You and me

You and me print by Matthew Rose as seen on Keep Calm Gallery. Beautiful!

T is for Tomatoes

Me and a few friends have been discussing the state of our homegrown tomatoes (yep, life doesn't get better than this, exciting hey?). I seem to have done pretty well, especially for a beginner. This is a recent crop from the garden, grown from scratch, for the first time, I'm very proud.

What I like to hear is that tomatoes are a very good source of Vitamins A, C and E (I could do with a vitamin boost right now). They also contain potassium and an antioxidant lycopene – which helps to mop up damaging free radicals in the body that can harm our cells. Lycopene can also help to ward against prostate and breast and can boost the skins ability to protect itself against UV rays. Powerful little things those tomatoes are!

So with having about another 30-40 tomatoes about to pop off the plant over the next few days I've been searching for some recipes that put these little red beauties to good use. I'm a big fan of Donna Hay who has a very simple recipe for Chicken with caramelised balsamic tomatoes or you can't go wrong with Jamie Oliver's Sweet cherry tomato and sausage bake, perfect for those autumn days which are close upon us.

A new direction

I spent the weekend thinking about where my blog is going. It's fairly new this little treasure of mine and seems to be lost out there in the big wide world, so I've decided to take it on a bit of journey until it finds its own path. As much as I love sharing with everyone what I love, what I've found, and where I've been, I now want these pages to represent the other priorities in my life.

Since January this year I have been training to be a pilates instructor (whilst working full time in my job in London). It's been stressful, exciting, hard work, emotionally draining and rewarding all at the same time, and as I am fast approaching the final hurdle I can finally see light at the end of tunnel and a lifestyle change to come, horrah.

So this blog will be a mixed bag about my new career path, mind, body, food, oh and the odd lovely product that I come across now and again. I hope you'll join me on the journey and find something you like along the way.

Signed sealed delivered

What did we do before email? I was a big letter-writing fan way back when. I would write to my best friend from my family holiday telling her how bored I was and would receive hand written letters from my Dad when I was at university telling me about life at home and including the odd £20 note for petrol. Oh the excitement of receiving post with your name on it that isn't a bill!!

I discovered Telegram Stop (over at Swiss Miss ) who have brought back the the good old paper communicating system - old fashioned telegrams. You can upload your message, see how it will look, pay a small fee, and they print and post your classic-style telegram to your nearest and dearest. Right, who's first on my list?

Caravan

A week ago me a few girlfriends dined out at Caravan on Exmouth Market. It was a Friday and the restaurant was buzzing with people like me, desperate for a glass of wine and a catch up with friends to take your mind off the working week. The restaurant opened at the beginning of the year and has had some impressive reviews so far hence why it was so busy (we had to book a table ahead). However it was the formula of good location, simple decor, and good quality food for a decent price that did it for me! Favorite dishes around the table included: peppered tuna with broadbean and ginger vinaigrette, falafel with apple and pepper relish, tahini and corianer, and salt and sichuan pepper squid. Will I return? Yes please!

Introducing Miguel

I want to introduce you to my friend Miguel de Almeida and his blog West Coast Cooking which I've been following for some time now. When the weather is dull, and I'm sat at my desk at work staring at a screen of emails on a Monday morning, I often divert and log on to see what delights he has been cooking in his kitchen that weekend.

I had the pleasure of working with Miguel a few years ago at a design company in Marylebone. Yes, the very talented Miguel is also a designer as well as a cook (damn him!) and he combined the two skills together when he wrote and designed his first cookery book last year which included British recipes with Portugese twist on them, very clever indeed!

We would talk about food (a lot), and our dreams of escaping office life. Let's hope we're both a little closer.

Inspiration for the Day

Just come across these lovely interior photos from the new Autumn/Winter 10 campaign from Day Birger et Mikkelsen. Love the grey/white/black/silver combination.