Catch-up Time!

First of all, I should apologise for the lack of posts over the last few months. I feel as though I have been really busy for the past few weeks, but looking back, I really haven't done that much. Definitely not enough to excuse the radio silence. I shall fill you in on my adventures before I post my next recipe.

I can't believe it's nearly autumn... my time in France zoomed past so quickly and I have now become a student again! It really is so wonderful to be back in London. There is just something about London with all the hustle and bustle of the streets and the tube, and the way people dress up for no reason. I remember a conversation I had with my boyfriend's mum way back in September about coming to France, and discussing how fashionable it would be. Well, who ever told us the French are fashionable was making a rather large sweeping statement. Parisians dress beautifully, it's as if they are from another planet. The women are perfectly groomed everyday and have this confidence that makes them even more enviable, whilst the men can only be described as suave. However, take the train two hours south of Paris and it is a completely different story. I mean, no one dresses badly, I don't want to insult anyone... but it is definitely more of a laid back look people go for. When we first arrived I dressed as I normally would in London. Nothing that special, I don't really follow trends or anything like that, just nice clothes. But if I went out, I was stared at like a lion who has escaped from the zoo. In fact, someone approached me and my boyfriend in a club and said that they knew we couldn't be from the town because we were dressed differently. So after a few months of the escaped lion treatment, I just gave up and settled into this 'rural-France style'. But now I am back in London and I can bring out all my favourite clothes again and just blend in perfectly with the crowds.

Summer in France turned out to be pretty lovely My little town transformed from a rather bleak, dull place to this warm, sunny place. The weekends filled up with visiting chateaux, trips to a local lake (which had a mini beach!!) and even a little wine tasting.

June also meant it was my boyfriend's birthday. Now, at the very beginning of our relationship I made a grave mistake. It was his 21st Birthday and I thought the best thing to do was to buy 21 presents to mark this event. I went completely crazy girlfriend OTT. There were theatre tickets, live comedy tickets, box sets, books, food. At the time, it seemed like the only option and my boyfriend was pretty blown away by the whole thing. You may be thinking 'why is this an error?'. Well, three and a half years later, it is pretty hard to beat 21 presents. I peaked way to early on. Now I always feel like I haven't got enough presents for him, and on top of that, there isn't much my boyfriend doesn't have thanks to the 21 present overload. So I have to get all creative and think outside the box.

So this year I spent ages hunting in France thinking that there would be some new, fun things here. Nothing, however, seemed right. I suddenly realised it was only 2 days to go and I had nothing. Not even a card. I felt terrible. Suddenly the most incredible idea came to my head.... DISNEYLAND. How could we not go! I had a think whether this was a slightly selfish choice. I come from a pretty Disney-mad family... in 5 years we went to Disneyland in California 4 times, and the one in Florida once. I spoke to my parents and they whole-heartedly agreed that this was the best option so I went for it. Booked a little hotel for the night and a 2 day park pass. Thankfully, my boyfriend is a Disney fan too so he was more than happy with the choice, and it also meant we got to have a mini holiday. It was possibly one of the best weekend ever.  We didn't really go out much in France, and so a little holiday where we got to eat out, have cocktails and just hang out was needed!

So this post isn't devoid of anything food related, I would like to say that I also cooked my boyfriend a three course birthday meal which went down wonderfully. I shall put these recipes up as soon as possible... but here's the menu for now:

Starter: Goat's Cheese and Sun-dried Tomato Tart with Rocket and Balsamic Vinegar
Main: Chicken Risotto with Home-Made Garlic Bread
Dessert: Chocolate Pots with Clotted Cream


Over the summer I was lucky enough to go to America with my boyfriend and his lovely family. We went to Chicago, Stone Harbour and Philadelphia. Chicago is an amazing city... it made it into my top 5 cities (at number 3 if you're interested after London, obviously, and San Francisco). I even got to go to my first baseball game! It really was a great way to spend 4 weeks and we got to see lots of my boyfriend's family, including his Grandmother Bibi, Floie and his brother Ed, who has been living in America for a year. I must admit there is nothing better than seeing two brothers out at a bar together----->

Anyway, the whole holiday was absolutely perfect and it was very hard coming home!

It was made easier by the fact that I was going straight to Cornwall for my family holiday. Sitting on the balcony with a nice cup of tea and a scone smothered in clotted cream gave me the same feeling I have every year in Cornwall, which is that it is my favourite place in the whole world. I have been very lucky to be taken to some pretty amazing places, but when I am in Cornwall, I am surrounded by my family and amazing food. It was such a lovely week and I got to spend lots of time with my sister before she went back to school

So I had a pretty amazing summer and now, as I sit surrounded by all sorts of law books and endless notes, I can daydream about all my happy memories of the summer. I am also lucky enough to be living in the most beautiful flat... and best of all, it has a lovely kitchen with an oven which actually works! Hopefully my new student life will allow some time for cooking.... I must admit, I recently bought a new Gordon Ramsey cookbook so I shall be testing out some treats from that. I also must tell you that, in preparation for those hard studying days ahead, I have made a massive batch of my Vanilla Cookies so I can have a little pick-me-up nibble when it all gets too much.

So there's my news! I shall be back very soon with a delicious winter warmer. Until then, try the Chilli con Carne. It is the perfect meal to come home to when its raining and cold outside.