Sunday Dinner Recipes

I mentioned in a previous post about the recipe books I created for Christmas gifts back in 2009.

Well here are some pictures of them.

I was inspired by Susan Branch's books (pictured below). Susan lives between Martha's Vineyard (one of my favourite places in the world) and California where she illustrates and writes books with household decoration, gift and recipe ideas.

My friend Lauren's Mum, Linda first gave me one of Susan's books back in 2004. I love Susan Branch and adore that she now blogs. (I will work out how to link on iPad blogger to let you know how to get to it.) She only started her current vocation when she was in her 30s.

I would love to be the Scottish Susan Branch- working out a beautiful West coast house creating, making and baking and writing and illustrating about it.... Maybe one day.

Horoscope

When my Mum and I were getting pedicures earlier on today she was reading a magazine and read my horoscope to me......interesting!

My Mum loves reading her horoscopes each week but I am not sure how relevant/ real they are.

This however felt a little spooky!

Hugo Mace

This little cutie is Corinne and James' little boy Hugo- he is adorable and has the cutest face (maybe something to do with his beautiful parents!)

Excuse my appearance- I cycled up to meet them for coffee.

I was so pleased to be able to get together with Cor and have a proper catch up. Hopefully more coffees are on the horizon.

Chill in the air

It is getting cold in the flat.

We had our electricity meter changed earlier in the year and I swear we don't seem to be using any off peak electricity. Or electricity is working out twice as expensive!

So I am putting on extra jumpers and Miss Bb is cuddling under the covers!

I have woken up every morning with her under the duvet keeping cosy like this.

Tidying

I am trying to set manageable tidying/ decluttering goals for myself until early next year so I can get the flat organised. Little by little.

I have been holding on to too many items that I really don't need- it's cluttering up my life. I need to let go- give items to charity, put things on eBay and use up those items in the back of drawers.

The picture below is of the cards I have bought for people but never sent over the last year :-( they were amongst the pile of paperwork I sorted through. So I have now added them to my drawer of cards and stationary and I am not allowed to buy any new cards till I use these ones up!

I will get there...... then I just have to sort the last of my Grandma's flat ready for sale and finally move my remaining items from my Mum's house. Not too much then!

Sunday Dinner

The last few Sundays I have made a full dinner- roast and veg or a large main + desert- some real winter warmers.

This past Sunday Hills came round and I made cottage pie (which I took the left overs for lunch at work Monday-Wednesday- talk about economic!) and also lime, apple and raspberry crumble. They are both recipes from the recipe book I made as a Christmas gift a few year ago. (I will post the pages next)

I forget how happy cooking makes me.

It felt very Autumnal being snugged in watching the Sunday night episode of the third season of Downton Abbey. Hills also had a wee snugly friend keeping her company (can you see a friendly cat theme emerging in these posts! She makes everyone feel welcome.)

I am hoping I can continue my Sunday Supper theme all through Autumn and Winter.

4s Rugby & Argentinian BBQ

(I need to work out how to put the images in the correct order on the iPad app as they are all mixed up)

Last weekend Nathan played his first game of rugby in 9 months. It was for the 4s- which now consists of a lot of the guys Nathan used to play with 5- 6 years ago but they now have work and family commitments that means they can't train or play every week.

It was like a crèche on the sideline with babies a plenty which made for a lovely family atmosphere.

Ed plays for the 4s quite often and I loved seeing Katie watch her Daddy on the pitch. At the end of the match she walked on to the field and made her way through the line when the boys clapped each other off the pitch- it was very cute!

Ed's brother Tom (who lives in Edinburgh) and eldest brother Jamie (who lives in England with his wife Tere and baby Toia) also played. They were missing Charlie- the youngest of the Stuart boys. I love the picture of the Stuart boys and their beautiful girls.

Afterwards the boys cooked a proper Argentinian BBQ at the club- they had even been to the butchers to get the proper meat cuts and had sweet breads (definitely an acquired taste!)

It was nice to be back down at the club again- even if a little cold- I forgot how cold it gets standing on the sidelines!

Afternoon tea

After the last post I would like to state that I disinfected the table before I laid out the food. I also had to move all the chairs away from the table so Miss Bb couldn't climb up to the afternoon tea. (that's not to say that we didn't find her swinging from the table runner trying to climb up it but instead pulling it and the vase of flowers slowly downwards! She is a character!)

