Marmalade Fairy Cakes

My current fetish is for putting marmalade into cakes and bakes. Using Mother's home-made batch is certainly satisfying and adds a bitter edge to these fairy cakes.












I found the recipe on The Lady's website (I often have a nose around - the job ads are very entertaining). So it's a basic fairy cake mix (beat 4oz of caster sugar with 4oz of butter) but once you've beaten in (2) eggs and sifted in (4oz) self-raising flour and (1/2tsp) baking powder, lob in the juice of an orange, it's grated zest and 1tbsp of marmalade. Bake for 20mins at 180, keeping an eye on them. I almost topped them with orange icing but I didn't keep any juice aside after pouring the liquid into the bun mix (and the fact that I had a carton of OJ in the fridge totally slipped my mind...)

Mr F said it was my best sponge yet, although the texture got a little, erm, soggy around the marmalade chunks.

Birthday Cake

When Mr F asked me if I'd like him to make a birthday cake of course I simpered, "yes please". But even I wasn't expecting this towering confection of Genoese sponge, berries (blue and rasp), Grand Marnier laced cream and chocolate shavings. I made a wish, which I hope will come true!

A Very Small Celeriac

I don't know what it is about my parents' garden and small vegetables... I just think they're impatient to harvest! (Ah, that's where I get it from). So, here is another tiny vegetable from their Suffolk plot - a celeriac the size of a potato. I made it into mash to accompany a sweet fennel-roasted piece of pork belly. Mmmm.

Tea Towel Sewing Machine Cover

I was gifted an inordinate number of tea towels for Christmas. Ok, I was given two, but of course this made me paranoid that my friends thought my previous rags weren't up to scratch. I favoured sunlight glass cloths but the new designs (pretty prints from Liberty and Japan) were far more cheerful. However on spotting a sewing machine cover made from a tea towel on MarthaStewart.com, I had to take scissors to one of the cloths. As mine is a mini machine I used the leftover fabric - instead of ribbons - to make the ties. I also made one side fixed. I think it looks pretty cute, although it's slightly oversized. Perhaps the sewing machine needs to grow into it's new coat...

Zara Home - The Best Bits

I had some time to kill inbetween appointments this week and wandered into Zara for a browse. Of course there were loads of fashiony bits I'd like to have bought but it was Zara Home that set me really drooling. They have so cleverly captured the vintage vibe of my favourite car boot finds - but all new! And, unlike Anthropologie it's all affordable! I must admit that some of the quality is a leetle suspect (I wouldn't go near the synthetic fibres and the china feels flimsy) but for aesthetics Zara Home gets very high marks.

These are some of my favourite pieces:

I will have to upgrade my bar of Pears for something scented from Penhaligons to grace this soap dish.












This set of four napkins all have adorable feathers embroidered onto the corners.














It's quite unseasonal but come Christmas 2010 I look forward to hosting afternoon tea, served in these appropriate robin vessels.












What can I say? It's got my name initial written all over it!
















Chic and simple. Of course finding a vintage version would be cooler but I'm impatient, ok?

















Apparently this vase can be filled with water. That's quite handy, although I prefer not to fill my decorative vases with flowers - they're pretty enough.
















Super-sweet mother of pearl knobs. Just the thing to buy and put away for future use (which of course means it would gather dust in a drawer for eternity!)














Images: Zarahome.com

Frocks that rock at The Baftas

I've been busy again - work, doncha just love it? - so have had no chance to blog. Insert sad smiley here. But I had to post these pictures from Sunday's Bafta awards of dresses that make me smile.

Audrey Tautou wore shocking pink Lanvin and accessorized it with a red clutch and courts. Such a cool use of colour, I'm all for the unexpected clash and would love to see more of it on the red carpet. Even though I dress in navy, black and grey my dreams pop with Maldivian turquoise and sunshine yellow, papal purple and sugar pink, grass green and pumpkin orange...








