Friday 27 June 2014

Snapshots

Sun sun sun! What a fab week. Ours was largely spent with picnics, walks and ice cream, a lot of ice cream....
HOORAY for picnics!
flying angels

bat watch
electric shock

taking a breather

catch

poor snail quietly minding his own business....

clown

cuddles

tree dapple

happy

cracking picnic spot

summer = a FAB

lucky ducks


English countryside 


I hate this new craze. Breakfast music hour. Really?!

serious

lovely streamy spot

who goes there?

Wednesday 25 June 2014

Puffy Pea and Potato Pie

Ok, so this dish does not photograph that well (the pic in the book looked rather more impressive) but you will have to trust me that this pie taste lip smackin' good. It is from Jamie Oliver's Save with Jamie - he slices a lid off his cooked pastry leaving delicate layers to fill and encase - I, having tried this several times and getting more and more frustrated with the dogs dinner mess I made, now simply pile the filling on top of the pastry - tastes just as good and gives a more 'rustic' (uch um) feel.......






INGREDIENTS
2 tbsp plain flour, plus extra for dusting
375g ready –rolled puff pastry
1 large egg – beaten in a bowl
1 onion – finely chopped
Olive oil
1 large potato – peeled & diced
500g frozen peas
1 large knob of unsalted butter
½ ice berg lettuce – finely shredded
1 vegetable stock cube
1 tsp English mustard
1 tsp mint sauce
4 heaped teaspoons cottage cheese

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. On a floured surface, unroll the puff pastry (it should roughly be 25cm x 40cm), then transfer it to a large baking tray. Score a 3 cm border on to the pastry (do not cut all the way through), then lightly score the inner section in a large criss-cross pattern. 

Egg wash the whole thing and bake for about 17 minutes or until golden, risen and cooked through. Once done, remove from the oven let it cool slightly.

Using a sharp knife, lightly score round the border, cutting through the top few layers of pastry only, then use a fish slice to carefully lift up and remove the inner section (like a lid), leaving a layer of pastry at the bottom, and put to one side.

Cook the finely chopped onions with a lug of olive oil, about 10 minutes, or until soft, stirring know and then, add the peeled and diced potatoes to the pan with the peas, butter and flour. Add the shredded lettuce and cook for another 10 minutes, then crumble in the stock cube and pour in 300ml of boiling water. Bring to the boil, cover and reduce to a simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through. Stir in the mustard and mint sauce, then season with salt and pepper. 

Pour evenly in the pastry case, ripple through the cottage cheese, then carefully top with the pastry lid and serve with a big salad for lunch or dinner

Sunday 22 June 2014

House Inspiration

I am feeling all in a whirlwind. Rupert is not here an awful lot as he has to concentrate on his new job and so I am juggling the house sale/ purchase, organising the renovations and looking after 2 smalls on m'own! Moan moan moan moan. But suffice to say this is why the blog has tumbleweeds on it. That said, check out this beautiful and creative home of Manuela Sosa - it is in the hills outside Barcelona and has me wanting to build my very own Spanish hillside retreat in sunny Somerset.... wouldn't look out of place surely?!

(pics and interview found here)

























Tuesday 17 June 2014

Professionals - Georgina Agutter, Rose and Wolf


Where do you live?
In leafy Balham, South London 

Trainers or boots?
I'm always in trainers, they're perfect for all the running around!

Old movie and bag of M+M's or kohl eyeliner and martinis?
The way I'm feeling today (I'm slightly exhausted from this weekend's wedding), I'll take the movie and chocolate! But I'm definitely partial to a martini or two.

Favourite style icon?
Anyone who can look good at the flower market at 4am.

Signature dish?
Roast chicken

Coffee or tea?
I'm unhealthy addicted to both.

Best hidden local gem?
Battersea Flower Station. A beautiful garden centre right in the heart of Battersea. A former piece of wasteland, they've transformed it into a magical garden right under a railway track. As soon as you walk in It feels as though you've left London and entered a secret garden. Its very special and peaceful with a huge variety of plants and flowers on show. It has a great gift shop too.

What does Rose and Wolf do?
We're a bespoke floral design studio based in London creating beautiful designs for weddings, events, commercial projects and everything in between.

Have you always wanted to be a florist?
I'd love to say that I have, but in truth I had no idea what I wanted to be growing up. I've always appreciated flowers and their beautiful varieties and colours and I've always enjoyed being visually creative. But it's only in the last few years I realised I could combine the two. I absolutely love it and now I wouldn't want to do anything else.

