I'm more or less relaxing and taking it easy this year. I'm just about to start baking, and my presents are all done. I'm pretty content with where I'm at as far as Christmas preparations are concerned.

    We should probably be following more blogs. I've got some exploring to do, too. It's lovely talking to you, as ever.

    Stay warm!

    -T

    ReplyDelete
  6. Also, if you know of some way to get notifications when someone leaves a comment or responds to a comment you've left on a blog you follow, I'd appreciate any advice. <3

    ReplyDelete
  7. Aw, Well done! glad you took the plunge in the end! I'm sure theres some way you can get notifications, i dont have email notifications about comments, i just check in daily to see if anyones commented, i think theres some options under settings (although don't quote me!).
    Thanks for much for adding yourself as a follower! :)
    you sound more organised than me, im almost up to date with it all! almost!
    Blog Lovin is a great place to find new blogs, theres loads of catagories and some brilliant blogs, definatly worth a look.
    Lovely to talk to you to Tara :)
    has the rain stopped yet? x

    ReplyDelete

♥Thank-you for your comment!♥