book club – Scandelights

Book club, theatre and a cosy weekend!

Published on October 23, 2019 by HannaLeave a comment

The first week of October was rather nice, despite all the rain. But we had a few nice days as well.

Monday consisted of work and a night in as usual. I made pasta with creme fraîche, fried chorizo and parmesan for dinner and started watching Instinct season 2. Love that series. Very crime light without being boring.

Tuesday was book club night and although it poured down with rain on the way to my friend’s place it was lovely to see the girls and eat and chat and drink wine. Love our gang!

On the Wednesday I finished a really good book; Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng. So wonderful and sad. Love her books!

Thursday was a fun night out! First dinner at (the original) The Ivy before we went to see Come From Away, a lovely musical based on the true story of all the aeroplanes being redirected from the New York air space to a small island in Newfoundland in Canada during 9/11. So touching and heartfelt and unlike any other musical I’ve ever seen. Highly recommend! Afterwards we had a quick drink in a fun bar before calling it a. night.

Friday night was fairly quiet. We had a last minute change of plan so for dinner I emptied the fridge and made really yummy, but the simplest version ever, nachos. Later on at my boyfriend’s place we watched an episode of The Handmaid’s Tale before bed. So rock ‘n roll!

The next morning we had a lovely long lie in followed by eggs for breakfast. We just had a chilled day that didn’t involve much more than a trip to the supermarket and a nice dinner in the evening. I made this lovely pasta dish (with burrata!) and churros for pudding. So yummy!

Sunday also started with a lie-in and eggs. Then I quickly made a carrot cake before we went to see the The Downton Abbey film.

For dinner we had roast chicken with roast potatoes, broccoli cheese, parsnips and gravy. And we watched some more of The Handmaid’s Tale. Such a lovely cosy weekend. I would have liked a nice walk but it was raining the whole weekend so it was nicer to hibernate indoors.

Christmas dinner, Lucia concert and a nice weekend

Published on January 8, 2019 by HannaLeave a comment

The first Monday in December I woke up in Norfolk and stayed there for most of the day, had eggs for breakfast and a lovely day off work. Then we drove back to London in the afternoon, went food shopping and as soon as I got home I started prepping for the Christmas dinner with the book club the following evening.

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I really like our Christmas tradition; it’s so lovely to catch up with the girls before Christmas.

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We started the evening with a Prosecco cocktail and nibbles and then moved onto Swedish meatballs, Jansson’s temptation, a kale dish and this lovely butternut squash dish with pesto, feta and pomegranate seeds.

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To finish off the dinner we had saffron cake, clementines and sliced gingerbread with St Agur.

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Wednesday and Thursday I concentrated on work, early nights and eating leftovers. But on Friday night we went to a wonderful Lucia concert in Westminster Cathedral. So pretty!

Afterwards a group of us went for dinner at Hai Cenato nearby.

On the Saturday we saw friends and most of Sunday I made gingerbread but also had time to watch a film. I really wasn’t sure this film was for me, but somebody persuaded me and it turns out he was right. Such a sweet film!

Back in London and a weekend in the country

Published on August 21, 2018August 21, 2018 by HannaLeave a comment

I’ve been back in London for a little more than a week and my holiday in Sweden is already starting to feel like a distant memory. It’s funny how quickly one settles back into the groove.

Monday was mainly about catching up at work, but I felt up to speed by the end of the day, having caught up with my emails and paper work. When I got home I started to put all my things away from the trip. I always unpack my suitcases as soon as I get home, whatever time of night that is (I like to maximise my time away and often fly back late). I don’t know why but I find it so satisfying to unpack straight away, but I’ve done it for years! But of course I don’t put everything away immediately (that takes too long) so that’s what I did on Monday night. And laundry of course, even though I made sure to do laundry in Sweden too.

Anyway, the next evening after work the book club girls came over for some nibbles and pizza on the roof terrace followed by pudding back in the flat as the sun had started to set. It was lovely catching up with them and decide on the new book to read (this one if you’re interested) and as all of us contribute to the dinner it’s never stressful to host.

Wednesday I made pizzas and we watched The Handmaid’s Tale (OMG it’s so good – draining, but SO good). Thursday I packed for the weekend, had some more pizza and watched some more The Handmaid’s Tale.

