Things have been a little hectic round here of late.
There’s the possibility we might be moving house. I’ve been working on a food-related project for a while (details of which I’m hoping to share with you soon). And on top of all that, the dial on our oven is irretrievably broken. That’s not to say I haven’t been baking – if you follow me on Instagram you’ll have seen the usual sort of snaps – but I don’t trust its accuracy enough to write up a blog-worthy recipe this week. Continue reading
On 31st August 2013 I married my best friend, soulmate and partner in crime. And regardless of how often it’s been said and of all the clichés it evokes, I can honestly say it was the best day of my life. So far, anyway: we’re in this together now and I’ve got a pretty good feeling there are even more amazing things yet to come.
Nearly nine years of being in love, our incredible families, a whole host of the best friends a boy and girl could ask for, a venue that dreams are made of, amazing food and more emotion than I can begin to describe are pretty much impossible to condense into words. So here are a few photos.
Suffice to say I’ve never smiled so much in my life. And I haven’t stopped yet. Back with a recipe next week xx. Continue reading
Carnivorous Husband (I have a feeling the novelty of saying that won’t wear off for a long time…) arrived back from Bali early yesterday morning. Bronzed, blissfully happy and still riding the wave of emotion and complete and utter joy that is being married, in love and signed up to spend the rest of our lives together, we’re also exhausted so I’m afraid there’s no recipe from me today. However rest assured that our travels have been beyond inspirational and I’m itching to get back in the kitchen and share some new ideas in this space soon.
In the meantime, while we don’t have the official wedding photos back yet (I promise to share some when we do), I couldn’t resist posting this slightly blurry snap of our cake. Three tiers of deliciously sticky dark chocolate sponge were layered with hazelnut praline ganache then coated in modelling chocolate before being topped with a pair of edible lovebirds, one bespectacled to match my handsome new husband 🙂
Love and cake – in that order, of course – are pretty much all you need.
Edible engagement rings made from modelling chocolate
This weekend just gone, we celebrated our engagement for the second time in as many months (with a big group of people, that is, I can’t even begin to count the number of times we’ve raised a glass in smaller circles), inviting just over sixty of our favourite friends to drink, dance and generally make merry whilst using our upcoming wedding as the perfect excuse to do so. Continue reading
The Tuscan mountainside
I have some news.
Not this Friday gone but the one before, I wrote about our imminent trip to Italy. I posted a picture of one of my favourite views in the world. And I talked about how, while I enjoy new experiences and adventures, there’s something wonderfully comforting about the familiar, returning to somewhere you know and love and going through the tried and tested motions of experiences you’ve lived a thousand times before.
What I failed to mention, or realize at the time, is that it’s perfectly possible to combine the two. Continue reading
Day one for my sourdough starter & the start of a new year
Exactly one year ago today, I sat down in front of my computer to pen my very first post. A few weeks prior to that I had decided to start baking my own bread, and the day before I had produced what I proudly felt to be my first loaf worthy of a write up i.e. something that didn’t sit in your stomach for days or have the consistency of a slightly spongy brick. Thelittleloaf blog was to be a catalogue of my adventures with bread – a way to express myself, to tell some stories and to put my money where my mouth was by baking my own bread on a regular basis.
Little did I know what a big part of my life my blog would become. Or how much I had to say about so much more than just bread. I’ve always had a sweet tooth, always been the one wanting to help out in the kitchen at parties, prepare and hand round nibbles and make cakes look beautiful on birthdays, but since starting this blog I’ve found an even greater joy in food – cooking and sharing it with those I love, researching recipes, writing stories and trying to make it look just as beautiful as it tastes. Continue reading
Garlic bread, ready to assemble
As the Christmas festivities draw to an end, the last of the crackers have been pulled, the turkey pie polished off and the bottom of the bowl of Quality Streets begins to appear, food may be the last thing anyone wants to think about. Unless, of course, they are a food blogger.
The internet is currently alight with annual reviews and round ups, top ten recipes, restaurants and trends, and predictions for foodie fads in 2012 and beyond. Rather than eschewing eating in response to the season of overindulgence, bloggers everywhere are wallowing in the delights of what has been, what they are enjoying now and what is yet to come. Continue reading
There are few things more delicious than the smell of freshly baked bread
‘Hold the bread close to your nose and breathe in deeply. What can you smell?’
My mum and I are standing amidst an assortment of aspiring bakers in the cosy kitchens of Richard Bertinet’s eponymous cookery school in Bath. Any grumbles about leaving London at crack of dawn have long been suppressed by rounds of toasted Bertinet bread and butter on arrival, and we’re bright- eyed and ready to learn. Having undergone a set of AA-style round-the-room introductions – ‘my name’s Kate and I’m a baking addict . . .’ – we’re now ready to address the task at hand. Bread.
We all clutch a piece close to our noses and breathe in. There’s a slightly sweet smell, the unmistakeable tang of vinegar, and vague undertones of…
‘Armpit. Your bread smells like a sweaty armpit’. Continue reading
Three little loaves – freshly baked bread was an inspiration for this blog
I love the way that landing on someone’s food blog can transport you to a completely different world. Whether it’s the quality of writing, a stunning set of photos, an unusual recipe or a single thought, each blog has its own unique identity, providing you with a fascinating insight – however small – into the author’s life.
Some people plaster personality over their posts in spades, while others prefer to retreat behind their recipes or camera lens, but there’s no getting away from the fascination we have for blogs and their authors. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been reading posts for Food Bloggers Unplugged, an initiative intended to help us discover a bit more about the people behind the blogs we know and love. And more recently I’ve been nominated by three fellow food bloggers (Laura of How to Cook Good Food, Shu Han of MummyICanCook and Janice from Farmers Girl) to join in the fun.
So here are my answers, a bit of fun in the run up to Christmas. Continue reading
Seven pieces of gooey millionaire’s shortbread…one for every link
Just over six months ago, on 27th February, I penned my very first post as thelittleloaf. Since then I’ve had a wonderful time in and out of the kitchen, baking, bread-making, testing different recipes and trying new restaurants. I’ve also discovered some fantastic food blogs which I return to time and again; for their exciting recipes, for their satisfying stories, or to simply gaze at their stunning photos.
One such site is the beautiful With Milk and Flour, so when fellow blogger Mandy invited me to take part in Tripbase.com’s ‘My Seven Links’ initiative, it felt like a fun and fitting way to take stock of what’s happened over the past few months. The premise is simple; pick seven previous posts which fall within seven pre-assigned categories. Link to these posts, then nominate five other bloggers to do the same. These are my picks: Continue reading