Happy Monday! I’ve got all the “back to school” feels right now, and it’s probably the first time since I graduated university that I actually miss that September reset button.
Potentially it’s the fact that I’m no longer studying (because despite the fact that I’m so glad I’ve finally qualified, I do miss working towards something!). I kinda feel like my life is a tad empty to be honest – which thinking about it is understandable. This time last year I was juggling planning a wedding, starting a new role at work and studying hard. Fast forward a year and the wedding has been and gone, I’m fairly comfortable in my role and the studying has ended. I’ve even planned our holidays for another year. What next?!
Despite the moan, the best thing to come out of qualifying is time. I now have something called evenings and weekends to do whatever I want with. And that privileged is something I’ve been trying to make the most of. Sorry bank balance! So, what have I been up to lately…?
- Date night at Home SW15. Of course we couldn’t not have our first date night in months anywhere else! We had cocktails and cauliflower croquettes to start (the dream!) and then I had a delicious lamb dish with peas, broad beans and courgettes. These guys certainly know how to make a huge hunk of meat taste light and delicate! I also had a bloody lovely dessert of some kind of Greek pastry with pistachio ice-cream. Dreamy!
- The Lamb & Feta Meatballs from my favourite cookbook, Ottolenghi Simple. So. Bloody. Tasty.
- An at-home brunch of Potato and Gochujang Braised Eggs. Absolutely amazing, and Gochujang is my new favourite thing. And this post is turning into the Ottolenghi Appreciation Post.
- Heading out for a midweek afternoon tea with my mummy. I’d wanted to visit Number Sixteen in Kensington for a while but it’s always fully booked at weekends – but it’s so worth taking a day off for! By far and away the best value afternoon tea in London, in such beautiful surroundings.
- Going a gym. This is quite a big thing for me with various body confidence issues, and it’s actually taken me 11 months since the initial enquiry to sign up. If anyone has any fitness class recommendations please let me know!
- Some really good veggie burgers. These in-season Beetroot Burgers from the Waitrose magazine were so, so good, though we’re trying out a couple of changes to the recipe this week. I’ll be posting my version soon. We also remade my absolute favourite bean burgers for our vegan lunch challenge. I’ve forgotten how tasty they were!
- A new Zara dress. No, not THAT Zara dress, but one I love far more. I’m saving it for our first anniversary!
- Speaking of our first anniversary, I’m trying to work out where to go to celebrate. Any Suffolk recommendations?!
- A morning spent repotting my houseplants in the sun. It felt so good to get my hands dirty!
- Things from the internet I’ve loved lately:
- John Waite wrote a really wonderful article about life after GBBO, and it really inspired me. Just because something sounds amazing doesn’t mean it actually will be!
- Jo’s tips on entertaining in a small space really hit home. We’re actually quite lucky with the size of our flat but we’ve just volunteered to host quite a bit communal supper in the coming months…
- As I approach my 26th birthday at the end of this year I’m suddenly feeling rather old, so Diana’s post was perfectly timed.
- Bethany talking about whether it is possible to live plastic-free made me feel a whole lot better about myself. We do try to cut down on plastic, but realistically we can’t cut it out of our lives completely. Balance is important.
How was your summer? What are you looking forward to this month?