Pasta bake with grilled aubergine

Slightly random meal tonight-I had an aubergine lurking in the fridge that needed using. I made a simple garlic and white wine sauce, stirred it through some cooked pasta, then put it in a dish and topped it with a layer of aubergines that I had already grilled. I added some cherry tomatoes, a sprinkling of parmesan and breadcrumbs, and baked in the oven for 20 minutes. Finished with some fresh basil. Actually it was really yummy!

The final remedy

Ended our lazy Sunday with two enormous pizzas, and I've now officially eaten my way out of my hangover!

Hangover Cure-Part Two

More yummy food and laziness. We had stuffed olives, cheese, salad, vegetable crisps and lemonade. Oh, and then we had chocolate covered raisins and brazil nuts. And more lemonade.

You may notice I'm not in these pictures...trust me, you don't want to see how rough I look today! Not a pretty sight.

Hangover Cure-Part One

Had a great night out with the girls from work last night. Lots of Prosecco, Gin, dancing and belly laughs! Boy am I suffering today though. Woke up at 8 with Toby and I was still drunk...not good. Anyway, went back to bed a bit later in the morning, woke up and made myself a cheese and chorizo omelette which I enjoyed in the sun. And I polished off the best part of a carton of orange juice. Obviously a bit dehydrated!

Happiness for me today=sofa, blanket, cuddles, Jungle Book in the DVD and food food food!

My birthday...in food

The best start to a birthday-tea and croissants in bed...and presents and cards!

For dinner we went for a lovely meal at Jamie's Italian restaurant. I've eaten here before and, although I enjoyed the food, I wasn't sure if it would be worth the 30 minute wait for a table. Turns out this gave us time to enjoy a cocktail at the bar and look at the menu-there were so many tempting things it took us that long to decide what to have! Once we were seated, the food came out really quickly and it was all utterly delicious.

To start we shared some bread and some creamy mozarella with amazing homemade pesto. For mains I had spaghetti with prawns, fennel and rocket and a side salad of broad beans, peas, ricotta, and fennel in a lemon and mint dressing. Tim had a panzanella salad and some truffle oil coated chips. Lucy had seafood gnocchi with a side of crispy fried polenta, and Adam had lamb chops with a herb and nut dressing, and some chips on the side.

Oh and you gotta have tiramisu when you go out for Italian! Magnifico!

Fattoush!

My brother Adam and his girlfriend Lucy have come to stay for a couple of nights, so I thought it would be nice to sit around and share a tapas style meal when they arrived. We had garlic and herb chicken drumsticks and thighs, patatas bravas, a spring green vegetable fattoush, salad, olives and houmous.

To make the chicken I made a simple marinade of chopped garlic, dried herbs and olive oil, rubbed into the chicken an hour before cooking, then roasted for 40 minutes.

The patatas bravas and fattoush recipes can both be found here:

http://http//www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/461640/patatas-bravas-with-chorizo

http://http//www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/468651/spring-green-fattoush

If you've not heard of it (and I hadn't until I saw it in my magazine!), a 'fattoush' is a lebanese salad, made using toasted pitta bread and seasonal vegetables. This recipe used broad beans, cucumber, feta, parsley, mint and a lemon juice and olive oil dressing.

This is a relaxed and sociable way of eating, and I'm definitely going to cook more tapas style dishes this summer-hopefully to enjoy in the garden next time!

Today I have eaten..

For breakfast I made a delicious Mango and Coconut Porridge. You make this the same way as you would ordinary porridge, but using a tin of light coconut milk instead of milk. Then top with diced mango, sprinkle with brown sugar, and squeeze over some fresh lime juice, if you have it. This feels rather indulgent, but is it at the same time a fresh and vibrant start to the day.

We went to Banglo in Bath for a barbecue, although unfortuntately I forgot to take my camera! It was delicious, I really recommend the food here. Next time we're going to go for a roast-they looked amazing, with huge homemade yorkshire puddings.

Dinner was a simple chicken caesar salad (although to be honest I was still quite full from lunch!), using cos lettuce, croutons, parmesan and a bottle of ready made caesar dressing. Sometimes you just can't beat a simple classic.

By the way, for some reason these dishes just don't look as appealing as they actually were, so apologies for my poor photography!