Time Keeping

A press release hit my inbox this week for Cassio Sheen's new collaboration with The Saturday's. That's not really my style but I decided to embrace a challenge and styled some looks using the new collection instead.

Jumper: Étoile Isabel Marant, Watch: Casio Sheen, Shoes: Jimmy Choo, Jeans: Current/Elliot, Earrings: Carolina Bucci

Earrings: Melissa Joy Manning, Watch: Cassio Sheen, Shoes: Jimmy Choo, Jumpsuit: Markus Lupfer, Clutch: Anya Hindmarch

Tshirt: Rag and Bone, Watch: Cassio Sheen, Shoes: Bionda Castana, Trousers: Joseph

Style Intro

I know I've been absent for a little while now but I'm happy to say that it's because I've been busy writing freelance pieces.

I write five days a week over at Style Intro on fashion news, trends and styling so hop on over and have a read.

Some recent articles:

It's Electric
Bare Face
Short Story
Andrew Gn's Fall/Winter 13/14 Handbag Collection
Pointed Passion
Neon for S/S 2013

Valentine's Chocolate Lollipops

My boyfriend and I have been together a long time so things like Valentine's day don't really have the same charm as they did when we first got together.

We don't bother with cards any more (we figure we'd only be re-hashing the same sentiments every year) and we're not into extravagant gifts - Christmas and birthdays is enough. This year we thought we'd get a little more personal and make each other presents, with a budget of £5 which forces you to get creative.

I decided to make chocolate heart-shape lollies so ordered the white sticks and cellophane wrappers from Ebay for about £1.50 each.

The recipe is pretty self explanatory, I bought milk and white chocolate bars from the supermarket, melted it and experimented with shapes and patterns. Then wrapped them in cellophane pockets and tied with a ribbon. Everyone loves chocolate and they can be made for pretty much any occasion. I love the idea of wrapping them in pink or blue ribbon and giving them to a new Mum or taking them to a baby shower.

I dipped the end of the sticks into melted chocolate and placed them on the greaseproof paper so they'd stick and not move around.

I did about three layers of the chocolate and built it up so it had a chance to dry in the shape after each layer, rather than it spreading and distorting.

I had planned on making little white chocolate hearts on the centre of the lollies but then realised that splattering was much more fun.

I wrapped two lollies in each wrapper, back to back and tied them with lilac ribbon because that's what I had lying around but you can pick any colour you like for each occasion.

All lined up in a pink gift bag.

Love

I have another article published in To&From's Love issue out today! Check me out on pages 9 and 14-16!

Chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding

It's been a while since I last blogged but it's a new year so it's time to try out some new recipes, fashion and interiors.

This recipe was a way for me to use up some left over Christmas goodies, namely Terry's Chocolate Orange and a Panettone.

I used this recipe from Nigella's website and I'm pretty happy with it. Apart from the extorionate amount of fat and calories (which, let's face it, is unavoidable in a bread and butter pudding) it was easy to do and was delicious.

Custard

Chocolate custard

Sliced Panettone and a Chocolate Orange

Shopping Guide to Florence

My shopping guide to Florence has just been published in To&From magazine, click here to read it!

Pantone New Colours

I get regular emails from Pantone and always get excited when they announce new colours (I mean, will they ever run out?!). So inspired by their new 175 colour additions, I thought I'd seek out the best pieces - designer and high street - in the latest colours.

1. 3.1 Phillip Lim £335
2. CLU £245
3. Paul & Joe £375
4. Christian Louboutin £645
5. River Island £45
6. DKNY £440
7. Current/Elliot £250
8. Paul Smith £69
9. Accessorize £6

Find out more about the colours and the research behind the project here.

Hello Fresh: The Verdict

So our five days of meals from Hello Fresh are up. It's been fun and I've enjoyed cooking really great meals. We did skip a day on Friday night but it was fine to post-pone two of the meals. As long as your fridge actually functions I reckon all of the ingredients would stay fresh.

I enjoyed every one of the meals, some more than others. My favourite was the Pilaff and my least favourite was probably the salmon but only because it was something that we have regularly anyway. The boyfriend's favourite on the other hand was the duck and his least favourite was the stuffed aubergine so a mixed bag of results.

Overall, Hello Fresh get 10/10 for variety, freshness, quality of ingredients, ease, recipe instructions - everything. It's a fantastic service they offer. If a food subscription is the kind of thing you're looking for I'd recommend this any day. The only (sort of) negative comment I'd make is that the portion sizes were too big. But we used this to our advantage and had the left overs for lunch the next day so it worked well for us in the end.

Now, let's talk about price. It's not cheap. Without our discount card we would've paid £49 for five nights worth of food for two people. So not exactly reasonable on a student budget but I'm pretty sure that's not their target market. Unfortunately we won't be able to continue with the subscription simply because of the price (we usually get a week's worth of food and supplies for about £50 although I'm not going to even pretend that the quality of produce is on par) but it's definitely something I'll revisit in the future.

If you do want to try Hello Fresh you can get £20 off with this code CDK7WZ and I'd sincerely recommend you to, even if you just do it for the discounted week.

