Sunday 27 November 2016

LITTLE GEMS: Piccolinos, The Little Window, San Carlo and Fox Hale Barns!

So, I have been a little MIA again last week. I think I'm going to stop saying I'm going to post more because it seems to act as some kind of sod's law! I say I do and then I get so busy in the clinic I literally run out of time! Anyhoo... I can only apologise for that, but here are some lickle piccies of my food journeys from this week...


The sexiest avocado on toast before my big evening on Wednesday. So, I did an event with The Garden in Hale to launch my new range of Aromatherapy products called Tsui Apothecary (check out www.tsuiapothecary.com to learn more). It was such a fun night. I was teaching everybody how to blend the different essential oils from the range into carrier oil blends. It was so much fun! We all had a play at making our own body care products too!


Here is the lavender and rose bath soak we made. So pretty!


Making up all the goodie bags! This took me nearly 2 hours!!


Ta Dah! My full range of products, I'm so proud of them :)


Just before all our guests arrived! We put on all the fairy lights and had a gorgeous little playlist on too which was super chilled.



Mixing Time!


So, after all the excitement on Wednesday night, I needed to have a little chill time too! Friday lunchtime after yoga, I went to Alty market with my Mamma. We took Dex with us and had a super tasty butternut squash and coriander soup from The Little Window. Yum yum yum!


Dex will only sit on our knees ha ha! It's quite good I guess as he blends in with the flooring so people can quite easily trip over him  - bless! He loves it there!


Spiced plum and pear hot tonic! Smelt and tasted like Christmas 😃


Then I was wined and dined on Friday night by hubby! We went to Piccolinos in Alderley Edge. This was such a great meal! We decided to order a few different dishes instead of one each and share. It worked so well! We had (my all time fav) butternut squash ravioli, aubergine layer bake, giant king prawns, courgette fries and broccoli. Such a fab idea as we got to try lots of dishes instead of just one!


After a LOT of thought, we ended up with a chocolate fondant pudding - What can I say, you can't really go wrong with this if you're a choccie fan. Yes it was amazing and yes I would have it again!


I don't think I could eat a whole one of these though! Definitely a sharing thing - unless your chocolate crazy! ha ha!


We carried on with the Italian theme on Saturday and went to San Carlo in Selfridges for lunch (the one downstairs!) I love this sandwich, it's a bit naughty as it has cheese on it, but my oh my it's good. I had the roasted veggie sandwich on ciabatta and hubs had the chicken schnitzel. I even pushed the boat out with fries instead of salad - I felt like I needed it - it was bloody cold on Saturday!


Then, off to the Christmas Markets...


CHESTNUTS!!



Christmas is not Christmas to me without getting pushed and shoved around the Manchester Christmas Markets. I didn't make it last year and I was so disappointed! I even got my token hot roasted chestnuts - this actually made my day. They are a pain to peel and you end up losing half on the floor, oh and also burnt and blackened fingers - but so worth it!



BEAUTIFUL MACAROONS!


I couldn't resist these - I had to buy!


Chinese dinner on Saturday night cooked by yours truly! First course was stir fried chopped veggies with Chinese Shitake Mushrooms. Once cooked you wrap it in a lettuce leaf and drizzle over some dressing, then apply to face! Amazing!


Delicious!


Them for mains we had steamed sea bass with ginger, coriander and spring onion and also some pak choy vegetables with boiled rice. This is comfort food for me at it's finest, takes me back to being a child at my grandparents - good times!



My macaroons! I opted for 2 rose, 1 white chocolate and 1 caramel - they were so delicious!


Big Sunday morning brekkie before work. I had a roasted potato omelette with peppers and coriander.


I like to add harissa spices to the veggies whilst they are cooking to give it extra flavour!


Daily drug taking at the moment. Skin Vits for my multivitamin and bio glucan to help my immune system stay on track!


Veggie Sunday lunch at Fox in Hale Barns - with the biggest Yorkshire pudding ever may I add!


Then tonight I made the most delicious plum crumble ever! I only used coconut sugar to sweeten it and made a crumble topping out of chopped almonds and oats with coconut oil, cinnamon and maple syrup. I can't tell you how good this was! Plus it's a nice light and healthy version! I serve it with soya milk ice cream.


