Pinoy Hubby

  Traditionally at weddings, guests are given little packets of sugared almonds. Apparently there's a reason for this: almonds are slightly bitter but with the sugary coating, they represent the hope that married life will be more sweet than bitter. It's also traditional to give five almonds exactly, as the number five can't be divided so symbolises a strong bond between the couple. Having said that, I've been to enough weddings where the sugared almonds get left behind - I'm not sure how many people actually like eating them. We weren't on a tight budget for our wedding but I didn't want to spend money on things that we didn't feel were worthwhile, so we considered not giving out wedding favours at all. We also considered charity wedding favours, as we wanted to support the Young Epilepsy charity and I knew that some charities sell kits where you can make placecards for the table and each one has a little pin badge, like the pink ribbon breast cancer lo...

Photo by Lisa Dawn Photography Cake by the bride and her sister! Copyright Caroline Makes dot Net When my husband and I were planning our wedding, I told him I really wanted to make our wedding cake myself - to say he wasn't keen was an understatement. Even though I'd made my friend Ros' wedding cake last year and really enjoyed the experience, he was worried I would get too stressed and be taking on too much. So I was wondering what to best do when my sister told me she'd like to make the cake as her gift to us - which I wasn't expecting at all - but that she was a bit nervous at taking on such a big cake. Which gave me the perfect opportunity to suggest we do it between us! I knew from the start that the cake itself would be quite easy and quick to decorate as there was really only one design of cake we could have, as our last name is Cowe - pronounced cow - a cow print cake! It sounds silly but I think the cake overall looked really elegant, and as we only had a...

I wasn't particularly impressed with a lunch I had at All Bar One on Bishopsgate before I went off to get married. I went with half a dozen colleagues and we had a large table reserved for us near the bar. There was plenty of choice on the menu and I decided that because my wedding wasn't far away I was going to have a salad. I ordered the superfood salad, which is vegan but you can add halloumi, chicken or prawns for a few pounds extra so I had the prawns. The salad consists of mixed leaves, giant couscous, pomegranate and lentil tabbouleh, butternut squash and beetroot, with a pineapple, lemongrass and ginger dressing. I was so busy talking to my friends that I didn't really pay much attention to the menu and enjoyed the salad, but it was only when I left and chatted to a friend who had ordered the same thing that we realised our salads had no butternut squash and no pomegranate - pretty much half the main ingredients! The squash would have made the salad much more filli...

Copyright Caroline Makes dot Net I bought a sandcastle cake mould from Lakeland two years ago and only used it once, when I made this pineapple and coconut sandcastle cake.  The uncomfortably but beautifully hot weather we've had for the past week or so inspired me to dig it out again and to come up with another summery flavour for the cake. I decided not to decorate it as a lot of fondant or buttercream is not always a great idea in hot weather, and I wanted the natural colour of the cake to reflect the colour of the sandcastle. I wanted the cake to be light and moist so decided to make it peaches and cream flavour. I used tinned peaches as I had some in the fridge to use up, and it meant I could use the peach juice from the can as well, but if you want to use fresh peaches I'd use three or four peeled and chopped, and for the liquid element, perhaps the Granini Peach Drink that's made using peach puree (available in Tesco and Waitrose) or peach-flavoured squash, made up q...

My husband loves ice cream at any time of year but especially in summer; if I buy a tub he has some for dessert every evening until it's gone. So I suspect he had an ulterior motive when he bought me an ice cream maker at Christmas - and was probably quite disappointed that I didn't get around to using it until July! With a wedding to plan I was too busy and also trying to lose weight, and I don't really like to eat ice cream unless it's hot anyway. I'd promised him that I would use the ice cream maker after the wedding so got it out as soon as I came back from honeymoon - it was probably a good thing I hadn't used it previously or  I definitely wouldn't have lost any weight before the wedding! The ice cream maker is easily attached onto the Kitchenaid but making the ice cream does take some forward planning. You have to put the bowl from the ice cream maker in the freezer for at least 15 hours and for the recipe I used, make something in a saucepan, make so...

I made this as a birthday card but it would work for any kind of greeting or even as an invitation to afternoon tea.   I had a set of 6x6 printed papers with different tea and cake motifs; on this one, the background pictures are quite large which limits what else I can put on the card as it would make the design too busy. I have some tea cup stickers I got from Paperchase that I have used several times before, and decided this would work in the centre of the card, mounted on a pink die-cut shape to create a distinction from the background.

Copyright Caroline Makes dot Net I might not be home for that many meals this week and expect a few last minute changes to the meal plan so here goes! Monday - working late on a project so will probably grab something on the way home, my husband might go to his mum's Tuesday - always have a meeting til 6.30 on a Tuesday now which means I will never get home before 8 and need something quick for dinner but also something my husband will eat. He can have a frozen pizza and I'll have some leftover pasta bake from Sunday. Wednesday - Potentially today or Friday visiting a member of my husband's family in hospital so we will grab some food on the way home Thursday - probably an early lunch/brunch (maybe a bacon sandwich as it's easy) then away for the rest of the day at a funeral (unrelated to the family member above) Saturday - home alone, my husband is at Silverstone with his dad. Lunch: mackerel in mustard sauce on toast Dinner: the spicy seafood chorizo paella fro...

I spent the night before and the night after my wedding at the Beckford Arms in Fonthill Gifford, Wiltshire, and it was wonderful. In fact it was so good we are seriously considering going back for our first anniversary next year.   We got married in June at the Larmer Tree Gardens near Salisbury – a perfect location. The gardens are beautiful and we had an amazing wedding.   I wanted to find somewhere to stay both on our wedding night, and the night before where I could have plenty of room to get ready with my bridesmaids on the day. I can’t actually remember how I came across the Beckford Arms – the event coordinator at the Larmer Tree provided a list of suggested accommodation but none of them quite fit what I wanted or were unavailable. I think I found the Beckford Arms from browsing websites of photographers who had posted pictures they had taken at weddings at the Larmer Tree, and spotting in a few of them that the brides were getting ready at the Beckford Arms. So I ...

Surely these are the ingredients of a perfect wedding: your friends and family, a beautiful and unusual venue, a garden reception with croquet and peacocks, a string quartet to walk down the aisle to, fantastic food (homemade cake followed by a posh barbecue and a trio of desserts), drinks that flowed, an amazing band, photobooth, racing simulator, alpacas, marshmallows over an open fire and fairy lights in the garden.   We had all those things and more when I got married at the Larmer Tree Gardens in Wiltshire in June. I’m originally from Salisbury so we were going to look at wedding venues both around there and near where we live now on the outskirts of London, but we took one look at the Larmer Tree – the first potential venue we visited – and knew it was the one.   The gardens were created in 1880 and were the first privately owned gardens to be opened to the public – they are now recognised by English Heritage as a Garden of National Importance. All photos on this p...