Romola Garai (met her!) rocked a beautiful Erdem print which looked refreshing amongst the sea of one-toned gowns. The shoes could have been edgier (something like this would have been wicked) but her bouffant hair and excellent lipstick earn serious style points.









Images Telegraph.co.uk

Easy chocolate mousse

Last time I tried to make chocolate mousse I failed so I'd been looking for an easier version... this instant recipe from Nigella skips the inclusion of eggs so there is no chance of the mousse separating, meaning even I could get a decent dessert from it.

Melt together 75g mini marshmallows, 25g softened butter, 125g of dark chocolate and 30ml of water from a just boiled kettle in a saucepan. Stir occasionally, allow to cool. Meanwhile whip approximately 142ml of double cream with a dash of vanilla extract. Fold the cream into the chocolate until all is amalgamated then spoon into glasses and chill. Perhaps some shaved chocolate curls would have made for prettier presentation but greed got the better of me.

I halved the original recipe, which was meant to serve 4-6, but the resulting goo still filled 4 glasses. It was soooooo rich, neither Mr F or I could finish the whole dish-ful, meaning we have another three nights-worth of mousse for dessert. Oh well...

Minature Roses chocolates

This weeny box of Roses is what this blog is all about, something tiny to make you coo "Ooh!". Mr F devoured the six chocolates inside in one sitting while I savoured a Charbonnel et Walker truffle, s l o w l y.

Things that make me smile don't necessarily make good blog posts

Although I've had plenty to smile about each day, nothing is tangible enough to post on the blog. (What a weak excuse for a lack of posting, eh?).

I'm particularly buoyed by some forthcoming editorial which I may or may not replicate here (although it's a shoe story so it'll be pretty likely...).

Also, I'm excited about the shows* for once! When I was a mag staffer the shows were to be endured but now I can pick and choose who I attend I'm eager to see what's coming up for Autumn. (Although I'm still working out my outfits, which is a problem that can only be solved by shopping I'd imagine).

The first of the pretty party invitations are arriving too - I love this illustration which accompanies the launch of Rika magazine next week...

*London Fashion Week

Visible / Invisible at Parasol unit

I've left it rather late, but if you can get over to Parasol unit's current show, Visible Invisible: Against the Security of the Real by Sunday, do!













A high falutin' yet approachable exploration of what is (or isn't) figurative (or abstract) in painting and sculpture, it made Mr F and I think a little and lust (a lot) over Katy Moran's intensely painted works, like Nature Boy above. White canvases with the faintest smudge of a human outline hang alongside paint-splattered pieces of pure abstraction with enticingly real titles (so you think they're figurative) and everything blurs the lines between what our brain is imagining and what has really been depicted in the piece. Deep.

Individual Black Forest Gateaux

If at first you don't succeed, my motto is not to try again. At least in the kitchen. When two layers of chocolate sponge started smoking in the oven (after only 15minutes at 150degrees!) I knew that a second attempt would simply be a waste of good ingredients. Once my cooking karma is kaput nothing can salvage it. My magnificent plan to present my father with a chocolate and cherry cream sponge with which to celebrate his _____th birthday lay in ashes (literally) on my worktop.

But, after some deft knifework, I rescued four little mini-sponges from the mess. Topped with cherry conserve, morello cherries and a snowy topping of whipped cream they resulted in these individual black forest gateaux. They would have been even better if I'd added some kirsch though...

Scentsational

Like borrowing your man's cashmere sweaters or slipping into his shirts (a sartorial swap I indulge in on a regular basis) I always believed spritzing men's scent was insouciant, ultra-cool and intriguing. I have a 'wardrobe' of fragrance for every season and occasion - ranging from invigorating masculine colognes, intoxicating one-note florals and exotic bottles from cult brands. One of my favourite after-dark scents was Miller Harris' Feuille de Tabac, a rich, woodsy, amber liquid based on tobacco and cigar smoke.

