Greetings from sunny Morocco!!

@ Albakech House, Marrakech, Morocco

Think I would blog a lot more if these were my 'working conditions' everyday!! Or maybe not?? As I would just want to laze around in the sun and accomplish a lot of nothing at all....

It has been a hectic few weeks.. we have finally moved out of our crappy little flat with super awful landlords/letting agency and into our own place!

I am officially a home owner! Waheyy!! Bit of a scary process, buying a house/flat/apartment/dwelling..!! But the estate agent was brilliant and The Mister is related to a solicitor, so it all went rather easily and somewhat according to plan!

Apart from the bit where The Mister had booked flights for the weekend that we were supposed to move house!! Yeah... that part... not so much with the good... But alas, we got everything moved from one place to the other with the help of a couple of fabulous friends.. I stayed up until 3am scrubbing the fridge and cabinets in the kitchen so we could get at least some stuff unpacked.. we had 3 hours sleep before the alarm went off and we had to be up to get to the train station..

My plans to nap on the train were largely thwarted by the sun rising right into my face.. then the mad hustle bustle of peeps squeezing onto the train to (I can only assume) go and get their Xmas shopping done. Why people don't just do their shopping online..! (tho that's another post altogether!)

The flight from Manchester to Marrakesh was fairly uneventful.. we were picked up at the airport and brought to the riad. We chilled out in the room for a while then went out for a late dinner.

The next day we caught a bus out to Essaouira, on the coast and spent 4 nights at the Riad-Al-Medina which was owned by Jimi Hendrix. We had a great time exploring the little port town and even managed a 2 hour kitesurfing lesson, which was more kiting than surfing! We didn't even get near the water!! It's hard work learning to fly those kites tho, I'll tell ya!

I really loved Essaouira, it's so much more laid back and relaxed than the madness which is Marrakech.. I actually managed to get some shopping done which I failed at miserably last time while we were in Marrakech as I just got sick and tired of all the touts and people yelling at you, trying to "help" you or "guide: you etc etc. Ugh!

We've really only used Marrakech as a transfer point this trip as it was mainly to go out to Essaouira, but one place I had wanted to go last time but never made it was the Majorelle Gardens also known as the Yves Saint Laurent Gardens.. Well, we finally managed to get ourselves there yesterday and it was well worth the effort.

The gardens are gorgeous and filled with all sorts of plants from around the world. I believe Yves Saint Laurent actually has his ashes scattered there.. Within the grounds is also a Berber Museum as well as a cafe, boutique and mini gallery of some of YSL's collage cards which he used to send to his friends & clients.

We missed breakfast this morning as The Mister's alarm didn't go off and have resigned ourselves to enjoying the Moroccan sun for the last few hours before we're back off to the airport and to the land of cold & grey.

We probably could have squeezed in a quick trip to the Medina but we are out of cash and I'd rather just chillax than face the frantic souk.

I always promise photos and posts of my trips away and I've yet to actually get any of them up.. I've started quite a few posts about my trip to Turkey but somehow just not found the time to finish them and get them in any coherent order. Hopefully once the new flat is unpacked and I feel more settled, I'll get into a routine and a headspace which is conducive to writing rather than ranting....

We shall see! We have no internet at home until the engineer comes on the 17th, so maybe without the distraction of facebook and its games, I'll be more productive as well.... HA! I can only hope....

I hope this post finds you all well... until next time..

Halloween Round Up

Howdie Party Peeps!

Halloween started fairly early for me this year as I was put in charge of decorating my work... It was the perfect excuse to go to Poundland and buy all the fun decorations I usually can't justify buying for myself! Though I somehow didn't get any photos of the front window I decorated or the fun things I got to put up all through the shop... #bloggerfail

Another bonus about working at a super fun shop for a super fun lady - getting paid to play with stamps!! I got to make Halloween themed tent cards to accompany some of our marshmallows to go to a wedding!

Things I Covet : Zara Plaited Shopper

I don't know about you... but I'm kinda in love with internet shopping... just a little bit... or maybe a bit more than a little bit...

