A picture of some white plum blossom in spring.
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#FreeYourFeet Challenge – Studio Beat Sandals From Clarks
I’m taking part in the #freeyourfeet challenge competition from Clarks. They sent me a pair of their Studio Beat sandals to team up with an outfit of my choice.
Hopefully, you can see from the photos they are metallic gold coloured sandals with metal trims. They have a T bar design with the stalk of the T being a woven look strap, which is accented by a sleek gold chain. Fastening round your ankle with a buckled strap, which you can adjust to fit. I really like the fact that the metallic gold colour and the design dresses up any outfit, but the practical side of me loves the flat sole which means that I can wear them for the school run or for a day’s sightseeing on holiday. Clarks’ Softwear Technology makes them easy and comfortable to wear too.
Because these Studio Beat sandals dress up an outfit so easily, I’ve teamed them up with dark indigo skinny jeans. I liked the contrast of colour between the dark blue of the jeans and the gold of the sandals. On top I’ve gone for a print tunic top which the sandals easily hold their own against. This is the perfect outfit for a little everyday glamour in late spring.
The Ready To Enjoy Range from The Saucy Fish Co.
Recently I was sent some samples from The Ready To Enjoy Range by The Saucy Fish Co. to review. There are four flavours in the Ready To Enjoy Range: Roasted Sweet Chilli Salmon with Tomato and Chilli Chutney, Smoked Salmon with Sticky Maple Dressing, Roasted Lemon and Herb Salmon with Sicilian Lemon and Dill Mayonnaise and Steamed Salmon with Lime and Coriander Dressing.
When The Saucy Fish Co. say they are ready to enjoy, they aren’t exaggerating. You can serve them up straight from the pack if you want. Alternatively if you prefer, you can heat them up. Either way they’re very easy. You just take them out of the packaging (heat on a baking tray in the oven if you want to) and add the dressing or sauce to serve.
Ready meals can often be dull, uninspired and unhealthy, but the Ready to Enjoy range breaks that mould. There are strong flavours like the Roasted Sweet Chilli Salmon with Tomato and Chilli Chutney which is really gutsy. The Roasted Lemon and Herb Salmon with Sicilian Lemon and Dill Mayonnaise variety really packed a punch too. They are a great way to get in one of your portions of oily fish too. The pack of two fillets is the perfect size if you are eating alone, in a bit of a hurry, or don’t want to bother with lots of preparation. The fish is of good quality and all the fillets were very tasty. Sauces too were of a high standard and complimented the salmon nicely.
Tesco Cheese For Entertaining Range Review
We were recently given the chance to try out Tesco’s Cheese For Entertaining Range. This selection features ready to eat or ready to cook products that are perfect if you are hosting a dinner party or have friends for lunch and don’t want to be slaving away in the kitchen.
We tried the Goat’s Cheese and Bacon Parcels. The goat’s cheese discs come wrapped in ultra thin smoked bacon and need pan frying (no need for oil) for a few minutes before serving. They are very tasty with strong flavours that balance each other perfectly. They’d make a lovely starter or light lunch served with a green salad and some good bread.
Next up were the Mature Cheddar Souffles. They come in individual glass dishes. Despite the hearty mature cheddar flavour, the souffle is really very light. They are so easy to cook too. You just need to bring them to room temperature and then cook in a preheated oven.
The third dish we tested was the Mexican Style Monterey Jack Cheese. This is good and spicy (it uses a traditional Mexican blend of spices plus hot chillies) so making it perfect for tortilla wrap filling. This would be good for sharing or as a snack.
The only down side I encountered was that the Tesco Cheese for Entertaining range wasn’t available in my local (quite large) store, but I was able to get it from a Tesco Extra shop.
Clivia Houseplant
My Travel Avenue 32 Wish List
Having just got back from Greece and hoping to do a little more holidaying this year, travel is firmly on my mind. So when I was asked to put together my Avenue 32 Wish List, it was natural to think of focusing on what you need when you get away on holiday.
First things first, you’re going to need something to pack your things in. Making the journey part of the holiday is a great way of extending the benefit of your trip and having nice luggage helps you feel like you’re on your way in style. I like this Biscuit Hold Me Close Holdall. It’s got classic, good looks and is made from high quality leather. How cool would you look arriving at your hotel carrying this beauty?
