New Beginnings

With the craziness of December over and a somewhat more relaxed January to look forward to I've finally found some time to get back to blogging.  In this post I've decided to take a look back over my year, it's had its ups and downs but here are some of the highlights.

My year began with the discovery of one of my now all-time favourite cafes Afternoon Tease. This is a gorgeous little Cambridge-based cafe, perfect for a cuppa and a slice of what must be the best cake in town (my personal favourite is the chocolate Guinness cake).

Having received a subscription to the BBC Good Food Magazine for Christmas I was keen to try out new recipes each month and in February I made the perfect meal for two - pan-fried trout with mixed salad, bacon, almonds and beetroot.  This made the perfect Valentine's day meal and went really well with a bottle of Bacchus from the Chapel Down Winery followed by a favourite dessert wine of mine, Royal Tokaji .

March saw me on the road again heading back to Bamberg to revisit some of my favourite places and take a much-needed break from work.  I spent my free time over the Easter holidays cooking, of course brunch featured along with some Easter-themed creations.  In April I also managed to finish my Beekeeper's quilt after months of hard work.

 

With exams looming I didn't manage to do as much cooking as I would have liked in May and June but that didn't stop me from having some foodie fun.  In between writing essays and revising I managed to fit in trips to the first ever Cambridge street food market (Food Park is now a regular feature on the streets of Cambridge) and the main Eat Cambridge event.  This was also when I discovered the best burger I have ever had, courtesy of Steak and Honour.

Despite graduating I couldn't stay away from Cambridge for long and in July I returned just in time to try some of Cambridge Smokeworks incredible slow food done fast.

After an amazing few weeks spent in Disneyland and Vegas, August saw me back in the kitchen and creating some of my best food of the year (even if I do say so myself). My first ever attempts at home-made scotch eggs and macaroons turned out beautifully, as did my rendition of a traditional French tian. 

With the prospect of leaving home looming on the horizon I spent some time in September learning some essentials from my mum, including how to cook a traditional roast dinner.  Moving to Southampton has been eventful.  In just four months I moved house four times and D and I still haven't managed to move into our more permanent home (here's hoping we'll be settled by February).  What with moving and starting a new job blogging has taken a bit of a back seat.

My blog celebrated it's first birthday in October and I celebrated in style (albeit a little late) with an awesome Halloween-themed fondue.

I may not have found the time to blog in December but that didn't mean I had completely abandoned the kitchen.  Hopefully I'll now have a bit more time to actually write some posts about what I got up to in December but for now here's a sneaky peak.

Apple and Cinnamon Cake

Red Velvet Cake

Gingerbread House

So, a new year, a new job, a new home in a new city, here's to new beginnings and a year as good as the last.