My Parisian Adventure

Happy Monday my lovely readers!

About a week ago, as you know, I visited the most beautiful city in the world with my Sweetheart: Paris! We had the most magical time, Paris is still one of my very favourite places in the world to visit, I'm already dreaming of going back there! Here are some highlights of our trip that I wanted to share with you...

Our typically stunning Paris balcony, does it get any better than this?!

The Sights

The sights and sounds of Paris never get old, it really is one of the most beautiful cities in the world

This was mine and my Sweetheart's third trip together to gay Paree, so we have done a lot of the sightseeing before, but I just never get bored of the beauty of the architecture of Paris. Our hotel was less than a two minute walk from the Champs-Élysées, directly between the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre, and just across the way you could see the Eiffel tower in the near distance. It was like being in heaven! We also paid a visit to Notre Dame (one of my Paris favourites!) were we had some of the best French onion soup ever made just gazing out at the truly stunning building. A new adventure was us was visiting Montmartre and the Sacre Coeur (where I had been too ill to go on a previous visit) and I just about fell in love with the whole area. It was so beautiful and so full of life, we will definitely be spending a lot more time there on our next trip :) I also did a bit of fabric shopping there, but more on that at a later date!

The Movie

So, what in the pictures below looks familiar to you...?

The view from the steps in "Midnight in Paris", both in the film and my real life view!

That's right, we actually visited those steps from "Midnight in Paris"! Both my Sweetheart and I fell completely in love with Woody Allen's film back in February so there was no way that we were going to visit Paris without seeking out some of the locations from this gorgeous movie. Obviously when filming was taking place some serious set dressing had been done (I doubt that skip was there for filming!) but it still felt magical and as if we were about to be whisked away to the roaring 20s.

Waiting for midnight on the steps from "Midnight in Paris"

We sat on the steps and waited for a while, just like Owen Wilson, but unfortunately it then started to rain (the only rain we had during our trip though, what a miracle!) so we didn't last until midnight. If we had who knows what might have happened...!

The Yummies

And of course, what is Paris without Patisserie??

Perfect Parisian Patisserie!

I am a complete sucker for all things cakey (as you probably know if you read my blog regularly) so Paris to me is a kind of mecca, after all you can find a boulangerie on every street corner! Nothing can ever really compare to the delicious cakes, pastries and macaroons produced in Paris, they are little pieces of heaven in your mouth, and yes I may have put on several pounds during my trip, but it was worth it! Personal highlights of mine were my old favourite Laduree (in Paris they make large version of my favourite salted caramel macaroons! Swoon!) and Angelina which we visited for the first time during this trip (and my goodness, you've never had hot chocolate like it!). Paris, you may be bad for my waistline but I don't hold it against you, because all those yummies were soooooo good. Totally worth it :)

So there you have it, the highlights of my Parisian adventure. And in case you think I spent the whole time being chic and sophisticated in the style of the Parisian people I will leave you with this snapshot of my antics in Montmartre:

Cat woman in Paris!

Yeah, I'm cool :)

For more snapshots of my time in Paris check out this post.

Bye for now!

Katie x

Edinburgh Adventures - Bibi's Bakery

Happy Monday my lovely readers!

So remember when I said that I was going to keep things simple by posting about my Oxford adventures before I started with Edinburgh? Well that's not going to happen because I managed to forget that in order to get my lovely adventures pictures from my camera and onto my new laptop that I need to load the programs onto said new laptop (although I can;t be too sad because I have a new laptop, hurray!). I have yet to do this so obviously those Oxford posts are going to have to wait until I get back home and have a second to sort things out. Because after all, what's a blog post without piccies?? This also means that all my lovely fancy Edinburgh photos will have to wait a bit too, but for now I have been making do with my trusty iPhone, so that I can at least share some loveliness with you all :)

Long story short, let me show you one of my more yummy Edinburgh adventures thus far... Bibi's Bakery!