However, an unexpected nightclub encounter has seen me put aside the boy's bottles and return to fragrances that are slightly more feminine from now on.

"Ooh, who smells like a man?" squealed the bland blonde in Bungalow 8's bathroom, before interrogating her cronies as to who had been "getting jiggy" with the male clientele. I could have interrupted, pointing out that I was the bearer of such powerful perfume... before mentioning that the general consensus seems to be that girls who wear boys' scents are soignee, mysterious, captivating... and it's by Miller Harris... but I didn't. I washed my hands and left the loo vowing to reevaluate my fragrance choices ASAP.

I like to mix things up in a manner that can be described as eclectic-ish. Ergo, stomping around the East End in biker boots, dark denim and Mr F's jumper calls for a surprising blast of Summer blossom... Likewise, spending the evening drinking cocktails, shimmying in purple sequins and silver Lanvin sandals and checking my false eyelashes aren't wonky is a girly activity, therefore wearing a smoky, manly scent is the perfect olfactory offset. Sophie Dahl acknowledges the power of wearing the opposite sex's scent in Vogue but it's time I grew out of my angsty attempts at blending gender barriers and got on with the business of simply smelling good.

NB: I also am vowing to spray less this year. No one needs to know you've arrived before you even make it out the taxi, do they? Sorry to all Addison Lee drivers.

Braised lamb shanks

I'm a fashion stylist. I make clothes look, erm, good (she mumbled, self-depreciatingly) even when they're a ragtag of synthetic fibres destined for the depths of naff catalogue land. You may have gathered that I also quite like cookery and food so sometimes friends pipe up with the bright idea that I could be a food stylist... Are you crazy? Nooooo way. Food styling is a technical feat that putting together nice outfits could never be. Viz: Sunday night's supper. Braised lamb shanks. Voted dish of last decade by Sainsbury's Magazine (along with Thai green curry and "posh" fishcakes - hello this was the Noughties, not the Nineties! NB: What about pork belly?).

Anyway as something I'd never cooked I had to try it.

After half an hour browning, then two hours being braised with herbs, stock, carrot, onion and celery it tasted sensational when served with creamy mash and tenderstem broccoli. However, as you can see it was simply a brown mess and a sloppy one after I'd added stock. A food stylist could have made it look pretty. I can't, although I'm very good at pushing up sleeves just so and pinning baggy knitwear so it looks sleek.

A weekday trip to Broadway Market

Broadway Market on a grey January Tuesday, just as the light is withering. It's not quite the same as a buzzy sunny Sunday when yummy mummies push their babes in bugaboos and panic-buy bundles of carrots caked in mud. After a ride on the 394 through boarded up sink estates (even in my city central postcode I'd never seen such raw urban poverty) the twee shops were glowing an inviting pink, but I holed up in an earnest wholefood cafe with SN where my hot chocolate was served with a straw. What the... ?

I feel pretty

As Spring fashion segues into a froth of frou, floral, lace and lightness, what am I to do? My default setting has always been stark, dark and ever-so-slightly grungy. Leather biker jackets - natch. Heavy grey wool - obviously. Lashings of denim - of course. Dozens and dozens of plain navy tees - yes, yes, yes! The simpler the better, because anything more than a placket pocket is de trop for me.

I knew it was coming... Since the September shows I've been tentatively looking at lace, imagining myself in pastels, mentalling replacing plaid with pattern but apart from switching indigo skinny jeans to the cornflower blue version I didn't think I could do it. Until I saw this little lace frock by 3.1 Phillip Lim. It's delicate and pretty (that's so this season chic licked then). But the short shape is subversive, the guipure lace slightly gothic and I think it'd rock with my signature navy Converse. The only problem is the price. Isn't it always?
From Net-a-porter.com

Serendipity makes me smile

Not to be smug, but I can tick one of my New Year To Dos off the list.

