"hey pesto"

If you don't like pesto, you probably wont read this, so I shall say "hi" and "bye" to you, if you do like pesto then come in, have a seat, get comfy and enjoy!

Pesto facts:
Pesto originates from Northern Italy, more specifically the Liguria region (I like specific)

The ingredients, in a traditional pesto, are ground in a circular motion using a pestle and mortar

Ingredients:
Dried basil
Parmeggiano, reggiano and pecorino
Extra virgin olive oil
salt

It's a great thing to have in the cupboard for when you want something quick.

Recipes:

Turkey pesto salad with cashews

I like to make salads quite interesting. I tend to throw in lots of things aswell as the standard lettuce toms and cucumber.

When I make this salad I cook the turkey cover it in pesto and keep it warm in the pan.

For the salad I use spinach rather than mixed leaves (personal preference) rose tomatoes, red onions, cucumber, grated carrot, cashews and roasted sweet potatoes.

This is a lovely warm salad, full of flavour and the crunch of the cashews add to the different textures.

Pesto and pine nut pasta

Another simple recipe, If you use a frusilli or orrechiette pasta, the pesto tends to gather in the creases and folds, yum!

I usually add some cherry tomatoes and some pine nuts to make it more interesting and the flavour of the pine nuts is delicious.

Mozzerella and Basil sandwich

Pick a good bread for this one, standard white is a no no, you need a thick and fairly dry bread for example a ciabatta or maybe even a french baguette.

Spread the pesto on the bread and layer on milky mozzerella, slices of beef tomatoes and a few fresh basil leaves and "hey pesto" a deliciously flavoursome sandwich.

Feel free to share your pesto recipes!

"She puts the Ho in Hosiery!"

I LOVE AUTUMN ... its my fave season, mainly because I get to wear tights! I love tights, all different colours and patterns I think they can easily make an outfit more interesting!

I bought 3 pairs in marks and spencer today which are purple grey and black, staple colours, and it was 20% off BARG!

Marks and Spencer is probably my favourite place to shop for tights that I can wear at work and woolly tights for more casual occasions.

Red or Dead have a brilliant range of tights that are a bit more "sexy" you'd probably not want to wear them at work unless your work involves entertaining men!

Hobbs also have a lovely selection, which are surprisingly reasonable with regards to price.

Brighten up your LBD and the grey muggy days with some hosiery ... happy days!

Thursday 20th September 2012

This is more of a diary entry rather than a blog so apologies if this ones a bit boring! Im still going to write it!

I woke up feeling glum, wasnt sure whether it was the rain or just a bit of the blues but I wasnt the usual high spirited Hannah that most people see. I decided to go shopping (im a girl, thats what we do to cheer ourselves up)

I managed to purchase some jeans a belt and some woolly socks but i still wasnt happy so I went to boots and bought sone bach flower rescue remedy. I swear by this stuff, when I was moving house a few months ago I took alot of it because I was really sad and scared of what was going to happen next. It really helps to clear my head and lift my mood. Maybe its psychological but it helps regardless, so I opened it straight away and put 4 drops under my tongue.

I had planned to meet my housemate for lunch at a beautiful cafe in York so off we went, on the way to the tearoom we went into a tiny church hidden in york city centre and discussed how churches have a really calming effect on us both.

At the tearoom we ordered sandwiches and tea and chatted about all sorts of things. I learned that hes a descendant of some diamond mine owners and that his ancesters owned some big estates in England. I shared some childhood stories with him and told him about my family tree aswell. It was a nice way to get to know someone and enjoy a delightful bite to eat in beautiful surroundings.

We decided to treat ourselves to some cake after our sandwiches and planned on what we would do for the rest of the afternoon.

We started walking to the community furniture store for a browse and we bumped into 2 of my friends who I hadnt seen for ages and I ran over to them both and gave them a big hug and had a quick chat. It really brightened up my day to see some familliar faces!

We popped into a furniture shop called "fully furnished" which was full of antique furniture. I came across a wonderful wardrobe which was £45. I really need a wardrobe and it was so lovely but I wanted to go to see if there was anything else in the other shop before I bought it. There was a very limited collection in the other shop so we went back and I asked the owner if he'd take £30 for it (i wanted to pay £35 but thought id go in low!) he said he'd take £35 (JACKPOT) it gets delivered for free tomorrow and I am so delighted I have had a smile on my face like a cheshire cat for the entire afternoon.

