What we ate last week...

Monday :: Hairy Dieters' chicken cordon bleu

Tuesday :: Hairy Dieters' spanish-style chicken bake

Wednesday :: Hairy Dieters' chilli bowls

Thursday :: Hairy Dieters' lamb kebabs

Friday :: Steak, Deliciously Ella cinnamon sweet potato wedges and patlican

Saturday :: Hairy Dieters' chicken bhuna

What did you eat this week? Can you tell we bought some Hairy Bikers recipe books?! 

E D I N B U R G H :: in food + drink

Let me just begin with saying that I took more photos that I can shake a stick at this weekend! So you can imagine that I had really no idea where to begin, blogwise. After perusing all of the photos many many times, I decided that I would get all the foodie ones out the way (read as: take centre stage) first. Now all of these were taken on my iPhone 6 and after varying degrees of cocktails. So lets just agree that they may be slighty squint and/or blurry! 

The main events of the weekend food-wise were without a doubt Meze Meze on Rose Street and the Crafter's Barn on the Mound. I didn't take anywhere near enough photos during the meze dinner, but let me tell you - its some of the best food I've eaten in a long while. The feast included tzatziki, hummus, spiced salsa, baked aubergine, courgette and halloumi stew, chicken skewars, lamb, patas bravas, feta filled filo pastries, spiced sausage and the best bread I've ever tasted. This was all washed down with some Greek beer and followed by baklava, of course!

The Crafter's Barn had *the* biggest pizza I've ever eaten. We decided to go for half and half, just for good measure. My side of choice was the Smoked BBQ which included steak, bacon, caramelised onions, mushrooms and mozzarella. Oscar went for a chicken and chorizo affair that blew our mind. If you're into your beer, their menu is amazing and I really couldn't fault the service on a busy Valentines/Six Nations rugby weekend! 

I'm not sure if this applied only to the Edinburgh store, but Anthropologie had a little pancake stand on the go this weekend too. This was a nice little restbite after a very long walk from the Castle to the Palace!

We managed to have a few cocktails all over the city (check out that passion fruit concoction above ^^), but if you're a bit of a gin connoisseur then I'd recommend checking out the new Jolly Botanist right next to Haymarket. They have countless gins (not to mention cocktails and whisky) and the garnishes will blow your mind! You may want to reserve a table though, even just for drinks. Standard Edinburgh rules really. 

Breakfast at The Blackbird on Sunday morning was a standard full Scottish, haggis and all. The coffee there was just what I needed after the many cocktails the previous evening!

We were supposed to go out for a Californian meal on the Saturday evening, but after the giant pizza/beer/cocktail combo, we were SO full that we couldn't manage it! Ooops! Thanks for your many many awesome recommendations, I've saved them all and those we couldn't fit in are definitely top of the list for our next visit. Thanks pals! :)

Quinoa {Four Ways}

1. Easy chickpea + vegetable curry with quinoa.

2. Cinnamon apple quinoa parfait.

3. Quinoa nori rolls.

4. Roasted brussel sprout quinoa with portobello mushrooms + pomegranates.

Having recently developed a serious obsession with quinoa, I've been searching all over for some tasty recipes! Check out these four lovelies! Oh and also a shout out to Ella's amazing site, her recipes are so droolworthy clean + the photography is beautiful.

the best afternoon tea i've ever had!

Best afternoon tea ever? Bold statement, I know. But, seriously? TRUE STORY! I don't know why I haven't posted this sooner, O and I went to the Lake District a few months ago for a little weekend getaway. We stumbled across this gorgeous hotel right on the shores of Lake Windermere. If you check out their website, they have a swanky spa and the hotel is seriously the lap of luxury, but all we were interested in was their afternoon tea! We had no idea what to expect and when the sandwiches came out on their own plate, I was a little worried that we wouldn't get a lovely cake stand. This was O's first ever afternoon tea, you see and I had promised him a lovely cake stand filled with tasty morsels. Let's just say, we were not disappointed...

Is that test tubes I hear you say? Oh yes! At the Lakeside Hotel, you don't just choose your tea from a menu, you grab a test tube {or ten}, take a big sniff and then make your decision!

What can I say about these teapots? FANCY!

If you know me well, you'll know that I'm not a huge tea drinker {I know, you're disappointed in me...}, so of course I went for this fruity concoction. O said it looked like Ribena...

Cold cucumber soup in a fancy bowl anyone? I was dubious, but oh my!!! Feels strange eating {drinking?} cold soup, but it tasted AMAZING!

The usual arrangement of sandwiches arrived and this is when I feared there would be no cake stand...

How silly I was to ever doubt the lovely Lakeside Hotel! LOOK! Just look at all those cakes!! I'm not going to lie, we almost did finish this, everything was a pleasure to eat and it was difficult to leave that last bite of cake pop, but by this point I was in a serious cake coma.

Now this wasn't the cheapest afternoon tea that I've ever had, but with the sheer amount of cake and the beautiful scenery, I would've happily paid more than we did. There are different options to choose from too, so if you want to ditch the soup and sandwiches and head straight to the cakes {who would blame you?}, you can do! I'll leave you with one of my favourite photos of the day, except from the cakes of course...