Anyways... when boohoo.com sent me a 20% off code because I hadn't shopped with them in a while.. I thought I'd just take a peek and see if there was anything to tempt me... So 3 maxi dresses in the shopping cart later.. I thought I'd take a quick look at their bags... as a girl can never have too many handbags! Where I came across this...

Which reminded me of this bag from Zara... 

which I LOVE!

But my current budget doesn't quite stretch to £80 for a bag... Even tho it's Buffalo leather and would last me forever...  I've had my eye on this bag since the start of the year when I saw it in Taiwan.. (should've got mum to buy it for me!) 

Anywhoos, with my 20% off, the knock off bag is only costing me £20.. so maybe I can placate myself with it in the hopes that the gorgeous Zara bag might one day go on sale and end up in a price range I can a) afford and b) justify!

If the knock off bag is really horrible, I at least have 3 maxi dresses for my troubles... and I love me some maxi dresses!! With our impending trip to Morocco & my birthday trip in Jan to Lanzarote, I'm sure I'll get lots of wear out of them... and even if they aren't so great.. I can count on free returns! :)

Are you a fan of internet shopping??

Or do you love going to the stores??

Do you share my bag fetish?!

Inspiration & an update on my Scentsy journey...

It's been a while since I posted some inspiration and I came across these on my facebook travels today, so thought I'd share.. :)

I think I need to learn to do this!!

After 8 months of having my Scentsy 'business', I've finally gotten what I consider a 'real' proper order! My friend Fin had ordered a buddy from me and I'd gotten a few things to send to friends but I hadn't managed to sell anything to someone I didn't know... (or really even to anyone I DO know!). I was getting rather disparaged and thought I would have to give it up but thought I would make a 'last ditch effort' and drop some catalogues at hair and beauty salons in the neighbourhood offering them a trial. After a week or so, I hadn't heard back from any of them. And maybe I could have been more 'proactive' and called or stopped back in but I don't like to be 'pushy'... as I hate when I feel pressured into something. (Even if that something turns out to be positive!)

But then I got a text from a girl who had obviously picked up the catalogue while she was getting her hair done at one of the salons! It took almost a month of texting back and forth to find a time, but early last week I packed a bag, got on a bus and knocked on the door of her flat for my first ever Scentsy 'party'. Not much of a party as it was just her and me! As somehow, I'd not thought to tell her to invite some friends until the night before.. oops! But I think it was kinda great as I wasn't nervous at all and didn't feel like I had to 'perform' in front of a group of people. She was so lovely and I spent 2 hours at her flat just chatting and it felt just like hanging out with a friend. Not only that, I walked out with a fantastic order!

I text to keep her updated on the status of her order and she told me she's been promoting me to all her friends and wants to book a party near the end of November so her friends can do their Christmas shopping!

It had been hard as a lot of the girls seem to do very well with their business right from the get go, there are awards given out for people who manage to sell a certain amount within the first 15 and 70 days of joining. Which is announced and celebrated within the facebook group we are all part of, but it can get rather disheartening knowing other people have achieved these goals and I haven't.

But each person is different and each journey is different, so I'm just rejoicing in having completed my first order and hoping that things just get better from here on in!!

Truth!!

{All inspirational photos found from various sources on facebook}

Blasda, Scotland's Local Food Festival @ Drill Hall, Edinburgh

A few weeks ago The Mister and I headed along to Blasda at the Out of the Blue, Drill Hall.

I didn't really know what to expect as it wasn't overly well advertised, but the Drill Hall is a great venue, very close to home so we decided to head along and check it out.

{Not sure what the scary face is from up in the loft!}

There weren't very many stalls there.. but one of them was the fabulous people from Breadshare, a community supported bakery based outside of Edinburgh in the Scottish Borders. They are totally not for profit and striving to create a viable, sustainable business supported by the community. We had bought bread from them previously at St Mary's Market and loved it. I was sad they didn't have their fruit & nut loaf (with FIGS!) at the event, but settled for another nut loaf which was equally delicious.

