I always know that spring has arrived when cute signs appear on the trees down our lane!
One of the highlights of this time of year is of course Easter. The tree which we bought last year with the glass and feather baubles has been brought out again ........
..... with a couple of new additions. A pretty egg-shaped candle (too cute to light?) and traditional woven palm leaves....both surprise gifts which were brought back from Barcelona for us this week. Palm Sunday is the beginning of Semana Santa(Holy Week)and the palms are sold on stalls in the city.
On Valentine's Day I prefer small, thoughtful and quirky gifts rather than grand gestures and when I opened this first little package I was instantly impressed with the cute double-sided gift wrap and the book cover!
Thoughtful and quirky.......you see, a couple of weeks ago, I had been saying that I wondered where the strange sayings we use daily actually come from. Well...they are all explained in this little book.......'raining cats and dogs'...'as sure as eggs is eggs'.....'no great shakes'......'to spill the beans'....even the origin of 'OK'....and 'to propose a toast'.....
So....an example.....to be 'given the sack' meaning to lose your job, dates back to the time when craftsmen travelled from place to place carrying their tools in a sack (long before toolboxes!) The sack was given to the employer for safe keeping and returned when their services were no longer needed. 'Fired' was when someone was caught breaking the rules or stealing and the tools were burned so that the worker would be unable to work again!! So....if like me you are interested in the English language and all its odd idioms....then you too will enjoy it! In fact, it's really quite addictive..... and unbelievable just how many of these phrases we use without thinking about their origins. My second little gift....cute travel-themed bookmarks......
There's something about Halloween which encourages us to be creative...... decorations for the home, imaginative cake designs, table settings and party games. I've stumbled across some very stylish pumpkin ideas which I thought you might like.......Traditional black and orange is always a favourite and this pumpkin covered in black lace from Jess at Red Rose Alley really would make a very stylish centrepiece...... .
I have tried a few different cookie recipes but when I spotted this one in my new Green and Black's cookery book I just had a feeling that this was going to be a favourite and I wasn't disappointed!
Easter is the time for sweet treats - the sweeter the better for me! Why does chocolate seem to taste even better when it's egg-shaped?.........
I found these cute Easter-themed cupcakes atHey Little Cupcake Cupcakery and Tea Roomin Manchester on Easter Saturday. Delicious flavours and amazingly light texture....maybe I should try one of their classes!
Egg Nest cupcake with a vanilla custard centre
Creme Egg cupcake- so creative!
Of course Easter would not be complete without a bowl of Cadbury Mini Eggs - once you eat one you just can't stop........
We always eathot cross buns(delicious toasted) on Good Friday and continue throughout the weekend! This year I heard that Heston Blumenthalhad created his own variation - Earl Grey and mandarin (a perfect combination!) so off we went to the nearest Waitrose supermarket to stock up.....and they certainly exceeded all expectations!
Lindt milk chocolate is another favourite and buying a few little gold bunnies has now become an Easter tradition in our house......
I'm a true chocoholic and I can't resist a new chocolate cake recipe. When I saw that one of the ingredients in The Alchemist's Chocolate Cake was pears, I knew I had to try it(Pears and chocolate are a perfect match - Poire Belle Hélèneis one of my favourite French desserts.)
