Pinoy Hubby

Recently I have been adding to my cookery book collection every time I go into my local charity shop - but I've had to stop as I've run out of space on my shelves! One of my last purchases was James Martin's Desserts - James Martin is regularly seen on Saturday Kitchen on the BBC which I do like to watch when I get the chance. I liked the look of his 'fresh orange curd pudding' which looked quite cake-like in consistency and perfect for a cold day. It's also very simple to make. Serves 4 You need: 300ml orange juice grated zest and juice of 1 lemon 60g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing 90g caster sugar 4 eggs, separated 70g self-raising flour 1/2 tsp baking powder 160ml milk Preheat oven to 180C and butter the sides of a 1-litre ovenproof bowl. Put the orange juice and lemon juice in a saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer until reduced by half, then set aside to cool. In a bowl, beat the butter, sugar and lemon zest, then gradually mix in t...

Last year I had a birthday party with a shoe theme. I wanted to write a post pulling all the ideas together but have only just gotten around to it. It's a fun theme that could easily be adapted for children or adults - after all, who doesn't have a favourite pair of heels, whether they are Start-Rite pink patents or Manolo Blahniks? My birthday cake had a shoe theme; I decided to make a two-tier pink polka dot cake with a pair of shoes on top (obviously you could make it in any colour). If I did it again I would make a rectangular cake that looks like a shoe box and put the pair of shoes on top. I made the shoes in a cake decorating class; you can see how I did it here . I also made some filled chocolates in the shape of shoes and handbags Finally I made some White Russian cupcakes , using cupcake wrappers with a shoe print. I cut out shoe shapes from fondant using a mini cutter and placed these on top of the cake. As one of my friends is vegan, I also made some vegan chocola...

I haven't had much time to plan this week's meals as we have been decorating the spare room which has taken up almost every evening- and I do my food shopping on Saturdays so I had to quickly plan some meals in between painting the walls. I did put on a pound last week which is annoying as I was trying to lose weight before going on holiday next week! Monday Breakfast boiled egg - at the moment it looks like I will be working from home, the high winds means all my trains are cancelled! Lunch leftover pasta bake Dinner Steak and potato wedges Tuesday Breakfast yogurt Lunch out for lunch with some colleagues Dinner leftover chicken en croute for me, chicken kiev for the OH Wednesday Breakfast yogurt Lunch sandwich Dinner sausage tikka masala - it's a Slimming World chicken tikka masala recipe but I don't want to have chicken three days in a row, but there aren't many other things my boyfriend will eat. I will have a vegetable curry. Thursday Breakfast ...

Restaurant name: Bea of Bloomsbury Location: St. Paul's, London Description: Tea shop and cafe nestled into the side of the One New Change shopping centre. There is a takeaway counter downstairs and a seating area upstairs. Reason for visit: Lunch with a former work colleague who works nearby. I ate: Roast chicken with some sort of potato salad in a herby dressing. Actually a really good option if you are Food Optimizing on Slimming World! Followed by cheesecake, which is not quite so Slimming World-friendly. My companion ate: Cous cous salad with broccoli - he was on a pre-wedding diet! The food was: Nice but fairly safe - my chicken was quite plain. They don't have a huge amount of choices at lunchtime but there are different types of meal on offer - sandwiches, salads, pasta, soup - but only a couple of flavours of each. The cakes are to die for though - Bea's is the inventor of the townie, a cross between a tart and a brownie! They also do afternoon tea here,...

Monday Breakfast yogurt Lunch chicken risotto Dinner at choir rehearsal - will take sandwich Tuesday Breakfast yogurt Lunch sandwich Dinner Pizza Express pizzas from Tesco (on a special offer and my boyfriend loves them!) Wednesday Breakfast yogurt Lunch meeting with lunch provided Dinner chicken in honey mustard sauce with mashed potato Thursday Breakfast yogurt Lunch sandwich or pasta Dinner tuna burger/beef burger Friday Breakfast yogurt Lunch sandwich or pasta Dinner hopefully out with my boyfriend (hint hint!) Saturday Breakfast yogurt Lunch Greek pasta bake I didn't make last week as we went out Dinner TBA (it was a very busy weekend so I haven't had time to finish planning yet!) Sunday - Breakfast cereal Lunch pissaladiere I didn't make last week Dinner TBA

This may not look like the most appetizing dish but it tastes amazing. When other people are eating a full English, I never know what to have - I don't like baked beans, or mushrooms, or fried eggs, and am not really that fussed about bacon - which usually leaves me with a sausage sandwich. Sometimes if I am making a cooked breakfast for my boyfriend I want something a bit more substantial, but sausage and toast by itself is a bit dry. I recently came across a recipe for buttermilk pancakes with sausage gravy from The No Waste Meal Planner by Becky Thorn and it's now my go-to recipe when other people want a full English. Becky's recipe includes sweetcorn in her pancakes but I don't like sweetcorn (I know you're wondering if there is anything I do like!); you could also serve this with fried potatoes or ready-made potato cakes. The sausage gravy is essentially sausage meat in a milky white sauce; it really reminds me of nursery-style comfort food and is...

Restaurant name : The Old Vine Inn Location : Wadhurst, East Sussex Description : Pretty country pub established in 1515 with a nice restaurant and garden and rooms if you want to stay overnight. Reason for visit: My boyfriend took me llama trekking as a treat - we went to Bluecaps Llama and spent an hour walking through the woods with two very friendly llamas in tow. We went here for lunch afterwards as it was nearby and had been recommended by the owner of Bluecaps. Me and my llama I ate: seafood platter, that was designed for sharing as a (large) starter, but I had it to myself as a main course. It came with crusty bread and butter, mackerel pate, prawn and crayfish cocktail, smoked salmon and prawns in filo pastry, anchovies, capers and salad. I think it cost £15. My companion ate: ham, egg and chips. The food was : Mine was a really nice change from what I would normally order as a main course. I know it was designed for sharing but I thought there was too much smoked...