A Month In Instagram | June '14

Well hello there stranger! I can't tell you how nice it is to get a large cup of Earl Grey and settle back into my corner of the internet. It feels like forever! And what a lot has happened in the last four weeks! I wanted to catch you up on where I've been on my little 'holiday from blogging' with a few moments I've shared on my instagram - @lilyseaspray.

The biggest event has probably been THE BIG MOVE. Tomas and I moved in together during May and though there were a few teething issues at first (a flood through the bathroom ceiling on Day 2..), we're now incredibly settled and very happy with our new home. 

Work has been keeping me rather busy recently but I've still found time to enjoy payday cocktails with my Mummy, Pimms on the beach and indulge in the new season of Orange Is The New Black. Oh and I've managed to become hooked on homemade smoothies after my Dad got me a snazzy Smoothie-2-Go maker for my birthday. 

Oh yes my birthday, I turned the grand old age of 23. No that isn't mid-twenties yet (Dad I'm looking at you). I was thoroughly spoilt, ate a cupcake a day for four days and shared the weekend with my favourite people. 

I also had the exciting and slightly nerve wracking moment of meeting Tomas's Mum and her husband for the first time since we'd been together. They both live in New Zealand and it was lovely to meet the people you have only 'met' on Skype in person! I cooked a pulled pork dinner for Tomas's family and the only slight blip was my soggy cous cous. You can't win them all eh!

Anyway, fill me in on you and I'll promise not to leave it so long next time.

Lily x

Easy Easter Cake | Fluffy Tails & Big Ears

Easter is one of my favourite times of year. Spring is upon us, Daffodils are sitting in every vase I own, chocolate is an acceptable food group and there are Bunnies adorning everything in shops (seriously I do NOT need any more novelty bunny things). 

I got the idea for this treat, combining my loves of chocolate, baking and bunnies, after speaking with my lovely friend Nancy who is also an avid baker. Essentially this is simply a chocolate sponge with a 'well' cut out in the middle for a chocolate cornflake nest and covered in Nutella buttercream.

Celebrating Chinese New Year | Cooking Dim Sum

 Happy New Year Everyone! It's the Year of the Horse and for those of you who don't know, this weekend I celebrated my roots and took some time to dust off my Chinese pronunciation and cooking skills to celebrate Chinese New Year.

I've been lucky enough to have been brought up by my beautiful Mom who is half Chinese. She grew up in Hong Kong and has always brought me up to hold Dim Sum on a pedestal as far as any delicacy goes. So my boyfriend Tomas and I took to Preston Street in Brighton to pick up a few ingredients and stumbled upon some fantastic, colourful celebrations. Fortune Supermarket is the best place in town to pick up any Asian ingredient you could need and the prices are not all that higher than you would find at Wing Yip (the equivalent of ASDA).

 

 

I started with a staple dish in my usual Dim Sum menu; Fried Beef Ho Fun (apologies Mom this is still the one I can't pronounce). You can pick up a pack of Ho Fun noodles for around £1.25 and with some frying beef steak and veg this alone would be a meal for two. 

I steamed the noodles (if you don't have a steamer just use a colander over a pan of boiling water and pop a lid over it) for around 4 minutes. Meanwhile I lightly fried the beef in a wok before adding the spring onions and then the noodles. Once this had all mixed in, I added Oyster sauce and allowed the flavours to infuse.

Once the noodles were done I filled the steamer with two layers of the dumplings; Har Gow, Siu Mai and Char Siu Bao. In the shortest description I can manage without putting my Mother to shame, Har Gow are beautiful light prawn dumplings in a starch noodle bundle, Siu Mai are pork and shrimp dumplings whilst Char Siu Bao are gooey BBQ pork buns.

I coated the bottom of the steamer pans in a tiny bit of oil to prevent them sticking and these took only 5 minutes or so to cook. In the last couple of minutes I added the Pak Choi on top (please do ensure you wash them throughly as they do tend to harbour dirt amongst their leaves).

 

That's it! A feast that Tomas and I enjoyed in utter silence for the first half of lunch! When Dim Sum is on the table we do tend to put conversation on hold until at least the 4th dumpling and second helping of noodles. This amount of food really is enough for four helpings which I think makes each portion around £4/5. For such a delicious, quick and nutritional meal, this is an absolute bargain!

I think all I have left to do now is wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year, and extend an invitation to my Mom to Dim Sum! I've had enough practice now! 

What's your favourite Oriental food? Will you be doing anything special for Chinese New Year?

Lily x

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