{photo taken from Breadshare Bakery's Facebook page}

Right next door was a pedal powered flour mill! From the people at Greener Leith.

There was a stall from Changeworks talking about food waste which had very interesting information. Apparently the average UK family throws out £430 worth of food a year!!

By far the highlight of the day was the pedal powered smoothie maker!! The fruit all came from local community gardens, which made it doubly special. They were even making blackberry jam from all the berries they'd brought along. It was delicious and we even got to bring some home!!

The smoothie maker even had an adorable multicoloured umbrella top!

There was a fabulous table from Leith World Kitchens (you see them in the yellow aprons!) showcasing three different dishes made with potatoes, from Spain, Africa and India. They were all delicious and the unanimous favourite was the Spanish dish with chorizo. I was obviously too busy feeding my face to take any photos!

There was even some live music...

All in all it was quite informative and it's always great to find out about things that happen in the local communities!

Cravin' : Corn Dogs!

One of the perks of having lived on different continents and travelled to many countries is tall the tasty
morsels I've managed to eat!

Things such as :
- homemade empanadas from a little boy who would come by the dive shops with a massive pot of them when I lived in Roatan..
- curry udon in Japan..
- tasty tagines in Morocco..
- delicious roadside schwarmas in Oman..
- corn dogs at Capital Ex in Edmonton...

@Capital Ex, Edmonton '08
I love Fair food! Well, I love Fairs in general!!

The downside is, once I'm away from these delightful places with their decadent delights, it can be hard to come across these taste morsels again!!

A few weeks ago, I had a hankering for corn dogs.. but as hot dogs (the kind on a stick) are pretty hard to come by in the UK.. I knew I'd have to make my own corn dogs if I really wanted to eat'em... so I turned to the trusty interwebs and let my fingers do the walking...

I found this recipe and was super stoked when I realised I actually had all the ingredients necessary.. apart from the hot dogs and skewers.. oh and milk.. (we usually have rice milk as regular milk doesn't always get along with my stomach...) I text the mister to find some hot dogs on the way home (and milk) and he did not disappoint!

These were seriously so easy to make, the hot dogs took less time than the curly fries I threw in the oven to go with them! If only hot dogs weren't so hideously bad, I'd probably make these all the time... oh... and the deep frying.. that bit's not really good for you either... damn...

what I used : (for 6 hot dogs)

1/2 c cornmeal
1/2 c plain flour
1/8 t salt
couple of twists with the pepper grinder
1/8 c golden granulated sugar
2 t baking powder
1 egg
1/2 c milk

vege oil for frying
6 hot dogs/frankfurters
corn flour for dusting

what I did :

1. Dry hot dogs and roll in a thin layer of cornflour in a shallow dish.
2. Combine dry ingredients.
3. Stir in egg and milk.
4. Preheat oil in a deep saucepan over medium heat.
5. Roll franks in batter until well coated.
6. Fry 1 or 2 corn dogs at a time until lightly browned, around 3 minutes.
7. Drain on paper towels.

8. Enjoy!!

I had some batter leftover, so I diced up some onion, dropped it into the batter then dropped spoonfuls of the onion batter into the hot oil and made myself some hush puppies!! I didn't get any photos of the hush puppies... but they were deeeelish!!

They were so super simple and were pretty darned tasty and totally satiated my craving for Corn Dogs! If I can find better quality hot dogs around town, then I might make them again... As a little treat to myself... :]

And because corn dogs remind me of fairs and carnivals... Here's a picture of some carnie folk...

@Capital Ex, Edmonton '08

Happy Eating!!

Things I Covet : Meadowlark Rings

Thanks to crackbook... I have discovered Meadowlark... A jewellery store in New Zealand... who are producing some AH-MAZE-ING jewellery....

I am absolutely IN LOVE with this Protea Cocktail ring....

IN LOVE.. I tell you!!

Also this Byzantine ring...

Or this Crystal Bar Ring...

