Category: General wittering

Illuminate Bath, Coffee & Cake at the Holburne & Chinese New Year!

Published on by Sharon6 Comments

Hi everyone! I hope you had a wonderful weekend 🙂

Bath was buzzing with activity this weekend and we had a great time hanging out in our home city.  Here are a few of our weekend highlights…

On Friday we went to the Illuminate Bath festival… We enjoyed it so much, that we decided to go again on Saturday evening 🙂

This telephone box had a big clockwork key in its side which triggered lights and sound when turned.  The kids loved it 🙂

Another piece that captivated the children was an animation called ‘Heads, Bodies, Legs’ which was created in collaboration with pupils from a local junior school.  Here’s a clip that Lil’ L took on his camera:

 

One of my favourite pieces of artwork entitled ‘Attracted to Light’ projected silhouette images and fluttering moths onto a building front.  I found it totally captivating. 

Even though the moths were simple projections onto the wall, they looked 3D. It was very clever!

On Friday night, the public were given free access to enter the Roman Baths to experience the light and sound installation called ‘Frequency’.  Lights were projected onto the spa water, where they danced and pulsed in time to the music. 

The lights were moving in the steam from the spa, making it look like the water was rippling.  I found it totally and utterly captivating.  I’m so glad that I got to see it 🙂

Here’s a short clip that Lil’ L took of the Frequency exhibit. It’s not great quality but it gives a flavour of what it was all about.

 

On Sunday afternoon, we went to the Garden Cafe at the Holburne Museum for coffee and cake 🙂

To reach the museum, we walked along a stretch of the Kennet & Avon Canal that I haven’t walked before.  I thought it was really beautiful.

I love the way that the residents have designed their back gardens.  They’re really interesting and individual.

The Holburne Museum’s Garden Cafe is situated in the modern extension at the back of the building.  It has a very cool, stylish interior and a large outdoor terrace that will be a perfect spot for afternoon tea when the weather warms up.  

As soon as I entered the cafe, I was immediately drawn to their gorgeous display of baked goodies.  I even spotted a jar of delicous-looking granola, so I might have to pop back for breakfast one day 😉

Whenever we go to cafes, I rarely get to eat any of the baked goodies as they tend to be made with dairy.  So, you can imagine my delight when I discovered that the cafe at the Holburne Museum sells a dairy and gluten-free orange and almond cake!  They even had soya milk, so I could have a soy cappuccino along with my piece of cake.  I was one happy girl 🙂

Thanks so much guys for considering those with allergies, and catering for us.  We really appreciate it! 🙂  Thanks also to the staff for making us feel so welcome.  It was great to meet the cafe manager Aurelie and the guys!

I’ll be back to visit the Holburne Museum again soon.  There are so many great events coming up.  One that caught my eye was ‘The Art of Shoes: Manolo Blahnik in conversation with Iain Web’ on 29 March 2012.  The event’s described as “a rare opportunity to hear Manolo Blahnik’s story and views on life, shoes and Bath, the city he calls home”.  He’ll also be signing books before and after the event, in the Garden Cafe.  What a cool night out for the girls 😉

Sunday afternoon was rounded off with a visit to the Assembly Rooms to celebrate the Chinese New Year.  When we arrived, the Ball Room was alreadycrowded with people watching the dance recitals, acrobatics and kung fu displays.  The event’s finale involved the dancing lion making its way to the Museum of East Asian Art to the sound of clashing cymbals and firecrackers. 

Look, it stopped to pose for a picture for us!

 

Another great weekend in Bath!  So much fun!  These free events really bring people together in Bath.  Let’s hope we get some more soon!  

Have a great week everyone xx

 

Family Visit & Trip to the Holburne Museum

Published on by Sharon15 Comments

Hello everyone!  I hope you had a great weekend! 🙂

This weekend, my parents-in-law came to stay for our postponed Christmas get-together.  It was lovely to see them and we had a wonderful two days together.  We finally got round to giving them their very belated Christmas presents, and even played a board game, much to Lil’ L’s delight! 😉

Both on Saturday and Sunday we went for strolls around Bath.  The weather was incredibly mild for January (M is still in his t shirts!)  We also took a trip to the  Holburne Museum.  It was in the grounds of this museum that we saw the stunningly beautiful Field of Light back in December.

