A few photos from this month.  February is always a month I look forward to waving adieu to.  It hints at spring around the corner but keeps you firmly in the midst of winter.  We started the month recovering from another virus.  We’re ending the month with a broken down car but in between there has been this cake, fun at the playground, visits to our favourite local cafe, a trip to the farmers market, messing with crayons but also teaching the smallest member of the household about his favourite vegetable, streams of sunlight across my cup of tea, daffodils because spring soon please and Rachel Roddy’s Tomato Pasta with roasted aubergine chucked in because see above.

Under the Weather and Winter Salad

We’re a household suffering from a heavy cold at the moment, originating from the smallest member of the family who caught it from his nursery pal.  I used to be fairly OCD about getting ill, if you rummage through my bag you are likely to find at least one pack of anti bacterial wipes and if you go through my desk drawers at work it’s likely you’ll find more so perhaps the OCD hasn’t quite left me but I am now resigned to the fact that I am going to spend the next few years catching every germ that comes my way courtesy of little people and trying to relax about it.

In a bid to eat a healthier lunch at work in 2016 I’ve been making this salad in various forms.  Salad in January always sounds very wrong to me but salad in January made with roasted winter vegetables seems just about right.  I tend to use whatever vegetables we have that are in season so carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, you get the idea.  I chop them up, roast them in olive oil and then once cooled mix with salad leaves such as little gem, cos, romaine and sometimes chard.  I also throw in some tomatoes, cucumber, avocado and a sprinkling of sunflower seeds.  Really you can use whatever you like or have to use up.  To this mix I add a large dollop of houmous.  It is quite literally the glue that holds the salad together and makes it extra delicious.  I think houmous and cold roasted vegetables are a match made in heaven. Add a squeeze of lemon juice to brighten everything up.  So far I’ve been really enjoying my work lunches but I can’t say that all the extra vitamins are doing much for my ability to ward off errant toddler germs but then who can stay well when a little snot covered hand wants to explore your face. 

Spiced Carrot, Pistachio and Almond Cake and Random Things

Happy New Year to you if it’s not too late to say it.  I can feel a tad ambivalent about New Year.  Having already broken one of my New Year’s resolutions I feel I am not off to the best start but perhaps things can only get better.  I do acknowledge that for some reason the change in year on the calendar does give me a little kick to change things I have been procrastinating about even if I don’t always follow through with said changes.  I’m thinking about them.  Surely that’s a good start?

Way back in the dim and distant past or a couple of weeks before Christmas I made this carrot cake found on Lottie + Doof.  I only had time to snap one picture and I’m going to link to the recipe because I followed it pretty much exactly.  It was delicious and hearty and the warming spices are just the thing at this time of year.

Recipe here

Predictably for New Year we are on a bit of a health kick around here and I have many recipes I am eager to share here in the (I hope) not too distant future.  I’m currently dealing with a toddler who is existing on a self imposed diet of peas, grapes and yoghurt.

In other news we’ve discovered an amazing gluten free and vegetarian cafe, Cafe Meon, which is absolute heaven as far as I am concerned.  The food is amazing and my carnivore hubby even loves it.  I cannot express how exciting it is to eat out somewhere and not have to think about checking everything with the chef.  The entire menu caters for people like me.  Added to this is the fact the cafe is housed in the beautiful Chesapeake Mill selling antiques and vintage wares so I get to combine two of my favourite things, food and antique browsing.  Website here.  Pictured above, their beetroot burger which so far is my favourite thing on the menu.  They also do fantastic cakes and hot chocolate.

Snow Rants and Orange Bread

I feel I should have some sort of soup or stew to share today as we woke up to a blanket of snow this morning.  Not enough to be useful, eg. give my husband a day off work, but enough to be inconvenient.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for snow under the right circumstances when it’s pretty and fluffy and we have no commitments other than going out to enjoy it.  But being realistic, mostly I find it a pain.  There were many times on my commute to work in London when I dreaded snow.  It always seems to me that if this country had a transport system that coped with snow then issues such as how to get in to work would “melt” away.  Instead everything grinds to a halt quite literally and you are forced to embark on a journey which will result in freezing toes and hours of wasted time, trudging through snow in your wellington boots or whatever snow worthy attire you have chosen at 6am, getting to the train station packed full of other weary commuters, looking at display boards that make no sense and tell blatant lies about trains that aren’t running.  I once spent two hours crouched on the floor of a train which travelled four miles before spewing its tired and cold bewildered commuters out and then spent another two hours trying to get a train that would get me back to where I’d started.

Anyway to this orange bread! If you are lucky enough to have a snow day then you should make this.  It’s a good reason to light the oven for a little extra warmth while being rewarded for your endeavours by creating something that tastes like sunshine.  I’ve posted about this cake before.  It was a lemon version.  I’m being a total cheat by using oranges this time instead.  Both are incredible.  Follow the recipe and use whatever citrus you have.  You can find the recipe here.