And this Fang ring!

So much fun!!

I have so many rings already... and I only wear two on a daily basis... tho I'd probably give up one of those for the Fang ring! But that Protea Cocktail ring is just to.die.for!! 

All images from Meadowlark

Reminiscing Summer : Adventures with Red Baron

Hey lovelies!

If today was anything to go by... Summer is well and truly over! In order to try and hold onto Summer just that teeny tiny bit longer.. here is a look back at a sunny weekend afternoon spent out biking with the mister and our friend Loz...

Our intention was to cycle around the Waters of Leith into Dean Village, but as there had been severe flooding, a lot of the walking/cycle path had roadworks and diversions which got us all a bit turned around and a little bit lost!

We found ourselves close to Cuckoo Bakery, so decided to stop in for some lunch..

My yummy croissant

So.Many.Cupcakes!

Loz had to dash off, so the mister and I decided to take some cupcakes to go... 

Looking up Dundas Steet to  Scott Monument

...and enjoy them in the glorious sunshine in Inverleith Park!

Olympic & Fringe Cupcakes! :)

Although I'd often been to the Botanic Gardens just across the road from this park, I'd never actually been inside the gates of Inverleith Park...

The park is much bigger than I anticipated... and offers FANtastic views of Edinburgh Castle!

Is Summer still around where you are??

Do you feel you made the most of the good weather??

Were there any fun adventures??

Or are you just heading into Summer??

What are you looking forward to??

Thank DOG it's Friday...

...because every dog should have its day!!

Every Friday at my work is dog friendly day... Fergus is fast becoming a regular!!

I think he's just the cutest!! (and what's better than a cute puppy to kick off the weekend?!)

{from}

Happy Weekend Lovelies!!!

Oppa Gangnam Style

Have you guys seen this video???

It is probably one of the most fun things I've seen around the interwebs in a long while...

In the words of the Marshmallow Lady, "You just can't be in a bad mood when you listen to this song."

Truth!!

Now, imagine the Marshmallow Lady and I dancing around the shop trying to learn the dance moves....

{from}

Yup! You're welcome! :)



Happy Hump Day!!

Crunchy Chewy Marshmallow Cookies

Hey hey!!

So with more marshmallows at home than I can shake a stick at, I decided to try another batch of marshmallow cookies...

This time the cookies turned out very crunchy and the marshmallows were more chewy than gooey..

 These ones turned out a lot sweeter than last time, most likely because I used about double the marshmallows (and cut them into halves rather than quarters)... I also forgot to dial back the sugar when I switched out white granulated for golden.. oops!

 

adapted from recipe found here

what I used :

• 1/2 c olive oil spread
• 1/4 c+ 2 tbs golden granulated sugar
• 1/4 c+ 2 tbs light brown sugar – packed
• 1 egg – room temp
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 c plain flour
• 1/2 c self raising flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 200g marshmallow bits

what I did :

1.Preheat oven to 160C. Move the oven rack to the middle of the oven. Line a tray with baking paper.
2.In a medium bowl sift/whisk together flour and baking powder. Set aside.
3.In a large bowl cream together butter and sugar, until light and fluffy. I'm lazy and use a hand mixer..
4.Scrape down the bowl then add vanilla and egg. Mix until combined.
5.While mixing on slow, slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until completely combined, making sure to scrape down the bowl.
6.Fold in marshmallows.
7.Work a small tablespoon of dough into balls and pop onto lined cookie sheet. Leave plenty of space as the cookies tend to spread!
8.Throw in the fridge for 5 minutes.
9.Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until lightly browned on the bottom.

tips & tricks :

Refrigerate the batter prior to baking..

I worked my dough into little balls (think ping pong/golf ball), popped them on the tray and threw the whole thing in the fridge for about 5 mins before baking... these produced the cute round cookies in the pics... the other ones spread out a lot more and ended up quite "rustic" looking...

Baking them at a lower temperature for longer stops the marshmallows from burning before the cookies are done..