It was lovely to have Loreen and Wendy round for some afternoon tea. We had a good catch up and blether with lots of kitten cuddles in the cosiness of the house whilst we all watched the rain pouring outside. I love afternoons like this- nothing is better than tea, cake and good company!

Little Miss Bb

I knew it was going to be tough with a kitten in my house as I favour a shabby chic look with trinkets and items on every surface.

However I want to try and ensure Bb doesn't climb on the kitchen surfaces (she can't reach them yet) or on the dinning table- that last one might prove a little difficult as these pictures show!

Modern Art Gallery

Over the summer I attended a few art gallery exhibition openings with my friend Zara- she gets tickets as her work sponsors some of the shows.

I had only managed to see the bottom floor of the Picasso exhibition at the Modern Art Gallery opening- which I loved.

So Mum (who hadn't seen any of the exhibition yet) and I made a plan to go one Sunday.

We decided to go to the cafe first- I had this delicious raspberry cake (I forget the other main ingredients but it was very tasty!) ...well we ended up talking so much we only gave ourselves half an hour till the gallery closed! Not nearly enough time to see the exhibition properly!

So we just need to make a plan to go back (and wait to go to the cafe afterwards!)

Outside the Dean Gallery we noticed the beautiful working garden of the cottage on the grounds- after the allotment show I was inspired. I also want to try and eat fresher, more in season and locally sourced products.

Allotment Show- flowers and Scarecrows

I took some pictures of the beautiful flowers grown across Edinburgh's Allotments and Gardens on show at the Allotment Show.

I loved the sweat peas and wild flowers.

There was also a competition for the best fancy dress- visitors and exhibitors were encouraged to dress up as scarecrows! -this might have been my favourite part! ;-)

There was also some tasty looking fruit, craft work and beautiful bakery on display.

Allotment Show- Veggies

Some photos I snapped of the veg on show at the Edinburgh Allotment and Garden Show.

Allotment Show- Lily's veg

A few weeks ago I went along to the south side community centre to support Lily and Neil who were showing and competing with their allotment grown veggies at the annual Edinburgh Allotment and Garden Show.

Lily did very well with her turnips and placed for her beetroot too. She also entered the cucumber category.

I loved the competitive nature of all the exhibitors and some took it very seriously.

With all the rain we have been having Neil was telling me that there was half of what was shown last year due to fruit and veg not growing. They for example don't have one apple on their tree this year!

Olympics legacy

After the Olympics I was inspired to get back on my bike.

It had been in my Dad's garage since the day he passed away (in June 2010) and I hadn't moved it since.

I got it serviced and have even bought a basket for groceries.

I have been cycling to and from work (although haven't since I had the flu) but plan to be back at it next week.

I have put on a lot of weight in the last 18 months (when really I should have been losing it) so hopefully getting back on my bike will help me get back on track!

So here's hoping my own Olympics legacy continues well after 2012!

Olympics Parade

One of the most fantastic events that happened over this summer was of course The Olympics in London- I loved watching them. There were so many inspiring stories and great highlights. I was so proud of all of our GB athletes.

A few weeks ago I was therefore delighted to be working on an event- through work- to welcome home our Scottish athletes who were part of team GB and the Paralympic team. Just as local towns and cities had events up and down the country Glasgow welcomed our Olympic and Paralympic athletes home and showed our pride and gratitude.

I was quite stars truck especially when cyclist Sir Chris Hoy arrived.... And his lovely thighs! ;-)

I also loved seeing the Stella McCartney designed team kit up close- I loved the girls jackets which were nipped in at the waist with a lovely tie at the back (pretty flattering but then the athletes all have great bodies!)

I thought the Royal Mail's marketing team did a great job around the Olympics- for those of you that are from the States- they painted a mail box gold in the home towns of each of the Gold Medal athletes. Each gold medal team or individual then got a First Class stamp made of their photograph. At the Olympic Parade event each gold medalist was given their stamp as an enlarged board- there were over 10 in total from Scotland. We also recreated a gold post box for photo opportunities- which was a big hit. (My colleague Ailsa and I are photographed below)

We didn't have long to pull the event together but it was a privilege to be involved and say thank you for the amazing effort and dedication the athletes put into their sports in the run up to and also at the Olympics.