When I got home I crashed into the chair and my phone rang, it was another wonderful friend of mine and he had just called for a chat, which was lovely, we laughed at one another for 10mins and discussed what we were up to this evening and some other random funny stuff then hung up.

I cant believe that my mood had improved so much just from communicating with people and coming across that wardrobe! Im almost convinced that I saw and spoke to all of these people for a reason today!

Ive spent the evening cooking a delicious meal of barbeque tofu, red onion, broccolli and cashew nuts and listening to a CD that someone left at the pub for me because they thought id enjoy it and they were spot on! I Love it! Im not sure who the musicians are, i think they are a local band but their music is beautiful and a lovely way for me to chill out at the end of the day.

I will now go to sleep a happy lady!

I hope you have all had a glorious day and if not, call a friend or go and buy a wardrobe! Or some rescue remedy!

Until next time ... X

Vegan and Dairy free mint chocolate truffles

I havent turned vegan ... Dont be silly I like cheese far too much, but I have a friend who has a vegan+dairyfree diet so since I invited him and his brother over for dinner last night, I decided to treat them to some chocolate truffles for dessert.

I went to holland and barratt and picked up some vegan, dairy free mint chocolate and some coconut milk (yes its THAT simple)

I broke up 100g of mint chocolate and heated up the coconut milk in a pan until it started to bubble. You dont need alot of milk at all, maybe 1/4 of a cup, i just guessed!

Pour the hot coconut milk onto the chocolate and leave for 1 min, then whisk until you get a shiny, quite thick, ganache.

I left it for 25min in the fridge then rolled it into bitesize pieces. I got 7 out of the mixture. They are quite rich so you wont want to eat too many at once! We ate them with some merlot, a perfect compliment to their richness!

I find trying out vegitarian/vegan/paleo recipes, quite fun, if you have any recipes you could like to share, feel free to comment

Friend Clutter

Facebook is a friend of mine, as is Twitter, but are these social networking sites really a communication tool or is it just for being nosey and finding out what Dave Jones is up to these days? - oh look hes married, not sure i like his wifes dress in that pic, and what an unfortunate looking child, HIDE FROM NEWSFEED.
Let see what Sarah Green is up to, oh shes been to spain again and look theres another photo she took of herself and her boyfriend pouting and looking smug - boring

People who have 761 friends cant possibly be interested in every individual person if you arent friends with someone in real life why are you friends on facebook?

I know someone who accepted a friend request from someone they didnt even like, why? Are we just nosey? Personally if I dont talk to you or have rarely ever spoken to you, dont know anything about you and dont wish to, dont add me on facebook! I wont accept your friendship request because you are clearly just a nosey begger and Ive not accomplished anything that would interest you anyway! (i sound so stroppy! Im not!)

However, I have found that I have more in common with a number of people I went to school with but didnt know that well. For example, my passion for food, being generally creative and other hobbies appear to have sparked conversations with these people who I didnt really know very well, its actually quite nice, you can stay!

How offended do people get when you defriend them? It makes me laugh, its JUST facebook, I know someone who once got really angry that I had deleted them from facebook, to which i responded with, "if you carry on I will defriend you for genners" (for real) that didnt go down very well. This is before the "hide" feature was available.

Im not a fan of "checking in" it ruins conversations you have, when you tell someone you went somewhere at the weekend and they saw on facebook that you had been there it puts an end to a potential conversation.

So although I say that facebook is my friend there are many parts of it that irritate me.

Anyway that is my rant for the day, please feel free to carry on with your day :-)

Do a friend cull, I DARE YOU!

Fancy a brew?

I don't think im the only person in the world who has a favourite cup for their heated beverages, my current fave is a large mug covered in different coloured telephone boxes.

Im a bit of a tea snob, I dont do PG Tips (bleurghh) I can cope with Tetley but the queen of all tea is YORKSHIRE TEA! I went through a phase of buying Betty's tearoom blend (rahhh), then I remembered my wage is pretty shocking so I would probably be better off going to the supermarket like normal people! So my trusty yorkshire tea is usually served in my big telephone box covered mug, quite milky, hold the sugar, im sweet enough!