Between 2008 and 2011 the Museum was closed while it underwent an £11.2 million project of restoration and development.  At the back of the Museum, there is a contemporary extension and Garden Cafe.  It’s one of those modern extensions that I imagine you either love or hate.  Either way, it can’t be denied that it makes a bold statement!

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The museum houses Sir William Holburne’s collection of 4000 objects, pictures and books that were bequeathed by his sister to the people of Bath in 1882, as well as a further 2,500 objects that have been acquired since the Museum opened to the public in 1893.  If you’re ever in Bath, I highly recommend a visit to the museum.  There’s lots to see, as well as interactive displays, audio guides, and lots of pull-out drawers containing miniature collections and ‘guess the fake’ activities, which Lil’ L loved!  It’s also FREE admission! 

The Museum is found at the end of Great Pultney Street, which is one of the most stunning streets in Bath.

This weekend also involved two trips to the library as Lil’ L is passionately into reading at the moment, which is really lovely to see 🙂  He’s currently reading The Spiderwick Chronicles.  After practically finishing the first book in one day, he went back to the library on Sunday to borrow the remaining books in the series. 

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Foodwise, I actually planned ahead (for a change) and made lots of yummy eats including roasted vegetable lasagne and red lentil & cashew nut roast.  (Recipes and photos coming soon) 😉

For Saturday lunch, I prepared one of our favourite soups – Lightly Spiced Parsnip and Coconut.  It was very yummy indeed and perfect for this season.  The bread maker was set to work on Saturday morning so we had freshly made bread to accompany the soup 🙂

 And I’ve finally got round to writing down the recipe!  Here it is:

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Lightly Spiced Parsnip & Coconut Soup

Serves 5-6    Preparation: 10 minutes    Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
3 large parsnips (approx. 450g / 16oz), peeled and chopped
2 medium potatoes (approx. 350g / 12oz), peeled and chopped
1/2 – 1 tbsp garam masala (depending how spicy you like it)
50g / 2oz creamed coconut (I use a sachet of Patak’s creamed coconut)
1.2 litres / 41fl oz / 5 cups vegetable stock
coconut cream and smoked paprika for garnish

Method

  1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and sauté the onions and garlic for 3 minutes. Add the garam masala and cook for a further 2 minutes.
  2. Add the parsnips and potatoes to the pan. Pour in the stock and creamed coconut and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and gently simmer with the lid on for 15-20 minutes, until the parsnips are tender.
  3. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the soup to cool a little before blending until smooth.
  4. Garnish with a swirl of coconut cream and sprinkling of smoked paprika. Serve in warm bowls with slices of crusty wholegrain bread.

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Have a wonderful week everyone! xx

Special Moments from Christmas 2011

Published on by Sharon12 Comments

Hello everyone!  I hope you had a wonderful break over the long holiday weekend.  Apologies for the lack of posts this week, but the computer and phone have been switched off for the past week so that I can give the family my full attention and do all those important things with them like playing board games, watching movies, going for long walks… oh and let’s not forget all that festive eating and drinking 😉

For us, this Christmas has also been marked by a sad occasion.  On the evening of 23rd December, M’s nan sadly passed away.  She was such a wonderful lady, with a heart full of kindness and generosity.  She will be greatly missed by us all.

At the last moment, our Christmas plans changed and, instead of hosting at our house, the three of us went to Dorset to spend a few nights with my mum and her dogs, Poppy and Beau.  We had the most special time.  Here are a few of the highlights…

Here’s Lil’ L opening his presents from Santa. Unbelievably, that boy actually got dressed at 7am before he left the bedroom. That’s a first!

I, on the otherhand, have spent most of the holidays in my gorgeous, new fleecy pjs’ and fluffy slippers that my mum bought me for Christmas 🙂

M helped me prepare the Christmas dinner.  It was totally delish… and, by consensus, the best nut roast I’ve made to date 😉

My mum practically lives in Verwood Forest and we love going out for long walks in the mornings with her dogs.

It’s such a beautiful forest!

Here’s me and my mum with the dogs.

And here’s Lil’ L, who will turn even the smallest twig into a shooting device.  What is it with boys and guns???

The forest is filled with this beautiful yellow bracken.  Don’t get too close though as it’s super spiky.

We also found came across some beautiful holly bushes.

While we’ve certainly indulged in festive eating, our family walks have been a great counter balance.  One day, we went for a 6 hour walk along the beach to Bournemouth.  It was an exhilarating day and all that sea air really helped to blow the cobwebs away! 