While on a celestial note, Jupiter moved into my sign on the 17th of January, so 2010 is meant to be my year (and that of all Pisces, apparently). Bring it on.

Chocolate brownies

If 2008 was the year I came into the kitchen and 2009 was when I began to bake cakes, I pronounce 2010 the year of biscuits and brownies (or at least it's when I'm going to have a go at making them!).

These are my first batch of chocolate brownies, from an adapted recipe in Jo Pratt's In The Mood for Entertaining. I omitted the chilli powder called for and Mr F enjoyed them immensely. Next time I may take them out of the oven a moment earlier as the edges were beginning to brown slightly... I might also cut them into smaller chunks to afford recipients an elegance of sufficiency as opposed to a glut.

I am aiming to run up one item a week on my new sewing machine... These are a pair of Ian Mankin (I think...) ticking placemats which took mere moments!

I do love the way it's so speedy to get results on a machine when hand stitching would have taken a fortnight (with lengthy breaks when I had lost impetus...)

A useful tip

A very useful way to store wrapping paper is to re-roll it inside the card roll in which it came. Or if you are prone to buying individual sheets, as am I, do the same with an empty roll. The ends won't end up dogeared with curled corners and you can continue to have pristine paper.

My mini sewing machine

After a small blogging hiatus to celebrate a landmark birthday for Mr F (during which I gorged on marmalade-glazed ham hock at St Pancras Grand; octopus carpaccio and honeycomb ice-cream at Scotts; flat-iron steak and baked bone marrow at Hix and a sublime confit de canard at Boundary...) I'm back.

During tea last year, S was surprised to learn that I don't make my own clothes... despite the fact that I'm a makeaholic. I enlightened her that denim capri-pants circa 1997, with one leg significantly slimmer than t'other put paid to my design dreams. However, as I'm now an adult with a soupcon more patience I have become the proud owner of one of John Lewis's cult mini sewing machines. As you may have guessed, it was the mini aspect that swung the purchase. It's tiny and so so cute. First make? This Liberty-print lavender bag. More to come...

A very small red cabbage

While the much maligned Brussels sprout sometimes masquerades under the pseudonym of fairy cabbage, this is a real fairy cabbage. Found in my parents' Suffolk garden it's tininess has certainly earned it a place of The Blog of Small Things. So sweet! It's fate? Soup on a snowy day.

Winter wonderland

My parent's garden in Suffolk.

Earth: Art of a changing world

I think the Royal Academy is my favourite gallery, consistently hosting the best exhibitions. The current Earth: Art of a changing world is one such show including art by Antti Latinen (top), Mariele Neudecker (middle) and Gary Hume (bottom). The works are all inspired by the way human activity is changing our planet it's not dour or worthy - instead the beautiful and thought-provoking pieces transcend their meaning and are purely great art with added purpose.

Mr F and I dawdled there for hours on New Year's Eve waiting for Darren Almond's Tide (a wall of synchronized digital clocks) to deafeningly change the hour; giggling at Tracy Moffat's dvd Doomed (which shows disaster movie clips alongside a pumping soundtrack) and gazing at Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt's scratchy video of solar winds. Stunning.

You have until the end of January to visit.
Images from Guardian.co.uk

Happy New Year

All that remains of Christmas 2009 is a block of mallard stock and a bag of yet-to-be-potted shrimps in the freezer, along with a few stubborn strands of tinsel embedded in the sitting room rug. Oh, and the gift legacy: Two presents (and cards) for pals that I wasn't able to see before the Big Day are propped on Mr F's decks, still awaiting delivery.

One of my favourite Christmas pressies was this fabulous recycled wool blanket. Mr F bought it for me - following a hefty hint - and I've been cocooning myself in it's cheery plaid ever since. Available for a shockingly reasonable £10 from The National Trust buyers are sent a random colour (so it's not ideal if you plan to co-ordinate with a specific decor scheme) but I think the surprise is part of the fun. I hope you had a fabulous festive time.