I was recommended Bibi's Bakery by a cupcake-loving friend, and as a bit of a self confessed cupcake connoisseur I couldn't resist paying them a visit, plus the bakery is just a 15 minute walk from the Playhouse where I'm working. But my goodness I didn't expect how glorious this bakery would be.

The second that I walked into the bakery I was bowled over by the smell of freshly make cakes and brownies, all of which are baked, iced and decorated on site. The trip was worth it for this smell alone! Everything was set out beautifully, with big window displays full of cupcakes plus counters heaving with all kinds of baked goods. I was in heaven.

I loved the variety of flavours on offer, you had your classics like chocolate and vanilla and red velvet, together with some more interesting and exotic choices (chocolate chilli!) plus a few containing classic chocolate bars (malteasers and smarties actually baked into cupcakes, swoon!). I spent a while umming and ahhing over what I might like to take back with me because of the sheer amount of choice on offer, and I have to say that the service was brilliant, I wasn't rushed and the lovely ladies were more than happy to give me recommendations and tell me what their personal favourites were. All in all it was a great trip and I would happily visit again (and let's be honest it's so close to work that I probably will!).

And yes, I did leave with some goodies in tow, and yes, they were as tasty as they look...

As it was bonfire night over the weekend I decided that the chocolate biscuit cake was also a good option, just look at the little chocolate stars, it was so pretty :) I didn't get to go to any proper displays this year (although we did have a little fireworks night at my Sweetheart's parents' house in Oxford, more on this later!) so I had to be satisfied with my bonfire night-esque chocolate covered treat. I can't say that I really had much to complain about, it was delicious!

So there you have it, if you're in Edinburgh go and visit Bibi's Bakery, if you're a fan of a good cupcake you won't be disappointed!

I hope you all had a wonderful Bonfire Night weekend hopefully filled with cakes and yummies of your own :)

Bye for now!

A Practically Perfect Sunday

Yesterday was a blissful Sunday, my day off from theatre-land, so I decided to spend the day doing only things that I love. So I cooked, baked, sewed, knitted and found myself watching and re-watching episodes of Downton Abbey (seriously, who knew TV could be this good? I'm hopelessly addicted...). More on the sewing and knitting soon, but for now I want to focus on the baking.

You may remember from this post that I was lusting after a copy of The Vintage Tea Party Book, and, lucky old me, I was given a copy from my beautiful Sweetheart for my Birthday and I just couldn't wait to try some of the recipes out! Now as I am currently staying away from home and without all my fancy baking aids I decided to keep things simple and try a fairly basic recipe, and luckily this is also one of my very favourites: Scones.

I adore scones, seriously I cannot get enough of them, they are a solid favourite of both myself and my Sweetheart so I thought it would be in everyone best interests for me to know how to whip some up, so a-whipping-up I went. And of course I couldn't choose whether or not to try savoury or sweet scones, so I decided to make both :) it was definitely scone o'clock in my digs yesterday!

I used two of Angel's marvellous recipes, her basic scone recipe for the sweet scones, and then I adapted her brie and walnut recipe for the savoury - I used cheddar cheese and bacon instead. And my goodness my lovely readers, these scones are an absolute dream! The recipes were very clear and simple to follow and the scones that were produced were nothing short of divine, even if I do say so myself. I was very popular indeed with my housemates, let me tell you :) I have made scones before, but they were no where near as light and fluffy and tasty as the ones I made today, this is definitely going to become my go-to scone recipe. I must admit that the rather rustic finish of these scones may not be to all tastes (I could just hear Mary Berry from The Great British Bake-Off telling me off for lack of consistency in their size and shape - has anyone else been watching that? Another brilliant programme, and very addictive too!) but I enjoyed the fact that I could simply shape these scones myself, plus they're so yummy I didn't mind that they looked a little rough around the edges. I mean, just look at them...

The Savoury Scones (Cheddar Cheese and Bacon)

Scones are my friends!

