Lauren Gemmell

Cherry Braided Bread

On 25th July 2010

This week I saw a punnet of British Cherries in the supermarket and it reminded me of this Cherry Bread I made a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately this was before I could get my hands on the British cherries at all.

I love cherries as you can probably tell from all the cherry recipes: cherry mince pies if you were really organised you could start thinking about making your mincemeat now, cherry bakewell cake, cherry and almond bread and a cherry teabread. Not even to mention the other draft posts I have for cherry recipes…

Gin & Tonic with Elderflower Cordial

By lauren

On 13th July 2010

In Recipes

A couple of weeks ago I was out at a bar in Edinburgh called the Villager on George IV bridge. I don’t really do reviews on this blog, but I did have a really great night, and table service for drinks in Edinburgh is almost unheard of (at least in the places I normally drink).

Being the sensible sort of girl that I am I didn’t go for any of the sharing scorpian bowls of overproof rum set on fire. They were all out of scorpian bowls when we ordered…

I went for the much classier sounding Bombay & Elderflower, a mixture of gin, soda and elderflower cordial. I have been thinking about it on and off ever since.

As the sun was setting tonight, on what has been a reasonably warm and extremely busy day, I felt the need to kick off my shoes and relax on the sofa with a cool G&T.

I used 1 shot of Gin (Bombay Saphire), 1 shot of Elderflower cordial and topped up with slimline tonic water.

The only thing that could of made it better? A slice of lime…

Blackened Chinese Chicken Salad

By lauren

On 7th July 2010

In Dinner

Each week I get a lettuce in my organic veggie box, so much so that it feels like we have a never ending supply of the strange purple tinged slightly bitter lettuce.

Turkish Pide

By lauren

On 6th July 2010

In Bread

The problem with feeling so tired all the time is it becomes an easy excuse and a default action. So much easier to watch TV all night long than to write a blog post and edit photos, but suddenly you realise it has been weeks and you have done nothing but the very basics. I’ve lazed around for long enough it’s time to really force myself to do something.

Blueberry and Spinach Smoothie

By lauren

On 26th June 2010

In Recipes

I think this is the longest between posts in the history of this blog. There are a couple of reasons for that, sunshine during the weekends have removed the part of the week when I am most likely to blog. During the week my excuses have been less clear. I have been very very tired since all the heat, sunshine and summeriness began. Falling asleep on the sofa when I would normally be reading other blogs looking for inspiration, going to bed early instead of writing my own. Forgetting to take pictures even when I have been making stuff worth blogging about.

So for the past few days I have been trying my hardest to get out of this slump, with highly healthy fruit smoothies. Hoping that a boost in vitamins will help sort me out. I can’t say that it has really worked yet – last night a single glass of wine had me comatosed on the sofa for the rest of the evening.

Raspberry and Whisky Trifle

By lauren

On 14th June 2010

In Cakes and Desserts, Scottish Food

There is an inherent difference between men and women, or at least between Matt and I. I want fuss and time and effort, Matt wants anything for the easy life – the less stress version.

This is most obvious by looking at what I made each of us for a birthday cake. I wanted a stunning three layer brightly coloured cake, lots of time, lots of effort, lots of stress and essentially (in this case) disappointment.

Matt however wanted… nothing, he wouldn’t be drawn on what he wanted at all as his birthday cake this year. For a while I thought about making a lemon torte, but I have tried umpteen different recipes and none of them worked, none of them were really even tasty. In the end I gave in to what he wanted which was the least stress option.

Buttermilk Pancakes

By lauren

On 4th June 2010

In Breakfast, Cakes and Desserts

A week ago or so I bought my first tub of buttermilk, despite not knowing what I was going to use it for. Since then I have spent time trawling for recipes but none of them really caught me. None of them made me want to get off the sofa (where I have generally relocated since getting the iPad) and actually make something. In the end I had a sudden craving for pancakes and it turned out to be a convenient way to use up the buttermilk, strawberries and creme fraiche I had in the fridge.

Bacon and Broccoli Pizza – Fresh from the Oven

By lauren

On 28th May 2010

In Bread, Dinner

This month I am hosting the Fresh from the Oven challenge! As you probably know, or can guess, Fresh from the Oven is a monthly bread baking group, where we have tried everything from Croissants to chocolate buns to no-knead bread.

So why oh why out of all the breads I could have chosen did I go for pizza?

Pea and Bacon Risotto

By lauren

On 26th May 2010

In Dinner

I have been thinking about making a pea risotto for a while, bright white rice studded with vivid green peas. As you can see however it didn’t quite work out as I intended…