Last year for my birthday we went to Paris for a few days and it was such an amazing trip! The weather was perfect, the hotel super cute and well located, the restaurants AMAZING and it was just such a joy to walk around and explore Paris. It was my first time visiting the city of lights and I fell in love with this gorgeous city straight away!
I hope you enjoy the pictures! Mini-guide coming later.
This little pudding is such a good one. Flavours that we know and love (hello strawberries and cream) but with a little unexpected addition of lime. The textures are fun too; velvety pannacotta, and crunchy sugar on top of the berries.
It’s also easy to make in advance – you can make the pannacotta the day before and finish off with the strawberries and sugar just before serving.
Vanilla pannacotta with strawberries and lime sugar, serves 4
500 ml double cream
1 vanilla pod
50 ml caster sugar
2 gelatin leaves
Topping:
1 punnet strawberries, washed, trimmed and quartered
4 tbsp caster sugar
1 lime, the zest
Put the gelatin in a bowl with cold water to soak. Cut the vanilla pod in half and place it in a saucepan. Add cream and sugar. Bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes while stirring with a whisk. Remove from heat and divide into four footed glasses. Leave to cool then refrigerate for at least three hours. Cover when starting to set.
Before serving, prepare the strawberries. In a little bowl mix sugar and lime zest. Spoon the strawberries on top of the pannacottas and spoon the lime sugar on top. Serve immediately.
Last summer we spent a lot of time in Norfolk, just like we have the two previous years, but this time the weather was great (I’m looking at you summer of 2021) and life was back to normal. So we did our absolute best to enjoy it!
We had friends to stay, we went to the beach as much as we possibly could, squeezed in some golf (I’m learning but it’s lovely in summer), had picnics and sundowners on the beach and many a dip in the salty and refreshing (ahem) North Sea.
Norfolk reminds me a lot of Sweden in summer with its sandy beaches (I don’t think I will ever get used to a pebbly beach), beach huts and overall similar lifestyle. It’s so different to our London life and a real tonic to have dinner outside in the garden, cook most meals on the barbecue, go out on friends’ boats and walk around barefoot.
Even though it’s summer as I’m writing this, these pictures make me so nostalgic, so this post is a lot for myself to look back on. But for the rest of you, if you haven’t visited Norfolk yet, put it on your list!
I can’t believe it took me a whole year to finish this post – hope to be back with a summer 2024 recap soon!
A little over a month ago, my darling Dominic and I, got married! It was the best weekend and we truly had so much fun celebrating with dear ones. I wanted to share a few pictures here on the blog, but if you want to see more there are lots of photos on Instagram too.
The wedding is also the reason why I have been quiet on here, as so much time since last summer has been put aside for ‘wedmin’. So I hope that I will be able to write a bit more frequently going forwards. I still have so many blog drafts saved so there is no shortage of topics and recipes, just limited time to actually sit down and write.
I hope you’re all having a lovely summer! 💛
Last summer was truly wonderful, and I feel the need to write it down, partly so I can remember the magic but also to tell you all about it as I wasn’t exactly good at updates in real time.
I must confess it feels a bit weird to rave about last summer when it almost IS summer again, but at the same time I LOVE the summer and 2022 was a particular good one. One for the books. It probably has a lot to do with the pandemic, me feeling this way, but last summer felt like the first summer in a while where we could just go back to normal. I could go to Sweden and enjoy the theatre and a dinner out with my parents like we used to, and it was the best feeling to be able to do that again.
On the whole we didn’t actually do that much, no big trips or lavish holidays. But spending time in Sweden and Norfolk (and travel around a little in Sweden and Denmark) was more than enough for us. Spending time on the beach by our summer house in Sweden gave me so much joy, and towards the end of my stay the sea heated up enough for swimming. It felt like forever ago I could swim in the sea there (I mean it was three years ago) and I will certainly try not to take it for granted again.
Norfolk was equally lovely. We spent a lot of time at the beach there too, swimming in the North Sea, going out on a boating adventure with friends. One evening we had a lovely picnic by the beach huts after a few holes of golf, an evening dip and sundowners on the sand dunes. We really tried to squeeze in as much as possible!
For my birthday we went to Paris for a few days and it was magical! The weather was perfect, the food insanely good and of course – it was romantic too!
In between our weeks here and there we came back to London, and I must confess I love London in summer too. Drinks in beer gardens and strolls in the parks buying a Mr Whippy when you walk past an ice cream van. Barbecues with friends and so on. And, we went to concerts again, which was wonderful! I also got to see a play I have waited years for, Jerusalem, and it was simply magnificent.