A close-up on the yumminess

These are so tasty that they need nothing more than a bit of butter and you're good to go. Delicious both hot and cold, and I know because I ate them both ways yesterday :)

The Sweet Scones (plain and classic)

Hot out of the oven, just waiting for their good friend jam :)

A close up of the golden goodness

These scones were melt in the mouth pieces of scone heaven, quite probably some of the best scones I have ever eaten, and believe me I have eaten my fair few! This recipe is amazing, everyone should use it right now, go forth and make scones!!

Considering that this is my first try of some recipes from The Vintage Tea Party Book I am completely blown away with how easy, clear and delicious the recipes were, I cannot wait to get back into the kitchen and try out some more of them! This book is fast becoming a firm favourite with me and I really couldn't recommend it highly enough.

Scones anyone? 

Now if you'll forgive me I have to dash because I do believe I can hear some little scone-sounding voices calling from the kitchen. They seem to be saying "Eat me! Eat me!" and I suppose it would be rude to ignore them...

Nom nom nom...

Bye for now!

Birthday Month: The Perfect Cake

Welcome to the first of my Birthday themed posts for this my Birthday month. This post is all about one of my favourite things: Cake! Anyone who knows me well would tell you that I love cake at the best of times, but a special cake just for you to celebrate your very existance? Well, let's be honest, you can't get much better than that! :) 

Now there are several options you can take with Birthday cake goodness, you can buy some cakey yumminess from some fabulous bakery (personal favourites of mine would be Hummingbird Bakery, Sweet Couture, Primrose Bakery or Laduree if you're feeling fancy!) and that's a brilliant foolproof plan, but I also love the thought of homemade treats for someone's special day. After all, you can bake some extra love in too :) heehee

So in honour of my birthday month I have found a couple of fabulous recipes for amazing cakey goodness. First up is this Rainbow Cake from Ms Marmite Lover's Underground Restaurant, aka the author of Supper Club. If you don't follow her blog you really should, she is uber talented in the kitchen and she's always posting brilliant recipes that not only look like they'd taste amazing, they're really different and exotic. Anyways, how cool does this cake look??

Colourful or what? :)

I think this is a great twist on the traditional vanilla sponge Birthday cake, plus it's fun and silly which is surely the type of thing you'd want on your Birthday (at least it's the type of thing I'd want on mine!)

So do you like chocolate cake? How about peanut butter cookie dough? And what are your thoughts on marshmallows? All sounding delicious to you? Well how about taking all of those yummy things and combining them?? If you're still conscious after the thought of that taste explosion, take a look at this recipe from the amazing Joy the Baker (another incredible food blogger who I am constantly posting about in my Wednesday Wonderfuls). If these don't make your heart flutter you're a stronger person than me!

Le Swoon, Le Sigh

These little mouthfuls of amazingness would be perfect for a Birthday because of their sheer bizarre decadence! Plus they'd be great for someone who can't manage a huge slice of Birthday cake (if such a person exists, I personally find it hard to believe...), and they're so unique, who else would be chowing down on these beauties on their Birthday? :) 

And finally if you're looking for something completely different why don't you try this glamourous and impressive looking Double Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova, not a Birthday cake as such, but still completely beautiful and over the top, perfect for a Birthday :) This recipe was found on the blog What Katie Ate, a fabulous Australian food blog, well worth a look, covering everything from baking to beverages.

Is your mouth watering too?

I hope you've enjoyed these cake recipes, I know that I'm going to want to try one or maybe a couple of these for my Birthday, I'm particularly leaning towards the cupcakes, they just look so ridiculously good! Anyway, watch this space, there will be cake :)

Let me leave you with some gorgeous cake inspiration. These pictures are guaranteed to get you in the mood for baking. Either that or make you incredibly hungry!

Source

Source

(I'm not sure what the source of this picture is,
if it's yours let me know so I can credit you!)

See you again soon lovely readers!

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 Don't forget to enter my Birthday Month Giveaway, you have until the end of the month to enter! You could be the proud owner of your very own Pin Up Girl! Check out this post for all the details :)

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