Argh! I am getting very impatient waiting for my computer to download music to my phone so I thought I would do another wee post to pass the time!!!

Last time I went to Tescos there was a big bag of spinach on sale so it was sitting in the fridge waiting for me to decide what to make with it. In the end I opted for one of my favourite foods - risotto! Again I got the recipie from the Good Food website (I love it so much! I actually have an ever expanding pocket folder full of my fav recipies from there). As I also had some chicken waiting to be used up I poached this at the same time and sliced it for a bit of added protein.

And here is an extreme close-up of the end result - YUM!

...Aka how to make my boyfriend fat with MORE baking!

In my last post I mentioned the present I made for my secret santa - a Christmas Muffin mix. Well how funny that for MY present I also got a baking mix!! This one wasn't home made, but the principle is the same, and it came with a very cute little heart shaped cutter tied on with a gingham ribbon:

This weekend I hosted a bit of a Christmas dinner party for 4 of my closest friends. I worked super hard for it but I have to say that it was a huge success and everyone had a lovely time. To ease the load (work wise and expense wise!) one of my friends brought the starter (a delicious cauliflower and three cheese soup) and another brought the ingredients for dessert (Eton mess, made with raspberries). The main course and other bits and bobs were left to me. I made us a big roast ham dinner with roast veg (parsnips, carrots, butternut squash, red onions and garlic) and roast potatoes (par boiled then drizzled with olive oil and paprika before putting in oven - lovely!). There was a bit of stressing on my part that I would either under or over-cook everything, but I am very pleased to say that it all turned out perfect.


We then a bit of a break to enjoy the X-Factor final (I know, you gotta love it!) and I then served dessert, fresh coffee, cheese and biscuits, homemade mince pies and we had crisps and dips dotted here and there as well. I can tell youthat we could hardly move an inch by the end of the night! But I would rather there was too much to eat than not enough. There was so much food that we didn’t even cut the Christmas cake I had made! Here is a pic of the cake anyway, I guess I may save it for Christmas day itself (unless my boyfriend discovers it first!):

What a treat! I had shown my little blog to Kelly, my work mate, who started salavating over my Pesto Salmon post and decided to try out my simple method. Today she greeted me by showing me this photo:

I know I kind of intended for this blog to be about crafty stuff, but to be honest it's turning into an 'all things I love' blog instead! Thats why I've posted a load of photos (since I love photography) and why I am now posting a bit about cooking (oh, and I have my banana bread post too!).

I love fish, but I have to admit that I find it a bit daunting to cook. You have to cook it for EXACTLY the right amount of time otherwise its either under- or over-done! But my mum introduced me to a brilliantly easy way to cook a fillet of salmon that gets its beautifully cooked everytime.

Place the fillet into a shallow bowl and add whatever 'flavourings' you would like. In the photo below I have opted for a little drizzle of olive oil, a crushed clove of garlic and then a spread of pesto over the fillet. However, my favourite additions include sesame oil, garlic, ginger, chilli and soya sauce for a lovely asian twist. Cover the bowl in cling film and pierce an few holes. You will then want to get the rest of your dinner ready as this cooking is done super fast! Once you think everything else is almost ready, bung the salmon into the microwave for a max of 3 mins on high (check after 2 just to be on the safe side) and you will get a perfectly moist, steamed salmon fillet that tastes divine!