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♥ Ceri makes... what more could you ask for under one roof than delicious food, drinks and djs?! I spent a perfect Friday night at the weekly street food market Street Feast in Hackney Downs Studios.
SO much delicious food to choose from we hardly knew where to begin so opted for some mulled wine & hot apple rum to start. Then after deliberating over burritos, pork buns and jerk chicken I went for the pulled boar in a brioche bun from the Wild Game company - delicious! Their fries cooked in beef dripping were also to die for. The rest of my gang went for gyoza dumplings, mussels & chips and a tasty burrito. It was all so yummy in fact I forgot to take any snaps ...as if I needed an excuse to go again soon!
Street Feast is on EVERY Friday at Hackney Downs studios from 5pm till late so go and check it out for yourselves!
♥ Ceri makes... xx
♥ Ceri makes... took an afternoon stroll around Clapham Common, its that lovely time of year when you can crunch through the freshly fallen autumnal leaves. Beautiful...
♥ Ceri makes... xx
♥ Ceri makes... while so the final day of the Balham Cake Off has come. The final challenge was to whip up a Tray Bake - an easy choice for me in choosing what to bake as I happen to have THE most delicious Brownie recipe! Which is now also officially a prize winning recipe, sadly for you I am going to keep this one a secret for now!
And here is my rather lovely prize certificate!
Thanks to everyone who came to cheer me on! Such a fun few Sundays at Trinity Stores and as if I needed an excuse to bake anyway...
♥ Ceri makes... xx
♥ Ceri makes... in a truly traditional manner the clever organisers at Trinity Stores arranged for some rather serious judges from the Clapham WI to come and judge our 'Traditional bakes'. I opted for one of my most popular bakes in the office - a Lemon Drizzle Tray Bake. Its hardly suprising that it is so popular as the recipe I favour is one of Mary Berry's!
Other traditional bakes included a yummy Plum Bakewell Tart and a Sticky Ginger Loaf cake that would be perfect for a winter's eve.
Everyone is welcome to come & cheer me on in the final at Balham's Trinity Stores on 14th October, see you there!
♥ Ceri makes... xx
♥ Ceri makes... today's bake off challenge at Trinity Stores was to bake 'Cakes for Kids'. I decided to try something new & task myself with cake pops. They really were as delicious as they look!
Future Balham Cake Off dates here...
See you there!
♥ Ceri makes... xx
♥ Ceri makes... took a trip to Rydell High last night at the Future Cinema screening of Grease in SW London.
As always the Future Cinema team had done an amazing job in recreating all my favourite bits from Grease... we nipped into Frenchies house to check our make up, hung out with some jocks on the school field, took a quick ride in the T-Birds car, had a milkshake at the Frosty Palace, hopped on the Ferris Wheel at the graduation fair and danced the night away at the National Bandstand dance contest ...SO much fun!
Look out for upcoming Future Cinema events by subscribing to their email group - http://www.futurecinema.co.uk/
♥ Ceri makes... xx
♥ Ceri makes... Earlier today I was competing in round TWO of the Balham Cake Off at Trinity stores. This week's challenge was to bring along a Balham inspired bake.
Everyone was so creative with their entries...
I'll pop my vanilla cupcake recipe on the blog later this week so you can try it at home yourself!
Upcoming Balham Cake Off dates here...
See you there!
♥ Ceri makes... xx
♥ Ceri makes... while stocking up on cake decorating supplies for round TWO of the Balham cake off at the Wimbledon Sewing Machine Company my friend Kate and I made an unplanned trip to the adjoining sewing machine museum.
The London Sewing Machine Museum is a treasure trove of vintage sewing machines of all shapes and sizes.
Admission is free and it is open on the first Saturday of every month. Perfect for a rainy day in SW London!
♥ Ceri makes... xx
♥ Ceri makes... has just returned from a perfect family holiday in Italia to celebrate my Granny's 85th birthday! A week full of sightseeing, basking in the sun and most importantly LOTS of amazing food!
For the main event - Granny's birthday we had a very special evening at La Corte del Lupo just a hop and a skip from my Aunty and Uncle's house. We started with a delicious antipasti of organic salami and proscuitto farmed and cured at La Lupo. Primi was egg free pasta with fresh tomatoes and aubergines; Secondi was veal with a mushroom sauce cooked gently in milk; Desert was a homemade biscuit base with chantilly style yoghurt and a raspberry compote. Perfection! All washed down of course with lots of birthday prosecco, wine, espresso and grappa!
Another foodie highlight was an evening spent at Agriturismo Sole Nascenti. A typical Italian set up where you just turn up and are served course upon course of delicious food. To name but a few we ate bruschetta, salami, melon and parma ham, fritatta, spinach pancakes, tempura zucchini, gnocchi, truffle tagliatelle, ravioli, wood pigeon, tripe, veal, tiramisu...!