If I’m only going to pack one swimming costume, I’d probably opt for a one piece. It’s practical for doing some proper swimming and with one as chic as this Roksanda Ilincic Orange Antares Swimsuit, you can count on looking good sunbathing by the pool or on the beach too.
Sunglasses are another must for me. These Cutler and Gross Chocolate Cat Eye Star Sunglasses are particularly elegant and have a slightly retro feel.
Sandals will take you where you want to go on your holiday whether it’s down to the pool, out for drinks or all day sightseeing expeditions. A pair that are pretty, but practical too like these Ancient Greek style sandals suit just about every occasion.
Entertainment, while you travel or while you bask in the sunshine, doesn’t come any better than quality sound by Frends. Frends make headphones with the design and craftsmanship qualities of vintage jewellery, but with modern cutting edge technology. Afterall there’s no reason why your headphones can’t look as good as they sound.
This is a sponsored post.
Dessert Selection
A picture of the dessert selection available daily at the Aquila Porto Hotel, cure Rethymno, Crete.
Fresh Bread
Fresh bread is an everyday little luxury for me. The smell of baking bread is just divine and if it didn’t make me feel so hungry, I almost feel I could live on that alone. My fresh bread almost always comes from my breadmaker. I set it so it comes in time to present me with a fresh loaf first thing. I find this helps with the gorgeous scent of fresh bread making me hungry, because it’s breakfast time anyway when I get up so I don’t feel hungry for long. There’s something magical about getting up and smelling fresh bread which has been made for you while you slept.
Another thing that I find amazing about making my own fresh bread is that something so tasty can be created from so few ingredients. My normal white loaf, that I make most often, only contains 4 ingredients: water, flour, salt and yeast. They don’t look very promising when you put them into the bread bucket (the bit that the dough goes into that acts as mixing bowl and baking pan), but alchemy is at work to turn these humble ingredients into culinary gold.
My recipe for a simple white loaf requires the following ingredients:
- 350ml/ 12 fl oz water
- 500g/ 1lb 2oz strong white bread flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon yeast (the dried, suitable for breadmaker sort)
Put the ingredients into the bread bucket in the order they are listed. Choose the basic white bread setting for your breadmaker with a bread size of 1.5lb. Then 3 hours later you’ll have your bread. Bare in mind that it is difficult to slice when warm, so allow for some cooling time. I like eating it best when there is still a touch of residual warmth left from the cooking process, but it’s cooled enough to slice fairly easily. It doesn’t keep for too long, so eat on day 1 or 2 as fresh. After two days toast it. The toast it makes is like nectar too.
Amaryllis Flower
Cherry Blossom
One of my favourite things at this time of year is spending some time enjoying the cherry blossom. For me it’s a real sign that spring is really here after a long winter.
The Japanese would agree with me that setting aside a little while to enjoy the cherry blossom is well worth doing. In Japan they have a special word for ‘flower viewing’: hanami. Cherry blossom in Japanese is ‘sakura’ and in Japan they celebrate this time of year by having an outdoor party, by day or by night, under a flowering cherry tree. Often lanterns are hung in the trees to allow them to be enjoyed when it is darker, so precious are the couple of weeks that the trees are blossoming.
The latin name for the cherry tree is ‘prunus’ and there are many different varieties. In Britain flowering cherry trees are common roadside and garden trees. Many of these have been cultivated purely for their flowers and are ornamental only so they do not produce cherries.
Most of us don’t have to go too far to find a cherry tree and whilst a single tree can look wonderful, there is something to be said for seeing them in larger groups. A good place to go to see cherry trees is Batsford Arboreteum, near Moreton in Marsh, in Gloucestershire. The arboreteum holds the National Collection of Japanese Flowering Cherries. It’s a pleasant place to visit at any time of year and if you’ve read Nancy Mitford’s Love in a Cold Climate, you’ll be interested to know that Batsford Park (the big house in the middle of Batsford Arboreteum) was the Mitford family home until just after the first world war. Keele University also has an arboreteum also have a national collection of cherry trees and you can download a guided walk from their website. There isn’t a charge for visiting, although there are parking charges Monday to Friday.
Do you have any favourite places to visit to see cherry trees in flower? Do you have a cherry tree that you make a point of visiting in the spring each year?