Guess how long it took for Lil’ L to get his feet soaking wet…

about twenty seconds!

Poppy and Beau loved playing on the beach!

They didn’t seem to get tired… even after six hours of playing!

Unsurprisingly, Lil’ L didn’t like the fact that his feet were soaking wet.  Luckily, M&S was open in Bournemouth and the boy was back to his smiley self after he’d put on a fresh pair of dry socks 🙂

I loved all these colourful beach huts.  I looks like someone has worked their way through the Dulux colour chart 😉

Once we’d made it to Bournemouth Pier we popped into the town centre to get a bite to eat.  The town was heaving with shoppers!  We couldn’t wait to get back on the beach.  The return journey was filled with lots of laughter, games, a sneaky times table practice and a beautiful sunset 🙂

Thanks family for such a beautiful Christmas 🙂

Time to get back to those board games now 😉

If I don’t manage to post beforehand, I bid you all a very happy New Year.  I hope that your 2012 will be filled with good health, prosperity, happiness and a good dose of fun and laughter 😉 Take care xx

Christmas Eve

Published on by Sharon6 Comments

‘To Do’ List

1. Make some raw chocs to hang on the Christmas tree. Check

2. Make a lentil & nut roast for Christmas dinner. Check

3. Decorate M’s birthday cake (SO LATE!), light the candles and sing happy birthday to him. Check Check Check

Classy candles eh? They remind me of Lil' L's magnetic letters 🙂

4. Decorate the Christmas Cake. Check. Me & Lil’ L turned it into a giant snowball 🙂 

5. Make some coconut marzipan balls with the left over ground almonds and desiccated coconut. Check.

To make these I used 1 cup ground almonds, 2 tbsp agave syrup, 1 tsp vanilla extract and a few drops of almond extract. I rolled them in apricot jam to make them sticky, then rolled them in coconut 🙂

6. Wrap the presents. Check.

 

Just got to have a shower and get dressed, then I’m done! 🙂

Have a great weekend everybody!  Happy Christmas! Happy Yule! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Winter Solstice! I send my warmest wishes to you all. HAVE FUN! 🙂 xx

A Day Out in London – Graffiting in Banksy’s Tunnel

Published on by Sharon3 Comments

For the second part of M’s 40th birthday present, I’d arranged for him to spend a few hours in Banksy’s Tunnel in Leake Street, London with graffiti artist ‘G’. 

While they were hard at work, Lil’ L and I met up with our gorgeous friend Helen for a delicious Thai lunch at Busaba.  If you’re ever in London, I highly recommend a stop at one of the Busaba restaurants as the food is outstanding.  After stuffing ourselves full of delicious eats, we headed to the Natural History Museum.  I was blown away by the beauty of the museum building.  The collection of dinosaur bones was pretty impressive too 😉

Check out what M and G were up to while we were gone… (BTW, it’s legal to graffiti in Banksy’s Tunnel so don’t get alarmed!)

 

 

 

 

 

  

  

 

 

 G is clearly a great teacher and M must be a quick learner.  I dread to think what mess I would have produced if I’d had a go! 😉  

Big thanks go out to G and Helen for giving us a such a great day out in London 🙂

A Birthday Surprise, Yummy Eats & Yak Yeti Yak

Published on by Sharon16 Comments

Happy Wednesday everyone!  Hope you all have a great day!  I’m posting early today as we’re off to London for part 2 of M’s birthday surprise 😉

Thank you for all the kind birthday wishes left on my blog for M (or ‘Mr Bit of the Good Stuff’, as Candy calls him 😉 ).  On Monday, M turned the ripe old age of 40 and, to mark the occasion, I had 2 great surprises lined up for him (one for Monday and the other for today) 🙂 

Both M and I have got a keen interest in art but unlike me (who hasn’t got an artistic bone in her body) M is a dab hand with a pen, pencil or paintbrush.  For a while now, he’s been mentioning that he’d like to have a try at stencil graffiti art so, on his birthday, I arranged for Stuart, a graffiti artist, to come to our house and give M a 1-2-1 tutorial. 

As well as being an artist in his own right, Stuart travels all over the UK and internationally to teach individuals and group workshops.  I was so grateful that he was able to stop by Monday to spend a few hours with M.

