ITS BEEN A WHILE…

…9 months in fact, but I've been super busy and have much to report on.

Jack and I have been on a mega US adventure, our new house is coming along nicely, I have been back to school, I started a secondary blog Au Lait? with my friend Sarah, attended many masterclasses, and completed many craft and culinary projects. As you can imagine thats a lot of photographs to sort, but over the next few weeks my mission is to get back up to date.

BOLD OR SUBTLE?

I have been a big fan of Margo Selby's fabric designs for a long time, picking up off cuts at the last Selvedge Fair with grand plans to make lavender bags and pin cushions. I am said to say that these haven't yet materialised but having seen Margo's range of printed bedlinen available at John Lewis I suddenly have the urge to get out my sewing machine.

The trouble is whether to go bold or subtle and soothing. Any thoughts?

Images from Johnlewis.com

3 FASHION FINDS

Heinui + Dusen Dusen + Les Creatures

CURRENTLY LOVING…

Carleen SS14 collection – simple designs with beautiful cuts and details. I think my next purchase has to be Carleen's button jacket, love it!

Via. HoneyKennedy

TUSCANIC FANTASTIC!

Every now and again Jack and I decide to meet in Soho to grab a quick dinner. We never book a table or decide on a restaurant before hand and each time we realise our error – Soho is always rammed with people with exactly the same idea. Mostly we have to abort our plan and head home, but other times like tonight we stumble on a rare gem.

Tonight we found Tuscanic a speciality Tuscan deli restaurant – we were spoilt for choice.

Jack and I settled on a selection of cured meats and cheeses (Il Misto), a salad of mixed leaves pecorino and pear (Le Insalate) and sides of olives and spicy sausage (I Cocci). It was all simply divine and the perfect hideaway if you want to be whisked away from rustle and bustle of London streets to Italy, if only for half an hour.

Tuscanic, 72 Old Crompton Street, W1D 4UN.

Go forth and enjoy fellow foodies.

PASTA MAKING – RAVIOLI

After the success of our linguine Jack and I decided to give ravioli a go. We started with the classic filling of spinach and ricotta with a hint of nutmeg and it worked really well – no explosions.

We started off by making the filling. Wilt and blanch the spinach, mix in ricotta and freshly ground nutmeg. Make your pasta – we used the same recipe and method as last time which can be found here. Once we got to the point of super thin long strips we chopped the length in half and start dolloping the mixture on leaving enough room around each spoonful for the cutter. Brush around each mound with cold water and lay the second layer of pasta on top. Carefully press around each pile sealing the edges and pressing all the air out, if you don't get all the air our the parcels will explode when cooked! Finally cut out the ravioli in your desired shape.

They were super yummy – I will have to start dreaming up some more imaginative flavour combinations now.

CURRENTLY LOVING…

Emily Amey's Jewellery – such beautiful semi-precious stones and settlings – I would love to have any of these pieces in my collection.

Hexagon Tourmaline

Rosecut Amethyst 

Rosecut Tourmaline

Enjoy browsing through here amazing collection here