Busy times, fun adventures & exciting news

What am I  looking at in this photograph you might be asking yourself. Well lets just say for sake of argument that I am looking at the future. I am in fact looking at someone water their window box, but for now we are going to stick with the explanation that I am looking at the future.

 

I suppose the biggest news really is that I am growing out my fringe. Prepare yourself for some fairly tragic halfway to nothing looks in the hair department. At the moment it is working being split to the side as it would cover my eyes if I wore it straight down as I have in the past. This is not a bad look, it is not the best look for my face shape and hair length but at the moment it is what it is. I will of course update you if I discover a pain free way of growing out your fringe. In fact if you have any tips, hints or suggestions link to them in the comment box below. Please do for my sake and the sake of ladies everywhere.

 

Times are busy I have been known to juggle more than one thing at a time but I am pushing  it even by my standards. That is why I made the decision not post every other day as I have in the past, sometimes daily. Fear not normal posting will resume soon. In fact it will resume as soon as I finish the first of my projects the blog redesign. This is almost there, for anyone of you out there who is a coder you will know that almost there can be a stage that can last quite a while, especially if something does not quite work. Debugging html code is the only thing worse than writing html code, with the exception of an ingrown toenail, or so I hear.

 

That is only one project, why the busy busy demeanour then. Well I have a few more thing on the go. One of which is learning to speak French, being here in Paris it was very quickly obvious that my level of French was just not good enough. There is a big leap from where I am now, and I hold my own, to holding a conversation. It is tough to learn something new and there is so much I need to take in and improve upon but I am up for the challenge and have the incentive.

 

Last but my no means least I am writing my first book. This is such exciting news and myself and my co-author are really excited and swamped. I will be sharing some more details about it as soon as I can. On top of everything we have some live events planned for the Autumn that we need to get ready for also. It NEVER stops round here.

 

There is one more bit of information but I will have to keep that one under my hat for a little longer. Life is busy but I do love the challenge and recognise that I am blessed to be able to do what I do. Please do not be fooled we full time bloggers work really hard and often without break all week, all year even. Even when we are having 'down time' it becomes a brainstorming session or a photography day whilst the light is good.

 

In the meantime keep checking back as you never know you might see a whole new design!

 

Take Care

Nicolette xo

I heart weekends

Who here doesn't heart weekends, unless of course you have to work! Well even though I have a tonne of writing to do this weekend I am living it up weekend style. After a lavish pancake breakfast I wandered to a corner cafe in Edgar Quintet, Paris, around the corner from my house for drinks. Then I lost myself in the food market. Seeing such a wonderful array of produce in the pretty sunshine inspired many new recipe ideas that I will be developing next week. For today though I limited myself to a kilo of broad beans (fava beans) and some yummy peaches. I am going to make a bean pate recipe this afternoon so keep your eyes peeled for that appearing soon. 

you will need;

200g flour

2 eggs separated 

pinch of salt

220ml milk

100g raspberries

method;

1. Whisk your eggs into firm peaks and set aside.
2. Next whisk your flour, salt, egg yolks and milk. 
3. Gently fold in your egg whites and raspberries. You can try adding different berries or even chocolate chips if raspberries are not your thing.
4. Put around a tablespoon of the mix per pancake into a hot pan. Make sure that the pan is oiled and wiped you don't want the pancakes swimming in oil.
5. To serve simply stack, top with berries and pour on some honey.

Take Care 

Nicolette xo

Saville orange & almond cake

 

I wanted to start using less flour for two reasons. This first being that I have been making more and more friends who need a gluten free diet. The second reason is that I realised that almost everything in my diet has either flour or chees in it, and sometimes both. So I decided to make some changes. This recipe is rich with flavour but incredibly light. And the spices add a great depth to the citrus flavour.

 

you will need;

 

2 large oranges

4 cloves

1 star anise

1 cinnamon stick

2 green cardamom pods

4tbsp water

230 g ground almonds

200g caster sugar

5 eggs separated

 

 

method;

1. First you need to scrub your orange skins as this recipe uses the whole orange so this is an important  step. Once scrubbed cut your oranges into small chucks, carefully remove the pips ensuring you don't loose all the juice. 
2. Place the oranges and the dry spices into a small saucepan with 4 tbsp. water. Cover with a lid and simmer until the oranges are really softened.
3. Remove the spices and any pips that may have sneaked into the mix and place them into a food processor. Blend into a paste.
4. In a bowl mix the pulp, sugar, ground almond and egg yolks together so that the mixture is nice and creamy.
5. In a separate dry, clean bowl whisk the egg whites into soft peaks.
6. Gently fold the egg whites into the cake mixture careful not to over mix and loose the air.
7. Pour the mixture into a prepared spring form 9in cake tin and place in the centre of a preheated oven. Cook at 180C for 45-50 mins. You may need to cover the cake lightly with foil to prevent it from browning.

I hope you enjoy your cake!

 

 

Take Care

Nicolette xo

Big, bright & beautiful floor cushion - diy

 

Using pre-cut fabric packs is a great way to use lots of bright patterns and brighten up your day. Although I used a jelly roll to create this cushion you could cut strips from your scraps to use them up also. It really does lend itself to a scrappy look. When I say I used a jelly roll I in fact only used half. You normally get 44 strip of fabric in a roll so I used 22, simple maths right? Each strip is 2 1/2 inches wide. 

 

 

You need to start by pressing your fabric, it is important not to skip this step. Once your fabric is pressed you need to fold them in half lengthways and cut. For the next step your life will be made much easier if you have a rotary cutter, trust me once you own one you will wonder how you managed without it. Cut each of your strips in half diagonally. Now your rectangles will be long triangles. Do this with all of the strips. Now you are ready to sew them up.

 

After joining around 10 strips you will need to press the seams, press to the darker fabric. You will also need to take your rotary cutter and ruler and trim either side. Trust me they will all fit together in the end. Once all your pieces are together in a big circle you need to ensure that your circle is in fact a circle. the best way to do this is to press the circle in half and then quarters. Take a length of string and a drawing a pin, place the drawing pin in the centre point and then mark out the outer edge and cut if necessary.

 

Now you are left with a lovely bright circle. In the centre of the circle I placed a contrasting fabric circle using blanket stitch, this served two purposes. One it covered up any gap in the centre, and two it made the cushion top look like a pretty flower.

 

 

Now you need to make the back of your cushion. If you don't have a piece of fabric large enough you can do what I did and use smaller pieces joined together. Place the right sides of your circles together and stitch a 1/4 inch seam all the way around remembering to leave a gap so that you can turn the cushion the right way round and stuff the cushion. I decided to fill mine with polystyrene beads (bean bag filling). You can choose your own filling. Once you have filled it to the desired squishiness you will have to hand stitch the gap closed so that all the filling stays put. All that is left to do now is enjoy your new floor pillow.

 

 

Take Care

Nicolette xo