chocolate box

A little while ago, the cutest little present arrived in the post for me. A black sleek box wrapped up in a bright red ribbon, I was definitely intrigued - and very pleasantly surprised when I opened it to find that it was full of lovely sweet things!
Something you should perhaps know about me is that I have the biggest sweet tooth you'll ever find; I don't think the word 'chocoholic' even begins to cover it. The lovely people from Gift Box Galore picked up on this and very kindly sent me a version of their Chocolate and Truffle Gift Box, packed full of tasty things for me to try. Amazing, right? 
 In my very lovely box, pictured above, was:

• Ko-Koá Caramel & Milk Chocolate Truffles
• Original Scottish Butter Tablet
• Columba Cream Hand-made Cream Liqueur Fudge
• Chocolate Crumbly Fudge

Of course, past taking a few photos and unpacking the box, I undertook the task of taste-testing all the products (what a hard life)... and I can say that it all tastes absolutely delicious - with my personal favourite being the Chocolate Crumbly Fudge.

A Scottish company, Gift Box Galore supplies hampers and gift boxes to customers all over the UK in what I think is a really novel idea. Sometimes you can feel a bit daunted at the prospect of someone's birthday or Christmas coming up when you're completely out of ideas, but Gift Box Galore have a range of loads of different gift boxes that you can order, personalise with a message or greeting, and send out to the lucky recipient - there's pretty much guaranteed to be something to suit everyone, catering for a range of different tastes and interests.
Of course, on account of my ridiculously sweet tooth I received a lovely chocolate and truffle gift box - but there are also gift boxes and hampers full of sweets, jewellery, cosmetics and toiletries and DVDs, as well as themed hampers, such as retro sweet selections and gifts 'for him' or 'for her'.
The best bit is that the prices are really quite reasonable too, considering that each box or hamper is packed full of goodies and is presented beautifully - prices for gifts start from £8.99.


Thanks to Gift Box Galore for sending me this gift box. Thoughts and comments are my own.

interior inspiration: royal victoria hotel, pisa

These images are from the beautiful Royal Victoria Hotel, where I stayed in Italy last month. It's beautiful -quiet, right by the river, and full of antiques. It's a huge building with high ceilings, marble floors, big windows with wooden shutters and leaves hanging outside, and gorgeous art on the walls. These photos hardly do it justice, but suffice it to say it's one of the most beautiful buildings I've been to, and certainly that I've stayed in.


There's been a building there since the 10th century, being developed into a hotel in 1837 - so it's fair to say there's a fair amount of history!
One of the best things about the hotel is that, aside from the bedroom, you also have free use of the hotel's many communal rooms; and, when we were there, hardly anyone else seemed to know about or use them! We particularly loved the drawing room, above in the photos, with a balcony looking out over the river - the perfect place to sit and read, or write at one of the desks or on the old typewriter - and the quaint little piano room at the back of the hotel.

Is there anything much more inspiring than writing in such beautiful surroundings? I don't think there really is - I certainly came back planning a novel set in a gorgeous old Pisan building...

banoffee pie / recipe corner

Mm, banoffee pie - don't you just love it? I've gone a bit crazy for it recently and so thought I'd share my banoffee pie recipe with you. It's a bit embarrassing, but up until a few months ago I always thought that banoffee pie was banana and coffee - which I hate - and which meant that I never even tried it. When I found a recipe and saw that instead of coffee, the magic ingredient was toffee, I knew I had to make it... and I'm glad I did! It's delicious (even if I do say so myself)!

Want to have a go at making it? Here's my easy recipe - and do let me know how you get on with it if you have a go!

To make banoffee pie, you'll need...

• 300g / 10oz butter




• 250g / 8oz digestive biscuits




• 175g / 6oz caster sugar




• 425g / 14oz can condensed milk




• 2 bananas




• 1 tablespoon lemon juice




• 150ml (1/4 pint) whipping cream




• 25g / 1oz dark chocolate, grated

And here's how you go about making the pie...

1. Start by making the crumb case. Weigh out the digestive biscuits and crush them with a rolling pin to make them into crumbs. Next, melt 125g / 4oz butter in a saucepan and stir in the crumbs.

2. Press the crumbs into the base of a 20cm (8 inch) round flan tin, and put it in the fridge until it firms - roughly for about an hour.