It rained non stop on Monday, so Stuart and M had to squeeze in our very messy garage.  Both Lil’ L and I were fascinated with Stuart’s suitcase full of spray cans.  Here’s one of many photos that Lil’ L took of the suitcase 🙂

Stuart was a great teacher, not only helping M with technique, but also in the development of his creative ideas for the two canvases that he was going to produce.  Here’s a shot of M in action (minus his head as he wants to remain anonymous 😉 )

The two pieces of work he produced are already hanging on our living room walls.  They’re not bad for a first attempt are they?

 

 

He’s definitely got the spray painting bug now and can’t wait to have another go.  Luckily, I’ve got another surprise lined up for him today  😉

While the boys were busy being creative in the garage, I decided to get creative in the kitchen and try out a new recipe.  Since I had some ready-made puff pastry sitting in the fridge, I decided to have a go at making Viva’s Chestnut Pate En Croute.  It was so simple to make, and ready in less than 30 mins. 

I cut it into four large slices, and gave a slice each to Stuart, M, Lil’ L and the last one for myself.  The feedback was very positive, and M suggested that this bake would be great for Boxing Day dinner.  While it was delicious as it was, next time round I may add some chopped chestnuts, pine nuts and porcini mushrooms to make it even more special 🙂

Here’s how I made it:[print_this]Chestnut Pate en Croute (based on Viva’s recipe)

Serves: 4
Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20-30 mins

Ingredients
2 onions, chopped
1 stick of celery, finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
100g / 3 1/2oz button mushrooms, sliced
Half a tin of unsweetened chestnut puree (a full tin is 435g, so you want 215g)
2 tbsp fresh soft breadcrumbs
1 tbsp brandy
salt and pepper
1 sheet of Jus Rol ready-rolled puff pastry (rectangular, not round)
soya milk to glaze

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200C / 400F / Gas 6
  2. Fry the onions and celery in the oil in a large saucepan, covered until the onions are transluscent.
  3. Add the garlic and mushrooms, and cook for 2-3 mins.
  4. Mix in the chestnut puree, breadcrumbs, brandy and seasoning until everything is well combined.
  5. Unroll the pastry and place carefully on a lightly-oiled baking sheet.  Pile the chestnut mixture lengthways down the middle third of the pastry.
  6. Make diagonal cuts 1cm / 1/2″ apart on the pastry on either side of the chestnut mixture.  Fold these up alternately to make a lattice covering it.  Brush the pastry with soya milk and bake for 20 mins or so, until browned.

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Viva has produced a fantastic mini guide full of delicious vegan Christmas recipes.  The guide can be accessed online here.  I’m planning to try out a few more of their recipes over the next couple of weeks.

After we’d had lunch and said goodbye to Stuart, we headed into Bath as Lil’ L wanted to take his dad to the cinema to see Arthur Christmas in 3D (another birthday treat).  All of us really enjoyed the film.  Arthur is a very sweet, kind hearted guy 🙂

For dinner, we went to one of our all-time favourite restaurants in Bath… The Nepalese ‘Yak Yeti Yak’. 

So what do I love about this restaurant?  Basically everything! … The delicious food, the great ambiance, the gorgeous interior, and their stunning dinnerware.  I must get me some of those brass platters and bowls 😉

We opted for the veggie set menu ‘Dal Bhat Tarkari‘ (rice, dal, aloo channa, popadum, fresh stone-ground chutney, dhai, and our choice of individual vegetable dishes – Chyauko Tarkari (stir fried mushrooms), and Aloo Tamar (fermented bamboo shoots stir-fried with new potatoes and black-eye peas).  Between the three of us, we’d soon polished off the lot!

For dessert, I had Kir (coconut creamed rice lightly spiced (with cardamon, I believe), sweetened, sprinkled with toasted shredded coconut and served chilled).  This dessert was totally scrumptious and I can’t wait to have a try at making it myself.   

All in all, Monday was a great day of fun-filled activities and eats, and I hope M enjoyed it as much as I did 🙂 

Time to head over now to Jenn’s WIAW party and see what my foodie friends are eating.  Hopefully I’ll get some inspiration for Christmas. 

I still have no idea what I’m going to be cooking over Christmas and as I’m hosting this year, I really need to get organised.  At the moment, I’ve a huge urge to go to the supermarket and buy lots of ready made food and be done with it.  I’d much rather be playing games with the family and watching movies than slaving away in the kitchen.  But, is that too much of a cop out?  What do you think?