FREEZING SOFT FRUIT

I am sure you are all wondering how on Earth Jack and I managed to eat all the soft fruit we picked on Monday, well we gave it a good go but soon both had tummy aches. So I set about freezing the rest of the berries so we could take them in our lunch boxes, below are my top tips for freezing fruit:

1. When you are freezing the berries make sure you set them all out individually on a chopping board, this is pretty fiddly but it avoids you having to chisel the berries apart at a later date.

2. My second top tip might seem pretty obvious but I speak from experience. Make sure you bundle the berries in small SEALED bags, not cling film twisted at the top. Why? Juice. Juice running everywhere!

Te best part of freezing berries is that once they have been added to yogurt it keeps it cold on the way to work.

Happy freezing.

PICK YOUR OWN

What better way to enjoy a Bank Holiday Monday in the sun than at your local pick you own, in our case this was Park Side Farm in Enfield and we were certainly spoilt for choice.

We came home with corn on the cob, raspberries, blackberries, french beans, spinach, chard, tomatoes, courgettes and a delicious jar or Parkside honey – very reasonable at £21. While waiting to pay we had so many comments on how professional and tidy our trolley was – that pleased me so much more than it should have.

PASTA MAKING – LINGUINE

During my manic week in Oxford I still managed to find time to re-watch Michela Chiappa's Simply Italian on Channel 4 which inspired me to try my hand at pasta making. This coupled with the fact that my Mummy kindly give us a Lakeland voucher – the land of ridiculous cake tins – off we went to Stratford to buy a pasta machine.

So following Michela's recipe of 100g of 00 flour and 1 egg per person we embarked on our own little culinary journey, and it was well worth it.

Firstly we measured out 200g of 00 flour and made a well in the centre. Added 2 eggs, and using a fork brought it all together until we could start with the kneading, we kneaded until it felt smooth and elastic. Then it was rolling time! We went through all the settings until we had a super thin dough and then popped it though the linguine attachment and hay presto linguine!

So what next… a lovely sauce to accompany and we settled on chilli and crab. It may not the prettiest looking dish but it is super tasty. Here is the recipe for the crab linguine.

Next time Jack and I will be attempting to make ravioli.

OXFORD SUMMER SCHOOL 2013

Last week I was lucky enough to attend this year's Oxford Summer School. Held in Oxford's Keble College. It really was the perfect setting for 200 people to meet, learn and discuss the retail industry.

Each day was based a different subject. We studied leadership, finance, merchandising and marketing, and had some amazing guest speakers, including Mark Price, Managing Director or Waitrose, Justin King, Managing Director of Sainsbury's and Laura Wade-Gery, Executive Director, Multi-Channel E-Commerce, Marks & Spencers to name just a few.

I have come home with my head filled with so many new ideas having not only learned from the tutorials and tasks each day but also from the amazing team I worked with. They really made my Oxford Summer School experience so much more enjoyable. Thanks guys!

The highlight of the week for me has to be the Wednesday as I put myself forward to lead the team for the marketing task day. This was initially challenging but soon became incredibly rewarding as the ideas we all generated were brilliant and meant our food emporium concept won in the Dragon's Den style pitch.

© 2013 Gillman & Soame

I gave you a clue as to where I am in the School photograph above but lets see if you can spot me in the Oxford Summer School closing video, good luck and enjoy!

As you may have guessed from the new look and this post, Seedling Inspirations is back after a unexpected 16 month break! The last 16 months have been pretty nuts, in that time I have had two promotions at work and Jack and I have bought our very own flat in gorgeous Stoke Newington.

So now the stress levels have returned to normal and we've had the luxury of a long bank holiday weekend it seems like the perfect time to start the blogging again.

Enjoy!

I SPY...

You all know how I love seeing the books I have designed in actual book shops. This morning I spotted the last book I worked on in the Design series in the Tate bookshop. It makes me smile.

YAY FOR SUNDAY!

It's going to be a beautiful day, going to see the Yayoi Kusama exhibition at the Tate Modern and sample some delicious delights at the Chocolate Festival on the Southbank. Yay for Sunday.