Happy Sunday! Our weekend has been spent in this idyllic country cottage celebrating a couple of friends’ 30th birthdays. I love how 30th birthdays involve lovely meals out or weekends away rather than the drinking marathon that defines 21st celebrations. Definitely feeling too old for all that now. Instead, this weekend we went on country walks that were just long enough to justify us spending the rest of the day in front of the fire drinking mulled wine (result). Here’s what else I got up to this week…
1. I was in charge of dinner on Saturday night. I made these as nibbles to keep everyone happy while the main event – spiced roast duck with a root-vegetable gratin – was cooking, then, after talking about making Nigella’s gin-and-tonic jelly for about five years, I finally made it (it went down a treat). We had these friands and whipped cream afterwards (I don’t count any dish as dessert unless there’s some dairy involved).
2. On another food-related note, I made Rachel Eats‘s gorgeous Cacio e pepe this week. Pasta with cheese and black pepper sounds pretty simple, but as Rachel explains it’s all about the technique. Get it right and it’s sublime.
3. I also rediscovered hot chocolate. I know this sounds too obvious (and omnipresent) to discover, but we never drink it. Anyway, our friends made us some the other day with whipped cream, marshmallows and a slug of Cointreau. Now, it’s ALL I can think about…
4. We also put up our Christmas tree, so I’m really feeling the Christmas countdown. I’m still dreaming about wearing sequinned trousers on Christmas Day, although apparently, what I really should be buying is a tiara.
5. I don’t know about you, but I never seem to have as many Christmas parties to attend as magazines would have me believe. However, I found these party make-up tips from ViviannaDoesMakeUp useful for the few I will be going to. I’m really coveting the setting spray – ‘think hairspray, but for your face’.
Here on the blog, we’ve had networking tips to get you working the room like a pro, some fail-safe Christmas present ideas and Rose’s thoughts on what it’s like to start a blog.
Do you have your Christmas tree yet? And do you have any Christmas parties to look forward to?
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