I have gone one step further with regards to the favourite tea cup/mug thing and I have a mug at my sisters and a little arthur price cup at my parents house for when I visit, is this sad or sensible? Im not overly impressed that my sister uses my mug when im not there but I guess she'll do what she wants, its her house.

I also drink alot of south african Rooibos, I drink it black with the teabag in. Its recommended to take it out but I like it strong. Its full of anti-oxidents and super for flushing you out (appologies thats a bit disgusting! Its true though) Its good for getting rid of headaches and soothing sore throats and just helping you relax, so there are lots of benefits to drinking Rooibos. I like "Tick Tock" its better than tetley Redbush!

Whats your fave?

Mambo italiano

After a few days in Bergamo and Milan the thought of returning home to mundane living is not too inviting!

How boring is it when someone shows you the slide show of their holiday snaps? I thought id go one step further and give you a little snippet of my holiday in the form of a blog.

Bergamo is split into 2 parts Citta Alta (uptown) and Citta Bassa (downtown) pronounced Chi-ta!
Citta Alta is also the old town, its full of boutiques and quaint streets and has a real authentic italian feel. Lots of people have dogs and cycling is also popular. You can hire bikes from Citta Bassa which are free for 45mins then a small fee after that for however long you want it. Traffic in Citta Bassa is typically italian though, so if you arent used to cycling then it might not be the best idea!

I stayed in Citta Alta in a 15th century Mansion which has been converted into apartments. Fully equipt with a good kitchen a TV lounge and a huge bedroom, furnished with antique 18th/19th century furniture that I wanted to take home with me. The views over looking the mountains and Citta Alta are stunning. There was also a beautiful enclosed courtyard perfect for an afternoon bellini/book reading/contemplation time.

www.bedandbreakfastbergamo/ilchiostro

When I arrived the owner Alessandra greeted me and I noticed she was reading 50 shades of Grey (the italian version) I laughed and pointed at the book and she told me she had read all of them and that she loved reading them. Personally, I couldnt finish the first book, it was so badly written, maybe its better in italian! But it did make me think, the book has taken over the world and women EVERYWHERE are reading it, i also saw a lady in a cafe reading it whilst drinking a spritz and smoking a cigarette, typically italian.

Speaking of Spritz, an Apperol Spritz appears to be the drink of choice here, its a refreshing cocktail made up of apperol, prosecco and soda water, on average it costs about
€5. Everytime you buy a drink in a bar you get a plate of crisps, olives and peanuts which are includes in the price of your beverage. If you got a drink and lunchtime you could have a free lunch!
I've always been a fan of Bellinis, first invented in Harrys Bar in Venice, a refreshing mix of peach puree and prosecco, mmmm ive had a few of those in the last few days too!

I think Bergamo is a little hidden treasure, i didnt come across many brits, it was mainly locals, french and spanish people. Its definitely somewhere you need to have a phrase book!

Gelato

Italy is famous for its Gelato and my favourite flavour is probably the pannacotta flavour, I also discovered a gelato and fro'yo shop called Safara'soft, it was magnificent, a whole range of fruitty flavours and "icecream sandwiches" and lots of chocolate themed lollies. Check out the website, i want one to open in england!
http://www.safarasoft.it/
Its all in italian, but, who doesnt understand the language of ice cream?

There were lots of Bakery's and Deli's selling pizza, pasta and pastries. Lots of Polenta based sweets and biscuits. We picked up some "brioche" (croissants) for breakfast which were filled with apricot jam, and some ciocollata biscotti, delicious. Im surprised there arent more overweight italians! We did alot of walking so we may have overindulged slightly!

We took the Funicolare to the very top of Citta Alta where there were some amazing views and a lovely breeze. Lots of conker trees and a popular place for keen cyclists. All the cyclists were fully decked out in the tight lycra cycle gear, it must be a very popular thing to do in this part of italy. It was so peaceful and calming just sitting on a wall looking at the view in the sunshine.