3. Next, the filling. Put the rest of the butter and the caster sugar in a saucepan and heat it gently, stirring it, until the butter's melted. Stir in the condensed milk and bring it to the boil; then let it simmer for around 10 minutes until the mixture's a deep caramel colour.

4. Pour the caramel into the basea and leave it to cool, then chill until it's set.

5. Slice the bananas and toss them in the lemon juice. Put a quarter of the bananas aside for decorating the pie, and spread the rest over the filling.

6. Whip the cream and spread it over the top; then decorate with the rest of the bananas and sprinkle with chocolate.

And you're done! Cut a slice of the pie, tuck in, and enjoy...

Mock Turtle

Lovely readers, let me introduce you to my favourite tearoom. Regular browsers of this blog will know that I love my tea, and with that of course my tearooms, and go to a lot - and so my favourite one has to be pretty special. Well, the vintage-inspired Mock Turtle in Brighton really is.

Why? Here's a whole list of reasons...

• Its location. It's in Brighton - my favourite quirky town and my old home for three wonderful university years - and two minutes away from the sea, so it's perfect for popping into before or after a trip to the beach. It's also near The Lanes, so perfectly positioned for a bit of vintage shopping around tea time too.
  


• The colour scheme. Blue walls, dark wooden tables, blue and white china - it's a mix of seaside and vintage which works perfectly.
  


• The tea. Lovely teasets and delicious loose leaf tea, and each teapot also comes with another jug full of hot water (and you can ask for more, still, if you want), so you don't have to worry about spending more money ordering another pot of tea if you want to have more than a few cups.



• The cakes. There's a huge selection, from the traditionals like lemon and Victoria Sponge to the more unusual - think banana cake, apple and chocolate, and carrot and ginger. And they're all lovely and light.



• The price - a pot of tea and a cake will set you back about £4, which really isn't too bad at all.



• The atmosphere - finally, and perhaps most importantly, the Mock Turtle has a lovely, relaxed vibe to it; somewhere where you feel like you could sit all afternoon and completely switch off.

If you're ever in Brighton, do pay it a visit.

Where's your favourite place to get tea?

lavender

 

It's lavender season in England; early Autumn is when they harvest the fields of sheaves and dry, distill and do a myriad of other clever things to them to make the lovely scented oils, incense sticks, soaps, sachets and so on.
I talk about London a lot, but I actually live a little outside the city, in Surrey. My home town, Carshalton, is relatively famous (at least, in the lavender industry) for growing the stuff - we have fields and fields of lavender here, and there's even a rather monstrous statue of some lavender sheaves in the town centre. (That may seem an odd choice of statue, and it is, but in actual fact, that's really Carshalton's only claim to fame - apart from having a well that Anne Boleyn was said to have stopped at once on her way to London, and being the birthplace of Bradley from S Club 7. Yep.)

One of my favourite summer Sunday afternoon pasttimes is walking in the lavender fields - they're planted in December and generally flower from July to late August, when they get harvested. This year, it's quite late - they're not harvesting until next weekend, the second weekend of September - and so I went for one last little walk in the fields.

Have you ever been walking in lavender fields? If so, you'll be able to understand me when I say I can't describe the smell. We're most probably all familiar with the scent of lavender, but when you're laying in fields surrounded by it, it's overwhelming - and gorgeous! It's so calming just to go for a slow wander or lie in the gaps between the rows in the afternoon with a good book.

If you're after some lavender products, may I suggest having a look at Mayfield Lavender's online shop - they're my most local lavender fields and their products are all local, organic and really, really lovely. 

friday fives / just a minute: september

These images felt quite autumnal to me, and so apt for the beginning of September - the beginning of autumn, already.

5 photos come this week from the amazing photographer Anna Amphigorously.

And it's that time again - here's Just a Minute for  September...

This month, I am...

Reading... The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell, Everything Beautiful Began After by Simon van der Booy and Caitlin Moran's fantastic How to be a Woman.

Buying... silly amounts of dresses (I blame the bad shopping infleunce of my friend Lauren!)

Listening... to Ed Sheeran. I think I may be a little in love with his music.

Watching... can I say nothing? I hardly have time for TV at the moment!

Loving... exciting thoughts about the future...

Planning... fun weekends with friends :)

Do you want to join in with Just a Minute? I found this on Daydream Lily's blog via August Street, and it's a lovely little monthly activity. Feel free to join in - and make sure to send me a link if you do, so I can see what you're up to at the moment!