Another delicious supper at La Corte del Lupo... Liver with cresha and spinach, pasta with a creamy zucchini and pancetta sauce, salsicce all'uva and chocolate fondant.
Heavenly!
♥ Ceri makes... xx
♥ Ceri makes... found (...helped by my city guidepal app!) a perfect spot in Rome for a cocktail and some aperitivo after a hard day of sightseeing! Freni e Frizioni is well placed bar in the heart of Travestere. There are heaps of delicious cocktails to be drunk from the menu, I had a lovely Russian spring punch...
Aperitivo is served here from 7pm and you can just help yourselves! There was a delicious selection of salads, pastas and breads being topped up as the evening went on...
A must do stop off 'when in Rome'!
♥ Ceri makes... xx
♥ Ceri makes... as promised here is the recipe for my first Balham Cake Off challenge - a gluten free bake...
Flourless Chocolate Cake with Kirsch Soaked Morello Cherries.
How to make at home...
♥ 225g caster sugar
♥ 300g plain chocolate
♥ 225g unsalted butter
♥ 6 eggs, seperated
♥ 1 tsp vanilla extract
♥ 180ml strong cafetiere coffee, or to taste
♥ Plus a 23cm round springform cake tin
♥ Preheat an oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas Mark 4
♥ Grease and line your cake tin
♥ In a food processor pulse the chocolate and sugar until fine
♥ Mix in the egg yolks, butter, vanilla extract and coffee
♥ In a seperate bowl whisk the egg whites until they form stiff white peaks
♥ Gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate mix
♥ Pour into the cake tin and bake for 45-55 minutes or until a crack forms on the top of the cake
♥ Once cooled the cake will sink a little bit, but do not worry this is normal! If you aren't serving until later pop it in the fridge to keep fresh
♥ To make the cake a bit more special
♥ Soak half a carton of morello cherries in a few generous splashes of kirsch or to taste
♥ When ready to serve spoon the kirsch cherries onto the centre of the cake
Enjoy! x
♥ Ceri makes...
♥ Ceri makes... so Sunday marked the beginning of the five part Balham Cake Off hosted by Trinity Stores Cafe and Deli. The challenge for this week was to bake a gluten free cake. Not your average bake! After some deliberation I decided chocolate was the way forwards and whipped up a Flourless Chocolate Cake with Kirsch Soaked Morello Cherries. Yummy! Recipe to follow so keep checking the blog!
Here are some of the delicious looking entries...
Pop into Trinity Stores for one of the upcoming challenges, dates below. If you mention my blog I will even give you a taster of my entry!
See you there x
♥ Ceri makes xx
♥ Ceri makes... had a lovely weekend at home to celebrate one of my oldest friend's Rachel's birthday. All six of my girls from school and I strolled along the country lane from Rachel's mum's house to The Salutation Inn. The pub has recently been taken over by the very welcoming new team headed up by Dave and Eva. It is cosy but still super spacious inside with a beautiful high beamed barn ceiling. The large restaurant area indicates this pub is very much focused on good food, a quick browse of the locally sourced menu is enough to confirm this.
The girls and I eagerly awaiting our supper...
Some of the delicious food at our table...
My personal choice, the duck, most definitely scores ten out of ten from me. Other popular choices included the hake and the pork belly, yummy!
A must visit spot if you are exploring the beautiful Cotswolds village of Castle Combe and surrounding areas!
♥ Ceri makes xx
♥ Ceri makes... celebrated the Olympics opening ceremony by heading East to The Bookclub Basecamp just a hop and a skip across the road from The Bookclub in Leonard St car park. The atmosphere was amazing as everyone welcomed the 2012 Olympic games to London and we even saw the flyover moments after we'd seen it on the live screens!
Delicious food from the Street Kitchen food van...
There is heaps to keep you entertained (aside from the screens showing live Olympic sports!) with table football, ping pong and hula hoops! The Bookclub Basecamp is open until 12th August so head down to join in with the Olympic celebrations.
♥ Ceri makes xx
♥ Ceri makes... hosted my very first Contact the Elderly tea party this afternoon! Contact the Elderly organise regular Sunday tea parties for elderly people who have little or no social support. A great charity and a perfect way to spend my drizzly Sunday afternoon. As if I needed an excuse to bake, here are some of the treats I made...
The tea party guests including the very special guests Edmond and Daphne enjoying themselves...
If you would also like to get involved with the charity they are always keen to hear from new volunteers for driving or hosting - http://www.contact-the-elderly.org.uk/become-a-volunteer/
♥ Ceri makes xx
♥ Ceri makes... had a lovely evening catching up with the book club girls earlier in the week to discuss our latest read Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother at the newly opened Salvation Jane near Old Street station. A cafe by day and a bar/restaurant by evening.
