Cake for Breakfast (or, The Best Office Warming Gift Ever)

Anyone fancy cake for breakfast!?

This is the scene that created Mr. O and I when we arrived back at our new offices in Utrecht this morning. Is there any better way to start the day? Seriously, what is a girl to do - there was no way I could hold myself back and, after plenty of deliberation, I made the princesstarta mine. 

Never seen a princesstarta before? This one's pretty new to me too - it's a Swedish speciality that also pretty popular here in the Netherlands - layers of sponge, creme patisserie, jam and whipped cream, enveloped in the brightest of green marzipans. It feels a little bit like being served a slice of dissected Kermit, but the taste is delicious! I spent the afternoon feeling like Miss. Piggy in more ways than one, but doubt it'll be the last time this cake and I meet. Sorry Kermie.

The Abergavenny Food Festival 2013

Ever so slightly late to the party (fourteen years to be exact), last year Mr. O and I discovered the wonder that is the Abergavenny Food Festival. As a couple who take their eating (slightly too) seriously, this annual event was pretty much Disneyland for us, so to say that we were raring to go for this year's event would be a slight understatement. 

Every year, the festival (now one of the UK's leading food events - seriously, how had I missed this!?) takes over the entirety of Abergavenny's town centre, playing host to stalls from over 200 local producers and to talks and demonstrations from the likes of Magnus Nilsson, Bryn Williams and Valentine Warner. Have I whetted your appetite yet!?

This isn't just any old farmers market - Abergavenny's festival really is something very special. Not only is the town itself quite charming, it's the quality of food and creativity of presentation that makes this feel like a really immersive event. Wandering from the Victorian Market Hall through the streets to the castle this weekend, we stumbled across themed art installations, impromptu tastings of food from around the world, cows resting in pastures, science experiments and chilled out music performances. Between us we sampled thai noodles, burgers and pasta, sitting and eating them on the castle lawns before picking our way through a tray of poffertjes and sipping cocktails from Chase Distillery's stand.

We tried Moroccan M'Hencha, Welsh honey, Spanish ham (from Brindisa) and the most amazing Italian sauces and pestos from Peperoncino (seriously, seriously good). A very special mention must also go to the lovely team from Flavours of Monmouth - what these guys don't know about British cheese just isn't worth knowing, I can tell you!

After a few hours of wandering and grazing, food panic set in at around 4pm, when I realised that my eyes were far bigger than my stomach and there was no way I was going to be able to sample everything I wanted to. We did, however, sneak away with a couple of pies (sadly, I've forgotten who we bought them from) and a couple of mini cheesecakes from La Creme Patisserie. La Creme made our wedding desserts and these badboys brought back some delicious memories. 

If you fancy planning a trip to Abergavenny, the good news is that you don't have to wait as long as next September - the team behind the main event also run a (slightly smaller) Christmas market in December. If you fancy picking up some goodies ahead of the big day, listening to Christmas carols whilst enjoying steaming mugs of mulled wine, put Sunday 8th December in your calendars NOW!

Sunday walk in beautiful Gower

This weekend we were woken up by glorious sunshine pouring in through the windows of our little seaside flat. It was the perfect weather for an escape to the countryside and so we grabbed our sunglasses, mum and dad and jumped into the cars for a short ride into Gower.

For all the love we have for European adventures and exploring new parts of the world, it's weekends like this one that make us realise how lucky we are to call this beautiful peninsula home. Wandering our way around the clifftop path, we were treated to incredible views, lush (in the true sense of the word) green fields, followed by the the bluest of blue waters below. 

It was so lovely being outside in the sunshine, enjoying spending time with our family and making each other smile. Mum and I took photos and gossiped, Dad and Mr. O talked football results and caught each other up on their latest work adventures. We clowned about like kids and let the sea breezes blow away all of the cobwebs, feeling fully refreshed for the new week ahead.

Bundling back into our cars, we headed home for bowls of Dad's famous chicken soup, reminding me of the Sunday evenings of my childhood, when we'd come home from a walk and enjoy a supper of tomato soup in front of 'The Borrowers'. 

The perfect end to a perfect day.

A Patriotic Breakfast

I really do try my best in the mornings. Fruit, porridge oats, almond milk, plus a handful of vitamins and supplements.

But sometimes, you just really need a dirty fry up. This weekend, we celebrated our return to the UK in style!