Definitely having some of this for breakfast I think with a dollop of Coyo. Actually a little excited already! ha ha!

How was your week? I hope yours was not as crazy as mine!

Thanks so much for reading,

Big Love,


Em x
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Sunday 13 November 2016

LITTLE GEMS: Launching products and filling my belly!

Hello, long time no speak! Sorry I've been a bit slack this week on my posts, it's been so busy at work I've not stopped for a minute! I'm so excited to be launching not one, but 2 new ranges of products and so I've been trying to get it all ready this week (and into next!). 

The first range that I've launched is my new line of handmade candles called Amy Evelyn (for those curious, Amy Evelyn was my Great Grandmother). They are all made with soy wax, pure essential oils and wooden wicks. All the blended candles have a black wax and the pure oils are cream. I'm so proud of them, I burn them so much at home and I love the scent they give off. The best thing is, because they are made from soy wax, they burn a lot cleaner and so give off a lot less black soot than other candles (and yes, that includes the more expensive ones too!)


The second range is a re-launch of my Tsui Apothecary products. I will be showing them off at my launch event on November 23rd at The Garden in Hale. I am doing a workshop there showing how to make your own body and hair care products yourself at home - without all the nasties! Im so so excited to show people and try and create a community of Aromatherapy fans. Together we will make aromatherapy cool again ha ha! If you want to buy a ticket, you can do via www.tsuiapothecary.com 


Food wise, it's not been too much of an exciting work week I'm afraid. I made this delicious rice bowl at the beginning of the week with brown rice, kale, avocado, beetroot roasted onions and sweet potato falafels. Yuuuuummy!!


I made the usual pit stop to Victors again. I swear I don't plan this, but somehow I end up there every week. Not complaining though! Can't beat their flamed salmon rolls, spider crab roll and a good dessert!


Oh and some squid too!


A very delicious lemon meringue pie too for dessert. I couldn't eat it all mind, that's what friends are for right? ha ha!


So, then on Friday night, I was treated to a really delicious meal at Manchester House from hubs. I swear this is one of my all time fav restaurants. Yes, it's on the pricey side, but the food is fab! It's such a chilled vibe too. I love the fact that you can eat some delicious fine dining food in your comfies! Yes there are some people dressed up to the nines, but you know me - I'm a chilled kinda gal ha ha! Plus, who wants to have super tight, uncomfortable clothes on when you're eating? I wore a baggy cashmere dress and some comfy boots - no tight waistbands here!


I couldn't tell you what any of the food was. Yes the waiter did tell me as he put it in front of me, but it sounded so complicated it went over my head! Basically I said that although I don't eat meat and dairy, I will still eat a bit of fish. That must have translated to please give me fish for every course! Well anyway, I was not complaining. The food was amazing, beautifully presented, tasted great and in a cool, chilled environment = Happy Em!
I will show you all the courses we had, as I said I don't know what everything is, but who cares! It's looks pretty ha ha! It's all pretty much fish bar the dessert - obvs!










Yes, you saw right! 3 desserts!! Yeah baby!!


Then, after ALL that food on Friday night, I thought I'd make a big brekkie on Saturday morning. I think I've shown you this before. I basically put it all in an oven dish and cook everything in the oven for around 20 mins. So, kale, tomatoes, mushrooms, asparagus and then you can add eggs to this too if you like (just make a well in the kale and crack them in). Then I also made a sweet potato hash brown and cooked some mini bread rolls in the oven too. These are part baked, kind of like the ones you get in restaurants. Tasted great so I wasn't complaining!


Then, Saturday night we ventured into town to go to Bakchich. I've not been here before but I was in the mood for some falafels, so hubs took me out :)


I will do a blog post on this place soon, but all you need to know is the food is pretty good! It was very filling and not too pricey either.

I hope you all had a good week, let's hope next week is not as crazy as this one - hmm... don't think that will be the case though! 

Thanks so much for reading and I will try and post again very soon!

Have a great week peeps,

Big Love,



Em x
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