Tuesday 31 March 2015

Leeds lunch and afternoon cakeage.

So this weekend when I wasn't busy chasing after my toddler and introducing him to the delights of fancy breads I managed to escape to another part of Yorkshire.  I somehow managed to get a bit of free time for myself and met up with my friends Heather and Beth in Leeds.

While in Leeds they took me for Indian Street food and beer at Bundobust.  It was quiet when we got there shortly after 1 on Sunday afternoon but very nice.  They serve excellent Indian food (all vegetarian) and craft beers so it would have been rude not to partake! Unfortunately I was having such a nice time I didn't actually take any pictures so you'll either have to go for yourself or I'll have to have another fact finding mission.

After stuffing ourselves with bahjis, dosas and okra fries we had a little peruse of some of Leeds stores including the rather nice Travelling Man a comic book and game shop if you are not familar with it already.

Once we got our appetites back we headed to a cafe called Mrs Atha's which was very busy but also served three different types of hotchocolate and a good variety of cakes. Again I failed here to take a picture of either the cafe or my gianormous slice of red velvet cake.  I need to have words with myself... the cafe itself had lovely food and was furnished with vintage furniture so I'd recommend it if you like those sorts of things.

Basically I had a good afternoon in Leeds eating all of the things and putting the world to rights with my friends in some very nice places.  Thanks Heather and Beth!

Monday 30 March 2015

Local Loves: Abbeydale Food and Produce Market

I popped by the Abbeydale Food and Produce market on Saturday 28th about an hour before it ended with my son to check it out as it looked good from everything I saw about it online. Stupidly I had lunch prior to setting off so didn't have the space to sample any of the street food available. I also forgot to take pictures of the street food stalls which were set up outside so all the pictures are of market the inside of the Abbeydale Picture House.  It was my first visit to the picture house and I think it looks like a nice building with the potential to be gorgeous once it's properly restored. (Look at the size of it!).




We enjoyed wandering around looking at the food on offer, listening to live music, as well as consuming tea and cake. It was a hit with the toddler because of all the space for him to roam in and all the things to see and eat. (I got him a lovely bit of focaccia bread and he also sampled some cheese, beef burger and cakes.)  This market is now on my radar for future outings! You should add it to your radar too if you are in Sheffield or visiting when the next one is on.

Sunday 22 March 2015

Life exactly as we know it.

Recently I have been mainly trying to rid myself and the other members of my house hold of the dreaded sniffles.  It's not been a very successful fight I believe the sniffles have the upper hand... despite this we have been having lots of fun.
I have also been working on my fiction writing when my son had been asleep, at nursery or when my partner has taken over the child wrangling duties.  It's been slow going but I've finished my first short stories in a while and am looking forward to writing more.  I've also bought tickets to Tramlines for myself and my boyfriend and look forward to doing a lot of dancing.

There's been a bit less film watching going on here but more baking so swings and roundabouts it's just a shame it's been more of the same blue berry muffins and carrot cake.  That, a little hula hooping and all the house work in the world ever! (Slight exaggeration I just hate housework...)  It has however included washing plastic balls which look quite funny on the draining board.

This week coming I plan on fitting in as much writing as I can around work and everything else going on in my life and going to the Abbeydale Picture House produce market on Saturday with he who I prefer not to name.  So that's a little snapshot of what is going on in this little corner of the world at the moment.

Friday 13 March 2015

A thank you to Terry Pratchett.

I am not normally one for getting upset over deaths of people I don't know or whose works I enjoy but Terry Pratchett has been one of my favourite authors for a while.

So instead of saying rest in peace I thought it would be better to say thank you.  Thank you for all the disc world books.  For all of the chuckles and guffaws.  The silly names, the hours spent reading, the interesting concepts and witty one liners.

You may not be here to grant us more stories and for that I am sad but at least in print you are immortalised. I look forward to introducing my son to your stories as he grows and sharing the love for your words.

Wednesday 11 March 2015

Midweek bake - spicy carrot cake.

So last week I fancied carrot cake and when I eventually got my son down to nap I decided that it was time to make one.  So I tried the Spicy Carrot cake recipe in my Coffee and Cake recipe book, with a couple of adaptions to suit the ingredients I had to hand and my personal tastes.
This is it before I took it to work and it got demolished. I thought that throwing some fudge cubes on it might make it extra nice and while they were tasty they were kind of superfluous.  It was just very nice and moist, not bad for a bit of post park procrastibaking! (Obviously I should have spent this time tidying or writing... but hey I'm a rebel.)

Sunday 1 March 2015

A little update.

So my plan to re-start the 52 week recipe challenge appears to have fallen by the way side, as has regular blogging... this is partly due to me underestimating the difference between a toddlers energy levels and my own.  I think for now having batches of meals ready to heat up after a busy day of work, chasing after my son, lifting away him from danger/fragile things and general household chores is a good thing. Experimentation will have to happen as and when inspiration strikes.

So since my last post I have been to Spain and enjoyed the joys of sunshine, tapas and siestas!



I have also enjoyed a night out with my family to celebrate my Auntie Ann's birthday, baked a few cakes, visited my sister in Nottingham and gone belly dancing. (As well as working, looking after my son and being ill every few weeks.)

So that's what I have been doing when I haven't been blogging, that and trying to work out how to end one of my novels... eventually I will crack this writing malarkey! I hope anyway.