What's on my sewing/knitting/cooking table

Happy Monday my lovely readers! I hope you've all had a wonderful weekend, I've been very busy and have been filling my time with family and fun things :)

Firstly, do you remember this fabric? I was worried that I wouldn't be able to squeeze a dress out of this fabric, and then a miracle happened and I found the perfect shirtwaist dress pattern! I am making the short sleeved version and there is just the right amount of fabric, phew! All my pieces are cut out and ready to go, so it'll just be a matter of time before I can take my book dress out on the town :)

I have also been knitting away whenever I have time backstage on the tour and my lacy cardigan it almost finished! I am totally obsessed with the colour of the yarn, I am head over heels over the colour mustard :)

I have also been cooking up a storm over this weekend. You may remember from my list of 24 Things Before 25 that I wanted to cook my first roast, and I did it! And this wasn't just any roast, oh no! I cooked a whole chicken and served it up with glazed root vegetables, my mum's recipe for perfect roast potatoes, yummy stuffing and yorkshire puddings made from scratch. To say I was proud of myself would be an understatement! 

And as if that wasn't enough cooking for one weekend I also decided to do a bit of baking, namely this incredible Cinnamon Sugar Pull Apart Bread, which I demolished with my parents. It was delicious, you really should try it, it would be perfect for a girlie afternoon tea!

I hope your weekends were full of adventures of your own! What have you been up to, anything fun?

Katie xxx

Hurray for Pancake Day!

I love holidays that involve food, although, mind you, that basically means all holidays doesn't it? :) But pancake day has always had a special place in my heart - I love a good pancake!

Usually my mum whips up the family pancakes - she can flip a pancake like a pro! - but this year I decided to have a go myself and I have to say I think I did pretty well...

I used this recipe for Smashed Raspberry Chocolate Chunk Pancakes (although I substituted raspberries for strawberries) from my all time favourite food blog, Joy the Baker. If you read my blog regularly you will know that Joy's recipes often end up in my Wednesday Wonderfuls posts, I just love the treats she creates! These pancakes were completely fool proof, and if I, as a pancake novice, could cook them up with no problems at all, then I'm sure they'll work for anyone!

And if chocolately/raspberry treats aren't really your thing then never fear, Joy is a bit of a self-proclaimed pancake addict and so has a whole variety of other pancake recipes to tempt you (seriously, the girl is amazing!). Here are my picks of the rest:

Gingerbread Pancakes

Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes

Wholewheat Banana Walnut Pancakes

or just good old-fashioned Buttermilk Pancakes

Happy Pancake Day!

Katie xxx

Happy Royal Wedding Day!

Yes, I watched it, and yes, I loved it! I adore a good love story, so there was never any question of my not watching the Royal Wedding, and it was just gorgeous. Of course the highlight of the day was Kate's fantastic dress, designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen. Let's be honest it was the dress of dreams! The perfect fairy tale ensemble :)

A perfect combination of subtlety, class and style

If you want to find out more about this fabulous dress then be sure to visit the official Royal Wedding Page for the dress' description. Gertie has also written a great post all about the dress, so be sure to give that a look too :) I also feel that a mention has to be given to Pippa Middleton's bridesmaid outfit, she looked absolutely beautiful in it without detracting from the bride. I don't think you could have found a prettier pair of sisters today!

No thorns between these two roses :)

I decided not to venture out to old London town to visit any of the street parties that have been popping up everywhere, I just couldn't bear all the crowds on the streets let alone the public transport! So instead I stayed at home with my Sweetheart and my family and we watched the whole thing on TV (and after seeing the sheer size of the crowds surrounding Buckingham Palace I knew I'd made the right choice!). I also cooked for everyone, using a selection of recipes from "Bake" by Rachel Allen, one of my favourite cookery books, including a spinach and goat's cheese tart and a butter free cake filled with cream and strawberries. Yummy! And we had a grand old time!

Let's get cooking!

Spinach, Potato and Goat's Cheese Tart - Yes please!

It's not a celebration without Pimm's! Mixed perfectly by my perfect Sweetheart

Main course plated up and ready to munch :)

And onto pudding, let's whip that cream into shape!

Voila! Le gateau parfait! If I do say so myself...

I had a great Royal Wedding Day with my loved ones, flitting about my kitchen, doing my best to impersonate the perfect Mad Men-esque homemaker (or at least just trying not to burn anything!). I do think my cupcake covered apron helped my cooking immensely, as only a cupcake covered apron can :)  

Who says cooking can't be glamorous?

Yes, I made it myself!

I hope you all had a great day, whether it was spent in Royal Wedding celebrations or not. Bye for now and I hope you have a great weekend full of kisses (yes, I just couldn't resist including a smoochy pic!)

Come one everyone, awwwwwww!