We had talked about booking a proper holiday somewhere at the end of summer, beginning of autumn but we didn’t feel the need after all the fun we had. It helped a lot that the weather was nice and that we can both work from anywhere, but I think it’s the first time I have felt like that (at least since I was a child and had endlessly long summer breaks) and it was the nicest feeling! Thank you, summer 2022, for everything!
It’s time for another mini guide to another Scandinavian City I visited this summer – lovely Gothenburg! The second largest city in Sweden is located on the west coast. It’s hilly, known for its trams, fishing and being the home of Volvo. But what makes a visit here so lovely is the people who live here; they are really warm and friendly and have a very specific type of humour! Also, in Swedish the city is actually called Göteborg, with a soft “y” sound.
I took my boyfriend here for a few days last summer, so that he could experience a bit more of Sweden now that he could visit again and we had such a lovely time! It’s easy to get around and lots to see and do, especially in summer!
Where to stay
We stayed at Clarion Hotel Post, a two minute walk from the train station which suited us well as we travelled there by train. We really liked it! It was nice and good value for money for the very central location. Great breakfast too! It’s big but still feels quite cosy. It was a tiny bit tired interior wise but very clean. Other hotels I would consider without having stayed there are Gothia Towers, Upper House, Hotel Pigalle or Sankt Jörgen Park.
Where to eat
I used to come to Gothenburg a lot until a few years ago, so I have quite a few favourites, but we tried some new places on this trip. We started with the famous prawn sandwich at Heaven 23 with lovely views over the city, and for dinner we went to a lovely spot a friend of mine recommended on Instagram; Bord 27. A super cosy restaurant with lovely food. We walked there and back, which was so lovely!
A true and tested favourite of mine is Restaurang Familjen, but I also really like Björns Bar. Places on my to try list that I have heard great things about are restaurant Bar la Lune, and Bar Bruno and Champagnebaren for drinks.
Fika culture is huge in Gothenburg so I highly recommend a visit to my favourite cafe, Da Matteo, or Condeco which is a really good chain. Or why not go all out and visit Mr Cake, which has some swoon (and instagram) worthy pastries?! Read more about it here.
If you want to eat the biggest cinnamon bun of your life, there is a lovely café in Haga, Café Husaren, selling them. Haga is also a lovely leafy area to walk around.
What to see and do
Even though I have been to Göteborg plenty of times it was my boyfriend’s first visit so we were proper tourists. We went to the Volvo museum (it’s far from the city centre but we got there quickly with a cab and braved three trams on the way back). There are more lovely museums but the weather was too nice to be indoors, so we only did one. But would love to visit Maritiman (The Maritime Museum) another time.
On our second day we went to Brännö, one of the islands in the Southern Archipelago and met up with an old friend of mine and her children. I highly recommend visiting the archipelago because it’s both easy and cheap to get there (it’s the same type of ticket for the ferry as the trams and buses all around town) and so beautiful. We walked around, had a nice fika (and ice creams!), explored the island and had a lovely day in the sunshine. If the weather is good a trip to the islands really can’t be beaten!
The shopping in Göteborg is great, and I wish we had had more time to peruse shops, but I made one quick visit to one of my favourite interior shops ever (it’s amazing!), Artilleriet. They have two shops near one another so make sure you look in both. Another place I like to go to every time I visit is Saluhallen; the lovely food market with both shops and restaurants.
One of the biggest attractions in Göteborg is undoubtedly Liseberg, the big amusement park. It’s super central and really pretty with it’s green and pink colours, and a real institution. Kids and adults alike will love a visit!
How to get around
I recommend walking around Gothenburg as much as possible. It’s a fairly small city, right by the waterfront and really pretty to walk around. There are pretty houses and nice parks to look at and I think it’s be best way to get a feel for what any city is really like. The trams are also great, especially if you’re going a bit further and easy to navigate. There are also plenty of buses, and you pay for them all on the Västtrafik app which is so handy. Cabs (Uber too), as always, are great if in a hurry or if you’re wearing heels.
When it comes to New Years Eve I like to keep it super classic. Champagne (or other bubbly), of course. Lobster in one way or another. Nice meat. A decadent pudding. And good friends! That’s the most important ingredient of all!
Our plan is to have canapés and champagne quite early in the evening. It’s the best part of the evening (we think so at least!) and something we really treasure so I’m making our favourites. One delicious mushroom toast on butter-fried bread (requested by my best friend), another toast with lobster (yum!!) and another little dish with bleak roe because we love it so much.
Then we’re going straight for the main course; fillet of beef, crispy potatoes, nice vegetables and a creamy mushroom sauce to bring it all together.
For pudding I’m going suuuper classic with a dark chocolate fondant, homemade honeycomb and two types of (store-bought) ice cream.