Handmade Christmas presents

I always make presents for Christmas but this year it's particularly apt. Everyone is at the CIY (Craft It Yourself) aesthetic but I'm still wary of appearing like a twee, worthy Martha-type, "Merry Christmas, I made this for you!"







Anyway, what to get the friend who has everything and adores all that is Cath, Nigella and Kirstie? Why, handmade Liberty-print bunting, of course! I ran this up on Mother's sewing machine.












Then for Mum-of-two, E, a slinky noir evening scarf for her nights off. The wool was all from one ball, despite the striped effect. The mix of chunky matte cotton and silky strands was tricky to knit with - I had to alter tension throughout the scarf as the cotton came up much wider than the silk thread - but I think it was worth it!

Sloe Gin

The perfect post Christmas tipple, my homemade sloe gin! Ready just in time it packs a very alcoholic punch, despite it's innocent Ribena-esque appearance. One for me and one for my parents as a thank you to Mummy who helped with the picking.

In The Bleak Midwinter

Picture taken by my father.

Chocolate and marzipan fairy cakes

In a final push to use up all the marzipan, I chopped up a handful and threw it into fairy cake mix, along with 2tbs of cocoa powder and a slug of Armagnac. Hot from the oven these were scrumptious - the marzipan on the surface had oozed and was caramelized like toasted marshmallows. Dusted with icing sugar they are the perfect festive treat... apart from Mon Cheri chocs, a tipple of sherry, salty stilton on crisp water biscuits, a nibble of smoked salmon spritzed with lemon and maybe a mince pie daubed with brandy butter.

A Christmassy drinks party

I'm obsessed by entertaining. At every opportunity I want to invite friends and family over to mine and ply them with invented cocktails and fancy food. I planned a Christmas cocktail afternoon, which was to segue into the evening, but hardly anyone was free! So when new friends S and C came over one snowy eve they bore the brunt of my frustrated hostessing. As well as the nibbles below, we served cava with raspberry puree, rosewater and rose-petals. Unfortunately it looked rather messy in the glasses so no pics I'm afraid.

Stilton and cream cheese dip with celery












A nod to the festive season and an excuse to eat cheese (like I need one...)

I also put out little glasses of green olives stuffed with lemon and salted toasted almonds. Bought in nibbles, I must confess.

Guacamole with homemade tortilla chips (plain and chilli-spiced)












C was very sweet and praised this highly! Although he was possibly tipsy at this point...

Chocolate-covered marzipan petit fours with candied orange












A miniature sweet treat that served as dessert.

Chocolate raspberry birthday cake

As a break in non-stop Christmasyness, this is the birthday cake I made for my Mother at the start of the month.















Two light, simple chocolate sponges sandwiched with whipped cream, raspberry jam and fresh berries. I tried to stencil with sprinkled icing sugar but it smudged slightly in the car. Everyone loved it but Daddy wanted more cream. Tsk.

Beaded star ornament and other crafty projects

I made this simple beaded star, inspired by Martha Stewart, last week.



















Take stiffish fine wire, loop the end around round-nosed pliers and thread on beads. I used shimmering silver bugles. At the turn and base of each point, slip on a tiny rocaille and continue with the next row of bugles until you have completed all six points of the star. Loop the remaining wire into a hanger shape before finishing with another tiny loop using round-nose pliers again. Voila.

These heart ornaments were spotted in Peter Jones the other week on a shopping trip with Mummy and also inspired a crafty session in Suffolk. The shop bought version used rustic white cotton, either draped with a pretty crochet snowflake or studded with random pearl buttons. But Mother took the idea further to create these...
Adorable hessian mini-cushions and a lovely twisted garland made from very heavy wool (we think it is going to go up the stairs...). All far nicer than shop bought buys.
(Daddy took this picture which puts my blackberry snaps to shame!)