Hello Fresh: Meal Five

Stuffed Aubergine Gratin with Rocket and Herbed Bulgar Wheat

Our fifth and final Hello Fresh meal was Stuffed Aubergine Gratin with Rocket and Herbed Bulgar Wheat. As you can see from the photo, there was no rocket with our meal, neither was there cheese. Both my fault. Because of our terrible fridge (see yesterday's post...and meal one, two and three) the rocket went off days ago and in the excitement of unboxing I managed to miss the grated cheese and ended up leaving it in the box - cue nasty green mould.

This was a bit of a controversial one for us. I really liked it, the boyfriend hated it. He pulled a face the whole time he was eating it. I can agree that it's not for everyone - it's veggie for a start and aubergine is quite an acquired taste - so I wouldn't recommend this for a dinner party situation because you do get a mixed bag of opinions.

The bulgar wheat was really lovely. I've never really had it before but boiled in vegetable stock it was great. I'll definitely be using it again. And the instructions for cooking it were spot on, once again (350ml boiled water with veg stock, pour in bulgar wheat, place a lid on the saucepan and rest off the heat for 25 mins). It was light and fluffy and really tasty.

Aubergines ready to go in the oven

Frying onion and carrot

Chopped green pepper and courgette

The final plate

Hello Fresh: Meal Four

Chicken Pilaff with an Air of Pistachio

Our fourth dish (check out one, two and three here) was Chicken Pilaff with an Air of Pistachio and it is my favourite one! We actually made this dish veggie in the end because our stupid, dysfunctional fridge (that can barely be described as a fridge since it's more like VERY slightly chilled room temperature) made the chicken thighs go off. Annoying. But regardless, I really, really enjoyed this meal and would probably keep it veggie next time too. Even my carnivorous boyfriend liked it. It'd be great as a side dish as well, or to take to a BBQ in the summer.

Chopped

The chopping took me a little while but the overall cooking time was the quickest yet. I think I must just be getting used to this style of cooking.

Pomegranates 

Dressing

I don't usually think to put pomegranates in a savoury dish but it was a lovely, fresh addition, I'll definitely be using it in other recipes.

I'm beginning to sound like a broken record now but the portion size was definitely too big again. It was fine though, we just kept some back to eat for lunch the next day.

Check back tomorrow for our fifth and final meal from Hello Fresh!

The final plate

Hello Fresh: Meal Three

Pan-Fried Salmon with Homemade Guacamole and New Potatoes

Our third meal from Hello Fresh (check out One and Two here) was Pan-Fried Salmon with Homemade Guacamole and New Potatoes.

This was the easiest one yet, simply boiling potatoes, frying salmon, mashing some avocado and flash frying the spinach to wilt it - I can handle that.

Again the instructions for cooking the salmon were flawless (4 mins in a frying pan, skin side down followed by 4-5 mins under the grill and then a teaspoon of butter in the pan to finish). I often don't eat the skin because it gets soggy whilst cooking but this time it was crispy and delicious. It probably helped what good quality the fish was though - apparently it's from the same supplier the Queen uses, and you can tell. The guacamole was also lovely with the addition of red onion and chilli.

The salmon - from the Queen's fishmonger

Guacamole

Now, I had my portion problem again. I'm pretty sure it's just me. Looking back at photos I feel pathetic that I could barely eat half of it and left all three potatoes. I think there's a certain element of not wanting to eat your own cooking (does anyone else get that?) but I used the left overs to my advantage this time and saved some of the spinach back to make a salad for lunch the next day.

The final plate

Hello Fresh: Meal Two

Pan-Fried Duck with Pommes Mousselines and Pancetta Peas

The second meal we decided to try was the Pan-Fried Duck with Pommes Mousselines and Pancetta Peas.

Recipe card

I found this dish quicker to make than yesterday's meal. I think it was a slightly simpler recipe (less stages and only using the hob rather than hob and cooker) and maybe I'm just getting used to the style of cooking a bit more.

What first struck me was the richness of colour of the duck fillets and plumpness of the cuts. I don't think I've ever even cooked duck myself before but having seen the usual offerings in the supermarket, these looked considerably better.

Duck and pancetta

This might sound like a silly thing to say but the potatoes were in great condition too. Pre-washed with no ugly bits, they were better quality than most of the types you get at the supermarket. The peas were also really plump and fresh.

Fresh peas

On to the cooking. I found all the stage simple and Hello Fresh's method for frying the duck was full-proof. 6 mins skin side down followed by 5 mins on the other side followed by resting - crispy skin and pink inside perfection. I also really liked the idea of boiling potatoes in stock which I've never tried before, it definitely lifted the flavour. They also suggested a new (to me) way of mashing potatoes - pushing them through a sieve. Not only is this a great technique to get super smooth mash but it's handy for people with no masher ie. me.

Duck frying skin side down...

...Then fried on the other side

I really enjoyed the whole combination on the plate. I often find multiple-meat dishes a bit too heavy but this balanced really well. However, I am starting to notice a trend: portion sizes are too big, again I was unable to finish it (although the boyfriend didn't complain). Having said that though, I am a small eater when it comes to meals so I'm not sure I'd suggest for the portion sizes to be smaller, although for me it is a little too much.

The final plate

Missed the unboxing of this week's Hello Fresh box? Click here