Easy Chicken Stirfry #thisisnotarecipe

Don't laugh. I know, of course, that there's plenty of reasons why you should - first of all, there's the pretty awful photos. Secondly, there's the fact that these photos (of chicken, diced up onion and...stuff) are accompanying a recipe. A recipe that I am writing up. 

It's this that will make the people who know me laugh the most - I am not the chef in our household. The bit that might make you laugh the most though (aside from the atrocious photography) is the fact that this isn't even a recipe. But what's a girl to do - despite appearances this is in fact a pretty delicious, pretty simple, wholly unauthentic stir fry and it deserves to be heard, dammit!

'How do I join you on this culinary adventure?', I hear you ask. Well, you need to take a bowl and put some stuff in it. We (ha! Mr. O...) normally go with a good glug of groundnut oil (or any fairly neutral, flavourless oil), followed by a couple of tablespoons of sesame oil. Then, into the bowl goes some chopped up ginger, chopped up garlic and as much soy sauce as you fancy.

After checking your fridge to see if there's anything else you should throw in (a bit of fresh chilli is always good), you give the bowl a stir and add in some chopped up chicken breast and diced red onion (I did the red onion! I might not be able to cook, but I can chop!), then leave it to marinade away for a little while in the fridge. 

When you're ready to eat, pop your chicken, plus its marinade, into a hot wok or frying pan and cook. After a few minutes, add your chosen vegetables to the pan and keep cooking until your chicken is thoroughly cooked all the way through. In the meantime, prepare your noodles and, once your chicken and vegetables are ready, toss in your cooked noodles. Give everything a good stir, add in some extra soy sauce or pickled ginger if you're so inclined (I am, Mr. O, not so much).

Then, just tuck in and feel proud of your prowess in the kitchen!

PS This is the look my husband may have given me when he spotted me taking photos of our dinner...

I like to ride my bicycle (well, I will as soon as I learn how to ride it in a straight line..)

I've taken the plunge - I've gone Dutch! Yep, here's my new ride - all fancy, swirly writing, pimped up saddle and moustache handlebars. A real beauty and I'm already in love.

All I need now is a basket on the front and I'm set. Although technically I've also got to learn how to ride the flippin' thing too. No hand brakes - it's all in the feet apparently. I'm smiling in that photo, but even I can see the terror hiding behind my grin...

Farmer's Market in Utrecht

So, we've made our big move. Well, I say that, but we've basically made the biggest step so far in our big move, which isn't even really a move at all. 

Anyway, the time for living out of a suitcase is here and Mr. O and I have arrived in Utrecht for our longest visit, hands down beating our longest stay to date of three nights on the trot. I still can't quite get my head around the fact that we're doing this (I'm so excited!) and I'm just trying to focus on trying to soak it all in and having the best time, rather than the fact that I can't so much as say 'goodbye' in Dutch (hello is, thankfully, very easy - 'hallo!' - while thank you seems to have an endless number of variations). 

Anyway, can you believe it, it was almost as though Utrecht knew we were coming - a farmer's market! On a Sunday! Just around the corner from our flat! If ever a girl needed a sign that she'd come to the right city, this was surely it!

I think Utrecht and I are going to get on just fine. Can't wait to explore some more!

A perfect summer day

The one downside to our lovely, teeny tiny flat (apart from the fact that it's teeny tiny), is that it doesn't come with any outdoor space. It's weird, but this is the first summer that I've really missed having a garden or even just a small, private space outside, to curl up with a book or enjoy a meal in the sunshine.

But what we do have, right on our doorstep, is the most beautiful of seafronts (ok, yes, I'm biased, but on a sunny evening, it's pretty hard to beat). This summer, Mr. O and I have decided to be brave and claim that seafront as our very own garden. Aside from our frequent walks, the last few weeks I've been reading out there, taking phone calls out there and, more recently, we've eaten out there. We've had a couple of strange looks, but I like to think that actually, it's just made other people smile to see the area being so thoroughly enjoyed!

The best bit about eating outside? Why, we're just that little bit closer to our local ice cream parlour! We still have to battle the infamous queues, but it's delightfully worth it. Even if it does mean that my ice cream machine is even less likely to make a repeat appearance any time soon! 

And when you've got an ice cream sundae in your hand and your boy by your side, the only thing that could complete a perfect day, is strolling home with a view like this one...