Looking Back On What I Did In 2018

January

Lighter Southern Shrimp Po’ Boy Sandwiches | Places To Eat In London: Snaps + Rye, Westbourne Grove | How To Make An Easy Salmon Poke Bowl | Places To Eat In London: Yosma, Marylebone | Creamy Mushroom Savoury Dutch Baby Pancake | Stupidly Simple Lasagna

These days are funny, aren’t they? I relish these dead days between Christmas and New Year where all I have to do is sit by the tree, watching Christmas TV, eating Christmas chocolate and leftovers, and reading some of the cookbooks I got for Christmas presents. This morning while my parents were out running errands I sat down in front of Netflix to go over my year in review; I always love putting these posts together both because it lets me re-live my highlights, and I also think it is great for those of you who are new around here to see what to expect. Right, I’m off to play some Spyro on my Dad’s new Xbox and to make some Christmas cocktails. Day drinking won’t be acceptable past January 1st, remember!

January for me was a month of new beginnings. I moved across London to my new home in Fulham, and settled into a proper routine of blogging full time and recipe development. 2017 had been a bit up in the air, so it was great to establish a bit of normalcy and really start building my buisness!

February

Places To Eat In London: Chicama, Chelsea | Places To Eat In London: Olyroyd, Islington | 23rd Annual Orchid Festival at Kew Gardens | Places To Eat In London: Superstar Korean Barbecue, Fitzrovia | Valentines Day Rose and Pomegranate G&T’s | 9 Years of Rachel Phipps + A (Smaller) Winter Citrus Pavlova

March

Cold Korean Noodle Bowl | One Pan Greek Lamb Meatballs with Feta & Orzo | Places To Eat In London: Pastaio, Soho | Places To Eat In London: Vietfood, Chinatown | Pea & Mint Crusted Salmon with Brown Rice & Crispy Kale | 9 Of My Favourite Independent Shops in Canterbury

April

Places To Eat In London: The Good Egg, Carnaby Street | Korean Rice Bowls & Burnt Rice Gelato with Mee Market X Gelupo | Griddled Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Bowls | Mexican Prawn Cocktails | Cucumber Jalapeno Margaritas | Places To Eat In London: Rum Kitchen, Notting Hill

May

Wholemeal Pasta with Spring Greens & Fresh Spinach Pesto | Places To Eat In London: Fancy Crab, Marylebone | How To Spend A Day In The Lot, South West France | Another Fantastic Stay at Manoir de Malagorse, Cuzance | The New Pub Garden Menu at The Compasses Inn, Crundale | How To Spend A Day In The Northern Loire (If It Is Raining!)

In May we set off on a fantastic family holiday down through France, stopping off in the Loire en-route to one of my favourite regions, the Dordogne Valley. We ate and drank way too much, stayed in some beautiful places and saw some beautiful sights, and while I’ve included a few highlights here, you can find all my Dordogne posts (from this year and from when I visited in 2016) in the France travel section of this beautiful new website, which also went live this year (and which was also a massive project that took up most of it!)

June

Stupidly Simple Smoked Salmon Quiche | Shopping for a Single Use Plastic Free Week | One Pan Merguez with Red Peppers & Crispy Chickpeas | Everything We Ate At Taste of London | 15 Minute Broken Pasta with Lemony Crab & Courgette | Places To Eat In London: Yashin Ocean House, South Kensington

July

How To Spend A Day In The Dordogne | Enjoying the Nyetimber Summer Terrace | Places To Eat In London: La Goccia, Covent Garden | Easy Summertime Courgette Soup | Places To Eat In Canterbury: The Parade Room at The Pound | Dinner at Chateau de la Treyne, South West France

August

Places To Eat In London: Ceru, Soho | Roast Chicken with Honey, Peaches & Thyme | An Italian Summer Lunch Party | Places To Eat In Kent: The Beacon, Tunbridge Wells | Eton Mess Victoria Sponge Cake | Where To Eat If You Only Have One Night In Sarlat

September

Olive Oil Chocolate Mousse with Fleur de Sel | Places To Eat In London: Frenchie, Covent Garden | Cajun Prawn Tacos with Corn & Avocado Salsa | How To Start Making Homemade Jams | Lemony Pork Meatballs with Pine Nuts | Banana & Blueberry Dutch Baby Pancakes with Maple Syrup

October

Kimchee Avocado Toast | Eggy Bread Crumpets | French Photo Diary: Early Autumn in Brittany & Normandy | Scallops with Squid Ink Spaghetti & Pistachio Pesto | Autumn Praline Loaf Cake | How To Spend 24 Hours In Birmingham

As well as doing a bit more exploring in Brittany and Normandy around our family’s home there, in October I also headed on a bit of an overnight jaunt to Birmingham, realising I want to try and include a lot more travel – both staycations and foreign trips – on the blog in 2019. Cornwall in the Spring is already booked and a end of winter / early spring trip to Paris is also on the cards. I’m already having so much fun doing the planning!

November

How To Make A Seared Steak Poke Bowl | Places To Eat In London: temper, Covent Garden | Giant Hash Brown Full English Breakfast | 15 Minute Five Spice Pork with Pak Choi & Jasmine Rice | Beef, Tomato & Pepper Casserole with Black Olives | Places To Eat In London: Lina Stores, Soho

December

Boozy Chocolate Orange Profiterole Pyramid | Judging Canterbury’s Christmas Windows | Mulled Wine Jellies | Individual Portobello Mushroom Wellingtons | Devilled Eggs Royale | Boozy Brussels Sprout Chocolate Truffles

I hope you have all been having a great break, and in case I don’t get another post up before then (I’m planning on it, but I’ve told myself I’m not back to work properly until the 2nd, so if I don’t feel like working, I won’t!) have a very Happy New Year! If you’re after some more reading, you can find all of my previous years roundup posts here: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017.

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