I had the day off on Friday which was wonderful so after a lie-in we drove up to Northamptonshire where we stayed over night. Friday night we had dinner and watched Joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat at Kilworth House and the next day we just took it easy before going back to London in the evening.

Sunday I did some more chores, unpacked and made another pizza (with leftover dough that I froze on Wednesday). I think I need a break from pizza now actually…

Book Club, Street Party and a relaxing weekend

Published on June 19, 2018June 19, 2018 by HannaLeave a comment

The summer weather seems to have disappeared, but that’s completely normal for midsummer, which is later this week.

Sadly I won’t be celebrating it, but I’m meeting up with friends so it will still be a nice day. There are of course midsummer celebrations in London, but celebrating with lots of people in Hyde Park doesn’t appeal to me.

Monday last week was a quiet one (that’s how I like my Monday’s – the shock of getting up early and going to the office is enough for me) and I made a yummy pasta with cream, sherry and last year’s girolles (picked by my auntie) from the freezer. So yummy and a perfect start to the week!

Tuesday we met up with the book club at Marie-Lou’s and she has prepared a feast as usual. It was lovely to meet up and discuss the book and catch up!

On Wednesday I went to the Motcomb Street Party which was lots of fun with entertainment, charity auction, food stalls and flowing prosecco. All the food stalls looked good but I decided on a brioche bun with roast beef and creamed horseradish. Really yummy!

The rest of the work week was quieter; on Friday I watched the Portugal-Spain game at home and just chilled out. Saturday I met up with Laura in Surbiton for a walk along the river, lovely lunch and a cheeky ice cream. So nice to catch up!

The remainder of the weekend was unplanned which was just lovely. I can’t remember the last time I could catch up on sleep like this, binge on TV series and just chill. Such a treat!

Recipe: fabulous lemon spaghetti

Published on May 17, 2018May 17, 2018 by HannaLeave a comment

Right now we have normal Spring weather in London (as one would expect in May), but when I made this lemony pasta for the book club girls we had summer temperatures in April (!). If it hadn’t been so windy, I would have liked to eat outside but indoors had to do.

Because of the nice weather I wanted to make something summery, but more filling than a salad, so when my colleague suggested this River Café recipe I had a hunch it would be perfect.

And it was!

Looking at the ingredients list it might seem like a heavy dish but the acidity from the lemon makes it appear as light as air (well almost). It’s so fresh and really tastes of summer. So much so that it’s easy to dream of Mediterranean holidays…

But back to London and reality. The pasta went down a treat (everybody had seconds) and Mary-Louise even asked for the recipe. She has since reported back that she made it twice in one weekend and that it works just as well with the pasta shape bucatini. Thank you M-L!

Lemon spaghetti with Parmesan and basil, serves 6

Adapted from River Café’s recipe.

250 g spaghetti

juice of 3-4 lemons, preferably Amalfi lemons

150 ml olive oil

150 g Parmesan, freshly grated

2 handfuls of fresh basil, leaves picked and finely chopped

finely grated lemon zest

Cook the spaghetti in a generous amount of boiling salted water, then drain thoroughly and return to the saucepan.

Meanwhile, whisk the lemon juice with the olive oil, then stir in the Parmesan; it will melt into the mixture, making it thick and creamy. Season with sea salt and black pepper and add more lemon juice to taste.

Add the sauce to the spaghetti and shake the pan so that each strand of pasta is coated with the cheese. Finally, stir in the chopped basil and some grated lemon zest.

Summer in April!!

Published on April 24, 2018 by HannaLeave a comment

The past week was just glorious with blue skies, 25+C degrees and SUNSHINE! It’s sadly over now but it was wonderful as long as it lasted.

On Tuesday it was my turn to host the book group and I thought a summery lemon pasta (I will post the recipe soon) would be appropriate. It went down a treat together with a simple leafy salad and wild garlic bread. Marie-Louise brought a bottle of lovely champagne as well, so it was a rather festive Tuesday!

The next day was sunny and hot, so after work I took the river boat down the Thames and had the first glass of rosé of the season, overlooking the river.

On Friday a group of us had a lovely girlie evening at Gordon’s Wine Bar (where Laura expertly managed to get us a table as soon as we arrived!) with rosé, cheese and lots of chatting. So lovely!

The rest of the weekend was fairly quiet with lie-ins, pizza and champagne on Saturday night and a lovely pub lunch in the sunshine on Sunday.