Fortune favours the brave...........

Last night I packed my wooden crates with Autumnal flowers and headed to The Garage Deli in Uppingham, for our evening.

It was probably the most fun ever had in a delicatessen, on a Wednesday evening in September, with a curly haired girl in leopard print kitten heels.

I waffled on for a bit, everybody patiently listened and then we ate the most amazing food.

Thank you to everybody that braved the ghastly weather to come out.

and for one night only, flowers and wood fired pizza sat harmoniously. Who knew?


Tomorrow I shall bring you a "How to".........an Autumnal table arrangement. I have flowers left from last night.

A short play

Miss P. "Time to go to work"

The Hound "It's raining, I think we should stay at home today"

Miss P. "That is simply not an option, too much to do"

The Hound "Ok, but the rain will turn your hair curly, don't say i didn't warn you"

It's just the simple things

pure incidentals.
It's like you wouldn't even notice when you really turn me on,
It's the little sparks that fly and then land like dynamite.

When not doing weddings, I like to:
1.Meet new puppies
2.Marvel at celebrities having an argument on Mr Naylor's blog.
3.Add another thing to my Birthday/Christmas wish list.
4.Wonder what to have for lunch, given that the homemade butternut squash soup is on my kitchen table and not here in the shop.
5.and panic that apparently it is only 89 days until Christmas.
6. Hunt out the winter wardrobe, the Havianas have been ditched for stockings and Uggs. This is a good 2 weeks earlier than last year.

Also to our American readers who get films long before we do, is that Eat, Pray Love film any good? and whilst we are on the subject Wall Street 2?

Ta muchly.

A tale of two recipes

The first is a Jamie Oliver recipe. I like his recipes, they always work. Sometimes there is too much of Mr Oliver, too many adverts, too many television programmes. I only watch the programmes with Gennaro Contaldo in. We both worked with Gennaro, he taught Jamie all about Italian Food, and he chased me around the kitchen with a knife and locked me in the fridge.

Horses for courses.

Toffee brittle with Chocolate and sea salt.

450g unsalted butter
450g granulated sugar
Good pinch of sea salt flakes
250g nuts, chopped, toasted
350g 70% cocoa chocolate, chopped into small pieces
2 tbsp sea salt flakes.

Melt the butter and sugar and sprinkle of salt in a pan, bring to a boil, stirring until it turns a caramel colour. Add in the nuts and pour into a well greased tin, and level. Allow to cool for a few minutes and then scatter on the chopped chocolate which will melt and form a shiny layer. Allow to cool a little more and sprinkle on the last of the sea salt. Freeze for 30 minutes. Turn it out of the tin, and smash into pieces. Serve with strong shots of espresso.

The full recipe makes 1.5 kilos, which is a lot. I halved the quantities, and used a 31cm swiss roll tin. I would add more nuts next time.

The other photograph is of slow roasted tomatoes. Fill a roasting tin with over ripe cherry tomatoes, a slug of olive oil, and roast at 140 degrees for 3 to 4 hours.

It will become soup tonight, it really is soup weather now.

Did you watch Downton Abbey? Did you do it with a cup of tea and an old school box of Maltesers?

Blogger obviously isn't a fan of peach....

Just peachy

Back to the weddings this morning.

A peach affair.

So pretty.

This morning i have awoken with an even huskier voice than normal.

It is raining, The Hound is playing up, and it really isn't the best of weather for a wedding, but it is lucky.

It is also cold, i toyed with stockings and ballet pumps, but not yet, surely this Indian summer will arrive soon?

Bon weekend, What will you do? We will be cooking, to justify the word cook on the new blog header.

Thank you for reading, so much to share next week
x

Snapdragon

I first came across Jane whilst reading a copy of Country Living magazine. Curled on the sofa in W11, and dreaming of one day also owning a vintage van and selling flowers i had grown to anappreciative audience. The well thumbed article remains in a box file marked "inspirational"

Jane also crafts embroidered things, and whilst i had admired them on her blog, didn't really pay them much attention, until a bride came in with one of her notebooks. The quality made me sit up and take notice, and an order placed. I received them today, and love them.

When you have a shop, everybody wants to sell you their "homemade" wares, if i had a £1 for everyone that brought me a polkadot peg bag.....Jane's pieces perfectly illustrate the huge difference between homemade and handcrafted designed pieces.

Judging by peoples reactions, and I haven't actually fully unpacked the box yet. We will be placing a re-order very soon.

This gladdens my heart, as yesterday I went into a shop to see that all they now really sell is Cath Kidston and we all know what i think about those, and whilst we are at it, I hate polka dots.

I am a Princess. Deal with it.

Retrospective

There have been a few blog headers, these are just some. I have lost the others to 2 broken laptops.

Some are good, others not so much.

Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky

Are like shooting stars
I could really use a wish right now.

I love that a man names Bob sings this.

We are all about locally grown dahlias and asters. Colour. Simplicity.

There are still 2 peach weddings to bring you, but i thought we might have a break from matrimony, where is the food? I shall endeavour to cook something interesting this week, or at least do a new blog banner. Those shoes might be Rupert Sanderson, but even i am a little tired of seeing them now.

In the meantime you can gaze at the wonder that is this food blog. I want to live in this blog. That would mean moving to Brooklyn, but i don't think that is a bad thing.

Are you coming to our evening of flowers and antipasto? There are still a few places left, get in quick.

Part 3 Roses in green foam

It was always going to be roses, Metallina, Amnesia, Memory lane, Diadeem, Sweet Avalanche, Avalanche, Blu curiosa, Majolica, Hypnose spray, Dark hypnose, Two faces, Savita, Upper secret,hydrangea, larkspur, mint, lisinathus, snowberry, dusty miller, sage, and ornamental cherry.

Place in green foam

et voila.

Easy.

This wedding was a marvellous exercise in reusing flowers in varying locations, pew ends were tied onto banisters, pails of roses at the church steps went on window ledges, and then onto tables, urns went everywhere, and vases of flowers floated all around.

This wedding was brought to you by The Mother Hen, the staff at The George, gin, coffee, a very tolerant Hound, and an awful lot of M&S sandwiches, and more gin.

I forgot to photograph the bouquets, I was too busy crying. Will I never learn?

Thank goodness for Emily Quinton.

Part Deux

Flowers went from boy to girl, and girl to boy and love blossomed.

Then along came a baby girl and the marry me bouquet.

Venue decided, date set, dress selected, and Emily Quinton booked.

Flowers semi decided on, and the flower girl training started.

People are often doubtful that small children will hold a posy. They will, they like to emulate the bride. Just to be sure every time this little girl came into the shop i thrust a flower into her hand. In the month up to the wedding she had progressed to a full bouquet of spray roses. I am nothing if not persistent.

Whilst we are on the subject, please don't ever send a child down the aisle with a teddy bear, they are going to church not to bed, and as for a wand.....

The one where I cried a lot - Part 1

It started with a man walking into a flower shop, wanting to send some flowers to a girl he had just met.

"Have a good holiday"

No name.

Sensing this could be a good match I may, or may not have put a few extra flowers in, to give cupids arrow a little extra nudge.

I probably should have started this tale with the church flowers, but we are talking love here people, and we all know it makes absolutely no sense at all.

More to come.

The one where I photographed the bridesmaids bouquets too

but not the venue, not the table centres or the crystal bowls of roses that sat on the top table.

I forgot my camera.

This was my hairdresser's wedding, I can't wait to hear all about their day.

Congratulations, don't be long on honeymoon, my roots need doing.
xoxo

The one where I remembered to photograph the bridal bouquet