I usually find a few cookies that are not quite done at the end.. I tend to throw these back in the oven after I've switched it off and just let the residual heat do the last bit of cooking...



Happy Baking!!

Gourmet Mallow S'more!

With an abundance of gourmet marshmallows at home... what's more fun than coming up with different things to do with them!!??

Also, what's more classic than a s'more!?!

It's hard to buy graham crackers in the UK and although I looked up a few recipes to bake my own.. I just haven't found the time or motivation to do it...

Next best thing...??  

Dark chocolate digestives!

And in place of a campfire...??

A gas stove!

I loved using passionfruit mallows for my s'more... it's nice to have the zingy'ness to offset the sweetness...Will have to try bring some lemon ones home to try... :)

The mister gave thumbs up to his vanilla and his mixed berry mallow s'mores too! :)



Gotta love the perks of working at a marshmallow shop!


Do you have any other ides of what I could do with marshmallows??!!

Ooooooey Gooooooey Marshmallow Cookies

Hallo lovelies!!

Those who 'like' me on facebook woulda seen this photo already...

Don't think I've told you yet, but I work at a Marshmallow Shop! I work with a super duper fun Marshmallow Lady, so it doesn't even feel like work, it feels more like I get to hang out with a friend while I play with marshmallows and Dom, our coffee machine.. (short for Dominatrix ;] )

Anywhooos, one of the perks of working at a mallow shop is an abundance of mallows to bring home when the boss lady deems them "not good enough for the shop"... These mallows are still delicious, but the Mallow Lady only wants the freshest most tip top mallows at the shop for our customers. So I get to bring the mallows home to put in my hot chocolates or for toasting or baking fun...

Photo taken from the Burgh Bakes Facebook page

Because the Mallow Lady called and said I didn't need to go to work today because it was POURING rain and there was a thunderstorm (how cool is THAT!?! Ok, so it's not so great for hours, but for someone who despises going out in the rain and travels to and from work on foot or by bicycle, it's PERFECTION!).. I decided to do some baking instead!

Coconut tucking into a mallow cookie!

adapted from recipe found here

what I used:

1/3c golden granulated sugar
1/2c brown sugar
1/2c butter spread
2 eggs (at room temp)
1/2 t vanilla extract

1 1/4c plain flour
1/2c self raising flour (the original recipe called for 1 3/4c AP flour which I didn't have, so I improvised)
1/4c unsweetened cocoa powder
1t baking soda
12 cubes of marshmallows cut into quarters

yield was approx 20 cookies

what I did: 

1 Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Rummage madly to find baking sheets.

2 In a large bowl, cream together butter and both sugars until smooth. Try hard not to spray it all over the kitchen & me with the hand mixer!

3 Beat in the eggs, one at a time; then stir in the vanilla. 

4 Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; gradually mix into wet ingredients. Scrape any sprayed mixture from the sides into the bottom of the bowl as you go.

5 Fold in the chopped marshmallows. 

6 Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto baking sheets about 2 inches apart. These will spread quite a bit, so make sure the cookies aren't any closer or they'll stick together.

7 Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. 

8 Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

tips & tricks:

I found that the mixture was REALLY sticky, which made it almost impossible to work with, so I threw the mixture into the fridge for a few minutes which made life a LOT easier! I also threw the batter in the fridge between batches.

I always work with two trays when baking cookies, so while one is baking, I can load up the second tray, then throw the second tray in when the first comes out of the oven.. I find that once they've cooled a little I can move the cookies over to a rack then I can load up the tray ready to replace the next one coming out of the oven.

You also don't want to make these cookies too big otherwise the marshmallow will burn if your cookies take too long to bake.. these cookies are nice and crunchy on the outside but soft and chewy inside... they are especially good fresh out of the oven when the mallows are still very gooey, though be careful not to burn your tongue!! ; )

Happy Baking!!

Do you like marshmallows?

Have you tried 'gourmet marshmallows'? Ones which are handmade rather than the pink and white ones or the horrible hard mini ones that some places put in hot chocs?