I’m really happy with the menu. Sometimes I like to experiment but on New Years Eve I prefer to keep it classic and stick to tried and tested favourites. All so even the chef (aka moi) can relax and not spend too much time in the kitchen. Living abroad it’s so rare to have an evening like this with friends from home so we’re making the most of it when we can!
My key to success here is of course to prep ahead. I write a list for the day before and start to tick it off. I will even measure up ingredients for the evening so I can chat and sip champagne while I cook without thinking too much about quantities and recipes.
And as we always have homemade pizza with my parents on the 1st January I will prep that too. Just the dough and the tomato sauce but that will make the assembly so much easier that evening. I have discovered a great recipe for pizza dough I will share with you soon. You make the dough a day or two ahead of time and let it slowly rise in the fridge.
Hello from Sweden! 👋
I hope you’ve all had a lovely Christmas! I certainly did. It’s been wonderful spending quality time with my family, enjoying lots of nice food (obviously!) and catch up with a few friends. I have been home for a week and a half but it’s just whizzed past and now it’s almost time to ring in a new year. How are you getting on with the prep? I did the food shop yesterday and will prep as much as I can tomorrow before picking up my boyfriend from the airport. It’s the first time since before the pandemic we’re able to celebrate together with friends here so there will be a lot of cheers!
Thank you so much for reading my blog and supporting my little corner of the internet. I wish you all a really cracking 2023!
Throwing it back to this lovely summer and a few weeks in Sweden. It was truly the best! It was so lovely to visit in a normal way again; travel around a little, see friends, go out to restaurants and just enjoy summer in the best possible way.
There was a lot of beach time (yay!), a lot of ice cream and of course a lot of nice food, mostly eaten al fresco. I hope you enjoy this little album as much as I did putting it together.
When we’re in Norfolk we often go back to a few tried and tested favourites when we eat out, as we tend to cook at home a lot and barbecue as much as the weather lets us.
But when we were up this summer we heard about this new restaurant that was supposed to be amazing! It seemed impossible to get a table, but when I looked online I found one for a Friday night in September that I booked immediately. So fun with a Norfolk date night and trying this new restaurant we’d heard so much about!
I liked what I saw as soon as we stepped into the Socius; an open kitchen with a bar counter, tables facing the show in the kitchen and a mezzanine floor with more tables upstairs. It was modern and airy; all I believe, to keep the focus on the marvellous food.
The menu consisted of small plates (love!) and some larger main courses. We chose a few different plates to start off with and they were all excellent. The bread and soft whipped butter that we had first was so good I knew we were in for a treat!
The tuna tartare with pickled ginger, spring onions and crispy wonton paper was a thing of beauty! It was hands down one of the best tuna tartares I have ever had. The fish melted in the mouth and the flavours were all complimentary but subtle so the tuna could really shine.
The next dish was heritage courgettes with almond gazpacho, mint and dill. I really wanted something fresh and this was so good! The almond gazpacho was more like a thick ajo blanco sauce in the bottom of the bowl so it coated every bite. Crispy croutons and almonds added texture and the leaves and herbs added another layer of freshness. I loved this!
Our third dish was chicken liver parfait with toast, apple and port. This was very good, but didn’t stand out as much as the other two dishes. I really liked that the toast was the same focaccia we had to start, but probably from the day before and toasted, so it was used up. The apple sauce had a well of reduced (?) port in the middle which was really lovely with the parfait.
Next we had the steak that we had heard so much about! Aged picanha steak with roasted tomatoes, reuben aioli and the house rubbed chips. First of all, the portion was huge so well done to anyone who manages to eat the whole thing themselves! We shared it and that was perfect after the other three plates we had. The steak itself was perfection; full of flavour and so tender! The reuben aioli was interesting and I liked the flavour but it was a bit too “bitty” in texture for my liking. The chips were nice and crispy and very good, but I actually think I would have preferred them without the spice rub, as I felt it together with the reuben aioli took focus away from the excellent steak. But I understand the desire to jazz things up a little and make it your own. And it was very good!
I wish we had had space for pudding but even my pudding monster of a boyfriend had to stop after the steak. But I can’t wait to try any of the good looking desserts (spied at the tables around us) next time.
We had SUCH a lovely evening here. The atmosphere was professional but relaxed and the restaurant was buzzing this Friday night in September after the summer season had ended. Apart from a lovely date night with amazing food, good bubbly and red wine we also bumped into friends and another couple my boyfriend knew. So fun!
And I found out, when I went to the ladies as they have a lovely photo wall outside it, that the restaurant isn’t quite as new as I intitially thought. It was opened in 2018 so it took me four years to discover it, but I’m so glad I finally did, as I look forward to going back many many times.
Socius, 11 Foundry Pl, Burnham Market, King’s Lynn PE31 8LG
Scandelights