How did you become a florist?
I wanted to be my own boss and set up my own floristy business, but had no experience so I knew I had to take the plunge and start from scratch. I quit my job in marketing and events and took and intensive floristry course. It pretty much covered all the basics of floristry and was a great insight into the industry. As part of that I was lucky enough to gain an internship at one of London's most prestigious event florists, working on grand-scale weddings and projects all summer, including one for Buckingham Palace which was an amazing experience and gave me a huge amount of confidence. Nothing is more valuable than hands-on experience in this industry, you never stop learning. I then spent a year or so working for a variety of top London florists learning all I could before I decided to go it alone. 

Where did the name Rose and Wolf come from? 
Roses are quite possibly my favorite flower and I love the way the word sounds. To me it just evokes beauty. The wolf part represents the other love in my life; my sister's miniature wire-haired dachshund, Otto. He often keeps me company on early morning trips to the flower market. As an essential member of the team I thought it was only fair to pay tribute to him.

What is the best and worst thing about your job? 
The best thing is getting to see the smile on people's faces when you deliver their flowers or finish setting up an event. Particularly for a wedding. It's a real honor to be a part of a very special day like that. Its also so rewarding to finally stand back and look at the end result of what may have been months in the planning and seeing what you've achieved - I get a real buzz from it. The worst thing would have to be the very early mornings and very cold hands in the winter!

If you could pick just one flower which one would it be? 
Always such a difficult question! It changes all the time. Of course roses, but at the moment I'm completely in love with peonies, particularly the 'coral charm' variety. I love the way they change as they open and get paler as they get older. They are so beautiful but so different at every stage. 

Do you do any demonstrations or workshops for groups? 
I currently hold floral-crown making workshops. They are proving really popular with hen parties and groups that want to do something a bit alternative to celebrate a birthday or just to learn something different for a few hours. I'm hoping to start up other workshops soon, including hand-tied bouquets and wreath-making in December.

I do not know anything about flowers and looking at pinterest wedding pages for my just baffles me more.... can you help? 
Just go with what you think think looks great. There aren't really any rules. I would say if you are planning a wedding the best thing to do is meet your florist as early on as possible to establish a colour scheme and get the best advice you can out of them. Try not to look at Pinterest too much until you have met.  Its a great tool, but, like you say, it can be baffling and too often brides will find a certain image they will have their heart set on, but be disappointed when they realise their budget just won't allow.  Don't worry too much about which types of flowers would suit either as its the job of your florist to interpret your vision into real arrangements with suitable flowers that will look beautiful, as well as being right for the time of year. Of course if you have a love for a particular flower then make sure you tell them you want this to be included. It's also vital to go with flowers that are in season, that way they will be in abundance and you'll get more for your money. 

Would floristry suit a mum juggling childcare and work? 
I can't speak from experience (!) but i do know women who have young children and manage to juggle that with a career in floristy. Many people have businesses they run from home which mainly focus on weddings and events. So as long as you have enough space, I don't see why it wouldn't be a great option for working mums.


To find out more about Rose & Wolf visit - www.roseandwolf.tumblr.com or follow me on twitter @roseandwolf and instagram @roseandwolf_flowers

Wednesday 11 June 2014

Snapshots

Life is back to normal. Well almost. Rupert has started his new job so is in London while he gets settled before he returns to working from home and in Plymouth so it's just me and the boys here. I'm knackered! This afternoon was all about a slug-out under a blanket watching Monsters University (it is amazing if you haven't seen it) We needed to recharge after spending our time painting, cooking, playing endless games of hide and seek and heading outside to bank some vitamin D on various walks, to Hestercombe and in the garden.

In other news the house sale and purchase are still going forward. However, a snail on ketamine would move faster. Fingers crossed we see some concrete advancement soon because the longer it takes the more time I am finding to fill my head with expanded and elaborate decoration schemes. Eeeeeek.

bats

reflection

resting

very good mark maker

slugging

climbing trees

paintings always end up brown

Standard solo supper when Ru not here, cheats chopsticks and all! I miss very little about living in a city but Dim Sum is a big one. We do not have any good asian takeaways for miles and miles and even the few we do have don't serve dim sum so thank goodness for Waitrose!

Hestercombe

our bug hunt

crying with laughter

best bit about cakes

looking so like his Grandpa. Well, if you ignore the 90's Gallagher style hair!

Mo bot.

resident packhorse

I'm sorry I chewed all the clean washing.....

ultimate hiding place
So funny. Everytime we go out Lenny insists on taking his camera and snapping things - wonder where he has leant this?!

Bracket knows how to pose


Pound shop beauty - seems sad to let Lenny destroy it really!