{PS You can now find my review directly on the hotel website here!}

five guys {in photos}

I'm pretty sure these photos do all the talking, but just to make sure you get it...I LOVE FIVE GUYS! I know that the general consensus is divided, but O and I were mighty impressed. We went to the Trafford Centre location in Manchester {O's hometown, we didn't drive all that way just for a Five Guys...honest} and couldn't fault them. I love that you get to choose your own toppings or go "all the way" like O did. The fries!!! Oh my...best fries ever! Bold statement, I know, but they were just soooo darn good. Then there's the drinks machine. Over 100 different flavours. I had raspberry Coke, yup...raspberry! Can I go back right this moment? I'm drooling as I type this. Now, it's not cheap, but for something that we'll only have once in a while (my heart and waistline thank me for this) it's completely justifiable.

If you're lucky enough to have a location near you, get down there and order the bacon cheeseburger, fries and a raspberry Coke. You won't be disappointed! 

{Post originally from July 2014, migrated from Weebly}.  

RECIPE :: Butternut Squash & Lime Soup

I know that soup isn't exactly the summer staple, but this recipe is so tasty that you'll want to be eating it all year long! This recipe was modified from a Weight Watchers one, which you can find here. I've made a few different versions of this soup over the last few months, my favourite two being this one and another which has roasted garlic instead of the lime....yum!

Now, let me tell you the recipe for this lovely soup...

Ingredients:

1 portion of butternut squash {peeled, de-seeded and diced into 1 inch cubes}
2 medium onions {quartered}
2 cubes of vegetable stock {dissolved in two pints of hot water}
1 lime {the juice of}
Pinch of salt and black pepper to season

Method:- Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 7/220°C/425°F.
- Place the diced butternut squash and onion in a large roasting pan or baking dish. Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes, until tender {if you are doing the roasted garlic version, I would add your chopped garlic in here too}.
- Remove from oven, tip into saucepan and add the stock.
- Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Let cool about 15 minutes {do not pour hot soup directly into food processor, or you risk it exploding}.
- Purée in batches in blender or food processor.
- Once blended, pour the soup into a sauce pan and add the juice of one lime and season with salt & pepper to taste.

Adding in the lime at the end really gives it a refreshing edge, perfect for this time of year. The roasted garlic or curry versions are great in the autumn and winter. For those of you who are calorie counting it's also super healthy (0PP for those Weight Watchers out there) and makes a perfect light lunch or pre-dinner appetiser. If you do make it, tag me in your photos (Instagram) or leave your links below so I can drool at them! 

 

food adventures {in newcastle}

My buddy MC was coming to Newcastle for the day, so I called on my blogger buddies for some scrummy food recommendations. As usual, Chloe, did not disappoint! Firstly we jumped on to one of those sightseeing buses and learned some Newcastle trivia. We then hopped off at the stop closest to our lunch destination...The Garden Kitchen. Chloe recommended ordering one of the picnics and oh my, we were soooo happy that we did.

We ordered the Garden Picnic (you can choose from three), which included BLT's, quiche, corn on the cob, salad, coleslaw, mini baked potatoes, mackerel pate, and two HUGE slices of Victoria sandwich, all served on this cute mini picnic table. We also ordered a jug of the homemade lemonade, which is so tasty and refreshing. The food was absolutely mouth-wateringly amazing! We ordered some sweet potato wedges on the side (as if the picnic itself wasn't enough!) and then followed everything with some cocktails!

I ordered the Bramble and MC had the Held in Preserve! FYI they are super strong!!!
Once lunch was finished, we decided to track down our sightseeing bus again, but then realised we had missed the last pick up! D'oh! So we strolled around in Granger Market for a bit and then headed down to the Quayside to sample The Great British Cupcakery. Again, Chloe's recommendation was spot on! The cakes all look spectacular and it's incredibly hard to decide which one to try. In the end, I went for the Strawberry Cheesecake and MC had the Raspberry something or other (the name eludes me!).

After filling up on these gorgeous cupcakes, we headed down to walk along the Quayside to try and burn some of those cake calories away in the glorious sunshine. Newcastle, I heart you!  

local eats :: the mockingbird deli

 

Having just moved to the area recently, we're on the look out for a new list of favourites. Favourite restaurants, coffee shops, pubs...you get the jist. In a bid to avoid anymore unpacking, we decided to drive to the local town, Yarm, for a breather. If you've never visited Yarm, let me tell you, it's one of the quaintest little towns I've ventured to. The High street is super quaint, with lots of pretty independent stores, just begging to be shopped in. But, on this particular day, food was our priority, so we wandered into The Mockingbird Deli. Boy, am I glad we did. The deli is one of these little cozy nooks, that you want to have all to yourself all damn day. They have shelves full of tasty looking morsels and don't even get me started on the cake! After much deliberation, we decided on one of the meat and cheese deli platters. I'll let this photo speak for itself....

Are you drooling whilst you're reading this? Because I'm drooling as I type! Can you see the balsamic onions?? I think these were my favourite part! Unfortunately, my phone battery died straight after this photo, so I didn't get to show you how lovely the actual deli itself is, but I'm hoping to be back there sometime soon, so I'll fix this then!

So, if you're in the Yarm area, please give the deli a visit, even just for a coffee. You won't regret it. The staff are super friendly and I think they even have a resident dog...what more could you want? You can find them on Facebook here.

Where have you eaten in the NE recently? Tell me about your tasty adventures!