The sharing plates were delicious. However no book club meet is quite complete without some cake!! I would definitely recommend the Hello Dolly slice ...an Australian bake that is an unusual but yummy combination of white chocolate, coconut, almonds and biscuits.
Think I'll have a go at making this at home soon, found this recipe if you want to try too... http://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipe/Hello-Dolly-Slice-L5950.html
Enjoy! x
♥ Ceri makes xx
♥ Ceri makes... kept at bay from the bank holiday rain with a trip to my favourite London gallery the Victoria and Albert museum with Kate. The exhibition brings together a lovely collection of ballgowns from the 1950s right up to the pieces fresh from the catwalk collections of some of the most exciting British design houses including McQueen, Giles Deacon, Mary Katranzou, Gareth Pugh and Erdem to name a few.
The newly extended exhibition space in the V&A fashion gallery has been beautifully constructed; the domed platforms subtly mirror the drama of the domed ceiling.
The Ballgowns - British Glamour since 1950 exhibition is on until 6th January 2013 so there is still plenty of time to make a trip if you haven't already!
♥ Ceri makes xx
♥ Ceri makes... truly enjoyed the jubilee weekend and fully embraced the patriotic spirit!
Along with most of the country I celebrated the jubilee with LOTS of cake! My friends Hatty and Mark hosted a wonderful jubilee tea party to mark the occasion. Here is just one of the many delicious cakes that they served at their jubilee tea party...
To get into the spirit even more I also joined in with some red, white and blue dressing over the weekend in my absolute favourite print from the range of quirky jubilee products at Topshop. SO cute!
Happy Diamond Jubilee to our Queen Lizzy!
♥ Ceri makes xx
♥ Ceri makes... the sun has FINALLY arrived in London after far too many grey days. So in true Brit style I've been taking every opportunity to enjoy every last ray of sun!
Here are some of my favourite spots in London when the sun is shining...
Primrose Hill - for evening sunsets and gorgeous views of London
Soho Square - for a bit of 9-5 lunchtime sun
Clapham Common & Wandsworth Common - for weekend lounging
Southbank or anywhere along the river - for afterwork drinks and relaxed mooching
Victoria Park - for summer music
Hyde Park - for rowing boats on the Serpentine!
Fingers crossed it lasts!
♥ Ceri makes xx
♥ Ceri makes... had a mini adventure to the sticks today to visit my lovely friends Russ and Amelie who are expecting their first baby in August. Not that I need an excuse to get crafty but I couldn't resist making some simple jubilee themed bunting for their jubilee baby! Here is the super cute London themed fabric I bought in the fabric haven that is the Wimbledon Sewing Machine Co...
Almost there...
The finished bunting...
Hope the baby likes it!
♥ Ceri makes xx
♥ Ceri makes... while staying with my Granny a few weeks ago she showed me this beautiful embroidered tablecloth that my Great-Grandmother had made. Thought it would be nice to share with everyone on my blog as so much careful work must has gone into it and the embroidery is so pretty. Granny and I decided it was a shame that it was tucked away in a drawer so I expect to see it making an appearance at New Hampton Lofts for the next family gathering!
We are a crafty family!!
♥ Ceri makes xx
♥ Ceri makes... made the most of the sun showing his face this weekend with a potter around the Kings Road with the girls, a gorgeous way to spend the afternoon. The Partridges Food Market was super busy with so many delicious treats on offer - olive oil, cheeses, street food, cakes, fresh bread ....the list goes on! The market is held in Duke of York Square just a hop and a skip from Sloane Square tube, make sure its on your London 'to do' list!
The delicious brownie I ate in the sun, yummy!
♥ Ceri makes xx
♥ Ceri makes... loved the Style Africa exhibition at the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. A beautifully curated exhibition of printed, dyed, woven and embroidered textiles from Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. The exhibition runs until the 2nd September and is definitely worth a visit if you are passing through Birmingham.
♥ Ceri makes xx
♥ Ceri makes... whipped up these hen party themed cupcakes for the lovely Yvonne at work, yummy...
♥ Ceri makes xx
♥ Ceri makes... made the most of being indoors to avoid the rain by making a delicious spinach and ricotta cannelloni from one of my new birthday cookbooks from the lovely Jezza. Using an imperia pasta machine it really is a lot easier to make simple sheets of pasta than you may imagine! There is nothing quite like homemade fresh pasta, so much lighter than both shop bought fresh pasta and a million miles away from dried pasta. Yummy!
♥ Ceri makes xx
♥ Ceri makes... had an AMAZING time at the Troxy in East London with Future Cinema Bugsy Malone. From the moment we arrived in our twenties outfits it was like stepping into Fat Sam's Speakeasy; from the dancing girls performing around the tables to Fat Sam's gang members running about place you couldn't help but get in the spirit of this truly interactive evening.
Keep your eyes peeled on their website and twitter page for upcoming Future Cinema events, looking forwards to my next one already!
♥ Ceri makes xx
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