Weekly Love: Week 167

Can we talk about Spin for a moment? Or, that is what us Brits are calling Les Hommes de L'Ombre, my new favourite French political drama. While it is pretty obvious that I love all things television and all things politics, I'm not the only person I know who is hooked to this fictional French election following the untimely death of the President. You can catch up on the first season on 4oD, to catch up to the second which started last week. This is your new weeknight binge if, like me you can't wait for House of Cards to start March 4th, and you think that while you'll always love the show, Scandal is losing it slightly with all that crazy! 

1. Avocado bagel toast + paper review + V8 juice = the perfect Sunday morning. | 2. Flowers for sale in the Winter sunshine outside Canterbury West Station. | 3. Greeting the locals on my afternoon walk. | 4. Yet more beautiful blooms, this time outside Liberty London. | 5. Valentines Day breakfast of Innocent cherry smoothie, Heck 'Peck' heart shaped sausages and Bloom & Wild roses (get 15% off using RACHELBLOOMS at the checkout!) | 6. Geeky Saturday afternoon Winter bath time with Diptyque's Freesia scented candle, REN's Otto Rose bath oil, Lush's Mint Julips lip scrub and my latest political paperweight!

Recipe: Weekend Piri Piri Wings with Caramelized Garlic Yogurt

I'm becoming increasingly lazy with weekend cooking. Also, my new thing is to marinade things (mostly chicken) in plastic bags left in the fridge. This has always been my mother's thing, and she's getting increasingly indignant that Mary Berry and Nigella seem to have stolen it from her. Also, did you know that you can also freeze chicken in its marinade. Yes to marinading absolutely everything in a bag, overnight. 

Weekly Love: Week 166

Happy February! I hope you've been enjoying the month so far, and got into the full swing of the foodie week that has just past. On Monday night we put together a Chinese feast to see in the year of the Monkey featuring crispy aromatic duck pancakes, homemade egg fried rice and my new favourite; homemade prawn toasts (who knew they did not have to be at all fatty and oily like the takeaway versions, just crisp and juicy!) And then Tuesday meant Pancake Day, with the traditional family argument over who gets the last crepe, anointed with fresh lemon and vanilla sugar. Honestly, I think I need to find more food festivals to celebrate! 

1. Sunny Saturdays in Canterbury. | 2. Enjoying the beautiful 'The Lizzie' blooms from Bloom & Wild which came right through my letterbox for Valentines Day. (You can get 15% off of your own arrangement - they come with easy to follow instructions - of letter box flowers by using the code RACHELBLOOMS at the checkout!) | 3. Buttermilk waffles with blush oranges and lashings of maple syrup. | 4. Joules bath times with their Blooming Relaxing Bath Soak and their Cottage Herb (a scent I'm totally obsessed by at the moment) scented candle (it is reduced to £6.95 right now!) | 5. A lunchtime Greek mezze feast at Zeus in Canterbury. | 6. Ruffled roses outside the Canterbury florist.

Valentines Waffles with Rose Syrup Strawberries & Crème Fraîche

It took me over two years after I got my waffle iron to find the perfect batter recipe. The big problem I was having was that the waffles only cooked one one side where I was pouring the batter into the iron, but not on top where I closed the lid. Needless to say I've become a lot more enthused by the art of waffling since I tried Lily Vanilli's Buttermilk Waffles on Christmas morning from the December 2015 issue of Waitrose Food. Luckily, Valentines Day falls on a Sunday morning this year, which provides the perfect excuse to serve up a plate of waffles (with a glass or two of pink champagne!) to your loved one by way of a celebratory brunch.

Places To Eat In Canterbury: Zeus Ouzeri & Taverna

If you live in my neck of the woods (or you are partial to hopping on the High Speed train from London at the weekend) I've found your new favourite Greek restaurant. I gave myself a day off last week for a little bit of shopping in Canterbury (a trip to Lush was required as I'm a little obsessed with their special edition Lover Lamp bath bombs), I needed a new tube of mascara, and managed to pick up a beautiful Max Mara skirt in the Fenwick sale) followed by lunch at Zeus, a great Ouzeri and Taverna down Sun Street which opened in August. 

Places To Eat in Deal: Pop Up Cafe

For the second year running I've decided to focus on a small, independent and totally delicious cafe in East Kent for my first restaurant review of the year. Since I started working nearby last Summer, my favourite place to grab lunch to eat at my desk has quickly become the Pop Up Cafe on Deal High Street. I love taking way steaming pots of their delicious homemade soups, hunks of homemade sourdough, imaginative salads and their incredibly more-ish cakes back to the office with me, but last week I decided to meet my parents for lunch in town for a proper sit down meal in their light and airy upstairs seating area. 

Celebrating My 7th Blog Birthday + Easy Asian Devilled Eggs

Today my blog turns 7 years old. Rather than gushing about how grateful I am etc. (though, I really am!) I thought I'd transport us to a place that has had a massive influence both on me as a person and on this blog: Venice, Los Angeles. Since I became old enough to drink in California one of my favourite places to sit with a good book and an ice cold glass of rosé wine is Zinique on the corner of Venice and Abbot Kinney Boulevard. It was at Zinique I first had a plate of that eternally popular 70's classic: devilled eggs.