Enjoy the pics x

Re-Joyce

I had a conversation today with a friend who told me about a ring that she wears all the time, it belonged to her Grandma and when she passed away she inherited the ring. I also have 2 diamond rings and a pair of diamond earrings that once belonged to my Grandma and it got me thinking about how many young girls/women are walking around wearing jewellery that has been passed down to them by generations that have passed.

There must be so many stories behind the pieces of jewellery and the people who owned them so I decided to share some memories about my Grandma.

Grandma Joyce passed away in 2011 just before new year, she was 84 and had a wonderful spirit about her even up until the last time I saw her (about 2 weeks before she died) She never failed to put a smile on my face.

The kind of woman who told it like it was, and no one would dare challenge her because most of the time she was right! She was an excellent baker and cook, some of my fondest memories are of "Lucky Bags" which were just sandwich bags filled with sweets, chocolates and buns that she had made especially for me and my sister. We would eat most of it in the car on the way home and be full of beans before bed! Im sure my mum was grateful! I can still remember what her chocolate buns tasted like even the icing, it was divine!

She had so many phrases which my family and I quote all the time like "eee arent you droll" which meant "arent you funny" and when we talk about her we laugh ALOT because she was the most droll person I have ever met.

Growing up I remember her having a passion for shoes and she used to let me totter around in her slingbacked white sandals to take the rubbish out! - I suppose it was a good way of getting a horrible job done and keeping me entertained. I blame her for my love of expensive well crafted footwear!

I remember visiting my grandparents on their holidays, they used to visit filey every year and get a beach hut and enjoy the great british summertime back when every day was sunny and a bit of rain never hurt anyone. Infact theres a photo of me wearing my dads trainers, holding my grandads walking stick and wearing only a pink sailor hat and my knickers posing and entertaining everyone with my sillyness. (I wont show you the photo its awful!) I always felt quite encouraged to be myself and do whatever I wanted by my grandma, which is probably why I got away with alot!

As I got older I would love going to visit her on my own, having some one to one time with her was my favourite, I would have her full attention and I could ask her all sorts about her life which I never really asked her or spoke to her about when anyone else was around.

I used to write to her alot when I lived in the middle east, she used to buy me "shout" magazine and post 3 or 4 magazins at a time all the way to bahrain for me with little letters from her because she knew I liked the magazine and i'd pick out a lovely card that I knew she would like and i'd write her a note to say thank you. She loved receiving letters, anything in the post is better than a bill or junk mail!

I suppose the point of this blog is that no matter how old I get I feel like the jewellery I wear on a daily basis will encourage me to never forget what a wonderful, loving and amazing person my little grandma joyce was (she was about 4'11) The last time I saw her before she passed away she turned to my dad and said "Isnt she bonny" and when I feel like things are getting a bit too much in life, I look down at my finger at the ring im wearing and I can hear her say "Dont be a silly begger our'annah"

 Feel free to use the comments box to share a memory, I really do love hearing other peoples stories

Night xx

Once in a blue moon

My favourite colour is Green, however, my favourite colour to wear is navy blue. I only realised this a few years ago when I went shopping and came home with nothing but blue clothing, I must have at least 3 blue and white striped tops and a couple of dresses!
My ball gown is a midnight blue, both my winter and spring coats are blue and I have lots of blue shoes!!
I like blue because its friendlier than black but still as smart. It could be percieved as a constant with it being the colour of the sky and the sea, perhaps a dependable and trustworthy colour.

I think colours can also make you feel a certain way and I think certain shades of blue are quite calming. There are a few different interpretations of the colour blue. In Mexico blue is the colour of mourning, In Greece blue is believed to ward off the evil eye.

Blue was my Grandmas favourite colour, she left me a blue diamond which I wear everyday, I love it because its unusual and obviously because it was hers and she loved it!

Colours that compliment blue include: Red/Orange/Yellow/White

A dark blue is seen as a corporate blue and when worn it conveys trust, truth, authority and stability.

Light blue, has been said, to convey purity and cleanliness.

Fresh Lemonade and Mint

I definitely wouldnt share this with anyone, so I decided i'd share a photo of it instead. Just what the doctor ordered after a long day of shopping Fresh Lemonade and a sprig of mint, very refreshing

 

Happy Shoppers!