Special Day......

Today is a special day.....I decided I had earned some ♥Treat ME♥ time, and had planned a day of mooching round some pretty little shops, with some serious coffee indulging and relaxing in a nice cafe, thrown in for good measure.....


But things don't often go exactly as planned......the day started off brill, with some super duper, fabulicious news......can't say any more now, but all will be revealed eventually......but then took a sudden turn for the worse, with some potentially terrible news.....but I'm trying not to dwell on that.

As my very good friend M was unexpectedly at home.....due to very unforeseen weekend happenings.....we decided to go out together to keep our minds occupied and away from our troubling situations.....M treated us to a delicious lunch......and I treated myself to this simply gorgeous cup and saucer/plate combo made by Maling, which I found in a charity shop.....perfect for my "time out" cup of tea and cookie or cake......

Then these goodies found their way to me.....

The book looks wonderful, with lots of little projects to make.....I can't wait to try some....usefully divided into seasonal sections.....

And this PINK ♥ bowl is perfect......just what I needed as my largest Nigella Lawson "egg" bowl was accidentally broken recently .......

I also bought some sweet pink flowers for my bedroom....

And to finish off the day, we had some delightfully delicious cupcakes made by Big and Little Misses on Sunday......

It turned out to be quite a PINK day actually.....not at all how I had planned the day.....but still lovely just the same

-xx-

Thrifty Pressies.....

My friend M regularly takes a cruise around the local charity shops......sometimes she comes home with absolutely nothing......but sometimes she hits the jackpot and finds some dishy goodies......sometimes she keeps them for herself......and sometimes she shares her haul. On Friday she spotted some lovely pink plates, but left them there to mull over.....yesterday she went back to look again......if they were still there, she was going to nab them....if they weren't, it wasn't meant to be. Yippee.....they were still there! She kept a couple for herself.....and gave the rest to me......YIPPEE..... they are sooooo pretty in pink........

And what a charming little pressie......they're not really old, or antique.....probably vintage would be the correct description for them.....but I absolutely ♥ them.....and at only £3.50 for the whole lot.....8 plates in total....I've absolutely no qualms about using them everyday. We used the soup/dessert ones last night for dessert, but Little Miss was quite disgruntled that her dessert wasn't served in one......so tonight, I did serve her dessert in a pretty pink plate....."goodie, I've got a new plate" she squealed quite delighted......well they are very girlie.

On a previous cruise round the charity shops a few weeks ago, my friend M spotted this gorgeous cheese dome......

She didn't need one for herself, so came round to collect me, so I could go see it. Luckily it was still there, and of course I thought it was just wonderful.....and at only £4.50......I simply had to have it......

All sparkly, with the light refracting off the pretty ribs and ripples.....I thought it was a real bargain which was just waiting for me to snap it up.........

I soooo ♥ finding treasures like these to use and enjoy......and maybe they will become family heirlooms in years to come.....since all my Angels ♥ and appreciate these lovely treasures too.

-xx-

Thrifty Chickens.....

For dinner on Saturday night we had a most scrumptious roast chicken, and so yesterday I decided to make some chicken stock from the leftover carcass, and two others that had been stashed in the freezer for just such a day. With all three carcasses, and some lovely sweet veggies and herbs crammed into a huge pot, they were left to simmer for a couple of hours.....

Mmmmmm......gently bubbling away and filling the house with the most deliciously, deep, savoury aroma......just gotta get that scentovision working.......

A couple of hours later, the bones, veggies and herbs had given up all their glorious goodness, so I sieved the juices through muslin to produce a golden, sweet smelling, savoury liquor just waiting to be turned into something else equally delicious......

A quick browse through my tempting collection of cookery books and the perfect recipe was found in Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage everyday which uses up leftover chicken, as well as needing some of that gloriously golden broth.......Chicken with couscous, honey and cinnamon.......ingredients at the ready.....

And dinner ready to serve........

Mmmmmmm was it delicious......and so very quick to put together as I already had the shredded roast chicken, and that freshly made golden broth.

But I still had plenty of stock left over and after a busy afternoon after school today, it was the perfect ingredient to pull out of the fridge with the last remaining morsels of shredded roast chicken, warmed through with some fresh herbs from the garden and thinly sliced spring onions for freshness, lemon juice for just a touch of tartness, grated carrot for some vibrancy, and lengths of angel's hair spaghetti (capelli d'angelo).....because the Angels ♥ it.....and because chicken noodle soup wouldn't be chicken noodle soup without the noodles.....although technically speaking spaghetti isn't noodles......but the Angels wouldn't hear of using noodles over angel's hair! Some freshly baked bread made earlier in the day which greeted the Angels, upon their return from school, with another temptingly wonderful aroma......no I didn't, strictly speaking, make it myself....the bread machine did....but I still like to think of it as homemade .....just perfect for dunking large, rustic chunks.......and a quick, easy, and scrumptious dinner was on the table in no time........

I ♥ making homemade chicken stock......the enticingly, aromatic aromas that fill the entire house all afternoon, giving out the promise of a yummy scrummy meal in the making.....the feeling of cosy, cuddly warmth.....and of a home filled with nostalgia and ♥. And it makes me feel very virtuous when I make chicken stock.....I've already fed the family with a delicious meal of roast chicken.....then I squirrel away the leftover carcasses in the freezer until I have enough......then the making of the stock......the storing.....well freezing.....away the stock for a rainy day......and then the making of some equally yummy meal at some later date from the frozen stock. Three meals from Saturday's chicken, and more stock for later......what could be more thrifty and virtuous than that?

Bon appétit!

-xx-